ETHICAL

DILEMMA

)
ETHICS

Ethics is the study of what is right or wrong in

human conduct. It is a branch of philosophy
dealing with what is morally right or wrong.
CLEAN
AIR

CLEAN
WATER
DILEMMA
 A dilemma is a situation in which two or more
options for actions, representing
varied interest, seem equally
arguable, and where the decision
is important but neither clear
nor simple.
 A situation involving choice

between equally unsatisfactory

alternatives.
ETHICAL DILEMMA
 Ethical dilemmas are common occurrence in the
workplace.
 Ethical dilemmas are situation involving

conflicting morals claims.

 Ethical dilemma is a situation of difficulty in

which one is presented with two equally good or

equally bad options and correct decision is not
immediately apparent.
EXAMPLES
 Your colleague Mr. A (great friend of you) told you In
confidence that he is leaving the firm next week and is joining
rival firm . On the same day, your boss informs you that he is
not promoting you but to Mr. A . Now what would you do?

 A senior manager enters an accountant’s office and asks for a

check for Rs 5000 for expenses, he tells he incurred
entertaining a client last night. He submits receipts from a
restaurant. At the lunch hour, the manager’s wife stops to pick
him up for lunch and the accountant overhears her telling
receptionist what a great time she had at dinner with the
manager last night. What the accountant supposed to do?
SOME TYPICAL SOURCES OF ETHICAL
DILEMMAS

Conflict of personal and professional values

Choice between two actions having equally
favorable or unfavorable elements in decision
One’s values and moral principles versus the
perceived role of a task.
FEATURES OF ETHICAL
DILEMMA
 Extended consequences
 Have multiple alternatives
 Have mixed outcome
 Uncertain consequences
 Have personal implication
CASE
One of the problems the
.
LAEL MATTEWS has had
to deal with in trying to
climb the corporate ladder is
the glass ceiling faced by
minorities and women. And
now, in her current position,
she must decide which of
three managers to promote, a
decision that, as her superior
has informed her, could have
serious repercussions for her
future. The following people
are the candidates.
RESOLUTION OF ETHICAL
DILEMMA
Resolution of an ethical dilemma could not be fixed
line of ‘right or wrong’ approach except that one
should be on the right side of the law if there is any
law concerning or prohibiting the action involved in
the ethical dilemma. This is not to say that it is
always morally be wrong to break law.
Common steps in resolving ethical
dilemmas
 Identify the moral issues
 Analyse the consequences of the issues
 Examine options for various alternatives
 Examine the alternatives in the light of the ‘principles

of ethics’
 Make the final decision.
THEORIES TO SOLVING
ETHICAL DILEMMAS
CONSEQUENTIAL NON CONSEQUENTIAL
THEORIES THEORIES

With consequential theories, According to non-consequential

actions are judged by theories, a factor or factors other
outcomes. If an action results than the outcome should be
in a positive result, it is morally considered when faced with an
right. If not, it is wrong. ethical dilemma.

•SINGLE RULE
•EGOISM
•MULTIPLE RULE
•UTILITARIANISM
•SITUATIONAL
Consequential theories
 Egoism – An act is moral if it promotes your best
long-term interest.
 Utilitarianism – An act is moral if it produces the

great ratio of good to evil for everyone.

 Situational – An act is moral if it creates the greatest

amount of love.
Non-consequential theories

Single rule

 Golden Rule – An act is moral if you treat others the

way you would wish to be treated.
 Categorical Imperative (Kant) – An act is moral if

you would wish that everyone behaved in the same

manner.
Multiple rules
 Prima Facie Duties (Ross) – An act is moral if you fulfill

your duties; if there is conflict, fulfill the duty to which you

are most obligated. Prima facie duties include, but are not
limited to: fidelity, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-
improvement, and non-injury.
 Maximin Principle of Justice (Rawls)– An act is moral if it

provides an equal amount of liberty for you and others, except

when social or economic inequalities exist. In that case, the
worst-off in society should benefit more from the act.
 Proportionality (Garrett)– An act is moral if, in engaging in

it, you don’t will a major evil to you or anyone else and if you
don’t will, risk or permit a minor evil to yourself or anyone
else without a proportionate reason.
CASE
ANTHONY SOOHOO, COFOUNDER AND CEO
OF DOT & BO
“During my time as a product manager on Apple’s PowerBook
team, we were gearing up to launch a new product. As part of
testing, we had found that a very small sample size was flawed
and could be harmful. I was under tremendous pressure to
make a decision on whether or not to hold off bringing the
product to market. And there were good arguments on both
sides.”
 On the one hand, the defected sample size was small and not
statistically significant, and millions of dollars would be lost
by holding off shipment. On the other hand, Soohoo believed
the long-term impact risk was high.
“If the flaw was bigger than we thought, it could have created a
huge loss of trust with our customers,” he says.
CASE
Tata Motors was unethical in their approach and is to be
considered a villain?

The ethical challenge faced by Tata Motors in Singur was

whether shifting or locating business at the cost of the society
was right or wrong. The main motive of any business is to
make profits and if the company shifts to any another location
after investing money in building a manufacturing plant in
singur, it would be a huge cost for the company. The
relocation cost as estimated by the company was about
Rs2000 crore. There was also a lot of delay in starting of the
manufacturing of Ratan Tata’s dream car.
Tata group has built over the years an outstanding image and it
has always been considered as a socially responsible group.
Tata’s name has always been associated with ethical practice,
philanthropy and nation building but when the singur farmers’
interest was projected, Tata’s name was reflected just as a
villain. But Tata Motors while going through most of the
chaos and violence at singur maintained silence on the issue
and delegated the voice in the matter to the West Bengal state
government. Tata Motors did various employment-enhancing
and community-training programs for the locals, women’s
employment, and set up health care clinics at singur. Thus, the
focus of the company seems to be at performing Corporate
Social Responsibility at Singur even before the construction of
the factory.
THANKYOU