Ethical literature review

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 5

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach

Rakesh Gupta

Dr Rakesh Gupta, Faculty, (Industry Expert), National Institute of Bank Management and former General Manager, Punjab National Bank.

In today's highly challenging environment, bankers are faced with several ethical dilemmas. In this article the issues related to ethics in

banking have been explained using the principles that govern ethical power in organizations. The article also explains the practice of ethics

with reference to governance, trust, supplier relations, customer relations, employee relations, etc. The strategies for resolving ethical

dilemmas has been explained using a three step process.

Introduction At present, bankers are faced with a highly challenging environment. They are

presently subject to greater scrutiny and high demands from all stakeholders – the government, the customers, the employees, the society, and the regulator. Bankers are required to assume new functions and responsibilities as a result of new norms, laws, and roles.

The challenge of today's economic scenario and the various ethical lapses that occur in financial institutions call for a more sophisticated approach in managing day to day work in the banks. Managers make decisions on a daily basis and that has an effect on the future of their organisation. Not only does their decision impact their own jobs and livelihood, it also has consequence (positive or negative) for business as a whole. Similarly, officials engaged in public service need to follow a strict code of ethics. In fact, it is a prerequisite for engendering public trust and fostering good governance. Citizens expect public servants to serve with fairness and to manage public resources ethically.

Management of ethics forms a critical component of safeguarding individual and groups from the potential negative consequences of poor management decision making. Some decisions, however, involve choices that could impact people inside or outside the organisation in potentially negative way. In these instances, businesses must have a leaders who can make ethical choices that put people ahead

6 Vinimaya, Vol. XL, No. 1, 2019-20

of bottom line. Management ethics is concerned with the role of leaders in protecting their suppliers, employees, customers and society as a whole from negative consequences that could arise from actions taken during the course of business.

Ethics needs to be practiced in business and it is the responsibility of every manager to ensure adherence to ethical principles. Managerial ethics provides the framework that guides managers on how to act in business activities. Corporate governance provide systems and methods for performing such actions, while managerial ethics gives 'modus vivandi' (Latin phrase meaning "mode of living" for achieving excellence) and corporate governance provides modus operandi for doing so. Ethics is a matter of values that guides how to behave. Ethics is the basis on which governance can succeed. These are standards that can be applied to personal behaviour. Ethics distinguishes between the 'right' and the 'wrong' ways for providing the direction to our behaviour in personal and professional life.

The story of the Mahabharata has often been cited as a failure of ethical norms in the face of power-hungry, egoistic people fighting against each other. The dignity of an innocent lady could not be prevented by the senior people in the family. In the end, it was the metaphysical power possessed by Lord Krishna that ensured that the lady's dignity was protected. In a similar vein, bankers are often seeking answers from the Almighty for getting solutions to their ethical issues. A senior banker remarked: "Time has come for managers of corporate world to look for support from one's inner conscience while undertaking the business of banking."

Ethics is one of vital components that allows democracy to thrive in any country. Ethics in government is critical to realising the promise of democracy. In democracy, Government has an obligation to treat everyone equally and to provide the greatest good to the citizens. For effective operation of a democratically elected government, public officials and employees belonging to the institutions run by the Government must be independent, impartial and act in a responsible manner towards the people and public offices shall not be used for personal gains. This is not easy since public servants are functioning in a challenging environment, wherein they are presently being subjected to greater scrutiny and increased demands from citizens. They are also facing a severe crunch on the resource availability and having to do more with less. While profits have become important in today's world, the scrutiny that bankers need to withstand while discharging their duties has increased manifold. The balance between ethics and profits is always a very delicate one.

Ethics in Banking Ethics in banking must be firmly anchored on four pillars

First, banks must comply with all laws, rules and regulations that are usually framed in any country to ensure soundness of operation and to enhance confidence of the society.

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 7

Second, banks must ensure fair and equitable treatment to all stakeholders, such as investors, depositors, borrowers and employees.

Third, banks must ensure full, truthful and transparent disclosures of their financial health.

Fourth, banks must behave as socially responsible corporate citizen. Social responsibilities must be viewed from wider prospective, taking into account the impact of banks activity on growth, employment and poverty alleviation as well.

Some of the following do's and don'ts can serve as guidelines for bankers faced with ethics-related challenges in present times:

Do's Ensure a fair return to the depositors and safety of deposits.

Minimize spread between cost of funds and lending rates.

Engage in transparent accounting practices.

Comply with all laws, rules and regulations promulgated by relevant regulatory authorities.

Develop effective risk management systems.

Treat clients with courtesy.

Offer services promptly.

Make proper use of information and communications technology to enhance efficiency in providing services.

Protect minority shareholders' interest.

Set up management systems which clearly specify the functions of the Board, key management personnel such as the Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, Company Secretary, Heads of Divisions and Departments, etc.

Treat employees fairly and compassionately.

Arrange for requisite employee training.

Ensure non-discrimination in personnel practices and support employees' and their family members' access to basic health, education and housing needs.

Finance activities which contribute to environmental protection, employment creation, poverty alleviation and women's empowerment.

Devise innovative products without assumption of undue risk.

Arrange flexible mortgage payments in the housing sector for tge poor.

Try to expand operations to unbanked or under banked sectors, regions and population groups.

8 Vinimaya, Vol. XL, No. 1, 2019-20

Emphasize recovery, but with a human face.

Develop an internal code of ethics and set up an institutional arrangement to monitor compliance and suggest remedial actions, where needed.

Don'ts Don't reschedule loans at the last moment to enable powerful, but delinquent borrowers to participate in elections.

Don't permit sexual discrimination with respect to depositors, borrowers and employees.

Don't be lavish in branch decorations and perks for board members and senior management personnel.

Don't engage in unhealthy competition to steal qualified employees or wean away depositors from other banks.

Don't engage in collusive interest rate fixing.

Don't finance activities which aggravate pollution, employ child labour and injure human health.

Don't finance unsustainable bubble in real estate or stock prices.

Don't bow down to illegitimate pressures exerted by political personalities, bureaucrats or musclemen.

Don't appoint pliable auditors to prepare opaque, non-transparent financial reports.

Don't be an accomplice to money-laundering activities or illicit trade.

An ethical approach should ensure that the actions are not harmful to others and not undertaken in self-interest. Unethicality begins when a narrow prospective is taken and self-centred-ness creeps into decision making. How do we operationalize the concept of values in business?

The following five principles focus on ethical power in organisations:

Purpose: The organisation is governed by values, norms and practices that help us to determine "what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour"

Pride: We take pride in being a part of organisation, and this pride can ensure that we can resist the "temptation to behave unethically"

Patience: We believe that holding on to our ethical values lead us to success in long term. This involves maintaining balance between "obtaining results and caring about how the results are achieved"

Persistence: We have committed to live on the basis of ethical principles and make sure that our actions are consistent with our purpose. In terms

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 9

of ethical behaviour persistence means "sticking to your core values" and keeping your commitment while making your action consistent with your guiding principles." Being an ethical person means behaving ethically all the time, not only when it is convenient.

Perspective: It is the capacity to see what is really important in any given situation. That is why 'Perspective' is the HUB around which other Ps rotate. Taking a perspective view becomes crucial while taking decisions in order to ensure that the decisions are taken from an ethical point of view.

The Interrelationship between Five Ps

Every problem can be solved if you take some time to reflect, seek guidance and put things into perspective. The compromise in ethics can occur in organisations when the following holds true: "impatience in attaining the goals at any cost."

If we take care in the beginning, the end will take care of itself;

It is better to light one candle, than curse the darkness;

True patience and pride in one's values is what needed in today's dynamic world.

Ethics is a matter of values and associated behaviour, values are discerned through process of ongoing reflection. However, the most important aspect from ethical management is process of reflection and dialogue that produces positive deliverables.

Ethics in Business In an organisation diverse groups of employees work across the various

geographies and divisions. In order to ensure alignment with a common set of values and promote ethical practice a common 'code of conduct' is created. The aim is to sensitise employees to ethical norms and minimise the chances of unethical behaviour occurring in the organisation.

10 Vinimaya, Vol. XL, No. 1, 2019-20

Business leaders in the banks are preoccupied with quarterly earnings, profits, non-performing assets and there is little time to think about 'role of enterprise in society'. There is much less room for ethics in business today, than during the previous era. Corporate interest in managing ethics began a few decades ago when businesses decided that they needed to encourage all their managers and employees to act ethically and follow rules. It is unfortunate that progress towards defining good ethics gradually turned to management of compliance with regulations rather than the ethics of doing things in the right spirit of ethical conduct.

To be honest we all are responsible for failure to ensure ethics is followed in letter and spirit in matters of corporate management. Most corporate leaders today believe ethics means obeying the law and avoiding behaviour that offends customers or causes an outrage among the general public. There are many reasons for this sad state of corporate ethics.

Several changes in the macro-environment have resulted in our business leaders' ethics being put to test. The high level of competition and the intrepid and aggressive competitors have led to lesser scope for 'always doing the right thing'. The shareholders' expectations are rising with every passing day and the providers of capital are seeking higher returns and short term pay offs. The investor has little tolerance for company policies of engagement with and contribution to community and other non-shareholder stakeholder. The lure of attractive bonus payments based on the profits has resulted in a change in perspective among senior executives who are willing to throw caution to the wind in their quest for earning higher and higher bonuses. The influence of global/multinational company policies has resulted in greater pressure on the labour force to deliver higher productivity and operational targets resulting in poor work-life balance.

There are number of reasons why businessmen should act ethically:

To meet stakeholders expectations (and protect business reputation).

To prevent harm to general public.

To build trust with key stake holder.

To protect themselves from unethical employees and competitors.

To protect their own employees.

To create an environment in which workers can act in ways consistent with their values.

A corporate culture that lays emphasis on short term returns becomes immune to ethical compromises made by manager for the sake of higher profits. Many incidents in recent years demonstrate that corporate ethics are weak even in reputed and 'ethical' workplaces.

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 11

Ethics and Governance The core of a successful management lies in its Clarity of Vision, Plan of Action

and more importantly execution of the Plan of Action – the real gamut of operations as it were, and it is here that the importance of corporate governance and ethics comes into play.

Organisations are managed by policies, systems and processes. These are dynamic instruments, and therefore, need to be reviewed from time to time to gauge their efficacy. This review is all the more necessary when a lapse or an untoward incident takes place. It could happen that the review undertaken reveals that the said policy is very much proper and has been well-crafted but over a period of time certain improper practices have got incorporated and vitiated the otherwise 'ethical' process. In such situations, the reasons for the problems need to be studied first, and thereafter corrective steps need to be taken forthwith. Normally, decisions are being taken within the framework of the policies and guidelines in place. Now, there could be critical situations where in the policy in question would need to be slightly deviated from, in order to take the right decision, the best interests of the organisation must be kept in mind.

In such situations, a very clear and precise note should be brought out giving the reasons which necessitated the said deviation from the policy. The said note should also contain the implications to the organisation if the decision was not taken. This would serve as a very transparent and an objective analysis, bringing out the need for deviation from the policy on this 'case specific' issue, whereas the said policy in principle would continue on an as is where is basis. The two major reasons for ethics and governance failures have been 'excessive greed' and 'excessive leverage'. The moot point is whether these two need to be completely done away with? If so, what is the antidote for aggressive growth and competition? If not, how are these to be kept within controllable limits and yet higher growth achieved?

It is here that business ethics and corporate governance need to be focused on. Independent Directors are expected to be 'watchdogs' for raising an alarm at the first sign of ethical compromises and governance failures. They can at best be accused either of 'lack of commitment to the cause' or consciously or otherwise overlooking the 'slip' that has taken place. While they may not have initiated the actual wrong doing, conspiracy, collusion or fraud but they are expected to blow the whistle loudly at the first sign of danger. It has to be understood that they, the Independent Directors, cannot work as investigators as they are very much part of the decision making process in the organisation.

As such, each Member of the Board has a key role to play and an important/ sacred responsibility to deliver, and therefore, they need not get unduly overawed or paranoid by size of the organisation or any extraneous situation that they are faced with. They need to bring their special expertise and experience on corporate issues to the Board, and always, to keep 'stakeholders' interest' in mind. They

12 Vinimaya, Vol. XL, No. 1, 2019-20

need to set and follow policies pertaining to 'conflict of interest'. All Directors must therefore be 'above Board' with respect to their ethical standards. The goals of the Promoters and Directors being the 'long term sustainable wellbeing' of the organisation. It should be noted that 'ethics and corporate governance' are not just moral or compliance issues. In the long term they are essential behavioural traits for all the members of the organisation which help to strengthen the organisation's 'brand equity' and help ensure stable and sustainable growth.

Ethics and Trust From the perspective of the firm, ethics is closely associated with trust. Most

people will agree that in order to develop trust, behaviour must be ethical. While ethical behaviour is not sufficient to gain trust, it is necessary.

Trust as expectations of technically competent performance and trust as expectations of fiduciary responsibility. Both types of trust apply within and among businesses. People hired to work are expected to be competent. They also represent the interests of the business when they deal with external stakeholders. Much business is done relying on a person's word, a handshake, or the expected honesty and decency of the other party. Trust in the business setting reduces costs, makes life more pleasant, and improves efficiency.

Trust is composed of three fundamental elements:

Predictability,

Dependability, and

Faith.

Predictability tends to eliminate surprises, which are not usually welcome in the business environment. Dependability provides assurance that one can be counted on to perform as expected. Faith is the belief that one will continue to be predictable and dependable.

The need for trust arises when you face some type of risk. Trust in person or a firm is developed based on experience over time. As one gains positive experience and develops trust in another, the perceived risk of dealing with the party declines. Thus trust is a risk-reducing mechanism.

Trust in Supplier Relations Suppliers, often called vendors, provide the firm with the products and services

it needs for conduct of business. These include, but are not limited to, raw materials, products, communication services, consulting services, financial services, accounting services, and computer services. Thus suppliers are important stakeholders of an organisation.

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 13

A business often deals with some of its suppliers over an extended period of time, developing symbiotic relationships. Purchases move from a series of discrete transactions to an ongoing buyer-seller relationship which is referred to as an exchange relationship.

An exchange relationship is based on trust between both parties that each will honour her or his commitments and thus minimize surprise. Trust increases efficiency in exchange as each party gains faith that the other will act in a predictable and dependable manner.

A buyer earns a supplier's trust when good credit standing is maintained, and all commitments are honoured. A supplier's trust is lost when a buyer engages in "sharp" (questionable) practices such as playing off one supplier against another in an effort to gain a price advantage.

Trust in Customer Relations Honesty is expected and is required to maintain trust. Competence is also a

prerequisite of trust. Customers rely on sales people as sources of information concerning new and existing products and services. Sales people also must be able to provide information regarding shipping alternatives and arrival dates. An incompetent sales person who cannot provide the needed information is of no value; trust becomes a moot point. A customer orientation makes the buyer the number-one priority, which increases buyer satisfaction and thus trust. If sales people are given stiff targets and stringent measures are taken against those failing to meet the targets, they may be tempted to engage in mis-selling or making false promises to customers while selling so that they can achieve their targets.

Trust in Employee Relations Trust applies to peers as well as to superiors and subordinates. A climate of

trust provides improved communications; greater predictability, dependability, and confidence among employees.

Factors that promote trust among employees:

Open communications;

Giving workers a greater share in the decision making;

Sharing of critical information;

True sharing of perceptions and feelings.

By making work meaningful, employees develop an internal commitment to their job. They determine the best way to get the job done and take ownership in the quality of the results. They are able to see and develop a pride in their accomplishments. This is possible because an atmosphere of trust promotes a sense of self-efficacy, and trust rests on a foundation of ethical behaviour.

14 Vinimaya, Vol. XL, No. 1, 2019-20

An ethical working environment can be created by:

Make the decision to commit to ethics.

Recognize that you are a role model by definition, by action , and by values.

Assuming responsibility for instilling ethical behaviour.

Articulate your values.

Train the staff.

Encourage open communication.

Be consistent.

Abide by laws of land.

Enforcing Strong Ethical Values Establishing strong core values will help organisations avoid an ethics violation.

Here are some of the possible core values that can be of help:

Honesty: be courageous and tell the truth. Do not try to cover up mistakes or colour the truth. This is tough for people belonging to certain professions who are being paid large fees for perfect work. It is difficult for employees in many organisations to admit a mistake.

Integrity: do what you think is right under the circumstances. Be willing to suffer another's disapproval. Revenue generation is one value, but you must look at the entire situation holistically. It is difficult to make everyone happy all the time and still maintain your integrity.

Caring: be compassionate with yourself and those around you. Care about other people and be empathetic about their situation and position. Try to look at the situation from the other person's perspective. Think about others and the effect that will have on them.

Impartiality: don't decide matters if you have a personal interest in the outcome. Don't invest in a client's or supplier's stock. If you have any concern about a potential conflict of interest, don't act. Disclose the potential conflict at a minimum and seek guidance.

Gifts: don't give a gift to someone to gain an unfair advantage or accept a gift from someone who you supervise unless it's small in value so that your impartiality cannot be questioned.

Appearances: don't forget the smell test. If you feel awkward about doing something, the odds are that you shouldn't do it. Learn to trust your gut instincts and ask yourself what will be your response if others questioned your behaviour. This is difficult to do under stress.

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 15

It is expected that an employee should exhibit following values under all circumstances:

Respect confidential information to which you have access,

Maintain high standard of professional responsibility,

Avoid being placed in situation involving conflict of interest,

Act with integrity,

Do not discriminate as a result of your bias

Maintain professional relations based on mutual respect for individual and organisations

Be committed to the goals of the organisation

Do not give up your individual professional ethics

Emotional Intelligence and its Impact on Ethical Decisions Emotional intelligence is what allows us to step back and review the

consequences of a decision using our emotions as a point of reference rather than as a basis for the decision. The great thing about emotional intelligence skills is that it can be evaluated and strengthened at any time.

Some great emotional intelligence skills:

Emotional Self-Awareness: Ability to know what you are feeling and why

Self-Directed: Ability to be self-directed in your thinking and actions

Problem solving: Ability to solve problems that involve emotions and to use your emotions as a problem -solving tool

Unbiased approach: Ability to see things as they really are. This is the ability to be well grounded and level headed even under stress

Control over impulsive action: Ability to control a temptation to say something or act. People with good impulse control have a capability to 'not say the first thing that comes into their head'. Ethical decision making requires thought and analysis before action.

Ten Myths about Business Ethics Several myths have been perpetuated about business ethics. They include:

Myth 1: Business ethics is more a matter of religion than management.

Myth 2: Our employees are ethical so we don't need attention to business ethics.

Myth 3: Business ethics is a discipline best led by philosophers, academics and theologians.

16 Vinimaya, Vol. XL, No. 1, 2019-20

Myth 4: Business ethics is superfluous – It only asserts the obvious "do good".

Myth 5: Business ethics is a matter of good guys proceeding to the bad guys.

Myth 6: Business ethics in the new policeperson on the block.

Myth 7: Ethics cannot be managed.

Myth 8: Business ethics and social responsibilities are the same thing.

Myth 9: Our organisation is not in trouble with the law so we are ethical.

Myth 10: Managing ethics in workplace has little practical relevance.

Actually ethics is always managed but most often not in the proper manner. For example, the behaviour of the organisation's founder or current leader has a strong moral influence. Strategic priorities (profit maximisation, expanding market share, cutting costs etc.) can have very strong influence on morality, law, regulation and rules directly influence behaviour to be more ethical usually in a manner that improves the general good and/or minimize harm to the community.

Six pillars of characters developed by the Josephson Institute of Ethics are:

(a) Trust worthiness: Honesty, integrity, promise keeping, loyalty

(b) Respect: Autonomy, privacy, dignity, courtesy, tolerance, acceptance

(c) Responsibility: Accountability ,pursuit of excellence

(d) Caring: Compassion, consideration, giving, sharing, kindness, loving

(e) Justice & Fairness: procedural fairness, impartiality, consistency, equity, equality,

(f) Civic Virtue & Citizenship: Law abiding, community service, protection of environment

Compose your code of ethics, and attempt to associate with each value and remind employees about importance of these values to self, society as well as to the organisation because strong core values and emotional intelligence provide us the strength and foresight to make the right decision.

Ethical Dilemmas Business ethics is portrayed as a matter of resolving conflict in which one appears

to be in a dilemma i.e. whether or not to lie, steal, cheat, abuse, break terms of contract, etc.

Ethical dilemma is always a conflict between 'economic priorities versus social obligations'.

Economic priorities are focussed toward maximisation of profit, cost cutting etc. While social obligations are towards the employer, general public, customers, distributors, suppliers, etc.

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 17

An ethical dilemma is a moral situation in which a choice has to be made between two equally undesirable alternatives. Dilemma may arise out of various source of behaviour or attitude. For instance, it may arise out of failure of personal character, conflict of personal values and organisational goals, organisational goals versus social values, etc.

In order to fulfil the tenets of ethics, each situation will have its own dilemma so the people need to decide on the basis of several considerations. The following examples will help to offer greater clarity:

1. Stealing is always wrong while letting one's family die because of starvation is also wrong. Under such situations one could be forced to commit one wrong to avoid committing other

2. A production manager, when asked to produce a commodity by his company may face an ethical dilemma, when he knows that it will harm a large number of consumers who buys and uses the particular commodity.

3. A pensioner approaches a banker for putting his money in bank term deposit in last week of financial year. The banker was under tremendous pressure for achieving his 'third party product' business since he will get a reward of a foreign trip with his family. The Pensioner appears to be the saviour for the banker. Now he faces ethical dilemma to put money in term deposit as requested by customer or guide him for investment in mutual funds where return is not guaranteed but long term returns are usually better than bank FD interest.

4. A customer approaches for a product or service from us today. After telling him our price he said he could not afford it .I know he can get it cheaper from our competitor. Should I tell him about competitor or let him go without getting what he needs? What should I do?

How to Resolve an Ethical Dilemma Ethical issues take centre stage in an organisation today as managers, executives

and employees face increasingly complex decisions. Most of these decisions are made in an organisation environment with different value systems, moral philosophies, competitive pressure and political ideologies, all of which provide ample opportunities for misconduct and compromise on ethical values.

There are two basic approaches to resolve ethical dilemma - Deontological and Teleological. Under Deontological (action -oriented) approach, an ethical standard is consistent with the fact that it is performed by a rational or free person. If we follow this approach we can end up with a narrow focus. We confront such questions as: Which actions are inherently good? Does it respect the basic rights of everyone involved? Does it avoid deception, coercion and manipulation? Does it treat people equitably?

18 Vinimaya, Vol. XL, No. 1, 2019-20

The other approach to ethical dilemma and their resolution lies in Teleological (result-oriented) ethics. This approach to ethics takes pragmatic, common sense, and a layman's approach to ethics. According to this school of thought the moral character of actions depend on the simple, practical matter of the extent to which actions actually help or hurt people. Actions that produce more benefit than harm are 'right' while those that don't are 'wrong'. Both these approaches provide complementary strategy to resolving ethical dilemmas.

Three Step Strategy for Resolving Ethical Dilemmas The 'Centre for Ethics and Business' offers a brief 'three-step strategy 'in which

both these approaches converge.

Step 1. Analyse the consequences While resolving ethical dilemmas one has to look at the consequences that would

follow one's proposed actions. Before one acts, the answer to the following questions will help find the type of action that can be contemplated:

Who are the beneficiaries of your actions?

Who are likely to be harmed by your actions?

What is the nature of the 'benefits' and 'harm'?

How long or how fleetingly are these benefits and harms likely to exist?

The answer to the aforementioned questions is important because some benefits may be more valuable than others while letting one enjoy good health is better than letting one enjoy trivial pleasure. Likewise, some harms are less harmful than others.

Step 2. Analyse the action Once you identified the best possible option, concentrate on the actions. Find

out how your proposed actions measure against moral principles such as 'honesty, equality, respect for the dignity and rights of others and recognition of the vulnerability of people who are weak etc. Then there are questions of basic decency and general ethical principles and conflicts between principles and the rights of different people involved in the process of choice of the options that have to be considered and answered in one's mind. After considering all these principles and issues in the various options, it is sensible to choose the one which is least problematic.

Step 3. Make a Decision Having considered all factors that lead to choices among various options, analyse

them carefully to take a rational decision. This three step strategy should give one at least some basic understanding to resolve an ethical dilemma.

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas – A Practical Approach 19

In the book titled 'The Power of Ethical Management' by Norman Vincent Peale & Kenneth Blanchard the authors have articulated three questions one should ask oneself whenever faced with an ethical dilemma and grapples to find a solution for it.

The ethical-check questions are:

Is it legal? Will it violate any civil or criminal or common law or company policy? If it is not legal, it is not ethical for those directly or indirectly involved?

Is it balanced? Is it fair to all the parties concerned both in short term as well as in long term? Is this a win -win situation for all?

Is it right?

How will it make you feel about yourself?

Will it make you proud?

Would you feel good if your decision is published in newspaper?

Would you feel good if you family knows about it

Most of the time, when dealing with ethical dilemmas, 'just one of these questions may crop up. But by taking time to reflect on all the three, you will often find that answer is very clear.

References

1. Business Ethics and Corporate Governance by A C Fernando

2. Business Ethics - A GLobal and Managerial Perspective by David J Fritzsche

3. The Power of Ethical Management by Norman Vincent Peale & Kenneth Blanchard

4. The Ethics in Management (Vedanta Perspective) by S K Chakraborty

5. BBC -Ethics - Introduction to Ethics

6. Ethics in Banking -The Daily Star (Mirza Azizul Islam)

7. Core Values and Emotional Intelligence by Bernard Knight

Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.