PERSONAL ETHICAL DILEMMA ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PERSONAL ETHICAL DILEMMA ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example So, if the item was $ 18.00, she would provide the change for a $ 20.00 bill from the cash register, and then just replace the $ 2.00 from her own money. That is, so the register would add-up properly at the end of the work day. So, she would pocket the $ 18.00 and this was unquestionably stealing. My personal values were such that I would not have done what she did. I was in the same position as her, but never took advantage of the advice that she gave me about stealing. However, there was conflict with these feelings because I never told on her or turned her in to management. We were not close friends, or did not socialize outside of the workplace, but did get to know each other pretty well. We spent enough time together on the job such that I got to know and like her. Conversely, we both worked for an organization and a manager which we had little regard for. The wages were low, the working conditions were often strained, and the manager was often verbally abusive and generally un likable. So, the conflict in question was defined by my ethical belief that stealing was wrong, and yet, I did not act as a whistle blower or act dutifully as an employee and inform the organization that they were being stolen from. Consequentialism looks at the outcomes of behaviors rather than the intentions. Socially, we very often evaluate individual actions on how their intentions were. So, for example, while lying is generally wrong, if your grandmother asks you what you think about her hideous looking dress, and you tell her she looks nice, your intentions are good even though the result is an immoral act. A consquentialist position looks at only the outcome or the consequence of the act. In terms of my own personal ethical dilemma, the consequence of my co-workers actions were unquestionably immoral. In terms of the other stakeholders, the organization was being stolen from as a consequence. And, knowing that she was doing this makes me complicit to some extent. My obligatio ns in an employee/employer relationship are directed toward the organization and not the employees. Generally, utilitarianism is associated with consequentialism. It argues that the aim of individuals is happiness, and an action or behavior therefore, either maximizes or diminishes the greater goal of happiness. Further, we should maximize the greater happiness for the greatest number of individuals [Perry, 1993, p. 531]. In this instance, while the employee was maximizing their own happiness, they were doing so at the expense of someone else – namely, the employer. However, as a dilemma, it raises the question as to whose happiness I ought to consider? While I had little regard for the organization, I should have turned in the employee on this ethical model because the consequence was that one agents happiness came at the expense of an others. In terms of the greater good for the greater number, there were only two goods to consider – the individual stealing and the o rganization that was incurring the loss. If the business had gone bankrupt because of the theft, obviously a greater number would be effected, however, it was not a substantial amount of money so that it can't be said that a greater than two stakeholders were to be considered. Under a deontological framework, one should not will an act that