Ethical Dilemma

Question 1

The devastating pandemic that has significantly affected the growing global population has led to an unprecedented upsurge in intensive care units. This has raised ethical problems not only about triage and withdrawal of life support decisions but about family visits and the efficiency of end-of-life care. These components have the prospects to shake our moral principles, sharpen our moral dilemmas, and lead to circumstances of substantial caregiver suffering. Triage policies have been proposed to be standardized in conjunction with ethical rationales. Whatever strategy is adopted, a disparity between utilitarian and personal ethics leads to insolvable inconveniences that caretakers must resolve. There are elements in such a crisis that can shake individuals ‘ethical principles, sharpen their moral quandaries, and lead to circumstances of hardship for caretakers.

In the face of a tremendous influx of patients and an insufficient number of ICU beds, the hypothetical risk of “sacrificing the most vulnerable individuals” shakes the ethical beliefs. To achieve the public health objective, utilitarian ethics prioritize personal ethics and use the least intrusive means to individual freedom. Rather than promoting unrefined and imprecise outcome prediction, a pragmatic multidimensional strategy that perceives frailty score and comorbid conditions indices while leaving room for doctor judgment should be regarded as the best possible strategy. According to Puddifoot (2017), the principles of honesty, equality, and justice serve as the foundation for this judgment. Using these fundamental qualities as a general guide for catering to terminally ailing patients from the coronavirus is vital.  Lessons should be drawn from this encounter, and ethical reflections must be developed to be ready for the prospect of a second disease outbreak in the near or long term.

Question 2

Discuss the conflict(s) of interest in this case and how it affects other salespeople, the organizational culture, and stakeholders.

This situation affects all of the other sales representatives by removing their ability to make money. Dean is inadvertently lowering the morale of the staff by favouring Greg and affording him all of the great clients. Employees who are dissatisfied with their jobs may be less productive. This form of dishonest behaviour is harmful to organizational culture. If Jayla decided to share this information, most of those employees would feel deceived.  Furthermore, suppose this biasness becomes known among all sales representatives and the public at large. In that case, it could result in a severe backlash against the corporation, negatively impacting everyone with an interest or investment within the entity.

Describe the decision that Jayla must make. What are the potential ramifications of her choices?

Kayla is in an ethical quandary, and the decision she should make will have far-reaching repercussions for her future. If she disregards what she saw and keeps it to herself, she might get a positive overview and a job afterwards. If Kayla opts to reveal the biases to the rest of the workers, there might be some unforeseen consequences, for instance, receiving a bad review. Either decision she tends to make will have some dire repercussions, so she should go with the most morally acceptable choice.

Are there legal ramifications to this kind of behaviour? If so, what are the potential consequences?

Although the company may not have deliberately contravened any laws, an employee could take legal actions for unethical competition. Institutional racism of any kind would have severe repercussions, even if the incentive is not to deliberately discriminate against a cohort. This scenario could also impact the company and its shareholders and general perception, potentially endangering business prospects.

Is it worse to participate in unethical behaviour or to condone it?

I believe that it is worse to take part in unethical behaviour. In both individuals and establishments, unethical conduct has severe repercussions. I may lose my job and repute, the organization’s integrity, general morale and motivation might suffer, or the behaviour may lead to substantial penalties and loss of money. Their reputations and livelihood opportunities rely on the partnerships I build with customers and their reliability to their organization. Therefore, it is essential not to condone or take part in any unethical practices.

What would you do? Why?

To prevent these forms of unethical behavior regarding the case study, I would implement various mechanisms. Foremost. I would consider introducing a reporting system that allows employees to submit a complaint regarding ethical violations and procedures for employees to request secret discussions with superintendents in charge of ethics supervision.  Second, I would lead by example. When work colleagues witness you participating in ethical behaviour, those behaviour patterns are reaffirmed as the norm.

References

Puddifoot, K. (2017). Dissolving the epistemic/ethical dilemma over implicit bias. Philosophical Explorations, 20(sup1), 73-93.