Ethics provide a pivotal role in the decision making process. Is it the right thing to do? This question must be answered in every case. Some decisions, it is easy to answer this question and other might not have an immediate answer. For those decision that the answer is "no" it is not the right thing to do should give decision-makers solid ground for deciding to terminate a decision. Ethics provides a check to the process and gives justification for making a decision. .
At ITT Industries there are many decision that are made with considerations given to the ethical implications. ITT Industries hires new employees at a salary range that is competitive to the market. This policy in itself is not the problem, but the process of performance review and the distribution of available funds in the budget for the next year. The process can be fair as long as the manger performing the process is ethical in their decision. .
The existing ground rules are satisfactory regarding salary levels for the following reasons. The company does have employee reviews, which determines the level of the salary increase. The employee receives a performance review that is completed by the employee's manager. Then the manager receives the new budget for the next year with the available funds for the salary increase. The available funds are distributed by percentages that vary from one employee to another. This process is fair and equitable to the employees when done on the basis of the performance review.
The whole process works well for managers that base their decision from the performance review to arrive at a percentage of increase that an employee will receive. The process could have a few changes that would monitor a manger's decision. A check and balance system could be put in place. A manager from another department could check the reviews against the amount of increase to make sure the amounts are fair and equitable.