Management decision making and ethics: practices, skills and preferences

Abstract

This article summarises the findings from a study of practising managers which explored experiences of and views on decision making about actual ethical issues in organisations. Data gathering was based on a combination of an intensive case study of an organisation and in‐depth interviews with senior managers and management consultants from 32 organisations. A rigorous qualitative analysis of the observed experiences, strategies and responses to ethical issues and problems resulted in categorisation of skills associated with: judgement, integrity, courage and humanity. The different ways in which these skills were integrated led to approaches identified as: legalistic, entrepreneurial, navigation and worried modes. The repertoire of skills which contributes to selection of these alternative approaches and implications for the development of ethical decision making practices are discussed.

Citation

Holian, R. (2002), "Management decision making and ethics: practices, skills and preferences", Management Decision, Vol. 40 No. 9, pp. 862-870. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740210441422