Ethical Decision-Making and Responsibilities of an Administrator - Term Paper Example

?[Your full full June 26, Ethical Decision-Making and Responsibilities of an Administrator Before going into the discussion regarding ethical decision-making and responsibilities of an administrator in managing conflicts and understanding different work related issues, let us get a better understanding of what ethical decision-making actually is. Ethical decision-making refers to the process in which an administrator takes a decision based on some specific rules and regulations. Ethical decision-making makes administrators take ethical decisions regarding any specific issue. Ethics play a very considerable role in making a decision justified and acceptable for all parties involved in the conflict. “Decision making ethics is an area of ethics which pertains to making decisions” (Smith). Decision-making ethics are not limited to any specific area or industry, rather it is applicable to all fields of life including medical practices, teaching practices, schooling, and in solving workplace conflicts. Smith asserts, “Ethics are standards of conduct which can be applied to a wide range of situations, from medical practice to running a major company”. Making a decision is routine activity in the life of any person. A person takes many decisions in life regarding different matters and issues. An important thing in this regard is to analyze the positive and negative consequences of the decisions before their implementation because without proper analysis, a decision may not bring expected benefits to the people. Incorporation of ethics in the decisions is very important because it makes the decision justified and logical for every person. The practice of ethical decision-making not only makes people identify decisions with ethical impact but also makes them know how they can take an ethical and fair decision regarding any specific matter. Administrators can make use of a number of approaches to take ethical decisions. Some of the most appropriate and common approaches towards ethical decision-making include utilitarian approach, the virtue approach, the common good approach, and the fairness approach. All of these approaches lead the way towards ethical and principled decisions. The Utilitarian Approach Administrators can make use of the utilitarian approach to take such ethical decisions, which should bring maximum benefits and minimum risks to the people involved in the conflict. The focus of this approach is to increase the number of benefits for the people and reduce the harmful aspects of the decision. It is a very positive approach towards decision-making because it makes the administrators take ethical decisions to solve the problems. The Virtue Approach Using this approach, administrators take such actions, which should be able to embody the character strengths of the people involved in the conflict. This approach helps administrators take such decisions, which focus character strengths rather than individual duties and responsibilities towards resolution of the conflicts. The Common Good Approach The focus of this approach towards ethical decision-making is to help administrators take such decision, which should be able to improve the quality of life of the people involved in the conflicts. Using this approach, administrators take effective steps to bring improvement in the quality of life. Administrators find different ways to resolve the issues and use the most practical and ethical way to end the conflicts between different people. The Fairness Approach It is one of the widely used approaches towards ethical decision-making. Using this approach, administrators examine different ways to treat people fairly without any bias. This approach is closely linked with providing justice to the people. Administrators make use of this approach to take ethical and fair decisions based on actual causes of conflicts. Cooper’s Approach towards Decision-Making According to Terry Cooper, the ideal outcome of a decision is reached when the administrator is able to reach a conclusion that should not only be able to balance all possible consequences but also it should provide the best mix of reasons and comfort. Cooper’s decision-making model makes use of clearly defined steps towards conflict resolution. In Cooper’s view, ethical perception or recognition is one of the important stages in ethical decision-making process in which administrators recognize the importance of ethics while taking any decision. In Cooper’s model of decision-making, ethical perception even comes before ethical reasoning. It is because without having a good ethical perception of a problem, an administrator cannot manage the problem properly. Cooper’s Ethical Decision Making Process In 2006, Cooper gave a well-defined and standard model for decision-making, which helps administrators find most suitable decisions regarding any matter. In the Cooper’s ethical decision-making process, administrators follow six steps to take appropriate decisions. Those steps include perception of an ethical problem, describing the scenario, describing the ethical issue, identification of the alternatives, evaluation, and implementation of the selected decision. In the first step, administrators perceive the ethical issue. It is very important because without having a proper perception, it becomes difficult for the administrators to move towards describing the ethical scenario and finding possible alternatives. After developing perception, administrators describe the situation of conflict in order to develop a clear picture of conflict, which helps them describe the ethical issue in an appropriate manner. The next step is to describe the ethical issue in order to formulate different alternatives. Description of the ethical issue is a very important step in Cooper’s model because without it, administrators cannot develop possible alternatives to solve the ethical issue. Formulating different alternatives and selecting most appropriate ones from those alternatives based on their consequences come after the stage of description of ethical issue. Elimination of improper alternatives is necessary because if administrators do not eliminate wrong choices based on ethical reasoning, it puts adverse effects on the issue instead of solving the issue in a perfect manner. Administrators need to list a number of alternatives in order to select a perfect one for solving a problem. It is important because there always exist more than one solution towards any problem and all of those solutions have some positive and negative consequences. It is up to the decision-making power of the administrators to analyze properly all of the alternatives in order to come up with the solution, which should be least harmful and most productive for the parties involved in the conflict. Analyzing the values of ethical system is also a very important activity in the process of ethical decision-making. It is the responsibility of the administrators to analyze the values of the ethical system in order to come up with a perfect and ethical solution towards the problem. “The values of an ethical system play an important role in how people decide which choices are the most ethical” (Smith). After determination of the problem and selection of two to three logical and ethical alternatives, administrators evaluate the credibility of the decisions and analyze the benefits of those decisions for each person involved in the conflict. Administrators analyze all types of benefits, risks, and consequences with respect to every stakeholder in order to select the best alternative. In the fifth step, administrators evaluate the most visible consequences of the alternatives, analyze alternatives based on personal conscience, prioritize ethical values associated with the alternatives, analyze best-case and worst-case scenarios, and apply ethical codes to the alternatives. Application of decision-making ethics is a very important activity at this stage. Administrators need to apply decision-making ethics in order to know the impact of the selected decision on the people, responses of the people, goal of the selected decision, and the way the decision is to be implemented. In the sixth step of ethical decision-making process, administrators select the final alternative for solving the problem. After doing analyses of all alternatives, administrators plan for the implementation of the final decision. Implementation is the last step in the ethical decision-making process in which administrators maximize the number of benefits and minimize the occurrence of risks associated with the decision to be implemented. After this, they do proper planning to implement the selected decision to solve the conflict or issue. Planning includes all activities involved in the implementation of the decision. Administrators also make people aware of all negative and positive aspects of the decision before executing the plan for implementation of the selected decision. As far as my point of view is concerned, monitoring should also be included in the process of ethical decision-making. Administrators need to monitor and modify the decisions based on their validity and performance. The major focus of the administrators is on making the decisions viable for the conflict resolution. They plan to give maximum benefits to the people involved in the conflict and reduce the risks and negativity of the decisions. If administrators find a decision useful for the resolution of conflict, they do not alter the decision. However, if they find any bug or flaw in the implementation of that decision, they take a new course of action to reduce the risks and make the decision appropriate for the resolution of conflict. Decisions should have the tendency to adopt some changes, which come with the passage of time. It is because when time changes, nature of decisions and circumstances change, which gives rise to the need to bring some changes in the decision. “Often decisions are made with the best information to hand at the time, but things change, and your decision making needs to be flexible enough to change too” (Swinton). A Responsible Administrator Having discussed ethical decision-making in detail, let us not discuss the responsibilities of an administrator. An administrator is a person who is responsible for all business activities. An administrator is a person who takes care of every issue related to a business and manages conflicts between employees in an effective manner. An administrator is the person responsible for managing employees and business activities effectively and efficiently because he is paid for these responsibilities. An administrator is the backbone of a company because he is the person who takes care of all administrative issues and all issues related to employees of the company. Without an effective and responsible administrator, it becomes impossible for a company to achieve its desired goals and objectives in an effective manner. It is because an administrator ensures increase in the productivity of employees by managing all issues related to employees properly. In this part of the paper, we will discuss some of the core responsibilities of an administrator regarding conflict management and ethical decision-making. Some of the core roles and responsibilities of an administrator include supervising and managing employees, resolving conflicts between employees, managing business activities, identifying problems, and taking the most appropriate course of action to solve those problems. Let us discuss some of the core administrator’s responsibilities in some detail in order to get better understanding of administrative roles and responsibilities regarding conflict management. Identifying Problems and Taking Suitable Decisions One of the core responsibilities of an administrator is to identify all types of conflicts between the employees and to solve those conflicts using decision-making ethics. “Decision making ethics can be applied to situations such as developing new workplace policy, running a business, taking care of patients, and making charitable donations” (Smith). An administrator needs to be fully aware of all types of conflicts that may exist between the employees. It is important because if an administrator will have awareness of the conflicts, it will help him/her take suitable decisions to end those conflicts. An administrator needs to develop a complete range of alternatives in order to select the best alternatives based on proper analysis of all alternatives. Once the administrators determine the problem and select most appropriate logical and ethical alternatives, they need to evaluate the credibility of the decisions and analyze the benefits of those decisions for each party involved in the conflict. Administrators need to analyze all types of benefits, risks, and consequences with respect to every person in order to select the best alternative. Evaluation of each alternative depends on the individual situation. “Ethics is a broad framework with many approaches and interpretations, and that individual situations need to be evaluated independently” (Smith). Here, an important point is that administrators need to apply decision-making ethics during selection of the best alternative. They need to apply decision-making ethics in order to know the impact of the selected decision on the conflicting employees, response of the employees, motive behind the selected decision, and the way they will implement the decision to resolve the conflict. Once the administrators select a couple of good alternatives for solving the problem, they not only need to evaluate the most visible consequences of the alternatives but also need to analyze alternatives based on personal conscience in order to analyze best-case and worst-case scenarios. Administrators also need to apply ethical codes or standards to the decisions at this stage. Another responsibility of the administrators is to plan for the implementation of the final decision. Before planning, administrators need to maximize the number of benefits and minimize the occurrence of risks associated with the final decision. After this, they need to do proper planning to implement the selected decision to resolve the conflict. Administrators also need to make people aware of all aspects of the decision before executing the plan for implementation of the selected decision. Conflict Management One of the main responsibilities of an administrator is to manage the conflict and issues that arise between employees. It is important because if the administrator will not resolve those conflicts, they will affect the workplace productivity, which will result in affecting overall performance of the business. Therefore, it is extremely important for an administrator to take effective measures in order to resolve all kinds of conflicts between employees because it will not only increase employee productivity but also it will have a positive impact on the overall performance of the business in the market. Now one thing, which matters, is that how an administrator resolves the conflicts between employees. Some people also ask whether administrators use ethical decision-making to resolve the conflicts or they solve the conflicts without incorporating the element of ethics. The answer to the question is that administrators need to make use of ethical decision-making for the resolution of problems because they have to consider benefits of all individuals rather than making a decision which should benefit only a single person or a single group. It is the main essence of ethical decision-making that it benefits all individuals involved in the conflict. An administrator listen to all employees to make a clear picture of the issue in his/her mind and then takes proper steps to solve the issue based on the analysis of the issue with respect to the actual scenario. An administrator needs to incorporate the element of ethics in the decision because he/she is the person responsible for maintaining good working relationships between the employees. A Responsible Administrator The term, responsible administrator, refers to an individual who is responsible for managing all types of conflicts between the employees in order to ensure increase in the workplace productivity. Let us take an example where there is a conflict between two employees regarding distribution of tasks. Now, it is the responsibility of the administrator to resolve the issue between them by looking at the case and solving it based on justice and equality. It is because if the administrator will favor any specific employee, second employee will feel neglected which will inject the sense of discrimination in the mind of that employee and it will be very bad for the performance of the employee. An administrator should never do discrimination with any of the employees because it adversely affects employee productivity along with overall business performance. An administrator should take every decision based on justice and ethics because it is the only way to manage conflicts in an appropriate manner. Employees look towards administrators for the resolution of their conflicts in a fair manner and it is the responsibility of the administrators to take ethical decisions, which should be acceptable for all parties involved in a conflict. Administrators are the people who are aware of the mentality of all employees. The ability to judge other people makes administrators analyze the conflicts properly, which helps them take decisions on a fair basis instead of doing any kind of injustice with any of the employees. Administrators need to be aware of what is going on at the workplace and what the reason behind decrease in the workplace productivity is. Business owners give this responsibility to the administrators to look over the business properly. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the administrators to give priority to work related tasks in order to ensure smooth functioning of the business. Proper Use of Power Another responsibility of an administrator is to make legal use of power, which the business owners give to the administrators to run the business. If an administrator will make negative use of power, it will adversely affect the performance of the business because things can go fine only if they are based on fairness, justice, and ethics. For example, if an administrator or a manager starts hiring and firing employees based on his/her own will instead of merit, it will not produce any favor for the business rather it will affect the functioning of the business adversely. Administrators need to use their power to increase the business by taking appropriate decisions and by working towards the resolution of conflicts in an appropriate and fair manner. Administrators need to eradicate all sorts of discrimination while taking any decision regarding employees. Administrators need to know that every employee is part of the company and maintains equal rights. Therefore, there should not be any kind of discrimination for any employee because it affects the performance of the business in the long run. Administrators need to use their power to increase the business by taking fair decisions rather than misusing the power and affecting the business performance. If an administrator wants to achieve desired goals and objectives in an effective way, he/she needs to use the power and authority properly because in this way the administrator will be able to motivate employees towards achievement of goals by making them feel valued and equal. Here one point, which needs to be mentioned, is that an administrator should maintain a reasonable distance from the employees in order to achieve better business performance. It is important because if the employees will see that the administrator is very friendly, they will not work towards the cause efficiently because they will have in their minds that the administrator will not argue if they do not carry out any specific task in the given time frame. On the other hand, if the administrator focuses towards achievement of goals more than anything else, it will make the employees work efficiently towards the cause which will result in increased business productivity. Therefore, an administrator needs to use his/her power in a positive way in order to achieve all goals and objectives in an appropriate manner. Managing and Leading Another responsibility of an administrator is to manage and lead the employees properly. An administrator needs to manage employees in such a way that a sense of creativity and increased productivity injects in their minds. Leading by example is a perfect way for the administrators to make employees work efficiently towards the cause. An administrator needs to set a good example for the employees by making himself/herself a role model for the employees. It can only happen if the administrators incorporate the factors of ethics and justice in every decision that they take while on job. Employees always look towards the administrators because they are the people who are responsible to lead the employees properly. It is up to the administrators to make employees achieve goals and objectives in an appropriate manner. The most important thing for an administrator is to make his/her employees productive and work-oriented and it can be only possible if the employees will not have any type of conflict between them. Administrators need to make employees focus towards work instead of fighting and creating troubles for each other. It is the responsibility of the administrators to have a constant look towards the employees’ issues in order to resolve the issues in the earliest stages. It is important because if a conflict continues between the employees, it will distract their attention from the work, which will be very harmful for the performance of the business. An administrator is a true counselor for the employees with whom the employees can share every matter. It is the responsibility of the administrators to make the employees feel valued by eradicating the element of discrimination and moving towards the resolution of conflicts in a fair and ethical manner. Administrators need to use appropriate ethical decision-making models to resolve the conflicts because such models provide proper guidance to the administrators regarding ethical decision-making. Eradicate Causes of Conflicts One of the major responsibilities of the administrators is to eradicate the causes of conflicts between the employees. It is important because when there will be no reason for the employees to create any sort of conflict, they will work towards their goals and objectives in an appropriate manner. If there will be conflicts between the employees, it will distract employees’ attention form their actual roles and responsibilities, which will result in decrease in the overall employee productivity. It is a major responsibility of the administrators to take effective measures to eliminate all sources of conflicts in order to ensure increase in the employee productivity. If a conflict arises, an administrator needs to look at the root cause of that conflict in order to eliminate that reason for future. An administrator needs to be fully attentive and work focused. If an administrator will take his/her attention away from his/her responsibilities even for a short time, it will put an adverse impact on the functioning of the business. Therefore, it is very important for an administrator to carry out his/her job responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner. An administrator is the backbone of a business. He/she takes care of all administrative activities along with employees’ issues. If an administrator works properly, the conflicts between the employees are minimized and the business flourishes. Therefore, an administrator needs to give proper attention towards his/her job responsibilities in order to eliminate all sources of conflicts and to make the business flourish in the market. Conclusion Summing it up, ethical decision-making refers to the process in which an administrator takes an ethical decision based on some specific rules and regulations. An administrator is responsible for managing conflicts between employees using an ethical approach towards decision-making. Unethical decision-making and conflicts adversely affect the performance of a business. Therefore, it is the responsibility of an administrator to eradicate the sources of conflicts and do ethical decision-making regarding all conflicts in order to ensure increase in employee productivity. Works Cited Cooper, Terry. The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role. 5th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006. Smith, Susan. “What Are Decision Making Ethics?.” Wisegeek.com, n.d. Web. 26 Jun. 2011. Swinton, Lyndsay. "Ethical Decision Making: How to Make Ethical Decisions in 5 Steps." Mftrou.com. 21 Feb. 2007. Web. 26 Jun. 2011. . Read More