Learning Objectives

On completion of this chapter, the reader should be able to do the following:

LO 4.1: Explain the impact organizations have on ethical decision-making because of obedience, authority, and groupthink.

LO 4.2: Understand Kohlberg’s theory of moral development describing its implications for how managers address organizational pressures to act unethically.

LO 4.3: Explain why individuals tend to obey authority figures, based on Milgram’s Obedience experiments.

LO 4.4: Describe the characteristics of groupthink and the impacts of groupthink on ethical decision-making.

LO 4.5: Discuss the options an individual has to challenge unethical behavior.

LO 4.6: Apply the weight-of-reasons framework for ethical decision-making as an effective tool in helping to close the circle.