ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
IN BUSINESS
Dr. Keith Y.N. Ng
Ph.D., MBA, MCIM
TME 2
Utilitarianism (Consequentialism)
Characterized the moral approach taken by Caltexs management A general term for any view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on the society. The right action or policy is the one that will produce the greatest net benefits or the lowest net costs. Utilitarian believe that the purpose or function of morality is to promote human welfare by minimizing harms and maximizing benefits.
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Utilitarian Theories
First developed by David Hume (1711-1776) Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
Dr Keith Y.N. Ng
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Advocates maximum utility - Efficiency Basis of the techniques of economic cost-benefit analysis
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Relating to Justice
Justice that does not depend on mere utility
Only looks at how much utility is produced but fails to account of how it is distributed
Dr Keith Y.N. Ng
TME 2
Most flexible method to measure actions and goods is in terms of monetary equivalents
Dr Keith Y.N. Ng
TME 2
The fact that a certain action would maximize utility on one particular occasion does not show that it is right from an ethical point of view
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We use the term right to cover a variety of situations in which individuals are enabled to make such choices in very different ways.
The term right is used to indicate the mere absence of prohibitions against pursuing some interest or activity. The term right to indicate that a person is authorized or empowered to do something either to secure the interests of others or to secure one's interests. The term right is sometimes used to indicate the existence of prohibitions or requirements on others that enable the individual to pursue certain interests or activities
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Moral rights are closely correlated with duties. Moral rights provide individuals with autonomy and equality in the free pursuit of their interests. Moral rights provide a basis for justifying one's actions and invoking the aid of others.
Moral judgments made on the basis of rights differ substantially from those based on utility.
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Positive rights Duties of other agents (it is not always clear who) to provide the holder of the right with whatever he or she needs to freely pursue his or her interests.
The rights to food, life and healthcare
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Generally, a contract that violates one or more of these conditions is considered void
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Unlike utilitarianism, which focuses on consequences, Kantian theory focuses on interior motivations.
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Kantian Rights
Three basic rights that can be defended on Kantian grounds:
1. 2. 3. Humans have a clear interest in being provided with the work, food, clothing, housing, and medical care they need to live. Humans have a clear interest in being free from injury and in being free to live and think as they choose. Humans have a clear interest in preserving the institution of contracts.
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Compensatory justice is concerned with compensating people for what they lose when harmed by others
A just compensation is one that in some sense is proportional to the loss suffered by the person being compensatd (loss of livelihood)
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Distributive Justice
The fundamental principle involved is that equals should be treated equally (and unequals treated unequally).
Questions of distributive justice arise
when there is a scarcity of benefits or a plethora of burdens e.g. not enough food or health care, too much unpleasant work.
Main criticism:
Need, ability, and effort are all relevant differences among people; It would be unjust to ignore these differences Lazy men will get just as much as the hardworking ones; unfair Sick men will get as much as healthy ones Handicapped will do as much as able people
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Justice as Fairness:
John Rawls Theory (1)
2.
Principle 1 take priority over Principle 2 if the two of them ever come into conflict, and within Principle 2, Part b is supposed to take priority over Part a.
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Justice as Fairness:
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Justice as Fairness:
Main Criticism:
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Compensatory
Concerns restoring a harmed person what he lost when someone wronged him a person has a moral obligation to compensate an injured party only if three conditions pertain:
The action that inflicted the injury was wrong or negligent. The action was the real cause of the injury. The person did the action voluntarily.
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Integrating Utility, Rights, Justice and Caring Four Moral Considerations (1)
Utilitarian standards
used when resources are insufficient to attain everyone's objectives, forced to consider the net social benefits and social costs consequent on the actions (or policies or institutions) to attain objectives
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Integrating Utility, Rights, Justice and Caring Four Moral Considerations (2)
Standards of justice
indicate how benefits and burdens should be distributed. standards employ to evaluate actions whose distributive effects differ in important ways.
Standards of caring
indicate the kind of care owed to those with whom we have special concrete relationships. essential when moral questions arise that involve persons embedded in a close relationships
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Integrating Utility, Rights, Justice and Caring Four Moral Considerations (3)
Simple strategy to ensure all four considerations are into ones reasoning is to inquire systematically the utility, rights, justice and caring in a moral judgment
Moral Standards: (1) Maximise Social Utility (2) Respect moral rights, (3) Distribute Benefits and Burdens Justly (4) Exercise Caring
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A moral virtue is an acquired disposition that is a valuable part of a morally good person, exhibited in the person's habitual behavior
What are traits of character that make a person morally good? Which traits of character are moral virtues?
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The wrongfulness of an action is determined by examining the character that tends to produce the action Provides a useful criterion for evaluating our social institutions and practices
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