Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a teaching methodology for improving the understanding of ethical decision making. This pedagogical approach is applicable in college courses and in corporate training programs. Design/methodology/approach: Participants are asked to analyze a set of eight ethical dilemmas with differing situational contingencies and to choose from among alternatives for handling the dilemma. Group discussion then focuses on a comparison of participants' choices relative to their personal ethical orientations as measured by a standardized self-report instrument. Findings: The experiences of the authors with this methodology indicates that participants are able to gain a better understanding of the factors, both individual and situational, that frame an ethical dilemma. This methodology can also show how individuals can be influenced to make unethical choices based on the presence of certain contextual factors. Originality/value: This paper describes a novel instructional approach for improving the understanding of the factors that frame and influence ethical decision making. This approach is innovative in that it uses vignettes describing real-life ethical dilemmas in conjunction with an assessment of individual differences in ethical orientation. (Contains 1 table.)