An Exploration into the Relationships of Ethical Decision Making and Moral Reasoning Among IT Specialists with Ethics Training, Education, and Ethical Leadership

Author(s):  
Kerri Lynell Wood
2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1671-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Weber

Focusing on millennials, individuals born between 1980 and 2000 and representing the largest generational population in our history, this research seeks to understand their ethical decision-making processes by exploring the distinctive, yet interconnected, theories of personal values and cognitive moral reasoning. Utilizing a decision-making framework introduced in the 1990s, we discover that there is a statistically supported relationship between a millennial’s personal value orientation and stage of cognitive moral reasoning. Moreover, we discover a strong relationship between three of the four value orientations and a corresponding stage of cognitive moral reasoning. The theoretical and practical research implications of our discovery about millennials’ decision making are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimin Rhim ◽  
Ji-Hyun Lee ◽  
Mo Chen ◽  
Angelica Lim

The autonomous vehicle (AV) is one of the first commercialized AI-embedded robots to make autonomous decisions. Despite technological advancements, unavoidable AV accidents that result in life-and-death consequences cannot be completely eliminated. The emerging social concern of how an AV should make ethical decisions during unavoidable accidents is referred to as the moral dilemma of AV, which has promoted heated discussions among various stakeholders. However, there are research gaps in explainable AV ethical decision-making processes that predict how AVs’ moral behaviors are made that are acceptable from the AV users’ perspectives. This study addresses the key question: What factors affect ethical behavioral intentions in the AV moral dilemma? To answer this question, this study draws theories from multidisciplinary research fields to propose the “Integrative ethical decision-making framework for the AV moral dilemma.” The framework includes four interdependent ethical decision-making stages: AV moral dilemma issue framing, intuitive moral reasoning, rational moral reasoning, and ethical behavioral intention making. Further, the framework includes variables (e.g., perceived moral intensity, individual factors, and personal moral philosophies) that influence the ethical decision-making process. For instance, the framework explains that AV users from Eastern cultures will tend to endorse a situationist ethics position (high idealism and high relativism), which views that ethical decisions are relative to context, compared to AV users from Western cultures. This proposition is derived from the link between individual factors and personal moral philosophy. Moreover, the framework proposes a dual-process theory, which explains that both intuitive and rational moral reasoning are integral processes of ethical decision-making during the AV moral dilemma. Further, this framework describes that ethical behavioral intentions that lead to decisions in the AV moral dilemma are not fixed, but are based on how an individual perceives the seriousness of the situation, which is shaped by their personal moral philosophy. This framework provides a step-by-step explanation of how pluralistic ethical decision-making occurs, reducing the abstractness of AV moral reasoning processes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Djuwari . ◽  
Tatik Suryani

How to make ethical decision making is very important in many aspect managerial process, because its implication can impact many other activities. Research found that many unethical behavior in business process is caused by unethical decision making. The recent research indicates that gender has important role in decision making process. The research is aimed to examine the effects of gender in decision making process in management. Beside it, the research also wants to examine the influence of moral reasoning to ethical decision making. Research involved 105 respondent from many non profit organizations located in East Java. By using t-test, the result reveals that there is significant difference between women and man in decision making. Women more ethical in decision making than men, in some aspect. Women more commit to autonomy, equality, win-win principle and moral integrity. By using simple regression analysis, the result indicates that moral reasoning influences significantly to ethical decision making. This research support the previously research that is conducted by Glover (2002) which the culture setting similarly with this research. The result can't be separated by the Indonesia cultural that expect women more ethical, obedience and respect to moral value.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Alastair Coldwell ◽  
Robert Venter ◽  
Emmanuel Nkomo

Purpose While the problem of unethical leadership is undoubtedly a global one, the urgency of generating ethical leadership to advance the development of Africa has never been more evident than it is today. The challenge for higher education in developing ethical leaders is of core importance, as it is responsible for providing the main recruiting ground of business leaders. The current paper reports findings of a qualitative study of postgraduate students’ ethical development at the end of courses in business ethics aimed to enhance moral reasoning and ethical decision-making. The paper aims to ascertain whether stand-alone ethics courses are more effective than integrated ones in achieving academic ethical competency. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts an idiographic approach which aims at eliciting individual student subjective perceptions of the effects of the direct and indirect courses of ethical instruction on their moral reasoning and ethical practice. The research design broadly follows Mill’s (2017) method of difference. Findings Findings indicate perceived differences in the relative effectiveness of stand-alone and embedded ethics courses among students but also show that most students hold positive overall evaluations of the effectiveness of the both types of ethics instruction. Research limitations/implications Limitations to the study include that it is cross-sectional, involves a small sample of postgraduate students and is restricted to two management courses at one institution of higher learning. Furthermore, while Mill (2017) provides a useful research design in this context, it is not able to indicate causality, as there are other possible unidentified “third variables” that may be the actual cause of student differences between embedded and stand-alone ethics courses. The study is not able to show the durability and transfer of ethical competencies into students’ later working lives. Practical implications The study provides a useful practical educational contribution to the extant knowledge in the field in that it suggests that ethical courses aimed at giving students a moral reasoning “toolkit” for ethical decision-making are more effective when delivered in the stand-alone format, whereas practical decision-making skills are best honed by embedded business ethics courses. Social implications The problem of corruption in business and politics in South Africa is widely documented and has been regarded as responsible for creating a serious developmental drag on the alleviation of poverty and quality of lives of the majority of people in the country. The moral/ethical competency and behavior of future business leaders is partly the responsibility of institutions of higher learning. The study aims to find the most effective means of imparting moral awareness in postgraduate students who are likely to take up business leadership positions in their future careers. Originality/value The study provides useful contribution to the extant knowledge in the field in the African context in that it suggests that ethical courses aimed at giving students a moral reasoning “toolkit” for ethical decision-making are more effective when delivered in the stand-alone format, whereas practical decision-making skills are best honed by embedded business ethics courses.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-126
Author(s):  
Deborah S. Mower ◽  

I develop a taxonomy of various approaches to leadership which I label the ethical decision-making, managerial obligation, role typology, and creativity conceptions of leadership. Each approach makes distinctive assumptions about the task and educational responsibilities in educating for ethical leadership. Although each of these approaches are extremely valuable, I find them limited in that they all rely on what I call an agentic model. Using the concepts of choice architects and choice architecture from nudge theory, I argue for a new metaphysical model—a systems-design model—that captures the complex and interactive dynamic of a host of metaphysical entities and contextual factors. This new metaphysical model of the context of leadership and the function of leaders within it yields a theory of leadership, which I dub the ethical systems-design conception of leadership.


Author(s):  
Maria A. Leach-López ◽  
Claire A. Stammerjohan ◽  
William W. Stammerjohan ◽  
Megan M. Leach

A study to measure ethical decision making of Mexican business students compared to their US counterparts. Results suggest that Mexican students’ ethical decision-making frameworks differ from those documented by Keller et al. (2007) in their study of US students. Mexican students were not found to be highly religious, but subscribed more to utilitarian, deontological and hermeneutical frameworks for their ethical values. It is suggested that multinational firms doing business in Mexico might want to schedule ethics training of managers and to have a set of standards that employees can follow.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1587-1602
Author(s):  
Gulhan Erkus Kucukkelepce ◽  
Leyla Dinc ◽  
Melih Elcin

Background: Nurses and nursing students increasingly confront ethical problems in clinical practice. Moral sensitivity, moral reasoning, and ethical decision-making are therefore important skills throughout the nursing profession. Innovative teaching methods as part of the ethics training of nursing students help them acquire these fundamental skills. Aim: This study investigated the effects and potential benefits of using standardized patients in ethics education on nursing baccalaureate students’ moral sensitivity, moral reasoning, and ethical decision-making by comparing this method with in-class case analyses. Research design: This is a quasi-experimental study. Participants and research context: The sample comprised 89 students in Hacettepe University’s Faculty of Nursing. Following lectures describing the theoretical components of ethics, students were randomly assigned to two working groups, one using standardized patients and the other using in-class case analyses. Data were collected using the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, Rest’s Defining Issues Test, and the Nursing Dilemma Test. All data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 23. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval and official permission were obtained. All participating students completed informed consent forms. Findings: According to the results, the moral sensitivity of students in the standardized patient group significantly improved over time compared to those in the case analysis group, while the mean scores of students in both groups for moral reasoning and ethical decision-making were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Based on our results, we recommend the use of both standardized patients and case analysis as appropriate teaching methods in ethics education.


Author(s):  
Kadri Simm

ABSTRACT Ethical decision-making during humanitarian medical response is a topic of great moral as well as practical importance. The context of humanitarian disasters, often characterized by acute time-pressure, lack of resources, the unfamiliarity of circumstances, is stressful for medical professionals. The overall aim of this article is pragmatic, to introduce briefly the importance and context for preparing medical disaster response personnel for ethical decision-making and then to provide a discussion case and explain the particular value-reflection methodology. The focus of methodology is on providing space for the emotional and stressful aspects of ethics training for disasters.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document