The fall from grace on the part of managers and their firms increases the need to develop alternative models of ethical behavior. This article examines the most prominent ethical theories from the view point of economic rationality. The utilitarian approach would be to act in accordance with whatever action provides an outcome that does the most good for the most number of people. Utilitarianism also called consequentialism is a moral theory developed and refined in the modern world in the writings of jeremy bentham 17481832 and john stuart mill 18061873. On the one hand, psychological egoisma descriptive theory of human behaviorholds that people are innately selfinterested and routinely act to advance their interests. Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. A theory of ethical behavior, utilitarianism holds that an action is right to the extent that it benefits people or society, either by creating happiness, improving wellbeing, or reducing suffering. Virtue theory aristotles perspective on finding happiness through the application of reason in human affairs advises continual practice to develop habits of virtuous moral character. Agents capture a suspect who, they believe, has information about where the bomb is planted. Virtuous networking does not exclude utilitarian and emo. Utilitarianism an ethical theory according to which the rightness and wrongness of acts depends entirely on facts about the maximization of overall wellbeing.
Consequentialist decision theory and utilitarian ethics. I shall argue that utilitarian ethical theory is preferable, because it is most consistent with the considered moral judgments and can give most reasonable answers to the issue. Ethical perspective free download as powerpoint presentation. Despite both utilitarian ethical theory and deontological ethical theory can be applied usefully to the issue of stem cell research. Utilitarian approach last time, we talked about the significance of shaping an ethical character and mindset. The development of ethical guidelines and codes of ethics are premised on this doctrine. Those people who ascribe to the theory of utilitarianism believe that in virtually all situations, the morally just route. As a part of general and practical ethics, business ethics focuses on moral or ethical principles. The ethical perspective of psychological perspective in.
Types of workplace utilitarianism there are two types of utilitarian ethics practiced on the job, rule utilitarianism and act utilitarianism. Ethical behaviour is also about respecting the diversity and rights of individuals. From the nonutilitarian point of view, one can say that being ethical is a goal of the individual and not a way of making money, moral behavior. Ethics four branches 3 metaethics the study of ethical terms, statements and judgements. The obvious criticism is that the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people described as the yardstick of utilitarianism might entail some egregious injustice on a minority or individual. A utilitarian perspective might rationalize earnings management by saying the benefits of smooth earnings outweigh the costs. Maximization the view that the value of a state of affairs should be made as great as possible. One assessed ethical views toward the expected consequences of an action or teleology.
Utilitarian ethics synonyms, utilitarian ethics pronunciation, utilitarian ethics translation, english dictionary definition of utilitarian ethics. It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify military force or war. An ethical business problem arises in case of outsourcing. Individualism view the belief that our main commitment is to the advancement of long term self interests. Utilitarian ethics definition of utilitarian ethics by. Ask students what reasons they might provide for this behavior. What are some criticisms towards ethical utilitarianism. Ethical behaviour focuses on individual businesses and corporate social responsibility takes into account all the businesses together. The debate around ethical consumption is often characterised by discussion of its numerous failures arising from complexity in perceived tradeoffs. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. There are four alternative views of ethical behaviour which are. This is a mathematical description of the economic behavior of people. Public trust in the business agenda and its methods has.
Student views of classic ethical positions in business dan baugher pace university ellen weisbord pace university abstract two fiveitem ethical position scales were created. Utilitarianism in the workplace focuses on ethics, democracy, rights and responsibilities within the business environment. The utilitarian approach, also called utilitarianism, is essentially a moral principle that asserts that morally correct actions are those that provide the greatest volume of benefits over harms for the majority of people. Against homeopathy a utilitarian perspective kevin smith keywords homeopathy, alternative medicine, complementary medicine, cam abstract i examine the positive and negative features of homeopathy from an ethical perspective. The role of ethical theories in ethical reasoning and behavior within. Utilitarian look beyond selfinterest to consider impartially the interests of all persons affected by an action. In this chapter ill introduce five widely used ethical approaches. Ethical egoism, on the other hand, is a normative perspective that holds that people ought to act exclusively in their selfinterest. Utilitarianism is a popular approach to moral reasoning. Hedonic and utilitarian aspects of consumer behavior. Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, which advocates that those actions are right which bring about the most good overall. Ethical decision making and behavior sage publications. First, the utilitarian calculation requires that we assign values to the benefits and harms resulting from our actions and compare them with the benefits and harms that might result from other.
Ethical theories organizational behavior rulebased or. The decision making framework can be used to explore the dilemma and to develop a course of action in order to resolve this problem by using the utilitarian approach and ensuring that the maximum number people are helped or favored by the decision. Utility approach is the expression of utilitarian philosophy as mainly advocated by. Analysis of the language, concepts and methods of resoning in ethics. A utilitarian perspective takes the position that the proper course of action is one that maximizes overall happiness. Foundations and research validations, and standard issue scoring manual vols. The imperative of a successful organization calls for the clutter of ethics and profitability.
Ethical decision making and behavior237 consequences of each potential strategy. Pdf ethics are moral philosophies validated by logic that forms a moral. This chapter surveys the components of ethical behaviormoral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral. Finally, in the late twentieth century and the early twentyfirst century, peter singer has also applied utilitarianism to a variety of moral problems. Hedonism is a philosophical theory that views pleasure as the supreme. Criteria for ethical management in decision making international. Utilitarianism in a nutshell or why no one likes a. In the workplace, the idea of this concept is if you conduct yourself properly at work, then you will be able to achieve professional happiness. Applying utilitarianism in business academic writers bureau. Thus, in utilitarianism, it is the consequences of our actions that determine whether. In response, this paper advances a pragmatist understanding of the role and nature of tradeoffs in ethical consumption. Focusing on the virtueethics tradition, this article analyzes the practice of networking within the business context.
For example, suppose a utilitarian has to decide whether or not painful scientific studies on orphaned mentally retarded children ought to. The key motivation for this revised utilitarian theory is its unique ability to treat properly multistage ethical decisions, represented as ethical decision trees, while at the same time recognizing that there is some concept of individual welfare which ought to determine ethical decisions. Pdf an utilitarian approach to ethics audit researchgate. While utilitarianism is currently a very popular ethical theory, there are some difficulties in relying on it as a sole method for moral decisionmaking. In the first place, utilitarianism could easily be used to violate the rights of an individual or a minority for the benefit of the majority. Ethical decision making is described in theory and research as a process. Ethical leadership op a utilitarian organization implies compliance with. It addresses the meaning of ethical terms such as right, duty, obligation, justification, morality, responsibility. Authors argue that utilitarian perspective which used to be connected with classical concepts of rationality in economics is not the only approach to understand reasoning behind the human behaviour. Utilitarian ethics article about utilitarian ethics by. This allowed us to segue into the various ethical approaches or theories that provide the ethical building blocks you can use. Moral rights view the view that respects and protects the fundamental rights of people. What is accepted as good or right as opposed to bad or wrong in the context of the governing moral code.
Ethical theories organizational behavior rulebased or utilitarian ethical theory utilitarian theory was first formulated in the eighteenth century by jeremy bentham and later refined by john stuart mill. A utilitarian would argue that a breach of human rights on such a level. However, this is act utilitarianism and ignores the basic tenet of rule utilitarianism that certain rules should never be violated, such as managing earnings through manipulations rather than natural reporting measure. In doing so, it draws on the central roles of values and value in consumption and pragmatist philosophical thought, and. But specifically, it is economics that has incorporated, with strength, the term utility under the denomination of the utility function. Utility, ethics and behavior, page 3 determinant in western society. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that says an action is morally right if it benefits the greatest number of beings with the greatest good. However, this does not mean that everyone is a utilitarian because as a fundamental rule, there basic moral standards that one should not break. In consequentialism, actions are judged solely by their consequences, without regard to character, motivation, or any understanding of good and evil and separate from their capacity to create happiness and pleasure. Rule utilitarianism is put in place to benefit the most people by using the fairest methods possible. Ethical behavior has become rampant remedy to be succeeded in business by pretending that it has unique characteristic. Deontological ethics there are two major ethics theories that attempt to specify and justify moral rules and principles.
Plethora of empirical studies is available on ethical behavior. Hypothetical example germany 1943 three armed civilians, each rigorous devotees to their. Empathy and perspective skills are essential to this component of moral action. Central intelligence agency gets wind of a plot to set off a dirty bomb in a major american city. In a modern setting, deliberating on core values and their application to individual and corporate ethical dilemmas and adhering to the recommendations of core values analysis would. Hunt and vitell 1986 have given descriptive decision making process. Ethical perspectives help us identify and define problems, force us to think systematically, encourage us to view issues from many different vantage points, and provide us with decisionmaking guidelines. Maintaining ethical standards boundless management.
Most ethical decisions exist in a gray area where there is no clearcut or obvious decision that can be determined solely through quantitative analysis or consideration of objective data or information. From a utilitarian perspective, the benefit of protecting. Pdf three general theories of ethics and the integrative. If we understand how others might feel or react, we are more sensitive to potential negative effects of our choices and can better predict the likely outcomes of each. It would be implausible to claim utilitarian grounds for. You determine what is right by calculating the amount of pleasure or suffering you think your actions may cause, people may use utilitarianism equally to justify or condemn actions for animal rights. The same as legal behaviour in the context of business. Ethics and marketing practices while not claiming to provide the complete list, it is nevertheless interesting to point out some of the main ethical problems which have been studied in marketing. Workplace example of utilitarianism ethics the core idea of utilitarianism is that an action is right if it results in the happiness of the greatest number of people in a society or a group.
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