The Relativism of Ethical Dilemma Decision Making

Abstract

The research involves 120 business students answering ethical dilemmas in business. The case was about a company using social media as a pre-employment background check and considering it part of the hiring process. The students must answer from both the candidate’s and the employer’s perspectives. Initially, the students stated their opinion from the perspective of the candidate. Later, they stated the point of view of the employer. It tested whether they modify their ethical judgment as they have a different position. Chi-square and McNemar’s tests were used to prove the results. The research contributes to the fact that ethical judgment is associated with ethical intention; therefore, when a person judges that an act is ethical, they will tend to do it if they are in the same position. Secondly, it provides evidence of ethical relativism. Based on McNemar’s test, it is proven that there is different ethical judgment in the candidate’s perspective and the perspective of the business owner HRD. 49% of the respondents change their ethical judgment when they are in a different position.