Ethical Decision Making Research Paper

Ethical behavior does not seem to be a clearly defined set of rules, and although there are numerous examples of ethical guidelines being created for various purposes, these are likely not meant to be all inclusive. Instead, perhaps the main commonality is an awareness of how people are impacted by different types of behaviors. Actions or behaviors that harm people in some way will generally be considered unethical; even though behaviors considered to be ethical or unethical may change over time as a function of societal norms, customs, or beliefs (Cascio & Aguinis, 2011). Therefore, the ethical obligations an employer has toward job candidates would involve genuine attempts to reduce or eliminate behaviors that could result in harm or other forms of adversity to befall applicants during a selection process. Positive

economic and financial results, positive organizational perceptions) could come from ethical and fair treatment of candidates.
One way employers can act ethically toward job candidates is to preserve the privacy and confidentiality of personal information and/or the results of any assessments taken as part of a selection process. This may be accomplished by maintaining test security and making reasonable efforts to establish the integrity of test materials or other assessment resources in an ethical manner (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010). In addition to privacy and confidentiality, employers should obtain consent from applicants prior to administering any form of test or assessment (APA, 2010; Cascio & Aguinis, 2011). Although employers may have certain policies or guidelines outlining acceptable behavior toward job candidates, these would be in addition to ethical guidelines of HRM or I/O practitioners who may take part in the process. Any type of assessment that is involved with the selection process should directly