Personal & Business Ethics Dominion in Partnership with Junior Achievement of Central Virginia

What Does Ethics Mean to You? 2

Right vs. Wrong Decisions Where Did They Go Wrong? 3

What ethical dilemmas do you face? 4

What do ethical dilemmas have in common? “Right vs. Right” decisions as opposed to “Right vs. Wrong” decisions. True ethical dilemmas involve situations that:  May not have an obvious easy answer  May be resolved through one or more “right” decisions, but usually you only have the option to choose one  Involve balancing the rights of multiple parties and potential benefits or consequences to multiple parties  Resolution requires choosing the “nearest” right given the circumstances 5

The Four “Right vs. Right” Dilemma Models Truth vs. Loyalty Individual vs. Community Short-term vs. Long-term Justice vs. Mercy 6

What Would You Do? You are taking an Algebra exam and you notice the person next to you is cheating off of your paper. You have studied very hard for this exam because you want to maintain good grades and eventually go to college.  How do you feel about someone cheating off your work?  What would you do?  How could this affect you and the person cheating in the short term and in the long term? 7

What Would You Do? You work in the Human Resources Department at a local company. While processing paperwork, you learn that a co-worker (and friend) in another department needs to take a medical leave of absence. Your friend has not told you about her condition, but you want to call her and let her know that you are concerned and to offer your help.  Is it okay to call her?  Why or why not? 8

What Would You Do? You have worked as a bank teller for several months when one of the other tellers who has become a good friend tells you that her daughter is extremely ill and that she must have an operation to survive. She also tells you that she has no insurance and the operation will cost $10,000. Sometime later you ask her about her daughter and she tells you she is just fine now. She then confides in you that she took $10,000 from a dormant account at the bank to pay for the operation. She assures you that she has already started paying it back and will continue to do so until it is all returned.  What do you do? 9

What Would You Do? You've been studying for the SAT really hard in order to get into college. Your parents, who never went to college, are very proud and are telling all their friends that you will be heading off to college in the Fall. but with the test only days away, you have not been scoring well on the practice exams. Your friend offers you some ADHD pills that he takes to help you "concentrate". What can it hurt? You heard everyone else is doing it.  What do you do? 10

What Would You Do? You just got your drivers license and your parents let you drive the car to a party with your friend. But the party was getting out of hand, too much drinking and some other inappropriate behavior. As you're getting ready to leave another friend asks for a ride, some guys have been bothering her. But as you know, you are only allowed to take one passenger.  What do you do? 11

What Would You Do? You are part of a small team working on a very important and time consuming project. Everyone on the team has worked diligently and contributed to the project's success. Upon completion, you overhear one team member take credit for the bulk of the work to their supervisor. Do you confront the fellow employee right then, talk to them at a later time, address your concern separately with a supervisor, ignore the situation...  What do you do? 12

What Would You Do? You read a friends FaceBook post... it is a very negative, aggressive and threatening post about another student at your school. You notice the additional comments, below the post, are hurtful and defamatory as well. Do you confront your friend about their cyber bullying, talk to a parent or school official, ignore the situation...  What do you do? 13

What Would You Do? In your spare time at work, you have developed a new spreadsheet program on the personal computer in your office. It is even more powerful, yet easier to use than anything on the market. You share your new program with a friend who encourages you to market it on your own because you could probably make an incredible profit in a very short time. This is a very attractive option, yet you developed it using company equipment and during time that you were at work.  What do you do? 14

What Would You Do? You are the buyer for a retail-clothing store. Your store has a policy of not accepting gifts. However, over the years, salesmen have offered, and other employees have accepted lunch, theater and baseball tickets. You arrive home from the office and find a new TV and DVD player on you doorstep with a note that says: “A personal gift for our long standing friendship. Enjoy it with you family in good health. The Jones Clothing Company”  What do you do? 15

What would you do? You manage a team of seven people at a local office of a financial services firm. You have just been made aware that there are going to be layoffs in your division and you will need to reduce your staff from 7 to 5. You have not yet been given permission to tell your staff. All of your team members are high performers and all equally deserving of keeping their jobs. One of your employee tells you that his wife is expecting and they have started looking to buy a house. He trusts your advice very much and asks for your thoughts about neighborhoods, types of homes, etc. You want to tell him to hold off on making this type of big decision right now because of potential layoffs, but you can’t due to company confidentiality?  What do you do? 16

What would you do? Several members of a varsity sports team skipped school, obtained alcohol, spent the day getting drunk, and then returned to school in time for the bus ride home. The district tournament is the following week. Without the participation of these players, the team will surely lose. Also, many of these students come from troubled homes where alcoholism is a problem.  What would you do as a student who was aware of this?  What would you do as a member of the school administration? 17

What would you do? A man is transporting his wife, who is in labor, to the hospital, when he sees blue lights in his rear view mirror. He looks down at his speedometer and notices he is going 80 mph through a residential neighborhood where children are playing in the street. He is forced to stop by a policeman who realizes the situation and ultimately provides an escort to the hospital. The driver was breaking the law and driving recklessly.  What does the police officer do in the end in terms of giving him a ticket? 18

Strategies for Handling Ethical Dilemmas Analyze the Consequences – Who will be helped? – Who will be hurt? – What kind of benefits and harms will result? – Consider both long term and short term consequences Analyze the Actions – Legal vs. illegal, ethical vs. unethical – Are there more than two possible actions that could be taken? Make a Decision – Would you be comfortable reading about your decision in the newspaper? 19