Personal Ethics Development

Every individual and organization has their own ethical system that they live their lives following. The ethical system could be a duty-based in which you act by a clear right or wrong determined by an outside authority, Entitlement-based in which decisions are based on the best interest of the person, Goal-based in which they think about the outcome. We will look at my ethical system and what my ethical system was built by. Then we will look at my ethical system in the workplace and a specific instance in which I have had to use my ethical system. Finally we will explain ethics in an organization and how it can affect the individual, organization, and society. Let us first look at my ethical system and how it has affected my life.

My underlying ethical system primarily is a duty-based ethical system. A duty-based ethical system ethical system is one in, which you act in a certain manner. Acting in that certain manner you must have a clear right or wrong which is determined by an outside authority. What outside authority has laid the framework which makes the clear right or wrong choice? The moment you are born your parents start to lay the frame work for your ethical decisions. Along with teaching me basic right and wrong decisions my parents took me to church which where a large part of my ethics are developed. Growing up with my parents and church giving me the framework for my ethical system I entered the Air Force, which continued to grow that ethical system and revised some of my thinking. The largest item that has changed my ethical system would be working as a firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT). Your ethical system is tested every time you put on that uniform and go out to help the public.

When you put on the uniform of a firefighter or EMT the public expects you to have a good set of ethics. They are placing their lives and their own morals and values into your ethical system. People find their selves in life altering situations every day in which my own set or morals or values do not line up with theirs. One item that can cause a firefighter to rely on their ethical system would be a drunk driver that is injured in a crash in which some innocent person in another car lost their life. A person without a duty-based ethical system could look at this situation and say you just killed that innocent person why should I help you. It can be an ethical dilemma when faced with this situation. On one hand you have morals that say drinking and driving are wrong and they deserve what has happened to them. On the other hand a duty-based ethical system will say that there is a clear right or wrong choice. The clear right choice in this situation is to help every injured person no matter what they might have done. The wrong choice would be to allow another human being to die. This is just one of many ethical decisions that a firefighter or EMT must make every day in their line of work.

Ethics are very important