Management decision making, ethical issues and “emotional” intelligence

The purpose of this paper is to update and expand a model described in a previous paper by the author (Holian, 2002), which categorised practices, skills and preferences of practising managers and management consultants.

A case study and qualitative interviews provided the data used as the basis for development of a model of ethical decision‐making behaviour.

This paper extends the previous work to include a mode of “Narcissism” as a further category of behaviour. It builds on the analysis and application of findings from the previous original research study, discusses links with research on “emotional intelligence”, and describes applications to management practice and management education.

A model with five modes of ethical decision making and four sets of associated skills is presented and discussed.

This paper includes practical implications for managers, consultants and management educators.

The model described is based on original research. The suggested links with “emotional intelligence” are also not yet explored in the literature.