MODULE 2

WHAT ARE MORAL

DILEMMAS

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WHAT IS DILEMMA?
A dilemma is a situation where a
person is forced to choose between two
or more conflicting options, neither of
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which is acceptable.

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DEFINITION OF MORAL DILEMMAS
• A moral dilemma is a situation in which a decision-
maker must give preference to one moral principle
over another (Kvalnes, 2019)
• A moral dilemma is a situation in which people
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assume that they should morally do one thing and that
they should morally do another thing, and occasionally
a third thing or even a fourth thing, but they're not
doing any of these mutually contradictory choices
together. (Kurie & Albin 2007)
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The above definitions characterized moral dilemma or
ethical dilemma as:
• Making an option to one moral value over the other;
• A situation where moral values are equally significant;
• A scenario where a person has a strong moral reason in
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action, but not equally strong moral reason in acting in
another way;
• A state where a person should morally do one, two, or
more and have difficulty in deciding any of those
conflicting choices. 4
THREE LEVELS OF MORAL DILEMMAS
1. ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICAL OR MORAL
DILEMMA
There are common ethical issues in the organization such as;

1. Unethical leadership/bad 4. Unrealistic and

leadership behavior. conflicting goals
5. Use of the organization’s
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2. Toxic workplace culture.
3. Discrimination and technology, social media
harassment/ Peril of use, technology, and
employee favoritism. privacy concerns.
6. Business travel ethics.

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INDIVIDUAL MORAL DILEMMA
As mentioned by Smith (2018),
individual ethical or moral dilemma
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pertains to a situation where individuals
confront with a number of factors such as
peer pressure, personal financial
position, an economic and social status
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STRUCTURAL MORAL DILEMMA
There are five concepts in the structural moral dilemma
to consider namely:
(1)Differentiation vs. Insert
Integration
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• The conflict between the distribution of jobs and
the organization of numerous activities generates a
classic dilemma.

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(2) Lack of Clarity vs. Lack
(3) Excessive
of Creativity
Autonomy vs.
When employees are not
Excessive
clear about what they are
Interdependence
expected to do, they often
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When individuals or
adapt their tasks to personal
groups are too
interests instead of system-
independent, they are
wide goals that often lead to
always isolated.
problems.
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