Behavioral Ethics issues: Part 2

“The global consulting firm McKinsey & Company agreed to pay nearly $600 million for its role in advising businesses on how to sell more prescription opioid painkillers amid a nationwide overdose crisis.” Seattle Times, Feb. 5, 2021

Here’s an example of the lack of leadership behavioral ethics, and it's a price to pay for it! This price to pay is not just about money, but what about corporate reputation, employee disengagement, effects on other customers, etc.

When the moral aspect of decision-making is not an integral part of the decision, the danger and the “temptation”, is to make the decision solely on power and profits!

“While the demand for moral leadership is growing, very few respondents see evidence of it in their workplaces. Only 7% said their managers routinely display behaviors associated with moral authority, with 59% saying their bosses rarely or never exhibit such qualities. That’s a problem because managers who don’t exercise moral leadership are 10 times more likely to treat people unfairly and five times more likely to value short-term results over the long-term mission.” Dov Seidman: LRN 2020 study

Here’s where the rubber meets the road ethically. If an organization doesn’t internalize its stated values, there can be no moral principles applied because of who would believe them, which means there’s a clear path to unethical behavior.

Remember the three-legged stool analogy from my article last week on What is exactly behavioral ethics?

 The “legs” are; Values, Morals, and Ethics. If one leg “goes” they all go, as the other legs don’t matter anymore.

Want a start guide to help your leaders to avoid such behavior?https://www.frankbucaro.com/presentations/