29 Jun General post about 300 words
“The biggest corporation, like the humblest citizen, must be held to strict compliance with the will of the people.”
–Theodore Roosevelt
Ethics:
- The values an individual uses to interpret whether any particular action or behavior is considered acceptable or appropriate.
- The social rules that govern & limit our conduct, especially the ultimate rules concerning right and wrong.
- The basic guidelines for cooperative social existence.
- Serves to restrain the purely self-interested desires in each of us in order to make it possible for all of us to live together.
The collective values of a business organization that can be used to evaluate whether the behavior of the collective members of the organization are considered acceptable and appropriate.
Business Ethics:
Moral/Ethical problems in business:
a conflict between financial performance (revenues, costs, & profits) and social performance (obligations to all stakeholders).
Ethical standards get confused with:
Law
Etiquette
Conscience
Corporate/Professional codes
Religion
Moral or Ethical Perspectives:
- Moral Relativism
- Moral Universalism
- Moral Perspecivalism
Moral Relativism:
- The belief that morality is just a function of what a particular society happens to believe, that what is right is determined by what a society says is right.
e.g. abortion is condemned as immoral in Catholic Spain, but is practiced
as a morally neutral form of birth control in Japan.
- Moral relativists believe that there is no absolute moral standard, no universal definition of right or wrong.
e.g. polygamy, stealing, slavery have all been tolerated by the moral system
of one society or another
Moral Relativism Presents some unpleasant implications:
1. it undermines any moral criticism of the practices of other
societies as long as their actions conform to their own standards
e.g. can’t say that slavery in the American South was immoral as long as
that society allowed it to be morally permissible
2. the concept of ethical progress does not exist
e.g. can’t say that our moral standards today are more enlightened
than those in the Middle Ages
Moral Universalism:
- In contrast, is the belief that variations in moral standards reflect different factual circumstances rather than fundamental differences in values.
Which is right??
It is good to emphasize that in viewing other cultures we should keep an open mind and not simply dismiss their social practices.
Moral Perspectivalism:
- Compromise position is between moral relativism and universalism.
- the consideration of multiple perspectives while at the same time asserting universal truths.
- through examination of a variety of perspectives, one might be able to come closer to the ideal moral standards toward which to strive.
Ethical Theories:
There are many, many ethical theories, or in other words, ethical frameworks through which we can examine and attempt to understand an ethical dilemma. In the following slides, I present those that are most often used in the context of business ethics.
- Utilitarianism
- Ethical egoism and free-market ethics
- Rights approach
- Intuition or follow your conscience approach
- Virtue Ethics
- Ethics of care
- Based on the philosophy of John Stuart Mill (18th century England).
- Focus on the net result of their actions instead of the means or motives that generated the reason for their actions.
- Ethical decisions are based on what achieves the greatest good for the highest number.
- The ends justify the means, i.e. more people are benefited than harmed.
- Cost/benefit analysis is a tool.
Utilitarianism (outcome-based)
Ethical egoism (Thomas Hobbes)
People ought to act in their own self interest. Opposite of altruism, i.e. doing what’s best for others. “The only valid standard of conduct is the obligation to promote one’s own well-being above anyone else’s.”
Based on the belief that every individual should act in a way to promote himself/herself if the net result will generate, on balance, positive rather than negative results.
Free market ethics (Milton Friedman)
Based on the assumptions of classic microeconomic theory.
The primary responsibility of business is to make money for shareholders while following the law and conforming to the basic rules of society
Ayn Rand, The Ethics of Selfishness
Well known for her novel, especially Atlas Shrugged
Ethical Egoism & Free Market Ethics
Rights Approach
“…all Men are created …with certain unalienable Rights”
- Based on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (18th century Germany)
- Categorical imperatives
- What is right for one person is right for everyone.
- All people should be respected and should never be treated as a means to an end.
- Ethical decisions are based on adherence to universal principles no matter what the outcomes.
- Examples of universal principles include respect for life, fairness, telling the truth, etc.
- Conscience tells us what is right or wrong.
- Is often negative in character, telling us what is not right.
Intuition Approach
“Follow your conscience”
Virtue Ethics
“Be a good person”
- Seeks to develop individual character.
- Assumes good persons will make good decisions.
- Developed by Plato and Aristotle.
- Provides a way of integrating all the theories.
- Based on the work of Carol Gilligan (20th century psychologist and feminist theorist).
- Ethical decisions are made through more subjective and intuitive approaches.
- Moral judgments should be sensitive to the needs of the situation and of other individuals.
- Moral judgments consider relationships with other people.
Ethic of Care
- Facts do not dictate values.
- Knowledge of consequences is often limited.
- Multiple stakeholders make competing claims.
- Competing interests use incompatible ethical
arguments. - Standards vary with time and place.
- Humans are imperfect.
- Current realities pose new and novel
conflicts.
Business provides a complex context:
- Fulfills public expectation for business.
- Prevents harming others.
- Improves business relations and employee productivity.
- Protects business from others.
- Protects employees from their employers.
- Promotes personal morality.
- Helps profitability.
Why should business be ethical?
Summary:
- The pressures associated with contemporary business often lead to ethical dilemmas in which an individual is faced with a conflict often between social and profit oriented goals.
- Ethical decision making is not always easy and formulaic– rather, it is often complex and context specific.
- There are various ethical theories and frameworks that attempt to understand, explain and assist in ethical decision making.
Our website has a team of professional writers who can help you write any of your homework. They will write your papers from scratch. We also have a team of editors just to make sure all papers are of HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE. To make an Order you only need to click Ask A Question and we will direct you to our Order Page at WriteDemy. Then fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.
Fill in all the assignment paper details that are required in the order form with the standard information being the page count, deadline, academic level and type of paper. It is advisable to have this information at hand so that you can quickly fill in the necessary information needed in the form for the essay writer to be immediately assigned to your writing project. Make payment for the custom essay order to enable us to assign a suitable writer to your order. Payments are made through Paypal on a secured billing page. Finally, sit back and relax.
About Writedemy
We are a professional paper writing website. If you have searched a question and bumped into our website just know you are in the right place to get help in your coursework. We offer HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE Papers.
How It Works
To make an Order you only need to click on “Order Now” and we will direct you to our Order Page. Fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.
Are there Discounts?
All new clients are eligible for 20% off in their first Order. Our payment method is safe and secure.