Three Types Of Ethical Decision Making

I work for a manufacturing company that makes infant formula and nutritional drinks. The dilemma that I faced was making a decision about shutting down or continue running a manufacturing line because our equipment was not working correctly. This dilemma also included not having supervisor present that day and making a decision that is well above my job responsibilities. That day I was with a group of eight other peers which all have more experience than me in the manufacturing line. However none of my peers wanted to make a decision whether to continue running or shutting down the line.
The solution that I proposed and later instated was to shut down the manufacturing line until the equipment was fixed. The first step I took was recognizing …show more content…
The one I was most influenced by was ethical thinking. According to Lattal (2013), ethical behavior is categorized by requiring that all the interests of all affected individuals to be taken into consideration and that the choices made must be compared and measured against the standards of society, culture and the company. This type of thinking is based on doing what is right for the biggest number of individuals. When I put myself in the position of the customer who is the end user, I did not feel like being responsible for making a product that might not meet the standards that the customer needs. My decision was based on doing what was right for the customer and not my employer. Critical thinking is defined as possessing the ability to remove all emotions from an issue and observing the facts to make a logical decision and avoid making a mistake (Fallon, 2014). I did not make a decision right away. Instead I thought about what my options were and the pros and cons of every decision. Once I was able to analyze my choices objectively, I was able to remove my emotions and make the decision that made the most sense. Lastly I used strategic thinking to come up with a decision as well. Strategic thinking involves using business strategies that have a greater chance of success (Stanleigh, 2016). Strategic thinking is about defining what one should do and explaining the why of the decision. I made this decision …show more content…
Using all three types of thinking, I was able to formulate a solution to the problem. Although other people collaborated with me, I was able to make my own decision. Collaboration is important in making decisions and can often be a very powerful tool to influence decision making. A communication strategy and a strategic course of action were also made because of the impact of my decision. It is moments like this, that I can apply business knowledge to find a solution that yields such positive