Personal Ethics Development Paper

University of Phoenix Material

Key Terms

Ethical Terms

Character: Moral actions based on duty-driven ethical principles. These include trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship (Josephson Institute, 2009).

Ethical System: Underlying ethical principles, which a person uses to make decisions

Ethics: “The principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing an individual or organization” (Treviño & Nelson, 2011, p. 17); ethics form the basis for determining the correct action, or moral behavior, in a particular situation.

Morals: Actions based on one’s underlying ethical principles

Values: Those things or actions upon which the individual or organization spends time and money

Ethical Systems

Duty-based: A moral obligation or commitment to act in a certain manner, with clear right and wrong being determined by an outside authority

Entitlement-based: Moral decisions are based entirely on what is in the best interest of the individual, regardless of relationships, the needs of others, or business.

Goal-based: Focuses on the outcome or final purpose, which may be localized, as in business, or universal, as in feeding all the hungry children in the world

Humanistic (secular humanism or human nature ethics): Beliefs based on the extremes of human behavior, both good and bad, without the direction of an outside authority

Relativistic: Relativism often uses the personalized approach to ethics. It is subjective and focuses on personal experience as a form of judgment, and many different factors play a role in determining how a person uses this system. There are no absolutes within this type of ethical approach.

Rights-based: Certain things are acceptable in a community because the majority of people in the community agree the behavior is acceptable. Consider laws and civil rights.

References

Josephson Institute (2009). Six pillars of character. Retrieved from Josephson Institute Web site: http://josephsoninstitute.org/sixpillars.html

Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.