Scenario 1: You do not know the
associate and have no additional
information other than her explanation
before leaving.
Scenario 2: The associate is an excellent
professional who has served the
organization well. The associate has a very
sick child at home.
Scenario 3: You have the same
information provided in Scenario 2, but
with a twist: The associate is a close friend
of yours, someone who brought you to
this organization and has helped you in the
past. Your children frequently play together.
You are so close to this associate that
you may be the only person who knows
that the child is seriously ill and the child’s
treatment has greatly strained the family’s
financial resources.
Background for the Study
The purpose of our pilot study was
to collect preliminary data on ethical
decision-making. We wanted to investigate
ways in which particular personality
traits (those related to accommodation,
a person’s tendency to serve and agree
with others) have an impact on the ethical
decision-making of HR professionals.
As a preparation for a larger study
scheduled for spring 2014, however, we
also collected data on a second variable:
closeness. Specifically, we wanted to know
how a person’s level of closeness (defined
as the proximity he or she feels toward
the people involved in a situation) affects
the ultimate decision made.
We often start workshops or
presentations on ethics in the workplace
by asking one question: Are you ethical?
Most people see this as an easy question
with an obvious answer. Of course I am
ethical. Aren’t you? Ethical decisionmaking, however, can be surprisingly
complex. First, most of us do not struggle
with simple yes/no ethical questions
(for example, Will I or will I not steal my
colleague’s purse?). Instead, the types of
www.HRCI.org
questions confronting HR professionals
are moral dilemmas — tough and serious
ethical problems that cannot be solved by
blind application of legal or organizational
rules. Moral dilemmas, by definition, have
multiple answers. Any of those answers
could hurt someone — badly.
Second, sound ethical decision-making
depends on far more than good intentions.
Instead, ethical decisions are affected
by multiple variables, such as the stage
of moral development, preferred moral
decision-making framework and closeness
to the situation or to the individual(s)
involved.
Stages of moral development.
Renowned psychologist Lawrence
Kohlberg (1976) identified six stages
of moral development. A young child is
likely to base a moral decision on the
avoidance of punishment (that is, “I won’t
do something that will get me in trouble”).
Mature adults, on the other hand, tend to
select other sources of moral guidance,
such as living up to the expectations
of others (stage three), following a
social contract (stage five) or observing
self-imposed ethical principles (stage
six). An important caveat: Not all adults
reach the mos Ё