{"id":5523,"date":"2019-10-01T05:39:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T10:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=5523"},"modified":"2020-12-20T20:49:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T01:49:48","slug":"why-plus-decision-making-model-is-essential-to-ethical-organizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/why-plus-decision-making-model-is-essential-to-ethical-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"Why PLUS Decision Making Model is Essential to Ethical Organizations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Organizations struggle to develop a simple set of guidelines that makes it easier for employees, regardless of position or level, to be \"\"confident of their decisions to meet competing standards of organizations for effective and ethical decision making<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The traditional decision making model taught in most business ethics programs<\/a> is often beyond the reading comprehension of 25% of the employees’ population. Hence, an alternative model is necessary.<\/p>\n

Employees are called upon to make decisions in the normal course of their job. Organizations cannot function effectively if employees are not empowered to make decisions consistent with their positions and responsibilities. This is also essential when it comes to leadership development<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The decision maker has to be confident in the soundness of his decisions. Every decision should be tested against the organization\u2019s policies and values, applicable laws and regulations, as well as the individual employee\u2019s definition of what is right, fair, good, and acceptable.<\/p>\n

With these realities, an alternative decision-making model is imperative to address current realities that require business transformation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Rise of the Ethical Decision Making Model<\/h2>\n

To become an Ethical Organization, having a decision making model grounded on foundational ethical decision making is paramount.\u00a0 An Ethical Decision Making Model<\/a> ensures that the ethical issues inherent in a routine business situation could effectively be surfaced while making it easy for people in the organization to understand and use. To make it more effective, PLUS filters must be embedded within the process.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The ethical component of the decision making takes the form of a set of filters. At key steps in the process, considerations are run through the filters and separate the ethical conations from the remainder of the decision.<\/p>\n

The PLUS Filters: What Really Are They?<\/h2>\n

PLUS Filters<\/a> are ethics filters that have adapted to mnemonic word PLUS. PLUS is the mnemonic of Policies, Legal, Universal, and Self. The integration of PLUS Filters in the decision making process is best achieved when there are effective communication and formal mechanism in place.<\/p>\n

The PLUS Filters are applied in each of the steps in the decision making process<\/a>.<\/p>\n

P = Policies<\/strong><\/p>\n