As the world becomes more complicated, the need for ethical business choices comes to the fore. Decisions by corporations can affect the world positively or negatively on an ever-increasing scale. The five steps of principled reasoning bring some order and meaning to a topic that may be too open to interpretation. Having a clear process for ethical decisions removes bias and provides a streamlined path to business improvement.

As a business owner, the easiest way to design this process is to shorten it to five steps and three simple questions. The five steps are:

1. Clarify

2. Evaluate

3. Decide

4. Implement

5. Monitor and modify

The three litmus questions for the evaluation are:

Are you treating others as you would like to be treated?

Would you feel comfortable if your reasoning and decision were published?

Would you feel comfortable if your children were watching you?

(Josephson Institute of Ethics, 1999)

It can be difficult to balance the pressures of company growth and profits with making decisions that benefit everyone and not just a few. The Ethics Scorecard Rulebook, a project of ProEthics of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, outlines five major steps in ethical decision-making. Complicating the situation even more is trying to ensure that everyone within your company operates with your ethical ideals in mind. By using the Josephson Institutes guidelines, one can begin to develop a standard for ethical decision-making and, in turn, create a template for others to follow.

“The foundation of ethical decision making involves choice and balance; it is a guide to weed out bad decisions in favor of good ones” (Chmielewski, 2004).

The first step is to clarify what decision you are making. What are all your options to solve the problem? Remove any of the illegal or unfeasible options first. Then decide on three ethically clear options. Review them and decide what ethical principles are involved in each of your options.

Next, you will evaluate and see if any of the options require the sacrifice of any moral principles. Look at each option and decide what the benefits, burdens, and risks are to the business and consumers. Decide whether your evaluations are based on facts or beliefs, unsubstantiated conclusions, or opinions. Determine if all sources of information are credible.

Once you thoroughly evaluate all of your options, it’s time to decide what are the best options for the future. Think about the remaining options according to your conscience. Prioritize your values ​​so that you can decide which of those options to present and which to discard. Find out who will benefit the most and who will be hurt the least by your choice. Think about the worst case scenario and how to avoid it.

Once you’ve deeply examined all aspects of your options, made a decision, and set a direction, you’ll implement your choice. Implementation is best done by developing a plan for how to update your decision and following through with it.

The final steps in ethical decision making are to monitor and modify. This can be done by tracking the effects of the decision you have made. An important part of modification is being willing to change your plan or try another idea entirely. Following your plan will allow you to adjust accordingly to any additional information. Projecting potential problems is not foolproof, and reacting to problems in real time is the only way to ensure that your best intentions succeed.

The three questions are a quick litmus test of how you feel about the choices you are potentially making. By reviewing them and assessing your feelings about the answers, you can quickly determine if the decisions you’re making feel like a bad moral choice. It can lead to a red flag and allow you to slow down and further explore your possible options.

It is almost impossible to know from applications or work experience if a potential employee will share the same business ethics as the employer. Therefore, it is up to the employer to educate their employees detailing their own expectations and procedures for dealing with ethical decision making. Helping them understand and use this method will keep your company in line with ethical standards (Mayhew, 2017).

Chmielewski, C. (2004). Values ​​and culture in ethical decision making. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Values-and-culture-in-ethical-decision-making.aspx

Ethics Scorecard Rulebook, a project of ProEthics, Ltd. Josephson Institute of Ethics. “Five Steps of Principled Reasoning”. 1999.

Mayhew, R. (2017). What challenges does a business face related to ethics? Retrieved November 16, 2017 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/challenges-business-face-involving-ethics-20160.html