What are some ethical dilemmas in business? As an ethics speaker and business ethics consultant and author of books on ethics, I feel that one of the major dilemmas is that otherwise decent people override common sense and cave-in to the temptation to do bad.
Call it rationalization if you will, but in this age of corporate social responsibility, diversity, equity and inclusion, strict laws against bribery and accounting fraud, rationalization is the last thing any employee should be guilty of practicing.
Classic excuses justifying ethical dilemmas
There are numerous ways in which the unethical voluntarily lose their sense of right and wrong. In my more than 25-years of experience as a business ethics motivational speaker, I will share that invariably people know they are committing “crimes” however the dilemma these individuals face is the way they often justify such behavior under the mantle of “well, everyone is doing it.”
That said, let me review and comment on the ways in which people take a perfectly obvious situation of “right and wrong,” and rationalize it into a “dilemma.”
- “I was unaware.” This type of rationalization is almost always shot down in a court of law. Most of the time miscreants are aware – or to be charitable, “suspiciously aware” that what they’re doing is wrong.
- “I didn’t know I was being offensive (racist, sexually-abusive, homophobic, anti-Semitic, etc.)” Entire companies have been brought down due to endemic behaviors that have no business in the workplace. None. Whether this behavior is tacitly approved from the top-down, or bottom-up it is repugnant. If the rationalization is peer pressure, there should be no moral or ethical dilemma at all.
- “My manager made me do it.” It is a certainty that if an employee finds themselves in a dilemma forced upon them by management, they will lose. Neither the law nor media will be sympathetic. It is a toxic ethical environment.
- “I saw an opportunity and I seized the day.” An employee intelligent enough to exploit a weakness in the system for financial gain has little rationalization in which to justify “a moral dilemma.” For example, as an ethics business consultant, I have observed numerous cases of illegal bribe taking between vendors, third parties and executives. They explained their dilemma by saying they seized an opportunity to increase sales. It is an illegal practice no matter how it is portrayed.
- “I was led astray.” Whether being led astray by peers, vendors or upper management, the dilemma of taking the wrong path is impossible to justify.
- “We train workers on safety.” Dangerous work situations cannot be justified. Whether a lack of proper equipment, overwork, hazardous situations, poor drug or alcohol monitoring, a manager responsible for the injury or death of a worker because of deadlines or budgets or non-reinforced training will suffer major consequences.
- “I didn’t think anyone would check.” The misrepresentation of credentials always comes back to haunt executives and workers. The dilemma is often caused by “risk.” For example, “If I lack a degree, I risk losing this opportunity.” Sooner or later, misrepresentation will result in termination or lawsuits or legal action.
Tip of the ethical iceberg
The ethical dilemmas that are often rationalized can also include the improper use of social media, invading the confidentiality of co-workers, imitation or producing phony documents (recently seen in the Theranos scandal) and espionage of the company (often seen to gain insider information).
In every case, employees faced an ethical dilemma and they wrongly chose. When organizations lack ethical training and the reinforcement of that training, wrong choices and their rationalization rule decision making. Those poor business ethics choices almost always lead to terrible consequences.
Ultimately, the question being asked shouldn’t be, what are some ethical dilemmas in business? Rather, how could you rationalize the unethical behavior?
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