The Role of Ethics in Diagnosing and Resolving Managerial Problems

This note offers a summarized view of the three essential perspectives that come into play when resolving managerial conflicts: descriptive, instrumental, and evaluative-normative. Business ethics reveals that these three perspectives are interrelated, that is, that the attitude we have towards reality (evaluative perspective) conditions the way we may diagnose it (descriptive perspective) and the kind tools we use to solve conflicts and how we use them (instrumental perspective). Along with this triadic structure, this note also explains the role that business ethics plays in resolving managerial conflicts. Namely, it can expand the perspective or lens through which businesspeople deals with their reality, encouraging them to consider dimensions other than economics, such as relational, legal, or ethical. This note also mentions the specific management tools which business ethics can supply to resolve managerial conflicts.