Virtue ethic
Virtue ethics plays a significant role in the decision-making process. While the Caux Principles are recommended for any business organization, ethical behavior and decision-making must conform to a given set of rules. The Caux Principles foster ethical behavior and responsible business practices (Hartman et al., 2017). However, ethical decision-making should follow virtue ethics. In essence, the theory takes a holistic approach that considers an individual’s ethics rather than the action itself. This approach ensures that the individual adopts a virtuous behavior characterized by discriminative intelligence. Virtue ethics in decision-making prevents the decision-maker from being more generous, thinking that they are doing good. Instead, a virtuous behavior entails overcoming the temptation of practicing excessive good behavior and its deficiency. Indeed, achieving virtue as a fundamental characteristic means understanding, practicing, and perfecting the Golden Mean.
Leaders make decisions that have a significant impact on the employees and the organization in general. As such, they need to understand the extremes of virtue ethics and how they impact ethical decision-making. According to Bennis (2006), both ethics and morality are concerned with good practice and wellbeing despite limited human reasoning of what is good or bad. As such, leaders must comprehend what is considered as good practice or behavior. The second fundamental characteristic of virtue ethics supports the above notion in that it advocates for leaders to find the Golden Mean through reason and not emotion. In essence, decisions should not be guided by emotions but rather reasoning of what is right. Moreover, leaders should act on reason while considering others, putting into account rational and reasoned deliberations. An individual who perceives good behavior from a social and rational point is one who practices wisdom, virtue, and character. Leaders must learn virtue before they develop practical knowledge and reason.