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Organizations struggle to develop a simple set of guidelines that makes it easier for employees, regardless of position or level, to be confident of 
their decisions to meet competing standards of organizations for effective and ethical decision making.
The traditional decision making model taught in most business ethics programs is often beyond the reading comprehension of 25% of the employees’ population. Hence, an alternative model is necessary.
Employees are called upon to make decisions in the normal course of their job. Organizations cannot function effectively if employees are not empowered to make decisions consistent with their positions and responsibilities.
Further, the decision maker has to be confident in the soundness of his decisions. Every decision should be tested against the organization’s policies and values, applicable laws and regulations, as well as the individual employee’s definition of what is right, fair, good, and acceptable.
With these realities, an alternative decision-making model is imperative to address current realities.
The Rise of the Ethical Decision Making Model
To become an Ethical Organization, having a decision making model grounded on foundational ethical decision making is paramount. An Ethical Decision Making Model ensures that the ethical issues inherent in a routine business situation could effectively be surfaced while making it easy for people in the organization to understand and use. To make it more effective, PLUS filters must be embedded within the process.
The ethical component of the decision making takes the form of a set of filters. At key steps in the process, considerations are run through the filters and separate the ethical conations from the remainder of the decision.
The PLUS Filters: What Really Are They?
PLUS Filters are ethics filters that have adapted to mnemonic word PLUS. PLUS is the mnemonic of Policies, Legal, Universal, and Self. The integration of PLUS Filters in the decision making process is best achieved when there are effective communication and formal mechanism in place.
The PLUS Filters are applied in each of the steps in the decision making process.
P = Policies
- Is it consistent with my organization’s policies, procedures, and guidelines?
L = Legal
- Is it acceptable under the applicable laws and regulations?
U = Universal
- Does it conform to the universal principles/values my organization has adopted?
S = Self
- Does it satisfy my personal definition of right, good, and fair?
The PLUS Filters and Its Application
Integration of PLUS Filters in decision making is best achieved with effective communication and formal mechanism in place.
Let us look at the first step: Defining the Problem.
In defining the problem, we aim to define the difference between the expected and/or desired outcomes and actual outcomes. With the PLUS application, PLUS surfaced the ethical issues and ask the question, “Does the existing situation violate any of the PLUS considerations?”
When the PLUS Filters are applied, this determines if the ethical components of the decision are being surfaced or satisfied.
The use of PLUS Filters in the decision making process can be your barometer in determining if decisions made are within accepted ethical boundaries agreed upon by your company and the environment that the company revolves in.
Interested in gaining more understanding of creating an Ethical Organization through the PLUS Decision Making Model? You can learn more and download an editable PowerPoint about Ethical Organization: PLUS Decision Making Model here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
Are you a management consultant?
You can download this and hundreds of other consulting frameworks and consulting training guides from the FlevyPro library.
In today’s business environment, management consulting firms must be ready to address client challenges and needs that will transform their 
business by 10 or 100 times. Tools and methods must be scaled up to ensure applicability to the widest possible audience globally.
The Consulting Workshop Series provides a good understanding of the 10 methods of conducting Workshops that are custom designed to fit specific workshop objectives. Different methods are developed for the purpose of providing organizations the most appropriate tool necessary to support organizations to achieve their strategic goals and targets.
If it is the management’s goal to solicit informed input for policy decisions, then the Citizens Jury is the most appropriate method to undertake.
Understanding the Citizens Jury Method
The Citizens Jury is one of the methods in the Consulting Workshop Series that derives a decision that is representative of average citizens who has been well informed on the issue. It is most applicable when one or more alternatives to a problem need to be selected the various competing interests are arbitrated.
The Citizens Jury can lead to concrete action when this is directly linked to a decision making process.
The Citizens Jury Approach
Making the necessary preparation is the initial step towards organizing a Citizens Jury. While it may not be the main event, it is most critical as it contributes highly to the successful conduct of the event.
- Preparation. The Preparation phase sets the groundwork for the effective conduct of the Citizens Jury Event. Each step in the Preparation is essential, extensive it may be. The Preparation includes recruitment of personnel and setting the tasks, jury selection, juror recruitment, establishing the charge, developing the agenda and selecting and recruiting the expert witnesses.
- Citizens Jury Event. This is the very core of the over-all undertaking – the Citizens Jury Event. It is the main event where deliberation and people’s participation in policy decision are undertaken. Facilitated by 2 moderators, the event is done in 3 stages – the Introductory Day, the Hearing Days, and the Deliberation. The Deliberation is the heart of the Citizens Jury Model.
- Follow-up. The Follow-up is the final phase of the Citizens Jury. It focuses on measuring the results of the event. It also ensures proper documentation and dissemination of the final output. This includes the evaluations, the final news conference, the debriefing, and the dissemination of the final report.
The preparation of the Citizens Jury is extensive. To ensure a systematic flow of the Citizens Jury, timelines are essential. Timelines begin after a contract or agreement has been signed and funded for the conduct of the Citizens Jury. Being able to select the appropriate timeline in structuring the Citizens Jury can contribute much to its successful conduct.
Interested in gaining more understanding of the Citizens Jury? You can learn more and download an editable PowerPoint about Consulting Workshop Series: Citizens Jury here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
Are you a management consultant?
You can download this and hundreds of other consulting frameworks and consulting training guides from the FlevyPro library.
