"So, am I ethical?" : ethics and the everyday decisions of managers

This paper is based on research conducted in the UK to investigate middle managers’ experience of using ethics in their everyday decisions. From nine in-depth interviews with managers in five organisations, critical incidents have been identified that illustrate situations that present ethical dilemmas. Managers’ definitions of ethical and unethical behaviour are considered and three critical incidents presented: accepting gifts/hospitality, confidentiality and racism. The ethical management styles used by the managers are analysed using Carroll’s (1987) framework. Findings from the research are that managers appear confident when discussing unethical behaviour and ethics influences their decisions in specific contexts but is not usually considered in everyday decisions. A final point is that some managers are seeking confirmation about whether they are ethical, because they don’t know.