Reflective Journal-Ethics - Essay Example

By adopting the responsibilities of this one person, I began to imagine the worldview of this person. Focusing on my own responsibilities, as I understood them helped me to see that one of the greatest challenges in making ethical decisions lies in the ability to recognize when a decision actually needs to be made. Following established procedures and adopting a view of the world that is equipped with blinders can lead to unethical decisions. It is easy to say that you faithfully did your job and still act in an unethical manner.

Unfortunately, this is all too easy to do when all a person cares about is holding the party line and doing their duties in a way that does not question the outcome of their decision. Another aspect of the simulation game that was especially powerful was the understanding of motivation and perception of others. I felt that the activity where the impact of my decision on all of the other participants was graded from high to low as a very insightful activity. It helped me to see that individuals that have the most to lose from a decision will seek to influence the decision making process the most.

They will use whatever power and influence they have to maintain their positions. This is not something that I ever thought about quite in this way. I can see how information that each individual provides might be tainted by their own biases that are coming from the fact that they are trying to maintain their positions. Weighing the impact of a decision on all of the players helped me to identify when I might be open to influence from someone that might lead to an unethical decision. I found the game to be a good teaching tool for creative thinking as well.

In most situations involving ethics, the answer or decision cannot be made in a vacuum and there is rarely a black or white answer. Some things are clearly unethical, such as withholding information about a product that has