Rubric :
Competencies
3008.1.1 : Practical Relevance of Ethical Theories
The graduate assesses the practical relevance of leading ethical theories and concepts.
3008.1.2 : Ethical Leadership and Code of Ethics
The graduate identifies influences on ethical leadership and analyzes a code of ethics.
Introduction
Leadership is often defined as the ability to influence people. An effective ethical leader guides an organization and its employees to accomplish organizational goals. In the same vein, an unethical leader can guide an organization and its employees to act unethically, harming both the organization and the stakeholders. Being a leader is an exploration, a reflection, and a test of your leadership values. Seeking understanding of how you resolve ethical dilemmas, taking inventory of where an ethical weakness may lie, and examining the traits of an ethical leader helps you define, shape, and apply an ethical decision-making framework, while also taking into consideration all stakeholders who may be affected by your decisions.
For this task, you will respond to an ethical situation as well as analyze the results of the Ethical Lens Inventory (ELI), which should be completed in the course. This task focuses on you as a leader by helping you to define, refine, and test your ethical boundaries through self-reflection and analysis.
Scenario
You are a sales representative for a medical device company that manufactures artificial joints. Your company has developed an artificial knee joint that is less expensive than the competition and will dramatically reduce healing time for patients. However, it is also known to produce a serious and potentially lethal infection in a small percentage of patients. The company refuses to disclose this potential side effect. You feel you have a duty to divulge this issue, but you signed a nondisclosure agreement when you were hired and worry about possible repercussions.
Requirements
Your submission must represent your original work and understanding of the course material. Most performance assessment submissions are automatically scanned through the WGU similarity checker. Students are strongly encouraged to wait for the similarity report to generate after uploading their work and then review it to ensure Academic Authenticity guidelines are met before submitting the file for evaluation. See for more information.
Grammarly Note:
Professional Communication will be automatically assessed through Grammarly for Education in most performance assessments before a student submits work for evaluation. Students are strongly encouraged to review the Grammarly for Education feedback prior to submitting work for evaluation, as the overall submission will not pass without this aspect passing. See for more information.
Microsoft Files Note:
Write your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) unless another Microsoft product, or pdf, is specified in the task directions. Tasks may not be submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc. All supporting documentation, such as screenshots and proof of experience, should be collected in a pdf file and submitted separately from the main file. For more information, please see
You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.
Write an essay (suggested length of 68 pages) in which you do the following:
A. Select a nonfictional leader who you feel has exhibited exemplary ethical conduct and do the following:
1. Discuss two ethical traits your chosen leader has demonstrated.
2. Explain how your chosen leader has exhibited ethical conduct.
Note: The chosen leader can be someone you know personally or someone famous.
B. Compare the deontological and consequentialist perspectives and how each perspective would approach the dilemma from the scenario.
C. Identify and explain which level of cognitive moral development (i.e., preconventional, conventional, or postconventional) is represented in the scenario for each of the following questions:
Which action would most likely serve the greater good in society?
If I reveal this information, will I get into trouble and possibly even lose my job?
Which action best aligns with my long-held belief in the principle of justice?
What do the laws say, and what would a law-abiding citizen do?
If I keep quiet, will I get some sort of reward?
D. Reflect on your Ethical Lens Inventory (ELI) by doing the following:
1. Explain your preferred ethical lens, relevant to the ELI.
a. Analyze whether you have the same preferred lens in different settings (e.g., work, personal, social).
2. Explain one of your primary values and one classical virtue from the ELI.
Note: If you are a Center Perspective, choose any primary value.
a. Compare your primary value from part D2 with one of your own self-identified or personal values. Then compare your classical virtue from part D2 with a different self-identified or personal value.
Note: Examples of personal values can be found in the attached Clarifying Your Values chart.
3. Describe one of the following from your ELI:
blind spot
risk
double standard
vice
a. Discuss two steps you can take to mitigate the blind spot, risk, double standard, or vice described in part D3 in order to make better ethical decisions in the future.
4. Discuss how the information from your ELI could be applied to an ethical situation in the workplace.
E. Submit a copy of the PDF file with the results from your ELI as a separate document.
F. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
G. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
File Restrictions
File name may contain only letters, numbers, spaces, and these symbols: ! – _ . * ‘ ( )
File size limit: 200 MB
File types allowed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, odt, pdf, csv, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, flv, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z
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Task 1 Tips
In addition to the tips and resources you find here, you can find Task 1 tips in the course. Head to this section: Ethical Leadership and Code of Ethics > Preparing for Task 1.
General Tips
This task is relatively informal compared with tasks you may have completed in some of your other courses. You do not need to format your task in APA format, though you are welcome to do so if that is your preference. You can also just divide your task into the individual sections and approach each section one at a time.
On a related note, the four sections in the task are all separate from each other, so you dont need to try to make your task flow as one whole.
You do not need to use sources (for instance, finding outside, scholarly sources). In fact, everything you need is in the course. If you do use sources and you quote, paraphrase, or summarize them then cite them using in-text citations and a References page. This rule applies to the textbook, as well as to any outside sources.
The rubric (located in the task instructions) is the document the evaluators use to score your tasks. We highly recommend checking your writing against the rubric to ensure both that everything fits into the Competent column and that you dont overlook any section that needs to be addressed.
Common Stumbling Blocks
In Section B, be sure you focus your discussion of deontology and consequentialism on the scenario found in the task instructions. Look for the scenario involving an artificial knee joint.
The most common reason Task 1 is sent back is Section D2a. The biggest question involves the personal or self-identified values. Those are two values that you will have identified within yourself.
To complete Section D, you will need to complete a self-quiz called The Ethical Lens Inventory (ELI). You can find the ELI in this section of the course: Practical Relevance of Ethical Theories > Ethical Theories and Concepts.
Please note that you are required to attach the PDF of your Ethical Lens Inventory results when you submit your task. Therefore, you will attach two documents: your ELI results and your task.
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Head or Heart?
The Ethical Lens Inventory is designed to help you identify your core ethical values. When we make ethical decisions, our core values are organized into four primary perspectivesthe lenses. Which perspective you take depends on what side you take on two timeless debates: reason in tension with feelings (the head against the heart) and individual rights in tension with group rights.Lets examine the first tension: head against heart.In choosing what action is the most ethical, we must often decide whether we will listen to our reason or our feelings. If you tend to pay attention to your reason, youll prefer an ethical lens that values rationality in resolving ethical dilemmas. If you tend to pay attention to your heart, you will prefer an ethical lens that values sensibility.Two of the four ethical lenses emphasize using rationality critical thinking to determine what behavior is ethical.
- Responsibilities Lens: Those who favor this lens use their reason to determine universal principles and rules by which they and others should live.
- Relationship Lens: Those who favor this lens use the collective reason of their community to design and implement processes that protect the powerless and ensure justice for all.
The other two lenses emphasize using sensibility intuition and emotions to determine what behavior is ethical.
- Results Lens: Those who favor this lens use their feelings and intuition to determine the choices that will contribute to their happiness, and by extension, the happiness of all.
- Reputation Lens: Those who favor this lens use their feelings and intuition, as well as the traditions and wisdom of their community, to identify the character traits that are required for virtuous livingan example to emulate.
Do you prefer to analyze before you act, or do you prefer to leap into action and worry about the risk later? The answer is central to how you make ethical decisions.
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Individual or Community?
The second set of values identified in the Ethical Lens Inventory looks at whether you focus on the individual or the community when you make ethical decisions.Two of the ethical lenses emphasize individuals exercising their autonomy and determining for themselves what behavior is ethical.
- Responsibilities Lens: Those who favor this lens use their reason to determine universal principles and rules by which they and others should live.
- Results Lens: Those who favor this lens use their feelings and intuition to determine the choices that will contribute to their happiness, and by extension, the happiness of all.
The other two ethical lenses emphasize the community determining as a whole what behavior is ethical, favoring equality.
- Relationship Lens: Those who favor this lens use the collective reason of their community to design and implement processes that protect the powerless and ensure justice for all.
- Reputation Lens: Those who favor this lens use their feelings and intuition, as well as the traditions and wisdom of their community, to identify the character traits that are required for virtuous livingan example to emulate.
Do you value the safety and prosperity of the community, even if individuals must sacrifice, or do you promote the rights of individuals to make their own choices, trusting that people will restrain their self-interest? Context will affect how you answer the question, but you likely have a preference that shapes your outlook on life.
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ETHICAL LENS INVENTORY(ELI) RESULTS :-
Your preferred ethical lens is: Blended Responsibilities and Relationship
Mild Rationality and No Preference between Autonomy and Equality (MRNP)
You use your personal reasoning skills (rationality) to balance between living into your personal principles (autonomy) and building a fair community (equality).
Your Primary Values show how you prioritize the tension between rationality and sensibility as well as autonomy and equality.
Your primary value is Rationality with no preference between Autonomy and Equality
Your value preferences place you between two lenses, the Responsibilities Lens and the Relationship Lens. Those with a Responsibilities Lens focus tend to define ethical success as having the right to choose how to responsibly live into their principleseven if other people dont always agree with them. Those with a Relationship Lens focus tend to define ethical success as having strong relationships within their community and working to help those without resources or power.
You have no preference between the values of autonomy and equality (NP). Defending the right of everyone to choose how they will live is important to youbut not if those rights come at the expense of the communitys wellbeing. Your balance between these values may be a struggle, where you believe everyone should choose their own path but worry that such freedom could lead to anarchy or injustice. Or, your balance could be a more harmonious blend of the two values.
As you balance these two perspectives, you have a mild preference for the value of rationality (MR) to identify the principlesthe foundational rulesthat you believe will help shape a community where power is balanced without individuals losing their rights and freedoms. Your guiding value is clear and rational thought moderated by your emotions and experience, which you use to apply universal principles as you work with others to ensure a fair community.
Know Yourself
Pay attention to your beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
The first step to ethical agility and maturity is to carefully read the description of your own ethical lens. While you may resonate with elements of other lenses, when you are under stress or pressure, youll begin your ethical analysis from your home lens. So, becoming familiar with both the gifts and the blind spots of your lens is useful. For more information about how to think about ethics as well as hints for interpreting your results, look at the information under the ELI Essentials and Exploring the ELI on the menu bar.
Understanding Your Ethical Lens
Over the course of history, four different ethical perspectives, which we call the Four Ethical Lenses, have guided people in making ethical decisions. Each of us has an inherited bias towards community that intersects with our earliest socialization. As we make sense of our world, we develop an approach to ethics that becomes our ethical instinctour gut reaction to value conflicts. The questions you answered were designed to determine your instinctual approach to your values preferences. These preferences determine your placement on the Ethical Lens Inventory grid, seen on the right side of this page.
The dot on the grid shows which ethical lens you prefer and how strong that preference is. Those who land on or close to the center point do not have a strong preference for any ethical lens and may instead resonate with an approach to ethics that is concerned with living authentically in the world rather than one that privileges one set of values over another.
Each of the paragraphs below describes an ethical traita personal characteristic or quality that defines how you begin to approach ethical problems. For each of the categories, the trait describes the values you believe are the most important as well as the reasons you give for why you make particular ethical decisions.
To see how other people might look at the world differently, read the descriptions of the different ethical lenses under the tab Ethical Lenses on the menu bar. The Overview of the Four Ethical Lenses can be printed to give you a quick reference document. Finally, you can compare and contrast each ethical trait by reading the description of the trait found under the Traits menu. Comparing the traits of your perspective to others helps you understand how people might emphasize different values and approach ethical dilemmas differently.
As you read your ethical profile and study the different approaches, youll have a better sense of what we mean when we use the word ethics. Youll also have some insight into how human beings determine what actions areor are notethical.
The Snapshot gives you a quick overview of your ethical lens.
Your snapshot shows you living responsibly into your principles while working to build a fair community.
The Responsibilities Lens represents the family of ethical theories known as deontology, where you consider your principlesand the duties that come from those principlesto help you determine what is ethical.
The Relationship Lens represents the family of ethical theories known as justice theories, where to determine what actions are ethical, you consider how the various community structuressuch as businesses, schools, health care systems, and the various levels of governmentensure that citizens are treated fairly and have access to needed resources.
At times, you may find either of these theories persuasive. In your quest for the truth, you yearn for a community guided by reason, where each individual is principled and fair-minded. The clearest thoughts of both individuals and groups would lead to organizational and community structures, built on sound principles, that provide the needed knowledge, power, and resources for all people to have a chance to thrive.
Your Ethical Path is the method you use to become ethically aware and mature.
Your ethical path is the Path of the Thinker and the Path of the Citizen
On the ethical Path of the Thinker, you use your reason to identify the principlesthe foundational rulesthat you believe are worthy of adoption and will lead you to the Truth. As a human being, you have the privilege of choosing how best to live your life. Your preference is determining for yourself the principles that you believe are the most important. Then you determine how your actions can be true to your guiding principles.
On the ethical Path of the Citizen, you work with others and use collective reason to promote strong community structures and strive to treat people fairly. The first element of justice is procedural justice: How do you make sure that people are treated fairly in the community’s formal and informal institutional structures? The second side of justice is more problematicdistributive justice. These conversations focus on who has access to stuffhealth care, jobs, food, clean air and water, housing, and educationand who is going to pay for it.
As you walk your paths, you moderate your quest for the truth with considering also what is good. In the process, you trust that the world will make sense as you ground your principles… [Content truncated to 3000 words]