Problem Solving-3

Some Do’s and Don’ts:

The following “don’ts” address specific ethical challenges in a crisis or emergency situation.

- Don’t exceed your authority or make promises.

- Don’t use your position to seek personal gain. Examples of seeking personal gain would include:

Soliciting gifts.

- Making official decisions that benefit you financially.

- Using inside information gained through your position to benefit you and/or your family

- Using agency time or property (e.g., a phone or car) for personal reasons.

- Using your official position or accepting compensation to endorse a product.

Avoid even the appearance of ethical violations. Take the extra step of making sure that your actions (even if they are above-board) could not be seen as unethical. Think about how your actions would read on the front page of the newspaper.

Ethical Do’s

Keep these “do’s” in mind:

- Place the law and ethical principles above private gain.

- Act impartially. Do not show favoritism to one group (e.g., victims or contractors) over another. Two aids in acting impartially include making sure that all affected parties have full disclosure, and seeking prior authorization before taking action.

- Protect and conserve public property. This standard applies both to your actions and to the actions that you should take if you observe fraud, waste, or abuse.

- Put forth an honest effort in everything even remotely connected to your official position.

So far we have given a brief outline of the theories of decision-making which might help you in developing your approach to situational questions too.