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Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
Instructor Manual
Chapter 6: Ethical Decision Making
CHAPTER 6 LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
6.1 Identify the different factors within the ethical behavior model.
6.2 Prepare and prioritize seven systematic rational ethical decision-making
process questions, then explain which of these three questions point the
decision maker in the direction of the most moral decision.
End of Chapter Question 2: What are the seven systematic rational ethical
6.3 Compare how the six ethical theories differ from one another.
End of Chapter Question 3: What are the strengths and weaknesses for each of the
six major ethical theories?
6.4 Apply the systematic rational ethical decision-making process to a business
issue.
End of Chapter Question 4: How would you apply the systematic rational ethical
6.5 Persuade someone who reasons according to an ethical theory different than
the ethical theory you normally use.
End of Chapter Question 5: How could you persuade someone who disagrees with
Instructor Resource
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
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6.6 Recognize warning signs that an unethical decision is approaching.
End of Chapter Question 6: What are some of the warning signs that an unethical
decision is approaching?
CHAPTER 6 OVERVIEW
This chapter explores a variety of factors that influence whether a person decides to behave
ethically or unethically, beginning with how ethical intentions are formed quickly, initially
defended, and then may be revised through a rational ethical decision-making process.
The first part of this chapter helps managers understand factors that shape ethical intuitions,
CHAPTER 6 LECTURE OUTLINE
Suggested Time: 2 to 3 hours of class time is recommended to present this chapter.
I. Chapter Question 1: Which individual, organization, and societal
characteristics affect the formation of a person’s moral consciousness?
Individual Characteristics (A)
Organization Characteristics (B)
II. Chapter Question 2: What are the seven systematic rational ethical decision-
making process questions, and which of these three questions point the
decision maker in the direction of the most moral decision?
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III. Chapter Question 3: What are the strengths and weaknesses for each of the
six major ethical theories?
Egoism
IV. Chapter Question 4: How would you apply the systematic rational ethical
decision-making process to reach a moral conclusion about a business issue
(e.g., install a regulatory “defeat device” in Volkswagen’s diesel cars)?
List the options under consideration
V. Chapter Question 5: How could you persuade someone who disagrees with
you about a business ethics issue (e.g., should you break confidentiality to
help boss soon to be fired)?
Ethical Applications: Achieving Ethical Consensus
VI. Chapter Question 6: What are some of the warning signs that an unethical
decision is approaching?
Beware when someone says:
1. It may seem unethical . . . but it is legal and permissible
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3. It may seem unethical . . . but it is just part of the job
4. It may seem unethical . . . but it is all for a good cause
7. It may seem unethical . . . but it doesn’t hurt anyone
8. It may seem unethical . . . but everyone else is doing it
CHAPTER 6 SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Textbook Inserts
Ethical Dilemma Analysis
• What Would You Do: Dismissal and Promotion Politics
Tables and Figures
• Figure 6.1: Ethical Behavior Model
• Table 6.1: Individual Characteristics
5. It may seem unethical . . . but I am just doing it for you
6. It may seem unethical . . . but I am just fighting fire with fire
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Self-Assessment (in Vantage only)
• Self-Assessment 6.1: Ethical Positions: Relativism and Idealism
Thematic Boxes
• Up for Debate: Gender and Ethical Decision Making
CHAPTER QUESTION 1: WHICH INDIVIDUAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, AND
SOCIETAL CHARACTERISTICS AFFECT THE FORMATION OF A PERSON’S
MORAL CONSCIOUSNESS?
BACKGROUND
As noted by business ethicist Marvin Brown, “Most people do what they think is right,
JAMES REST’S MODEL
James Rest, an educational psychologist, has developed a four-component model
sequentially showing that an individual is likely to behave morally if he or she
1. is aware that an ethical dilemma has arisen,
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHICAL BELIEFS AND ETHICAL ACTIONS
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• In general, ethical beliefs generate ethical intentions and result in ethical behaviors. But
there is typically a drop off going from one step to the next.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have each student reflect on a time when he or she observed another student cheating. Does the
student believe cheaters should be stopped? Did the student report the cheater? If the first answer
is “Yes” and the second answer is “No,” what prevented the student from doing the right thing?
• The research findings in Table 6.1 show the individual characteristics that have a positive
impact on ethical decision making.
o Age (mixed results)
o Decision style (balanced thinking better)
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
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Do students believe that: (a) older people are more ethical than young people? (b) educated
people more ethical than less educated people? or (c) women are more ethical than men? Why?
ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS
Ethical intentions and behaviors are also shaped by organizational factors. Researchers
have found four organizational characteristics associated with ethical behaviors:
1. Codes of ethics: The existence of a code of ethics is positively related to ethical
decision making.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Ask students: Do you believe small businesses behave more ethically than large corporations?
Why or why not?
SOCIETAL CHARACTERISTICS
An individual’s moral consciousness and ethical behaviors are also shaped by the society in
which he/she is raised and works.
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• Individualism versus collectivism refers to the extent to which people in a society feel
independent (individualism), rather than interdependent members of larger wholes
(collectivism).
• Long-term versus short-term orientation refers to the extent to which people in society
maintain some links with their own past while dealing with the challenges of the present
and future.
INDIVIDUAL’S MORAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Moral Consciousness Factors
• Moral awareness—sensitivity that situation has ethical dynamics
• Level of moral development—stages
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DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students think of two injustices they’ve observed or heard about: (1) an injustice when they
took some action to remedy, and (2) an injustice when they did not act to remedy.
Evaluate both injustices using the theory of planned behavior.
1. What were the student’s attitudes (strength of belief and evaluation of outcome) toward the
two injustices?
• Moral identity—moral self-image
• Ethical intuition—a quick insight independent of any reasoning process about right and
wrong. Ambiguous situations, where there is high uncertainty regarding people’s
motivations or the consequences of their actions, also tap into the decision maker’s
intuition.
o Professor Jonathan Haidt concludes that many ethical decisions are the result of
intuitive reactions rather than deep reflection. These gut reactions flow out of a
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Table 6.2 shows the ethical intuition value sets for liberals and conservatives.
This does not mean liberals and conservatives ignore the other political group’s values. They just
care more about their own political group’s values.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Present two contentious political issues to students, one that is of concern to liberals (such as
wanting to nationalize health care) and one that is of concern to conservatives (such as reducing
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Ask students if they classify themselves as liberals or conservatives, or if their parents are liberal
or conservatives. Ask the following: Which of the value sets in Table 6.2 resonates the most with
you or your parents? How does this political preference impact your and your parents’ views
about government regulation of business activities?
MORAL INTENSITY
Moral intensity refers to issue-related factors, rather than individual or organizational
factors, that are likely to determine the magnitude of a person’s moral approval or
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The legal system holds managers most blameworthy for physical harms to people. Less
blameworthy are psychological harms to people and physical harms to animals.
An issue’s moral intensity is likely to vary based on six factors:
1. Magnitude of consequences refers to the total sum of harms and benefits
2. Social consensus refers to the degree of social agreement that an act is good or
bad. Consensus can occur at two levels, on the broad societal level or within a
localized group of people. The strongest consensus occurs when both levels are in
agreement. Situations that violate social consensus have high moral intensity.
3. Probability of effect refers to the probability that an act’s effect will actually
occur or cause the predicted harm. Acts with a high likelihood of causing harm
have high moral intensity.
4. Temporal immediacy refers to the length of time between an act and the onset of
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students evaluate two public issues, one that is high on the political agenda (national health
care/reducing federal spending) and one that is not (implementing living wage regulation on the
national level) using the six moral intensity factors.
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Discuss the following: Do the six moral intensity factors differentiate why one issue is high on
the national agenda and the other issue is low?
ETHICAL JUDGMENT
• Initial judgments are based on intuition.
ETHICAL INTENTIONS
An ethical intention is determining mentally to take some action that is morally
When doesn’t ethical intention lead to ethical action?
Second doubts can arise and the decision maker may reanalyze the importance or
anticipated outcomes of some of the previous mediating factors between ethical beliefs
and intentions.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
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Have students think of a situation when they were absolutely sure they were going to take an
important ethical action, but then at the last moment decided not to. What obstacles arose at the
last second that prevented the students from taking action?
CHAPTER QUESTION 2: WHAT ARE THE SEVEN SYSTEMATIC RATIONAL
ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESS QUESTIONS, AND WHICH OF THESE
THREE QUESTIONS POINT THE DECISION MAKER IN THE DIRECTION OF THE
MOST MORAL DECISION?
Rational ethical decision-making frameworks help individuals analyze the ethical basis of their
VOLKSWAGEN SITUATION
• Volkswagen engineer from 2005 to 2015
• Authoritarian work culture
• Assigned to work on new “clean diesel” car that is eco-friendly
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SYSTEMATIC RATIONAL ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK
• The Rotary’s Four-Way Test is a very helpful list of questions. But they are not
philosophically systematic.
• The moral philosophy literature provides a more systematic approach for deriving moral
conclusions.
• Table 6.3 provides a systematic rational ethical decision-making framework that can help
management and nonmanagement employees reveal the ethical dimension of any
decision being made. A similar ranking of the ethical principles can be found in many
cultures.
Answers to Questions 1 through 7 can help gather the information necessary for performing
an ethical analysis. Based on this information, one can develop a decision that has the
strongest ethical basis.
1. Who are all the people affected by the action? (stakeholder analysis)
2. Is the action beneficial to me? (egoism)
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• If answers to Questions 2 through 7 are all “yes,” then do it.
• If answers to Questions 2 through 7 are all “no,” then do not do it.
• If answers to Questions 2 through 7 are mixed, then modify your decision.
o If answers to Questions 5, 6, and 7 are “yes,” this action is the most ethical.
o If answers to Questions 5, 6, and 7 are mixed, this action is moderately
ethical. Modify this decision in consideration of objections raised by
Questions 5, 6, or 7. You may need to further modify this decision in
consideration of any “no” answer to Questions 2, 3, or 4.
The answers to questions 5, 6, and 7 point managers in the direction of the most moral
decision. Doing something because the action is to the greatest good of the greatest
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Ask students to consider the following scenario: Assume you are a bartender. A very pregnant
35-year-old woman and her group of friends, previously served by another bartender, requests
another beer. Being a well-educated and ethically sensitive person, you realize this is an ethical
dilemma. You learned in school that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
determined that “There is no safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy. Women who are
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pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant should refrain from drinking alcohol,” which is when the
baby’s brain is being developed. According to the Mayo Clinic, approximately 40,000 babies are
CHAPTER QUESTION 3: WHAT ARE THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES FOR
EACH OF THE SIX MAJOR ETHICAL THEORIES?
The six ethical theories are ordered in Tables 5.3 and 5.4 beginning with the most basic ethical
theory (egoism) and ending with the most important and demanding ones (deontology and virtue
ethics).
Table 5.4 elaborates on the meaning of each ethical theory that appears in Table 5.3. These six
EGOISM
How does the action relate to me? If the action furthers my interests, then it is right. If it conflicts
with my interests, then it is wrong.
• Egoists tend to reason as follows: “I strongly believe that x is the best decision, because
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interest matter a great deal. According to Rand, the best thing for the common good is to
become an individual of high integrity willing to pursue one’s self-interests at all costs.
SOCIAL GROUP RELATIVISM
How does the action relate to my social group (peers, friends, etc.)? If the action conforms to the
social group’s norms, then it is right. If it is contrary to the social group’s norms, then it is
wrong.
• Social group relativists tend to reason as follows: “I strongly believe that x is the best
decision, because that is what my social group supports.”
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
How does the action relate to the national culture, particularly its laws? If the action conforms to
the law, then it is right. If it is contrary to the law, then it is wrong.
• Cultural relativists tend to reason as follows: “I strongly believe that x is the right thing to
do, because the law says so.”
UTILITARIANISM
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How does the action relate to everyone who is affected by it? If the action is beneficial to the
greatest number of people affected by it, then it is right. If it is detrimental to the greatest
number, then it is wrong.
• Utilitarians tend to reason as follows: “I strongly believe that x is the best decision,
because the consequences benefit the greatest number of people.”
• Utilitarianism serves as the foundational ethic for the political, economic, and business
systems in the United States.
o Democracy is utilitarian in the sense that everyone can state his/her preference and
DEONTOLOGY
Does the action treat every stakeholder with respect and dignity in all situations? Is the action
something that everyone should do? If yes, then it is right. If no, then it is wrong.
• Deontologists tend to reason as follows: “I strongly believe that x is the best decision,
because everyone has a duty to treat everyone else with respect in all situations.”
VIRTUE ETHICS
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How would a virtuous person act in this situation? If the act strengthens moral character, then it
is right. If it is contrary to moral character building, then it is wrong.
• Virtue ethicists tend to reason as follows: “I strongly believe that x is the best decision,
because that is what a person of high moral character would do.”
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students respond to the three scenarios in Table 6.5 The Trolley Problem. For Scenario 1,
tally how many students would pull the lever (utilitarian) or not pull the lever (deontology) and
discuss the results.
The six ethical theories parallel Lawrence Kohlberg’s six levels of moral reasoning discussed in
Chapter 1.
Table 6.6 shows:
• Stages 1 and 2 moral reasoning reflects egoism.