How Decisions are Really Made

How Decisions are Really Made
By Natalie Beasley

In Interactive Ethics: How Ethical and Unethical Decisions are Really Made in Organizations, Thomas Schear gives a inside look on how he believes that decisions are really made. He uses a model called the Interactive Ethics Model or IEM, that describes just how decisions are made, and how that determines if the outcome is one that is ethical or unethical. This model is a very systematic and thought out process that he believes gives everyone a better understanding on the decision making process.

Schear argues that although many people believe that all ethical dilemmas can be solved by looking back to a code of ethics, like the PRSA Code of Ethics, or by apply a decision making process, it may or may not be true. He states that these could be options but it is not what “really” goes on in the workplace of organizations. His argument is that the fact remains that some organizations consistently make unethical decisions and then there are some that have greater struggles when faced with a dilemma, as well as there are some that are not consistent in their decision-making. This is where the IEM model comes into play. This model suggests that there are reasons as to why some ethical and unethical decisions are made. A few reasons given in the book are that people often react to a dilemma with their emotions before they seek reasons for their actions. Therefore they are relying too much on their emotions instead of the actions they should be taking. Another way is that dealing with such dilemmas does not help to build the character of the individual, but it actually reveals the “true colors” of the all the parties involved. Schear describes these things as “baggage”. These reasons including a person’s ego, self-control, and dependency on others lead the individuals or organization to be less consistent and more predictable with their decisions.

Throughout the book, Schear gives different perspectives and insights on how organizations deal with an ethical dilemma. He goes more indepth about the IEM and gives a better understanding of the intentions of the IEM. Basically the IEM proves that decisions are not made by a carefully thought out process, but that it has much more to do with the psychological and social state of the organization or individual handling the dilemma.

In some ways some people may find Schear’s book controversial because it argues against what many of us learn in our college educations. Different codes of ethics have always been stressed in class, so it was interesting to get a different perspectives from Schear showing that in the “real-world” decisions aren’t always made based on those codes.