Several guidelines, or ethical screens, have been developed to help leaders or other influence agents decide whether a given act is ethical or unethical. The Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College has developed six questions to evaluate the ethics of a specific decision.

Is it right? This question is based on the deontological theory of ethics that states there are certainly universally accepted guiding principles of rightness and wrongness, such as “thou shalt not steal.” Is it fair? This question is based on the deontological theory of justice that certain actions are inherently just or unjust. For example, it is unjust to fire a high-performing employee to make room for a less competent person who is a relative.

Who gets hurt? This question is based on the utilitarian notion of attempting to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Would you be comfortable if the details of your decision or actions were made public in the media or through e-mail? This question is based on the universalist principle of disclosure. What would you tell your child, sibling, or young relative to do? This question is based on the deontological principle of reversibility, which evaluates the ethics of a decision by reversing the decision maker.

How does it smell? This question is based on a person’s intuition and common sense. For example, counting a product inquiry over the Internet as a sale would smell bad to a sensible person. Ethical issues that require a run through the guide are usually subtle rather than blatant, or a decision that falls into the gray zone.