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Ethical Decision-Making in the Workplace
Personal integrity is often challenged by ethical dilemmas in organizations. A case that I had experienced was when I was tempted to slightly alter the reported work hours in order to achieve the weekly targets during the time of remote working. The moral dilemma was on what to do for actual hours worked or inflating them and be paid the full pay. This can be considered insignificant but it was an obvious decision between allegiance and self-seeking.
The possible effect of going with the unethical decision was immense. Keeping incorrect records through reporting false hours would amount to falsification and probably result in a disciplinary action or even dismissal in case of finding out. Also, the behavior might be detrimental to my professional reputation, trust, and create an example that later unethical behavior can be tolerated by my employer. Corn immediately relying on small deceitful acts, this will lessen the so-called moral compass of theirs and thus indulge in greater ethical abuse. Business-wise, all forms of unethical conduct may lead to losses of money, low morale and defeat some organizational culture.
To make a good ethical judgment, my decision was informed using several sources. To begin with, I took into consideration the code of conduct of my organization that places high importance on accountability. Second, I thought through ethical decision-making theories including the so-called utilitarian approach, when the course of action is judged by good and bad all in all. It was also good to consult a respected mentor and get some advice and point of view. Finally, I decided to submit my true hours, and I was doing so because of long-term professional integrity and honesty. It would not be related to short-term benefit.
Reference:
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2023). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (13th ed.). Cengage Learning.
