Describe the Giving Voice to Values Framework

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The Answer is "Giving Voice to Values (GVV)" is a behavioral ethics approach that shifts the focus away from traditional philosophical reasoning to an emphasis on developing the capacity to effectively express one's values in a way that positively influences others by finding the levers to effectively voice and enact one's values. The methodology asks the protagonist to think about the arguments others might make that create barriers to expressing one's values in the workplace and how best to counteract these "reasons and rationalizations." GVV is used post-decision-making, that is, you have already decided what to do. It can be used to ward off the necessity for whistle-blowing if by voicing values others can be convinced about the wrongness of their intended behavior/decisions.
GVV provides a framework to deal with the opposing points of view based on the following series of questions.
What are the main arguments you are trying to counter? That is, what are the reasons and rationalizations you need to address?
What is at stake for the key parties, including those who disagree with you?
What levers can you use to influence those who disagree with you?
What is your most powerful and persuasive response to the reasons and rationalizations you need to address? To whom should the argument be made? When and in what context?
The most frequent categories of argument or rationalization that we face when we speak out against unethical practice. Some of the most common arguments include:
Expected or Standard Practice: "Everyone does this, so it's really standard practice. It's even expected."
Materiality: "The impact of this action is not material. It doesn't really hurt anyone."
Locus of Responsibility: "This is not my responsibility; I'm just following orders here."
Locus of Loyalty: "I know this isn't quite fair to the customer but I don't want to hurt my reports/team/boss/company."
Isolated Incident: "This is a one-time request; you won't be asked to do it again."
A good example in accounting is the WorldCom fraud. Betty Vinson was convinced it was a one-time request. She felt the need to be loyal and a team player. She believed Scott Sullivan knew what was the correct accounting because of his higher position, and rationalized she did not develop the questionable accounting. She was just following orders.
On the other hand, Cynthia Cooper was the hero in the WorldCom fraud ordering her internal audit staff to do an exhaustive investigation into the recording of "prepaid capacity" costs, which were payments for telecommunications access on other providers' networks that should have been expensed as incurred each year but, instead, were capitalized to show a higher level of earnings. Cooper knew it was her responsibility as the vice president of internal audit to make sure the improper accounting was corrected. She knew it was material in amount and wasn't (or shouldn't have been) standard practice. She did not fall for the "locus of loyalty" argument of Scott Sullivan, the CFO.

Describe the Giving Voice to Values Framework

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Describe the Giving Voice to Values Framework

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