Interactive Ethics: How Ethical and Unethical Decisions Are REALLY Made in Organizations

It is the purpose of this book to examine how ethical and unethical decisions actually do get made by individuals in the context of their organizations. Interactive Ethics discourages the idea that ethical decisions are made through a carefully thought out systematic process. The Interactive Ethics Model (IEM) lays out a descriptive model describing how events unfold as the participants proceed from the ethical dilemma to the finally ethical or unethical outcome. The IEM proposes to explain how ethical and unethical decisions really get made by individuals in the context of the workplace. This is not the ethical decision-making process itself mapped out, but it is the emotional fuel that moves everyone toward an outcome. While dilemmas are tough and complex, it seems to be assumed that a proper understanding of ethical principles supported by a carefully written code and application of a decision-making process will quite naturally lead to the right outcome. This may be true, but the fact remains that some organizations consistently make unethical decisions; that some have greater struggles than others when faced with a dilemma; and that some are not consistent in their decision-making. The IEM suggests there is more going on, that there are reasons that both ethical and unethical decisions get made. One way of putting it is that we first react to a dilemma based on our emotions and we then seek a reasonable sounding justification for our actions. Put another way, dealing with ethical or moral situations do not build character; instead, it reveals the character of both the individuals and the organization involved.