Question

There are different rules to help managers to make ethical decisions, for example, the utilitarian rule, moral rights rule, justice rule as well as practical rule. Use a real-life example of you to explain one of the rules, and provide personal reasons as well as research evidence to support it.

Bonus discussion points on, what do you perceive cultural difference in picking which rules when making ethic decisions, please try to analyze, compare and contrast this case in a multi-national corporation environment.

Answer 1

Some of the frameworks which can be used for ethical decision-making are as follows:

• Utilitarianism: As per this framework, all ethical actions of business must be directed to generate the greatest amount of good for largest amount of people. Utilitarianism framework also suggests that the business must develop its processes and business actions in a way that they cause the least harm to majority of society.
• Virtue Ethics: This framework suggests that the decisions must be based on the moral virtues as well as that of person’s character and beliefs. This basis determines the factors which a person considers right or wrong.
• Consequentialist Theory: The decisions are taken based on the perception of the end results. The decision makers, in this framework, are required to assess and predict the outcomes of any situation and the choice of decision must be made, based on the most favorable outcome.

My company works on the framework of the consequentialist theory. The management assesses the situation at hand, consider the perception of various stakeholders, predict the outcome of each alternative and the alternative is selected, which is associated with the most favorable outcome.

The most influential factors which affect the decisions in my organization, are as follows:

• Market trends
• Customer disposition and perception
• Government policies
• Economic conditions
• Competition
• Return on Investment
• Social responsibility

In my personal opinion, the most favorable ethical framework is the Utilitarianism approach. As per this framework, all ethical actions of business must be directed to generate the greatest amount of good for largest amount of people. Utilitarianism framework also suggests that the business must develop its processes and business actions in a way that they cause the least harm to majority of society.