The
objective evidence is compelling... --
ethics are essential for successful,
enduring enterprise. Commerce and industry
of all kinds thrive and prosper on the basis
of trust, respect, and integrity. Everyone
in every organization of every type wants
their leaders to be men and women of
character. Similarly, every leader wants
their subordinates to be trustworthy, loyal,
and conscientious. However, we know
that character, like competence, is not
bestowed. It must be developed --
continuously. Yet, there are a few
institutions that invest in character
development -- overwhelmingly organizations
and corporations focus their developmental
programs on competence.
The consequences of neglect for character
development are manifest at every level of
leadership and management (from the loading
docks to the boardrooms). This observation
is supported by studies and is frequently
front-page news when scandals such as the
Enron and WorldCom debacles come to light.
Most observers react by calling for severe
consequences for perpetrators, stricter
rules, rigid enforcement, etc. While these
measures may be necessary and could reduce
the incidence of misconduct, they will not,
by themselves, prevent unethical practices.
People of character do what is right because
it is right -- such people need not be
deterred by negative consequences, they are
motivated by the positive consequences that
ensue from ethical practices.
Len Marrella is a certified trainer from the Institute of Global Ethics. This program on the nature of ethics and ethical decision making and been designed by the Institute for Global Ethics for use with adults in a business setting. It is based on Rushworth M. Kidder's book How Good People Make
Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical Living (Simon and Schuster, 1995). The program takes participants through a series of logical steps so they can independently apply specific decision-making tools to any ethical issue they might encounter. The process works best in a small-group or classroom setting.
Goals of the Ethical Fitness Seminar
- To cultivate an awareness that sound ethics is essential for survival in the 21st century.
- To provide a language for talking about ethics and to encourage discussion of ethical issues.
- To provide practical experience in negotiating a set of values that reflects a group's common ethical ground.
- To promote Ethical Fitness by providing practical tools to use in dealing with difficult dilemmas.
Intended Learning Outcomes
As a result of this program, participants should be able to:
- Understand the changing role of ethics in a technologically driven world.
- Use ethics terminology in a clear and consistent manner.
- Broaden their understanding of the difference between right and wrong and of the concept of right-versus-right ethical dilemmas.
- Analyze right-versus-right dilemmas using four paradigms and develop an ability to resolve them using three decision principles.
- Define moral courage and identify how moral courage plays a part in decision making.
Overview of Seminar Contents
The Ethical Fitness(tm) Seminar has been organized into a series of four basic sessions. The four sessions build on one another, so it is important to follow them in order. The sessions include:
Session I: Ethical Awareness
What is our nation's ethical barometer doing - is it rising or falling? That is, ethically speaking, are things getting better, or are they getting worse, and why? What do we, as citizens, need to do about it?
Let's consider the basic challenge: How will technology in the 21st century magnify the importance of ethical behavior? Why is personal responsibility more important now than ever before? What do we mean by "ethical relativism" and "obedience to the unenforceable?"
Session II: Values Definition
Ethical values are different from other kinds of values, such as economic values or artistic values. How are they different? What are codes of ethics and what function do they play in bringing groups of people together?
Is there a core of shared ethical values on which our group can agree? That process described in this session will take the group through a series of steps to build the group's own code of ethics.
Session III: Ethical Analysis
The most difficult ethical dilemmas occur when two of our core ethical values come into conflict. How do we know when we have a right-versus-right dilemma? What types of right-versus-right dilemmas can we observe?
In our experience, right-versus-right dilemmas, however complex and varied, typically reduce themselves to one or another of four dilemma paradigms: truth versus loyalty, the short term versus the long term, the individual versus the community, and justice versus mercy.
Session IV: Dilemma Resolution
It is not enough simply to understand what kind of ethical problem we are facing. How can we approach identifying the higher right? What series of steps can lead us to a resolution?
In this session, we explore three decision-making principles drawn from the traditions of moral philosophy. We call them the Ends-Based, Rule-Based, and Care-Based principles.
Ethical Fitness, the overall objective of this workshop, is like physical fitness - it needs to be practiced to be learned. Our ethical values need to be acted upon, and sometimes this requires moral courage.
