Managing An Ethical Dilemma Essays Example

The request made by the Manager of Forbes Manufacturing Company indeed creates an ethical dilemma on the duties performed by the social worker. However, through the Ethical-Decision Making Model, this dilemma can be easily solved. This model provides eight basic steps that have to be followed by managers and other stakeholders when making decisions that present ethical dilemmas, the eight steps are as discussed below:

Identification of the Problem

Before making any decision, it would be pertinent to identify the problem; that is, the challenge faced by the social worker when making or providing the information requested.

Identification of Potential Issues that may be Experienced or Involved

This step would involve asking and answering various questions for instance: What are the issues that might be involved when the information requested is provided? Will there be a violation of regulations?

Review of Appropriate Ethical Guidelines

There are various ethical guidelines that are usually followed when handling employees’ information by social workers. As such, appropriate guidelines should be reviewed i.e. those that guide the use and sharing of employees personal data et cetera.

Relevant Laws and Regulations

The social worker should also review relevant rules and regulations and how they might impact the provision of the information that was requested by Forbes Manufacturing General Manager. This might involve asking questions such as: What are the rules and regulations that guide the provision or dissemination of employees’ personal data? Are there any laws and regulations that might be violated when this information is shared?

Consultation

This step basically involves seeking clarification from other relevant departments, stakeholders, colleagues and other concerned experts on this issue. The social worker might want to get their opinion and perspectives of this issue and how he might go about it.

Consideration of Probable as well as Possible Courses of Action

In this step, the social worker might want to review, assess and evaluate various courses of action that he might implement to solve the ethical dilemma i.e. providing the information to the Manager, denying the manager the information, seeking the consent of employees before releasing the information to their manager among other actions.

Identification of Possible Consequences

The social worker should identify and evaluate the possible consequences of the courses of action that he will implement. This might involve asking questions such as: What are the possible consequences of providing this data to the manager?

Decision-Making

This basically involves making a decision on the best courses of action that should be implemented for instance applying relevant rules and regulations to guide decision-making processes ensuring that none of the rules are violated.