Compare and contrast these readings (Gioia 1992; Jones & Ryan 1998; Monahan & Quinn 2006; Sonenshein 2007) and produce a 1000 word critical reflection on the four articles about what ethical decision making is, and the factors that influence ethical decision making in organisations.
In this critical reflection you should provide a reasoned explanation for choosing the perspective(s) that you believe best explain ethical decision making in organisations.
Jones, TM & Ryan, LV (1998) ‘The effect of organizational forces on individual morality: Judgment, moral approbation, and behavior (Links to an external site.)‘, Business Ethics Quarterly, 8 (3), 431-45. Gioia, D. A. (1992). ‘Pinto fires and personal ethics: A script analysis of missed opportunities’, (Links to an external site.)Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5-6), 379-389. Monahan, S. C., & Quinn, B. A. (2006) ‘Beyond ‘bad apples’ and ‘weak leaders’ Toward a neo-institutional explanation of organizational deviance (Links to an external site.)‘. Theoretical Criminology, 10(3), 361-385.
Sonenshein, S. (2007) ‘The role of construction, intuition, and justification in responding to ethical issues at work: The sensemaking-intuition model’, (Links to an external site.) Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1022-1040.
GUIDE:
1) Focus on the 4 articles provided. There is no need to include others – you can if you desperately want to but remember we really want you to compare and contrast these 4.
2) Read all the articles and summarize them attempting to overview and capture their major arguments – what do these authors propose? You cant fake having read the articles and this will take you some time. Every bit of reading you do here, will be of benefit to you in the first two assessment tasks, and may also be helpful in the exam. In other words, you will directly benefit from it.
3) Summarizing articles enable you to compare and contrast them – you need to be able to overview whats written in them – the major arguments – so that you really understand the essence of them and enough of the detail. It will also help you build connections between these articles and other ideas/concepts/theories contained within the course.
4) Make sure you conclude by answering the question – which of the articles you believe best explains the decision making process and tell the reader why.
5) Structure – we do not want a contents page – its only 1000 words – make sure it has your name and student number within the document on the front page. I have suggested in the video below and in the lectures that you structure your assignment with A) a short Introduction b) 150-200 words max overviews of each article, c) some comparison and contrast about “what ethical decision making is, and the factors that influence ethical decision making in organisations”. d) You should then conclude by choosing the perspective (article) that best explains ethical decision making in organisations.
6) Don’t be under any illusion – you need to read and cite all of the four articles provided – and this will take some time and requires you to get to work very soon if you havent already.
