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One of these may be a good match for a particular situation or, more likely, it will be necessary to combine elements from several. It is always possible that a good decision would emerge from a gestalt impression, without doing any step-by-step analysis, but it would be difficult to defend such a decision.
Although these procedures have possible limitations, they provide a fertile source of ideas and can reveal elements missing from the decision procedure you currently use. In addition, it is possible to map elements from these procedures into a uniform set of twelve stages.
An alphabetical webliography is available.
Maner,
The Practicum Method
Notable because it defines the issue first, then creates a scenario to fit the issue
Nash,
Twelve Ethics Questions for Business Decision-makers
Notable for acknowledging that different parties may define the problem differently, for comparing intentions against likely consequences, and for considering the symbolic value of the decision
Guy,
Guidelines for Making Complex Rational Decisions
Notable because complex ethical decision-making can be regarded as a special case of complex rational decision-making
Guy,
Guidelines for Making Ethical Decisions
Notable because it is a specialization of a general method for rational decision-making
Hastings Center,
Bioethical Decision-making Model
Notable because it was intended for use by students in their teenage years
Taylor,
Top Ten Questions You Should Ask Yourself When Making an Ethical Decision
Notable because it attempts to reduce the decision-making problem to a checklist
Woodruff,
Ethical Dilemmas Sheet
Notable because it includes a regression step (backtracking)
Collins and Miller,
Abbreviated Paramedic Method for Computer Professionals (new version)
Notable for its mathematical notation, for considering interactions between many situational elements, for collecting the best features from various alternatives, and for including regression steps
Dreilinger and Rice,
Ethical Decision Making in Business
Notable because it considers specific impediments to decision-making, and because it allows a decision to be modified after implementation
Kidder,
Nine Checkpoints for Ethical Decision-making
Notable for its focus on "right versus right" paradigms, and for converting dilemmas to "trilemmas"
Liffick,
Scenario Analysis Methodology
Notable for using problem-reduction strategies, for using moral analogies, and for stressing codes of ethics
MacDonald,
A Guide to Moral Decision Making
Notable for stressing moral sensitivity as a prerequisite, and for using "comfort tests" at the end
Spiceland and Sepe,
Model for Ethical Decisions
Notable because it includes all, and only, the most common steps
Thomasma,
Moral Reasoning Methodology
Notable for conceding that decision-making will be highly conflicted
van Hooft, Gillam and Byrnes,
A General Decision-making Strategy
Notable for imposing constraints on solutions, and for giving criteria a strong role
American School Counselor Association,
Ethical Decision Making Model
Notable for recognizing that personal values may be in conflict with professional norms
Bivins,
Worksheet for Ethical Decision Making
Notable for requiring empathy with stakeholders, for pursuing both best- and worst-case analyses, and for a concluding adversarial defense
Hiskes and Hiskes,
Risk/Benefit Model
Notable because it is a general procedure, because it is policy-driven, and because it assigns probabilities and other mathematical values
Josephson Institute,
Ethical Decision-making Model
Notable for its compactness, for its youth-friendly approach, and for allowing one kind of value to "trump" another
Kallman and Grillo,
A Four-step Process for Ethical Analysis and Decision Making
Notable for its completeness, for focusing equally on action and inaction, for trying to prevent recurrence, and for doing what-if analysis at "pivot points"
Miller,
Questions to Aid Ethical Decision-making
Notable for its emphasis on the workplace, and for allowing competition between ethical systems
Newman and Brown,
Ethical Decision-making Flowchart
Notable for permitting regression, for considering time constraints, for providing several stop/go points, and for scrutinizing the decision-making process itself
Rahanu, Davies and Rogerson,
The Five-step Process of Ethical Analysis
Notable because it gives a role to moral intuition, and because it considers "themes" common to many of the ethical codes developed by the information professions
Gregoire,
Ethical Decision Making
Notable because it tries to prevent the same problem from recurring, because it calls for stakeholders to participate in decision-making, and because it strives for due process in the implementation of the decision
Moulder,
Bioethical Decisionmaking Process
Notable for giving more attention to stakeholders than to anything else
Professional Engineering Practice Liaison Program,
Nine Basic Steps to Personal Ethical Decision Making
Notable for requiring review of previous cases, for requiring the development of ethical awareness before trying to make decisions, and for trying to identify the choice that "does the most good for the right reasons"
Professional Engineering Practice Liaison Program,
Guidelines for Facilitating Solutions to Ethical Dilemmas
Notable for being exclusively values-driven, for including stakeholder motivations, and for recognizing the value of outside or external assistance
Spinello,
Steps for Ethical Analysis
Notable for giving a role to moral intuition, and for considering policy implications
Darty,
The Ethical Decision-making Process
Notable for considering whether it is necessary to take any action
Dunlap,
Ethical Decision-making Sequence
Notable for considering the consequences of doing nothing, for informing "only those involved" if action is taken, and for including a follow-up phase
Engler,
Ten-step Decision Model
Notable for the wide variety of information gathered, for requiring self-examination of values, and for doing some time management
Ethics Resource Center,
The Big PLUS in Ethical Decision Making
Notable for its strong follow-up analysis, for using the "PLUS" checklist as a subprocedure, and for including consensus-building when deciding as a team
Ethics Resource Center,
Three Quick Tests for Ethical Congruence
Notable because it provides a checklist that might be useful in exigent circumstances, when there is no time for analysis
Fitzpatrick,
An Ethical Decision Making Model
Notable for ranking facts in order of importance
Koop,
Ethical Analysis
Notable for omitting the decide-and-act step
Long,
A Rational Model of Ethical Analysis and Decision Making
Notable for its heavy reliance on rankings, and for taking steps to prevent recurrence of the same problem
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics,
A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
Notable for its emphasis on social and economic justice, for requiring wide consultation, and for including an "if I had it to do over again" reflection
McDonald,
A Framework for Ethical Decision-making
Notable for using virtue-based ethics, for warning that options are volatile (can appear or disappear during analysis), for coping effectively with time pressures, and for including "sensitivity analysis"
Searing,
The HARPS Methodology
Notable for its rigor and completeness, for flowcharting the entire decision process, for including conceptual analysis, for using effective conflict-resolution procedures, for coping with missing facts ("holes"), and for permitting backtracking
Sechowski,
Process for Structured Ethical Analysis and Decision Making
Notable for stressing planning, and for including "hindsight" (what should have been done in the first place)
Steinman, Richardson and McEnroe,
The Ethical Decision-making Process
Notable for warning against ethical traps, for forcing self-examination, and for revising proposed solutions based on feedback from advisors
Holt Consulting Services,
Questions for Ethical Decision-making
Notable for taking an organizational approach throughout
Josephson Institute of Ethics,
Five Steps of Principled Reasoning
Notable for keeping the solution open to new information and open to change, for questioning assumptions and grounds, for its distinctive epistemic approach, and for considering whether changing goals or getting consent might avoid negative consequences
Kvanvig,
The RESOLVEDD Method
Notable for classifying consequences according to likelihood, for including future generations, and for building a defense against objections
Schaefer,
A Suggested Strategy for Ethical Decision Making
Notable for restricting the focus to only one important stakeholder and only one important value
Taylor,
Bioethical Analysis Worksheet
Notable for considering stakeholder priorities, and for trying to convince each stakeholder to accept the solution
U. S. Department of Defense,
Ethical Decision-making Plan
Notable for emerging from a source not famous for its ethics, and for eliminating solutions with short-term advantages but long-term problems