The Ethical Executive

The Ethical Executive

By Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey

Primary Traps are circumstances or external pressures that entice us to abandon our values and ethical beliefs. They make a gradual path toward unethical behavior look rewarding and appealing. These traps sensitize our self-interest and encourage us to wander from ethical desires.

Trap 1: Obedience to Authority – Acting unethically because the actions follow hierarchal power in the organization. What the boss says goes. If you want to keep your job, you obey.

Trap 2: Small Steps – As unethical behavior occurs in small steps, it gradually becomes more severe. Although the decision-maker may not act in this way all at once, he or she may become more tolerant as the behavior is broken into a series of unethical activities.

Trap 3: Indirect Responsibility – Distancing oneself from responsibility even if seemingly insignificant actions are contributing to ethical behavior.

Trap 4: Faceless Victims – Disguising the true affects of unethical behavior by generalizing those who are affected. In its analysis of the Ford Pinto, the auto company often referred to “dead injured persons” as “units”.

Trap 5: Lost in the Group – Distributing responsibility among several members of a group, limiting personal responsibility. In a group, accountability is diminished, making members more apt to harm others.

Trap 6: Competition – Believing that a business decision is a “zero-sum game”. If you win, the other loses, decreasing mutual benefit. Competition encourages the hiding of information, mistrust, and betrayal.

Trap 7: Tyranny of Goals – A form of self-interest that encourages decision-makers to move too fast and cut corners to achieve goals. This trap is driven by the false belief that the achievement of one or more goals will achieve happiness.

Trap 8: Money – A form of self-interest that directly ties money to happiness. Aspirations spiral out of control as money becomes a means of comparison with...