Featured Ethical Dilemma
Good Coach, But Bad Role Model
Jim is a basketball coach with more than two decades of experience; he has coached his teams through several national championships, winning two of them. But there have been many alleged reports of vulgar incidents and violent and abusive behavior towards team members over the years.
Dilemma: Right vs. Right
The dilemmas we present here are all real, most of them told to us by participants at our Ethical Fitness® Seminars. We change only names and occasionally some of the details to protect the privacy of the individuals and/or organizations involved. If you have a true ethical dilemma you'd like to be included here, please send it to us, making sure to tell us how it was resolved! We will develop the analysis for you, if you'd like.
Note: These real-life dilemmas come to you without resolutions. We encourage you to think for yourself about how you might resolve them, since the nature of each dilemma is highly individualistic.
Business Dilemmas
- Honor Confidentiality or Protect a Child? An Insurance Adjuster's Dilemma
- Getting Medicine to Bosnia: Acceptable Bribery?
- Not a Bang--Just a Whimper. What's Going On?
- Perfect Run or Avalanche? An Ultimate Ski Dilemma
- Market or 'Friend' Rental Rate?
- Corporate Giving: Follow Guidelines or Reap Short-Term Benefits?
- Farm Challenges: Stay in Business or Save the Environment?
- Go by the Rules and Risk Corporate Anger? An Executive Director's Dilemma
- How to Keep the Chips from Falling?
- "Smoothing" the Factory's Accounts
- Should Grant Money Be Given Only for Restitution?
- The Second Choice Asks a Hard Question
- What to Say to the Man Let Go?
- The Dying Passenger
Education Dilemmas
- "Walk the Talk" or Avoid Costly Disruption? A School Headmaster's Dilemma
- For Fear of Not Passing, No Fear of Cheating
- Good Coach, But Bad Role Model
- How to Keep the Community and Keep a Confidence
- Excuse Me--Is That Dr. or Mr. Craft?
- The Rules of the Game
- Aid a Student or Stick by the Rules?
- Stick to the Rule, or Make an Exception for a Good Student?
- Whose Story is This?
Children and Family Dilemmas
- The Dying Passenger
- Pastoring or Parenting: A Minister's Dilemma
- Heartaches at Headstart
- "Walk the Talk" or Avoid Costly Disruption? A School Headmaster's Dilemma
- Honor Confidentiality or Protect a Child? An Insurance Adjuster's Dilemma
- A Parent's Dilemma: Personal versus Principle?
- Bucks or Bats: What's a Dad to Do?
- A Caseworker's Decision: Will Danny Survive, or Does He Need Help?
- A Sailor's Challenge: The Risk of Rescue
Medical Dilemmas
- Which Takes Precedence: Health Concerns or Privacy?
- Getting Medicine to Bosnia: Acceptable Bribery?
- Efficiency or Roots?
- Life or Death Emergency: Report or Respond?
Philanthropy Dilemmas
- Corporate Giving: Follow Guidelines or Reap Short-Term Benefits?
- A Jolly Good Fellow?
- Toe the Company Line, or Stick to Personal Principles?
- Efficiency or Roots?
- Aid a Student or Stick by the Rules?
- Divulge the Past, or Let Proposal Stand on Its Own?
- Coral Corruption: A Dilemma from Down Under
- Best Grants, or Conflict of Interest?
- To Give Big or To Give Small, That is the Question
- Should Grant Money Be Given Only for Restitution?
- Go by the Rules and Risk Corporate Anger? An Executive Director's Dilemma
Personal Dilemmas
- Toe the Company Line, or Stick to Personal Principles?
- Tell Friend about Cheating Husband, or Keep Quiet?
- The Dying Passenger
