Ethical Decision-Making Process: How to Make Ethical Decisions

In business, ethical decision-making is a strategy that prioritizes moral principles as a set of standards, rather than economic considerations, for making business decisions. Businesses that value ethical behavior may consider several ethical values, including how their actions reflect upon themselves and how their decisions affect the company, its employees, and the greater community or world. Common ethical issues in business include environmental concerns, employee well-being, operations transparency, product honesty, and customer satisfaction; many ethical dilemmas in business weigh these variables against economic growth.

Ethics philosophers have created dozens of models to help guide ethical decision-making, each with varied considerations and concerns. For example, consequentialist theories (like the utilitarian approach or the common good approach) center mainly on the consequences of actions, while non-consequentialist theories (like the duty-based approach or the rights approach) instead center on the intentions of the decision-maker or ethical obligation.

Though there is not a single framework for making ethical decisions, each ethical decision-making model incorporates these four core steps:

1. 1. Identify the facts. To make a good decision about an ethical problem, you must first verify that you have all the facts. This means basing your choices on verified events, details, and actions rather than a gut feeling, intuition, personal experience, or emotions. In addition, consider your ethical awareness; think through every angle of the situation and determine if you are missing a key point of view. When identifying the facts of a particular situation, you may find that it’s best to bring all the affected stakeholders together in a meeting to decide as a team.
2. 2. Lay out all possible options. Once you have the facts of the situation, outline all possible options for the business decision. Be open and honest about each option, regardless of its perceived ethicality. Also, be aware of any aspects you may have overlooked in the situation and take time to brainstorm possible solutions you may not have considered.
3. 3. Sort options by implication. Once you have outlined all of your options in the ethical decision-making process, it’s time to consider the effects or consequences of each option. Consider the following questions: Which options have the greatest benefit (or the greatest good) for the most people? Which options have the fewest negative consequences (or do the least harm) for the most people? Which options benefit your company the most or the least? Which options are in line with your company values? Which options reflect your personal values or ethical standards? Which options do you consider ethical actions, and which do you consider unethical? Why or why not?
4. 4. Weigh your considerations. After you’ve thoroughly considered the implications of each option, decide which ethical principles are most important to your company and which are least important—this is your framework for ethical decision-making. Ethical choices value variables like widespread good, honesty, transparency, fairness and equality, rights, and duty. Decide which model of ethics is right for you and your company, and move forward with the strongest ethical course of action in your situation.

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