2 pages Ethics and the 21st Century Business Leader reflection paper

Ethical Behavior

People live in harmony within one community by upholding values that promote social welfare. Society has its way of formulating and implementing values, beliefs, and practices that foster peaceful coexistence. Ethical standards are moral principles that influence a person's behavior within a particular setting. People often face ethical dilemmas in which drawing the line between right and wrong is almost impossible. Such situations require critical thinking to balance personal and societal values (Friedman et al., 2019). This paper presents an excellent example of an ethical dilemma I was involved in resolving a few months ago.

My best friend (Joanne) invited me to a birthday party at their home in November last year. She had invited more friends at the party, including people from her childhood. The event was supposed to be fun and the perfect environment to get acquainted with more friends. However, Joanne was about to be surprised. One of her childhood friends, Mike, showed up to the party in the company of a lady whom both of us knew very well. Her name is Michele, our supervisor's wife of five years. Joanne and I were surprised when Mike introduced Michele as his fiancé, yet we had not heard about our supervisor getting divorced. Michele hastily put an end to the talk and pulled Mike away, leaving Joanne and myself surprised. The party continued till late into the night when all guests left. I also left after promising Joanne we would talk about what happened with Michele and Mike the next day at work.

The following day Joanne did not show up at work, so I called to find out if everything was okay. She told me she could not come to work to avoid revealing to our supervisor about his wife's relationship with another man. Mike had also called Joanne early in the morning asking for any red flags to watch out before marrying Michele. Joanne explained to me that Mike should know the truth about his fiancé, but she didn't know how to break the news to him. I informed our supervisor that Joanne would not make it to work due to a personal emergency. Joanne and I met at her house later that evening to deliberate on the way forward. We agreed that Michele’s behavior was unacceptable, but neither one of us could inform Mike nor the supervisor. Joanne decided that she would confront Michele about the matter rather than break the news to the two men involved. According to Joanne, Michele was responsible for the mess; thus, she was obligated to come forward with the truth.

In my opinion, I believe that Joanne's decision was valid and ethical; lying to promote the greater good is justified (Lupoli et al. 2017). Our supervisor deserved to know his wife was dating another man, and Mike deserved to know that his fiancé' was married to another man. However, breaking the news to either of the two men would possibly break a marriage and create hostility between friends. Furthermore, it was not right to tell Michele's story without knowing the events that led to the situation. Our supervisor has always been very professional and rarely brings personal issues at work. How then could Joanne tell him that his wife was engaged to another man? Michele was the common factor between Mike and out supervisor; thus, confronting her was the most appropriate approach to the ethical dilemma.

Many people can argue that Joanne’s decision to withhold information from our supervisor and Mike was unethical. Honesty is a core element of ethical conduct, yet Joanne lied to her childhood friend. Although lying is considered unethical, Joanne's decision, in this case, was justified. Prosocial lies told to persons we value are considered ethical (Lupoli et al. 2017). Marriage and love affairs are sensitive and complicated scenarios posing ethical dilemmas in which nobody should intervene unless requested. In Michele's case, she should bear the burden of breaking the terrible news about her relationship with the two men involved. I firmly believe that Joanne did the right thing confronting Michele rather than talking to Mike or our supervisor.

References

Friedman, H. H., Friedman, L. W., Frankel, M. R., & Amoo, T. (2019). Enhancing Critical and Ethical Thinking with Scenarios. Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management, 7(1). 7-29 https://doi.org/10.22381/PIHRM7120191

Lupoli, M. J., Jampol, L., & Oveis, C. (2017). Lying because we care: Compassion increases prosocial lying. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146(7), 1026. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000315