Ethical Decision-making Theories

Ethical Decision-making Theories

Ethical decision making is the process through which the moral implications of a particular course of action get assessed with the knowledge of what is right and wrong(Wittmer, 2019). However, there are instances where one may question whether the wrong is right and vice versa, as well as determine whether how the action was done is outweighed by the outcome. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) get confronted with complex ethical decisions that may have an impact on business, its missions, personnel, and operations. The discussion below presents a place through which one can begin understanding the ethical dilemmas that may be faced by the CIOs in making ethical decisions.

Module 1 of our weekly readings talks about the deontology theories, also called the Kantianism or law theory, that focuses more on the right or wrong that was actually done rather than the consequences of the particular decision that got made. On the other hand, consequentialism (utilitarian) theories allow the outcome to justify a decision that was made. The decision, in this case, is not based on whether it was right or wrong, but on the outcome or consequences of that particular decision(Baron, 2017). These concepts can be tied into the studies we currently do with regard to computer ethics in the sense that computer ethics are commonly used among professionals in computing to question morals as humans keep growing and changing behavior with the advancements in technology. In this case, therefore, the CIO will handle ethical decision making in accordance with the rights approach, which provides that people have dignity on their ability to freely choose what to do with their life(Campbell, 2017). They also have a basic moral right to choose freely. The choices on how people use the new technologies in influencing their life are, therefore, solely based on free will.

References

Baron, J. (2017). Utilitarian vs. deontological reasoning: method, results, and theory. In Moral inferences (pp. 145-160). Psychology Press.

Campbell, L. (2017). Kant, autonomy, and bioethics. Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, 3(3), 381-392.

Wittmer, D. P. (2019). Ethical decision-making. In Handbook of administrative ethics (pp. 507-534). Routledge.