Generational differences: Something old, something new

Abstract

Ethical dilemmas arise when individuals have to make decisions in the context of competing values and beliefs. Some of these dilemmas will occur on the dimensions of what an individual believes to be fundamentally right or wrong, while others will be more nuanced depending on, for example, the relative strength and salience to the individual of the competing values and beliefs involved, the perceived costs to the individual of acting on or expressing their ethical concerns, and the degree of acceptance in the organization of conflict legitimacy and the expression of dissenting views. The workforce is getting older and, by all accounts, the work ethic and expectations across the generations are quite different. Such perceived differences provide a potentially fertile ground for ethical differences and conflicts arising from these.