You can find ethical issue examples anywhere, from business to personal life. Be sure if you have to choose between two undesirable options, you are facing an ethical issue.

A professional in any field can experience the need to answer ethical dilemma questions, be it a human resource manager (HRM), nurse, project manager, researcher etc. In such a case, the first you need is to define an ethical issue.

Ethical Issue Definition and Examples

An ethical issue is a situation, whereby you have to choose between:

• The right option, but a possible negative result;
• The wrong option, but a possible positive consequence.

Thus, you have to choose between two equally undesirable alternatives. The model is as follows:

If I choose Option 1, it may lead to Outcome 1, but if I choose Option 2, it may cause Outcome 2, where both alternatives are equally undesirable.

It is different from a simple problem because first of all, you should weigh two possible actions, not one problem, but two ways and two possible outcomes (Tota & Shehu, 2012). From this, it follows that an ethical issue is a dilemma that requires moral reasoning and ethical decision-making.

Ethical Issue Examples

For example, there are many cases where a person may face an ethical issue.

It can be a situation, where an international manager becomes aware of environmental pollution caused by company’s factory in some country or a biased attitude to local workers herein.

As a result, on the one hand, one knows that if he or she reports the case, company’s reputation may be ruined. On the other hand, if one does not report, workers will continue facing discrimination or the factory will continue harming the environment.

Therefore, while the first option may be morally right or ethical, the consequences are undesirable:

• the manager can lose a job with the company.

The second option is unethical, but with rather positive outcomes for the company and the manager:

• firm’s reputation remains unspoiled;
• manager’s position is retained.

Ethical Dilemma Case Studies

Tasks presenting a particular situation, scenario, or event that focuses on a person needing to solve issues or problems are referred to as case studies.

They can help to evaluate different ways of solving an issue. Thus, one can learn from the case and apply it to real-life work.

Therefore, consider how to define an ethical dilemma properly. Then, take actions based on weighing possible consequences and using ethical principles.

Reference

Tota, I., & Shehu, H. (2012). Emerging market queries in finance and business: The dilemma of business ethics. Procedia Economics and Finance, 3, 555-559. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(12)00195-5