The PLUS Ethical Decision Making

Model
Source: https://www.ethics.org/resources/free-toolkit/decision-making-
model/

There are a range of resources you can find to assist with ethical
decision making models. Here is a sample of one you might find useful.
Find a model that you like using and get to know how it works. You may
have one through your professional association or through your
organisation.

Seven Steps to Ethical Decision Making

- Step 1: Define the problem (consult PLUS filters)
- Step 2: Seek out relevant assistance, guidance and support
- Step 3: Identify alternatives
- Step 4: Evaluate the alternatives (consult PLUS filters)
- Step 5: Make the decision
- Step 6: Implement the decision
- Step 7: Evaluate the decision (consult PLUS filters)

Introduction
Organizations struggle to develop a simple set of guidelines that makes it
easier for individual employees, regardless of position or level, to be
confident that his/her decisions meet all of the competing standards for
effective and ethical decision-making used by the organization. Such a
model must take into account two realities:

 Every employee is called upon to make decisions in the normal

course of doing his/her job. Organizations cannot function effectively
if employees are not empowered to make decisions consistent with
their positions and responsibilities.
 For the decision maker to be confident in the decision's soundness,
every decision should be tested against the organization's policies
and values, applicable laws and regulations as well as the individual
employee's definition of what is right, fair, good and acceptable.

The decision making process described below has been carefully

constructed to be:
  Fundamentally sound based on current theories and understandings
of both decision-making processes and ethics.
 Simple and straightforward enough to be easily integrated into every
employee's thought processes.
 Descriptive (detailing how ethical decision are made naturally) rather
than prescriptive (defining unnatural ways of making choices).

Step 1: Define the problem

The most significant step in any decision-making process is to determine
why a decision is called for and identify the desired outcome(s). How you
define a problem shapes your understanding of its causes and where you
will search for solutions.

First, explore the difference between what you expect and/or desire and the
current reality. By defining the problem in terms of outcomes, you can
clearly state the problem.

Consider this example: Tenants at an older office building are complaining

that their employees are getting angry and frustrated because there is
always a long delay getting an elevator to the lobby at rush hour. Many
possible solutions exist, and all are predicated on a particular
understanding the problem:

 Flexible hours - so all the tenants' employees are not at the elevators
at the same time.
 Faster elevators - so each elevator can carry more people in a given
time period.
 Bigger elevators - so each elevator can carry more people per trip.
 Elevator banks - so each elevator only stops on certain floors,
increasing efficiency.
 Better elevator controls - so each elevator is used more efficiently.
 More elevators - so that overall carrying capacity can be increased.
 Improved elevator maintenance - so each elevator is more efficient.
 Encourage employees to use the stairs - so fewer people use the
elevators.

The real-life decision makers defined the problem as "people complaining

about having to wait." Their solution was to make the wait less frustrating
by piping music into the elevator lobbies. The complaints stopped. There is
no way that the eventual solution could have been reached if, for example,
the problem had been defined as "too few elevators."

How you define the problem determines where you go to look for
alternatives/solutions-- so define the problem carefully.
Step 2: Seek out relevant assistance, guidance and support

Once the problem is defined, it is critical to search out resources that may
be of assistance in making the decision. Resources can include people
(i.e., a mentor, coworkers, external colleagues, or friends and family) as
well professional guidelines and organizational policies and codes. Such
resources are critical for determining parameters, generating solutions,
clarifying priorities and providing support, both while implementing the
solution and dealing with the repercussions of the solution.

Step 3: Identify available alternative solutions to the problem

The key to this step is to not limit yourself to obvious alternatives or merely
what has worked in the past. Be open to new and better alternatives.
Consider as many as solutions as possible -- five or more in most cases,
three at the barest minimum. This gets away from the trap of seeing "both
sides of the situation" and limiting one's alternatives to two opposing
choices (i.e., either this or that).

Step 4: Evaluate the identified alternatives

As you evaluate each alternative, identify the likely positive and negative
consequence of each. It is unusual to find one alternative that would
completely resolve the problem and is significantly better than all others. As
you consider positive and negative consequences, you must be careful to
differentiate between what you know for a fact and what you believe might
be the case. Consulting resources, including written guidelines and
standards, can help you ascertain which consequences are of greater (and
lesser) import.

You should think through not just what results each alternative could yield,
but the likelihood it is that such impact will occur. You will only have all the
facts in simple cases. It is reasonable and usually even necessary to
supplement the facts you have with realistic assumptions and informed
beliefs. Nonetheless, keep in mind that the more the evaluation is fact-
based, the more confident you can be that the expected outcome will
occur. Knowing the ratio of fact-based evaluation versus non-fact-based
evaluation allows you to gauge how confident you can be in the proposed
impact of each alternative.

Step 5: Make the decision

When acting alone, this is the natural next step after selecting the best
alternative. When you are working in a team environment, this is where a
proposal is made to the team, complete with a clear definition of the
problem, a clear list of the alternatives that were considered and a clear
rationale for the proposed solution.
Step 6: Implement the decision
While this might seem obvious, it is necessary to make the point that
deciding on the best alternative is not the same as doing something. The
action itself is the first real, tangible step in changing the situation. It is not
enough to think about it or talk about it or even decide to do it. A decision
only counts when it is implemented. As Lou Gerstner (former CEO of IBM)
said, "There are no more prizes for predicting rain. There are only prizes for
building arks."

Step 7: Evaluate the decision

Every decision is intended to fix a problem. The final test of any decision is
whether or not the problem was fixed. Did it go away? Did it change
appreciably? Is it better now, or worse, or the same? What new problems
did the solution create?

Ethics Filters

The ethical component of the decision making process takes the form of a
set of "filters." Their purpose is to surface the ethics considerations and
implications of the decision at hand. When decisions are classified as being
"business" decisions (rather than "ethics" issues), values can quickly be left
out of consideration and ethical lapses can occur.

At key steps in the process, you should stop and work through these filters,
ensuring that the ethics issues imbedded in the decision are given
consideration.

We group the considerations into the mnemonic PLUS.

 P = Policies
Is it consistent with my organization's policies, procedures and
guidelines?
 L= Legal
Is it acceptable under the applicable laws and regulations?
 U = Universal
Does it conform to the universal principles/values my organization
has adopted?
 S= Self
Does it satisfy my personal definition of right, good and fair?

The PLUS filters work as an integral part of steps 1, 4 and 7 of the

decision-making process. The decision maker applies the four PLUS filters
to determine if the ethical component(s) of the decision are being
surfaced/addressed/satisfied.
  Step 1: Define the problem (use PLUS to surface the ethics issues)
o
 Does the existing situation violate any of the PLUS
considerations?
 Step 2: Seek out relevant assistance, guidance and support
 Step 3: Identify available alternative solutions to the problem
 Step 4: Evaluate the identified alternatives (use PLUS to assess their
ethical impact)
o
 Will the alternative I am considering resolve the PLUS
violations?
 Will the alternative being considered create any new
PLUS considerations?
 Are the ethical trade-offs acceptable?
 Step 5: Make the decision
 Step 6: Implement the decision
 Step 7: Evaluate the decision (PLUS surface any remaining/new
ethics issues)
o
 Does the resultant situation resolve the earlier PLUS
considerations?
 Are there any new PLUS considerations to be
addressed?

The PLUS filters do not guarantee an ethically-sound decision. They

merely ensure that the ethics components of the situation will be surfaced
so that they might be considered.

How Organizations Can Support Ethical Decision-Making

Organizations empower employees with the knowledge and tools they
need to make ethical decisions by

 Intentionally and regularly communicating to all employees:

 Organizational policies and procedures as they apply to the common
workplace ethics issues.
 Applicable laws and regulations.
 Agreed-upon set of "universal" values (i.e., Empathy, Patience,
Integrity, Courage [EPIC]).
 Providing a formal mechanism (i.e., a code and a helpline, giving
employees access to a definitive interpretation of the policies, laws
and universal values when they need additional guidance before
making a decision).