EVALUATING BUSINESS ETHICS
- Created by: caitlin farquhar
- Created on: 03-01-16 19:25
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- EVALUATING BUSINESS ETHICS
- ROLE OF ETHICAL THEORY
- Ethical absolutism ; claims there are eternal, universally applicable moral principles.
- Irrespective of the context decision will always be the same
- States that right and wrong are objective
- Traditional
- Ethical relativism ; claims morality is context dependent and subjective
- There is no universal right and wrongs ; depends on person making the decision / culture
- Contemporary
- Ethical absolutism ; claims there are eternal, universally applicable moral principles.
- TRADITIONAL ETHICAL THEORIES
- Tools that prescribe what decision you should make as a conscientious moral agent
- Designed to help you make the best possible ethical decision
- Absolutist in nature
- CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES
- Look at the outcomes of various forms of actions that could occur as a result of a decision
- EGOISM
- "following the theory of egoism, an action is morally right if the decision maker freely decides in order to pursue either their short term desires or long term interests
- you cannot know with any certainty what the consequences or outcomes of your decision will be
- In following what you believe will generate the best result for you as an individual you are choosing the best option for yourself
- "following the theory of egoism, an action is morally right if the decision maker freely decides in order to pursue either their short term desires or long term interests
- Utilatarianism
- According to this principle, ethical decision should maximise benefits to society and minimise harms
- NET balance of GOOD over BAD
- An action is morally right if it results in the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people affected
- Difficult to obtain info required to evaluate all of the consequences for all individuals who may be affected
- Rights of minority can be sacrificed for benefit of majority
- Subjectivity - can you really know what m makes people happy?
- Distribution of utility - economic term that means satisfaction is that when you decide upon happiness for the greatest number, what about those who are not happy?
- Business managers generally rely on this approach
- NON CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORIES
- DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES
- Base their decisions about what is right based on broad, abstract, universal principals
- honesty, promise keeping, fairness, justice.
- "golden rule" - do unto others as you would have them do unto you" KANT
- Base their decisions about what is right based on broad, abstract, universal principals
- DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES
- CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
- Ethics of duties ; the main point of non consequentialist theories is that the decision that is made does not depend on the situation or context
- A rule is a rule
- 3 parts - "maxims"
- 1 - action should confirm to the notion of consistency of actions/behaviours that all individuals would agree is wrong
- 2 - identifies that people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity
- 3 - "the front of the paper test" decision makers know the potential ramifications but choose the unethical route
- Ethics of duties ; the main point of non consequentialist theories is that the decision that is made does not depend on the situation or context
- PROBLEMS WITH ETHICS OF DUTY
- UNDERVALUING OUTCOMES
- no considerationof impact or consequenceon individuals or other stakeholders
- COMPLEXITY
- business world is too complex for such simplistic approach
- OPTIMISM
- are human beings as optimistic as Kant would lead us to believe
- UNDERVALUING OUTCOMES
- LIMITS OF TRADITIONALTHEORIES
- TOO ABSTRACT
- not practical enough to employ for intricacies / complexities of modern world
- business/social problems complex
- not practical enough to employ for intricacies / complexities of modern world
- TOO REDUCTIONIST
- everything may be important when trying to solve a problem so why force someone to choose between consequences and rights
- TOO OBJECTIVE AND ELITIST
- knowing about theoretical stuff does not necessarily help you make better decisions
- TOO IMPERSONAL
- critisism indicated theories are too black and white
- TOO RATIONAL AND CODIFIED
- traditional theories do not include any emotion or personal feelings
- TOO ABSTRACT
- ETHICAL THEORIES
- VIRTUE ETHICS
- morally correct actions are those undertaken by actors with virtuous characters
- "good people make good decisions"
- looks at the type of person and characteristics/traits they possess
- morally correct actions are those undertaken by actors with virtuous characters
- FEMINIST ETHICS
- priorities empathy, harmonious and healthy social relationships
- care for one another and avoidance of harm above abstract principals
- based on perspective that all issues are embedded within relationships between people
- priorities empathy, harmonious and healthy social relationships
- DISCOURSE ETHICS
- encourage the peaceful settlement of conflicts
- POSTMODERN ETHICS
- Do not propose one theory
- suggests encapsulatesa range of different methods by looking at issues from a number of different perspectives
- "encourages individuals to question everyday practices and rules and listen to and follow their emotions about what they think is right and wrong
- VIRTUE ETHICS
- TOWARDS A PRAGMATIC USE OF ETHICAL THEORY?
- CRANE AND MATTEN suggest there is not one theory better than all the rest
- Suggest a plurastic approach
- Non dogmatic way confront the issue that real business decisions involve multiple actors with variety of ethical issues and convictions
- Ethical theories help to articulate these views and pave the way to an intelligent and considered response to the problem
- pluralism is the middle ground between absolutism and relativism
- ROLE OF ETHICAL THEORY
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