Ethical Decision-making Framework Research Articles

Spirit at work: a panacea for ethical problems caused by marketing managers’ love of money

PurposeLimited research has investigated how spirit at work, functioning as a “good barrel,” fosters ethical decision-making (EDM) even in the presence of unethical managerial behavior (“bad apples”). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the spirit at work, a situational variable, as a moderating variable in the relationship between the love of money (LoM), an individual-level factor, and EDM.Design/methodology/approachA time-lagged survey of the members of the Marketing Association of Pakistan was conducted. The data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling.FindingsAdding to much of the existing research, which finds that LoM can influence ethical intention directly, this research finds that LoM influences ethical intention only through ethical judgment. Moreover, the spirit at work tempers the negative relationship between LoM and ethical judgment, thereby mitigating LoM’s detrimental effects not only on ethical judgment but also its downstream effects on ethical intention.Practical implicationsOrganizations, by planting the seeds of spirit at work, can institutionalize good barrels, which can alleviate the negative effects of the marketing managers’ LoM, the root cause of unethical behavior. This way, this study establishes a business case for spirit at work.Originality/valueThe novelty of this study is the development and investigation of a holistic conceptual framework for EDM of marketing professionals that incorporates LoM as an antecedent, ethical judgment as an underlying mechanism, ethical intention as an outcome variable and spirit at work as a boundary condition.

EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING USING DATA ANALYTICS

In contemporary business landscapes, the transformative potential of data analytics in decision-making processes cannot be overstated. This comprehensive abstract delves into the multifaceted realm of leveraging data analytics for informed and effective decision-making. It scrutinizes the intricate interplay between data analytics methodologies and decision-making frameworks, elucidating how organizations can harness data to drive strategic initiatives, enhance operational efficiency, and gain competitive advantages. The abstract begins by elucidating the foundational principles of data analytics, encompassing data collection, preprocessing, analysis, and interpretation. It underscores the pivotal role of advanced analytics techniques, including machine learning, predictive modeling, and data visualization, in extracting actionable insights from complex datasets. Furthermore, it explores the significance of establishing robust data governance frameworks to ensure data quality, integrity, and security throughout the decision-making process. Building upon this foundation, the abstract delineates the pivotal stages of the decision-making process wherein data analytics can exert a transformative influence. It elucidates how data-driven insights facilitate comprehensive situational awareness, enabling decision-makers to anticipate market trends, customer preferences, and operational risks with unprecedented accuracy. Moreover, it highlights the role of predictive analytics in scenario planning and risk management, empowering organizations to proactively mitigate potential threats and capitalize on emerging opportunities. However, the abstract acknowledges the inherent challenges associated with integrating data analytics into decision-making processes. It addresses concerns regarding data privacy, ethical considerations, and algorithmic biases, emphasizing the imperative of responsible data usage and ethical decision-making frameworks. Moreover, it underscores the significance of fostering a data-driven organizational culture characterized by data literacy, collaboration, and a propensity for experimentation. To exemplify the transformative impact of data analytics on decision-making, the abstract incorporates real-world case studies and industry examples across diverse domains, including finance, healthcare, marketing, and supply chain management. These case studies elucidate how organizations have leveraged data analytics to optimize resource allocation, streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation.

A Holistic Approach for Ethics and Sustainability in the Food Chain: The Gateway to Oral and Systemic Health.

Food production is a complex matter, affecting people's lives, organizations' profits, and the well-being of the whole planet, and has multifaceted ethical considerations surrounding its production, distribution, and consumption. This paper addresses the pressing need to confront ethical challenges within the food system, encompassing issues such as environmental sustainability, food security, and individual food choices for better oral and systemic health of all individuals around the globe. From agricultural practices to global trade and food waste, ethical implications are addressed across various domains, highlighting the interconnectedness of ethical decision-making in the food industry. Central themes explored include the ethical dimensions of food production methods, the impact of global trade on food ethics, and the role of individuals in making ethically informed food choices. Additionally, this paper considers the spiritual and physical significance of food, particularly through the lens of oral health as a gateway to holistic well-being. Recognizing the complexity of the food and mouth ecosystem, this paper calls for serious interventions in legislation and economics to promote ethical protocols and techniques for sustainability reasons. It emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations in food safety management systems, regulatory frameworks, and quality standards. Moreover, this paper underlines the need for a comprehensive approach to address ethical dilemmas and moral values inherent in the food industry and oral health policies, adopting the precautionary principle and ethical decision-making frameworks. This article finally aims to serve as a call to action for stakeholders across the food industry and the healthcare sector, to prioritize ethical practices, promote transparency, rearrange economic parameters, and work towards a more sustainable and equitable food system for inner and outer oral and systemic health and human sustainability for all.

Exploring an AI-Based Algorithmic Framework for Ethical Decision-Making in Human Resource Management Procedures

In today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving workplace environments, ensuring ethical decision-making in Human Resource Management (HRM) procedures is crucial for organizational success and employee well-being. This research paper delves into the exploration of an innovative AI-based algorithmic framework designed to facilitate ethical decision-making processes within HRM contexts. Traditional approaches to ethical decision-making often rely on subjective judgement and are susceptible to biases, leading to inconsistent outcomes and potential ethical dilemmas. Leveraging the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI), this framework integrates ethical principles, organizational values, and legal regulations into a structured algorithmic model. The proposed framework consists of several key components, including data collection and analysis, algorithm development, and decision support mechanisms. By harnessing AI technologies such as machine learning and natural language processing, the framework aims to enhance the objectivity, transparency, and consistency of ethical decision-making in HRM procedures. Moreover, the framework incorporates dynamic learning capabilities, allowing it to adapt and evolve based on feedback and real-world experiences. Through iterative refinement and continuous improvement, the algorithmic framework strives to address emerging ethical challenges and complexities in HRM practices. This research paper presents a comprehensive overview of the theoretical foundations, design principles, and implementation strategies of the AI-based algorithmic framework. Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from ethics, psychology, and computer science, the paper elucidates the potential benefits and implications of adopting such a framework in organizational contexts. Furthermore, the paper discusses potential ethical considerations and challenges associated with the deployment of AI technologies in HRM decision-making processes.

Ethics in Neonatal Anesthesia – A Tender Perioperative Care

Medical ethics, a set of norms and values applied to the behavior of medical care personnel, has been evolving along with the scientific and technical development in the field of neonatology, surgery, and anesthesia. Regarding the anesthetic management of a neonate, an anesthesiologist is always in an ethical dilemma. On one side, anesthesia is a necessity for surgery, and on the other hand, knowing that these interventions may have untoward or adverse effects. Autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice are the four basic principles of medical ethics, which are used in harmony with each other without any order of succession and along with virtues of compassion, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and fairness provides an ethical decision-making framework for a tender perioperative care. Professionalism in the operating room and anesthesiologist – surgeon relationship is an integral part of the ethical concerns in neonatal anesthesia.

Psychedelics in PERIL: The Commercial Determinants of Health, Financial Entanglements and Population Health Ethics.

The nascent for-profit psychedelic industry has begun to engage in corporate practices like funding scientific research and research programs. There is substantial evidence that such practices from other industries like tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals and food create conflicts of interest and can negatively influence population health. However, in a context of funding pressures, low publicly funded success rates and precarious academic labor, there is limited ethics guidance for researchers working at the intersection of clinical practice and population health as to how they should approach potential financial sponsorship from for-profit entities, such as the psychedelic industry. This article reports on a reflective exercise among a group of clinician scientists working in psychedelic science, where we applied Adams' (2016) PERIL (Purpose, Extent, Relevant harm, Identifiers, Link) ethical decision-making framework to a fictionalized case of corporate psychedelic financial sponsorship. Our analysis suggests financial relationships with the corporate psychedelic sector may create varying degrees of risk to a research program's purpose, autonomy and integrity. We argue that the commercial determinants of health provide a useful framework for understanding the ethics of industry-healthcare entanglements and can provide an important population health ethics lens to examine nascent industries such as psychedelics, and work toward potential solutions.

The Implementation of Ethical AI Within Autonomous Vehicles

The integration of Artificial Intelligence in the rapidly evolving landscape of autonomous vehicles necessitates an in-depth exploration of the associated ethical implications, especially in life-or-death scenarios. This research paper delves deeply into the multifaceted ethical issues associated with the deployment of AI-driven autonomous vehicles and the moral implication regarding this development. A core inquiry of this work is discerning the appropriate entity responsible for critical decision-making when human lives are in the balance. Given the unique context of autonomous driving, where split-second decisions could be a norm rather than an exception, we aim to investigate both the current algorithms' decision-making processes as well as their lack of transparency and question the underlying ethics that shape them. Drawing from real-world incidents involving autonomous vehicles, and juxtaposing them with theoretical predicaments, this study endeavors to present a holistic view of the prevailing ethical perspectives. Building on this foundation, we introduce a fitting ethical decision-making framework, rooted in deontological principles, designed to guide autonomous vehicles through morally complex scenarios on the road. To validate and refine our framework, we employ diverse case studies from the world of autonomous driving. Simultaneously, recognizing the inherent challenges that any ethical framework might encounter, we also discuss potential pitfalls and offer suggestions to enhance its robustness and applicability. As a result, this research underscores the pressing need for meticulously crafted guidelines governing AI within autonomous vehicles, ensuring that safety, individual autonomy, and ethical qualifications to be implemented within the age of driverless transport.

Exploring Iroquois Culture in Joseph Bruchac’s Peacemaker: A Framework for Ethical Decision-Making Rooted in Core Character Value

Ethical decision-making is deeply intertwined with the foundational cultural values that articulate and embody core character virtues. These values find expression through moral and virtuous principles, shaped by social and cultural constructs, thereby guiding community behaviour. In the realm of environmental ethics, culture significantly influences the placement of the non-human world within various spectra, be it at the pinnacle, bottom, or as equals. Trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, and caring, the core character values, are intrinsically linked to where the non-human world stands in this context. Joseph Bruchac, a revered Native American author, revisits the historical genesis of the Iroquois confederacy, shedding light on the intricate relationship between the human and non-human worlds in his novel, Peacemaker. This paper delves into comprehending the Iroquois culture as a foundation for ethical decision-making, with a specific focus on core character values such as trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, and caring.

Ethical and legal challenges of AI in marketing: an exploration of solutions

PurposeArtificial intelligence (AI) has sparked interest in various areas, including marketing. However, this exhilaration is being tempered by growing concerns about the moral and legal implications of using AI in marketing. Although previous research has revealed various ethical and legal issues, such as algorithmic discrimination and data privacy, there are no definitive answers. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating AI’s ethical and legal concerns in marketing and suggesting feasible solutions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper synthesises information from academic articles, industry reports, case studies and legal documents through a thematic literature review. A qualitative analysis approach categorises and interprets ethical and legal challenges and proposes potential solutions.FindingsThe findings of this paper raise concerns about ethical and legal challenges related to AI in the marketing area. Ethical concerns related to discrimination, bias, manipulation, job displacement, absence of social interaction, cybersecurity, unintended consequences, environmental impact, privacy and legal issues such as consumer security, responsibility, liability, brand protection, competition law, agreements, data protection, consumer protection and intellectual property rights are discussed in the paper, and their potential solutions are discussed.Research limitations/implicationsNotwithstanding the interesting insights gathered from this investigation of the ethical and legal consequences of AI in marketing, it is important to recognise the limits of this research. Initially, the focus of this study is confined to a review of the most important ethical and legal issues pertaining to AI in marketing. Additional possible repercussions, such as those associated with intellectual property, contracts and licencing, should be investigated more deeply in future studies. Despite the fact that this study gives various answers and best practices for tackling the stated ethical and legal concerns, the viability and efficacy of these solutions may differ depending on the context and industry. Thus, more research and case studies are required to evaluate the applicability and efficacy of these solutions in other circumstances. This research is mostly based on a literature review and may not represent the experiences or opinions of all stakeholders engaged in AI-powered marketing. Further study might involve interviews or surveys with marketing professionals, customers and other key stakeholders to offer a full knowledge of the practical difficulties and solutions. Because of the rapid speed of technical progress, AI’s ethical and regulatory ramifications in marketing are continually increasing. Consequently, this work should be a springboard for more research and continuing conversations on this subject.Practical implicationsThis study’s findings have several practical implications for marketing professionals. Emphasising openness and explainability: Marketing professionals should prioritise transparency in their use of AI, ensuring that customers are fully informed about data collection and utilisation for targeted advertising. By promoting openness and explainability, marketers can foster customer trust and avoid the negative consequences of a lack of transparency. Establishing ethical guidelines: Marketing professionals need to develop ethical rules for the creation and implementation of AI-powered marketing strategies. Adhering to ethical principles ensures compliance with legal norms and aligns with the organisation’s values and ideals. Investing in bias detection tools and privacy-enhancing technology: To mitigate risks associated with AI in marketing, marketers should allocate resources to develop and implement bias detection tools and privacy-enhancing technology. These tools can identify and address biases in AI algorithms, safeguard consumer privacy and extract valuable insights from consumer data.Social implicationsThis study’s social implications emphasise the need for a comprehensive approach to address the ethical and legal challenges of AI in marketing. This includes adopting a responsible innovation framework, promoting ethical leadership, using ethical decision-making frameworks and conducting multidisciplinary research. By incorporating these approaches, marketers can navigate the complexities of AI in marketing responsibly, foster an ethical organisational culture, make informed ethical decisions and develop effective solutions. Such practices promote public trust, ensure equitable distribution of benefits and risk, and mitigate potential negative social consequences associated with AI in marketing.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to explore potential solutions comprehensively. This paper provides a nuanced understanding of the challenges by using a multidisciplinary framework and synthesising various sources. It contributes valuable insights for academia and industry.

Ethical Decision-Making Framework Based on Incremental ILP Considering Conflicts

Ethical Decision-Making Framework Based on Incremental ILP Considering Conflicts

The Gridiron’s Ethical Striping: Threads of Tackle Football’s Moral Permissibility

In this paper, I examine the ethical landscape surrounding tackle football, exploring the moral permissibility of the sport and the myriad ethical considerations it entails. This examination comprises the use of an ethical decision-making framework to analyze four key aspects: relevant empirical facts, affected parties, salient moral values/disvalues, and potential options. In pondering these aspects, I identify the ethical conflicts arising from factual disagreements, conflicting interests, and divergent values/disvalues concerning players’ decision to partake in gridiron football. In addition to emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing such aspects and conflicts to devise potential solutions, I contend that ethical issues related to the permissibility of football ultimately stem from value-related conflicts, highlighting the necessity of examining and reconciling conflicting moral principles.

Using AAERs in Financial Accounting Courses: A Case Study to Integrate Ethical and Technical Competencies

ABSTRACT Using the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases, this assignment builds critical thinking and ethical decision-making skills in a financial accounting setting. It requires students to analyze a real-world fraud from the perspective of an employee, manager, or executive (a “case participant”) involved in the accounting impropriety. The case features individual and group components that may be customized to fit the instructor’s needs. The individual component examines a case participant’s choices in committing accounting improprieties using an ethical decision-making framework. The group component includes an analysis of the accounting, the fraud triangle, possible preventative measures, and takeaways applicable to students’ future careers. By requiring students to step into the shoes of a case participant, this assignment increases student awareness of deliberate choices leading to financial reporting fraud and equips students with an ethical decision-making framework should they encounter a financial reporting ethical conflict in the workplace.

Cognitive computing and 3D facial tracking method to explore the ethical implication associated with the detection of fraudulent system in online examination

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the rapid spread of online education and tests demanded the implementation of cheating detection tools to ensure academic integrity. While advances in technology such as face recognition, face expression recognition, head posture analysis, eye gaze tracking, network data traffic analysis, and IP spoofing detection have shown promising results in detecting fraudulent behavior, their integration raises ethical concerns that must be carefully considered. This work presents a cognitive computing strategy for investigating the ethical implications of using cheating detection systems in online tests. This study attempts to examine the potential impact on students’ privacy, fairness, and trust in the examination process by employing cognitive computing, which models human cognitive capacities. A thorough literature review is used in the process to uncover existing ethical norms and regulatory frameworks linked to online assessments and cheating detection. Soft computing approaches are also used to evaluate the effectiveness and dependability of the aforementioned cheating detection strategies. The study looks into how far facial recognition and expression analysis can go in terms of privacy, as well as the possibility of bias in head posture analysis and eye gaze tracking algorithms. Furthermore, it investigates the ethical implications of monitoring network data traffic and detecting IP spoofing, with a focus on data security and user permission. The cognitive computing model, based on the analysis, presents a comprehensive framework for ethical decision-making when installing cheating detection technologies. The findings of this study contribute to the continuing discussion about the ethical concerns of using modern technologies to identify cheating in online exams. It provides educational institutions and policymakers with practical ideas for striking a balance between academic integrity and protecting students’ rights and dignity. By emphasizing ethical issues, this study aims to ensure that the implementation of cheating detection systems adheres to values of fairness, transparency, and privacy protection, promoting a trusting and supportive online learning environment for all parties involved.

Child Rights during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Learning from Child Health-and-Rights Professionals across the World.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of a child rights-based approach to policymaking and crisis management. Anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 3P framework-provision, protection, and participation-forms the foundation for health professionals advocating for children's rights. Expanding it with two additional domains-preparation and power-into a 5P framework has the potential to enhance child rights-based policies in times of crisis and future pandemics. The study aimed to (1) gather perspectives from child health-and-rights specialists on how children's rights were highlighted during the early phase of the pandemic in their respective settings; and (2) evaluate the usefulness of the 5P framework in assessing children's visibility and rights. A qualitative survey was distributed among child health-and-rights professionals; a total of 68 responses were analysed in Atlas.ti 9 from a multi-disciplinary group of policymakers and front-line professionals in eight world regions. As framed by the 5Ps, children's rights were generally not safeguarded in the initial pandemic response and negatively impacted children's health and wellbeing. Further, children lacked meaningful opportunities to raise their concerns to policymakers. The 5P framework holds the potential to shape an ethical child rights-based decision-making framework for future crises, both nationally and globally.

Prenatally-diagnosed renal failure: an ethical framework for decision-making.

The Children's Hospital Working Group has developed an ethical framework to guide patient care and research for prenatally diagnosed severe renal anomalies. It identifies ethical challenges in communication, timing of decisions and scarce resources. Key elements include shared decision-making, establishing a trusting relationship, and managing disagreement. The ethical framework will be used to develop a clinical pathway that operationalizes the key values of trust, honesty, transparency, beneficence, nonmaleficence, respecting parental authority, professional integrity, and justice.

Applying a systems oriented ethical decision making framework to mitigating social and structural determinants of health.

Clinical ethical decision-making models are largely geared toward individual clinician choices and individual patient outcomes, not necessarily accounting for larger systemic issues that affect optimal patient outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to provide an ethical decision-making model, drawing upon systems orientation and ethical theory, specifically incorporating and aiding in the mitigation of social and structural determinants of health. This paper presents a systems-oriented ethical decision-making framework derived from the analysis and critique of the Four-Box Method for Ethical Decision-Making by Jonsen, Siegler, and Winslade. Drawing upon both deontological and utilitarian ethical theory, the developed framework will assist providers, organizations, and health system leaders in navigating the increasingly complex ethical dimensions of care delivery for underserved patient populations, who are largely impacted by social and structural determinants of health. The needs of underserved patients are inextricably linked to various social and structural determinants of health that, if left unaddressed, result in even poorer health outcomes, exacerbating existing health disparities. A systems-oriented ethical decision-making framework, centered on obligation, duty, and a utilitarian view of the optimal good, will aid providers, organizations, health system leaders, and community stakeholders in navigating the increasingly complex ethical dimensions of care delivery for underserved patient populations. Socioeconomic and political contexts have a significant impact on the way society is organized, how people are positioned in society, and how they will fare in terms of their health. Healthcare providers, including dentists, are largely unaware of and insensitive to the social issues that underlie the biological or psychological concerns that patients from socially disadvantaged backgrounds face. A systems-oriented ethical decision-making model will aid in mitigating social and structural determinants of health and the dental profession's obligations to the underserved.

Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Fairness: A study to address bias and fairness issues in AI systems, and the ethical implications of AI applications

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made incredible strides in several fields, revolutionising business and everyday life. Thoughts regarding the moral ramifications and fairness of AI systems have grown in prominence along with its fast development. This article explores the crucial issues of AI fairness and ethics, concentrating on ways to detect and reduce prejudice in AI systems while also discussing larger ethical implications. The paper emphasises the possible repercussions of biased decision-making while highlighting the many forms and sources of bias that might develop in AI models. There are several methods and strategies to deal with bias in AI systems, including data pretreatment, algorithmic changes, and transparency measures. In an effort to balance justice and efficacy, the trade-offs between fairness goals and overall model performance are examined. The article also emphasises how crucial it is for AI systems to be transparent and understandable in order to foster accountability. For the purpose of establishing ethical AI development and deployment practises, regulatory issues and ethical decision-making frameworks are also investigated. This study emphasises the need of ongoing research and development of moral AI systems to guarantee a just and equitable future for AI applications via in-depth analysis and case studies.

MacIntyre’s Virtue Ethics: Philosophical Interpretation

This article provides a philosophical interpretation of MacIntyre's Virtue Ethics. Through a close analysis of key concepts such as telos, narrative unity, and the cultivation of virtues, the article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of MacIntyre's ethical framework. Drawing on historical and interdisciplinary research, the article investigates the intellectual influences and historical context that shaped MacIntyre's Virtue Ethics, including his debt to Aristotle's Virtue Ethics. The article explores the similarities and differences between MacIntyre's Virtue Ethics and other ethical theories such as consequentialism and deontology. In particular, it highlights the unique features of MacIntyre's approach, including the emphasis on narrative unity and the importance of social practices. Further, the article examines the relevance of MacIntyre's Virtue Ethics in addressing pressing ethical challenges facing modern society. It argues that the cultivation of virtues and the emphasis on narrative unity can provide a framework for ethical decision-making in a world full of competing values and interests. Overall, this article offers a comprehensive and nuanced interpretation of MacIntyre's Virtue Ethics, demonstrating its continued relevance in the field of ethics and its potential for guiding individuals and commаnities towards a more ethical and meaningful existence.

Views of physiotherapists on factors that play a role in ethical decision-making: an international online survey study

BackgroundThere is a lack of knowledge about the ways physiotherapists around the world learn about professional code of ethics and ethical decision-making frameworks. The profession has a gap in the understanding about physiotherapists’ views on factors that play a role in ethical decision-making and whether these views differ between World Physiotherapy regions.MethodsAn online survey study in English was conducted from October 2018 to October 2019. Participants included 559 physiotherapists located in 72 countries. The self-designed survey questionnaire contained 13 items asking about demographic information and means of learning about ethical codes and decision-making frameworks. A further 30 items were presented which included statements underpinned with individual, organisational, situational and societal factors influencing ethical decision-making. Participants were asked to express their level of agreement or disagreement using a 5-point-Likert-scale.ResultsParticipants’ highest rated responses endorsed that the professional role of physiotherapists is linked to social expectations of ethical behaviour and that ethical decision-making requires more skills than simply following a code of ethics. A recognisable organisational ethical culture was rated as supporting good ethical decisions. Comparing responses by World Physiotherapy regions showed significant differences in factors such as culture, religion, emotions, organisational values, significant others, consequences of professional misconduct and professional obligations. Entry level education was not perceived to provide a solid base for ethical decision-making in every World Physiotherapy region. Participants reported multiple sources for learning about a professional code of ethics and ethical decision-making frameworks. What’s more, the number of sources differed between World Physiotherapy regions.ConclusionsMultiple factors play a role in physiotherapists’ ethical decision-making internationally. Physiotherapists’ ethical knowledge is informed by, and acquired from, several learning sources, which differ in both quality and quantity amongst World Physiotherapy regions. Easily accessible knowledge and education about professional codes of ethics and ethical decision-making can foster continuing professional development for physiotherapists. The establishment of constructive ethical cultures in workplaces can improve ethical decision-making, and should acknowledge the influence of individual, organisational, situational and societal factors. The establishment of collaborative learning environments can support knowledge translation which acknowledges practice-based methods of knowing and learning.

Western ideals and global realities – physiotherapists’ views on factors that play a role in ethical decision-making: an international qualitative analysis

Background There is a lack of knowledge about factors that play a role in ethical decision-making of physiotherapists internationally. The purpose of this study was to explore, describe and map factors in ethical decision-making of physiotherapists from around the globe. Methods A descriptive research design and constructivist research paradigm was applied. Elements of both a coding reliability thematic analysis and a reflexive thematic analysis method were used deductively and inductively to analyse the content of responses to an optional open question in an internationally distributed online survey with 559 participants from 72 countries through several steps and cycles. Results A spectrum of 43 factors was identified within 200 individual responses, allocated to five themes: individual factors (19 factors); relational factors (6 factors); organisational factors (6 factors); situational factors (6 factors); and societal factors (6 factors). The importance of context on organisational, situational and societal levels, interrelatedness of physiotherapists, individual characteristics and situatedness of patients/clients and physiotherapists, as well as aspects and features of the patient/client-physiotherapist relationship became apparent throughout analysis. Conclusions To meet the emerging requirements for ethical physiotherapy practice, we advocate that both physiotherapy students and practicing physiotherapists internationally need to be trained as moral agents in integrated manners. Based on the results of this study we conclude that such training should embrace professionalism, professional values, ethical codes, ethical theories and ethical decision-making frameworks that acknowledge interrelatedness, epistemology and situatedness, self-reflective and communicative techniques, critical thinking, social/societal determinants of health, social responsibility, cultural competence and self-care techniques.