Business Ethics-Application of Ethical theories

Christian views of Business

• The bible contains various moral teachings about the world of work.There are two basic ethical concepts that are developed in the scriptures concerning business. Those are trust and honesty. Honesty and trust are vital to business.
• Employers should not eploit their workers by reducing them to poverty.
• Work is considered by Christians to be intrinsically beneficial. Adam laboured in the Garden of Eden before the fall. However the accumulation of wealth for its own sake is not intrinsically good.
• Christian attitudes to globalisation vary. Christians talk about catholicity and the universal nature of the Christian faith, so there is a natural sense that anything that breaks down divisions between people is morally good. Globalisation is viewed as a moral objective, because it enhances this sense of the family of all people on earth. Christians also have a duty of care to all humanity. Globalisation is therefore seen as a tool for ensuring that God's love is applied in the world. This can be demonstrated through the commitment to the relief of poverty. Many Christians believe that globalisation offers an economic route to the abolition of poverty.
• It is argued that there is no such a thing as a single Christian response to globalisation and business. There are rather a whole series of reponses, many of which are influenced by secular philosophies. In business ethics many Christians attitudes to the global market are determined by economic realities rather than the Gospel. Some scholars argue that the situation in the biblical period was very different to today. Others assert that the teachings of Jesus are still vitally important.

Natural Law and Business

• There are many ways in which to look at Businee regarding Natural Law. The Natural Law theory examines the nature of business in terms of the telos(end or goal; it ultimate purpose) of virtue and human prospering. Therefore certain industries would be considered to be contrary to the achievement of this telos. This would be industries that make money out of the exploitation of others, for example the sex trade or the arms industry as they are seen to run contrary of what in nature human society and therefore business is about. 
• The Natural Law philosophers, have looked at the issue of corporate finance and examined its function, purpose and end is virtuous. Aquinas was opposed to usury, the…