Ethical Decision Making

Abstract

Moira is facing an ethical dilemma that is causing her to question her future with her current employer. This paper will address the available options that Moira has to choose from when reaching her resolution.

Moira's Ethical Decision

Moira has been employed for a home decorating manufacturing company for about four months. Moira has noticed that a lot of her co-workers do not take their job positions seriously. In the past few months, she has noticed a few patterns. Individual are reporting to work late on a daily basis. People are using company equipment like computers and telephones for personal use. They are surfing the internet when they should be working. She has even noticed someone intoxicated on the job. There has even been talk of theft in the company. This type of behavior is disturbing to Moira because she is an honest, hard-working individual who expects the same from her employer and her co-workers. She has reported this behavior to her supervisor, but because he wants to be liked by his employees, her concerns are often overlooked. At this point, Moira is starting to lose interest in being employed by this company.

She is now faced with many ethical decisions. She is so frustrated that nothing is being done to address her concerns that she has even considered following the crowd, and not working at her full potential. Of course, this would be the most unethical choice. This is one of the reasons why many companies have adopted a code of ethics. (Goree, 2007) This is a set of rules that employees are expected to follow. According to Goree, more than eighty-five percent of American businesses use a code of ethics. With employee thefts on the rise, this is a much needed practice. The annual costs of employee thefts outweigh the costs of shoplifting in retail stores. (Goree, 2007) Moira does not want to take this route because she knows what is morally right and what is morally wrong. She considers herself to be a respectable individual, therefore this is definitely not an option for her.

Research has proven that Americans spend at least seven hours of each work week not doing what they are supposed to be doing. (Goree, 2007) This is actually a form of stealing. You are being paid for work that you are not performing. Moira has already brought all these unethical actions to her supervisor's attention and did not receive the reaction that she was hoping for. Because of this, she has considered reporting this information to her supervisor's boss. However, this option would result in increased tension between her, her supervisor, and her co-workers. This would cause her to be uncomfortable at work, but at the same time, she must consider the fact that she is already uncomfortable at work.

Moira has worked hard to get where she is today. It would be unfair for her to have to quit her