A utility ethics perspective considers the actor’s character, motivations, and intentions.
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2 ways to think about Ethical decision making Show Derived from ethical theories in philosophy and offers decision making tools. Conscientious Moral Agent relies on psychological research to describe how people actually make ethical decisions instead of focusing on WHY they make them situation where 2 or more "right" values are in conflict Focus on Consequences Consequentialist Theories Utilitarianism is the best known consequentialist theory--states that an ethical decision should maximize benefits to society and minimize harms--what matters is the NET balance of good consequences from a choice Challenge with consequentialist approach hard to obtain/quantify the data to incorporate into your decision making (data from stake holders) the rights of a minority group can be easily overlooked/sacrificed (slaves in the south) Focus on Duties, Obligations, Principles--Deontological theories Deontological Theories deo = duty says certain moral principles are binding regardless of the consequences associated with a decision deontological auditor would "blow the whistle" ultimately costing thousands of people their jobs a consequentialist auditor may not blow the whistle because in the LR he could save a good company and thousands of jobs Virtue Ethics focuses on the moral integrity of the person, not necessarily on the decision itself. Considers an actor's motivations, character, and intentions (something not discussed in Deontological or Consequentialism) How would you feel if your behavior appeared on _________? or in front of ______? community standards DO exist for most situations--most of us truly know what these are. 8 steps to sound Ethical Decision Making 1. Gather the facts 2. Define the ethical Issue 3. Identify the Affected Parties (stakeholders) 4. Identify the consequences -Long-term vs. short-term outcomes -Symbolic consequences -consequences of secrecy 5. Identify the obligations 6. consider your character & integrity 7. Think creatively about potential actions 8. Check your gut feeling--follow the spirit appearance of a conflict of interest can be just as damaging as an actual one interesting avoid the appearance of evil Abstract In this article we discuss what are the implications for improving the design of corporate ethics programs, if we focus on the moral motivation accounts offered by main ethical theories. Virtue ethics, deontological ethics and utilitarianism offer different criteria of judgment to face moral dilemmas: Aristotle's virtues of character, Kant's categorical imperative, and Mill's greatest happiness principle are, respectively, their criteria to answer the question "What is the right thing to do?" We look at ethical theories from a different perspective: the question we ask is "Why should I do the right thing?" In other words, we deal with the problem of moral motivation, and we examine the different rationale the main ethical theories provide. We then point out the relation between moral motivation and the concept of rationality in the different approaches - is acting morally seen as an expression of rational behavior? Our analysis of moral motivation provides a useful framework to improve the understanding of the relationships between formal and informal elements of corporate ethics programs, emphasizing the importance of the latter, often overlooked in compliance-focused programs. We conclude by suggesting that the concept of moral imagination can provide a unifying approach to enhance the effectiveness of corporate ethics programs, by providing an intangible asset that supports the implementation of their formal components into management decision making. Journal Information The Journal of Business Ethics publishes original articles from a wide variety of methodological and disciplinary perspectives concerning ethical issues related to business. Since its initiation in 1980, the editors have encouraged the broadest possible scope. The term 'business' is understood in a wide sense to include all systems involved in the exchange of goods and services, while 'ethics' is circumscribed as all human action aimed at securing a good life. Systems of production, consumption, marketing, advertising, social and economic accounting, labour relations, public relations and organisational behaviour are analysed from a moral viewpoint. The style and level of dialogue involve all who are interested in business ethics – the business community, universities, government agencies and consumer groups. Speculative philosophy as well as reports of empirical research are welcomed. In order to promote a dialogue between the various interested groups as much as possible, papers are presented in a style relatively free of specialist jargon. Publisher Information Springer is one of the leading international scientific publishing companies, publishing over 1,200 journals and more than 3,000 new books annually, covering a wide range of subjects including biomedicine and the life sciences, clinical medicine, physics, engineering, mathematics, computer sciences, and economics. Rights & Usage This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. What is the most well known consequentialist theory of ethics?Consequentialism is a theory that says whether something is good or bad depends on its outcomes. An action that brings about more benefit than harm is good, while an action that causes more harm than benefit is not. The most famous version of this theory is utilitarianism.
Which ethical approach might actually encourage you to act unethically?8.By ignoring the topic of ethical behavior, an organization may actually be encouraging unethical behavior through benign neglect.
Which of the following defines an ethical dilemma?The Oxford dictionary defines an ethical dilemma as, “a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle.”
Is defined as a situation where two or more right values are in conflict?Moral dilemmas are situations in which the decision-maker must consider two or more moral values or duties but can only honor one of them; thus, the individual will violate at least one important moral concern, regardless of the decision.
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