Abstract
Ethical decisions in the workplace can be very difficult to make depending on the situation. Sometimes we must rely on our personal ethics and what is in the best interest of the group or of the individual.
Ethical decision making in today’s business world is encountered on a daily basis. Many of the results of decisions are based on company policies or ground rules established. Other decisions are based on individual or personal ethics. Decision making can have a number of ground rules that help us determine whether our decision is ethical or unethical. Each decision, whether it is based on company or personal ground rules will have its own set of implications. Sometimes we are forced to choose what is right from wrong according to the situation. According to the “Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary”, “ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation, a set of morals principles or values” (Merriam-Webster dictionary). We are all instilled with a set of morals and ethics based on what we have learned throughout our lives. What is considered the right decision for one person might not be the correct decision for the other. I work in an investment bank, so an example of an ethical situation in the workplace can be as follows: I am assisting a banker who is working on a merger deal and I see confidential financial stock information laid out on the client’s desk. The financial information on the client’s desk is in regards to a merger that will occur which will cause the price of the stock to drop. I know that my friends are going to invest a large amount of money on the stock that I just saw physical financial information that claims that the price will decrease. Company policy states that any information that I may view while assisting the client is highly confidential private property of the company and cannot be