Face Down Ethical Issues
Published: August 9, 2011 / Author: Gloria Lau
Are you a lawyer who
bills clients for an extra few minutes here and there? Do you promise things to
customers you don’t intend to provide? Or would you give one employee a bigger
raise than someone else more deserving because the former is your best friend?
“When
confronted with a dilemma, most of us like to think we’d stand up for our
principles, but we’re not nearly as ethical as we think we are,” Ann
Tenbrunsel, University of Notre Dame business professor, told IBD. She recently
co-wrote “Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do About
It.”
When it comes to
grasping the right course, take action:
• Recognize
ethical illusions. Say you have a meeting to negotiate a major deal coming
up.
Beforehand, write
down what you consider acceptable behavior, Tenbrunsel says.
After the meeting,
compare your early notes to what you really let happen. What are the three
things you did wrong and should have changed? What are three that could have
been perceived as a lie by the other party? “People often think they’ll
behave more ethically than they do,” she said.
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the entire article visit: Face Down Ethical Issues.
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