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Profitability and morality co-exist in a business
Disscuss Whether Profitability And Morality Co-Exist In Business
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An 'economic cost-benefit analysis' approach to reasoning sees actions favoured and chosen if the benefit outweighs the cost. Here, the benefits and costs are in the form of economic benefits and costs, such as, monetary loss or profit. One who is motivated by such an approach will deem a course of action preferable if doing so results in an economic profit. Conversely, actions will be avoided if they result in an economic loss (Kelman 1981).
Importantly, when thinking about the cost-benefit approach, it should be borne in mind that its proponents are not strictly motivated to act ethically, unless the cost of not doing so is sufficiently high, or if acting ethically will result in economic profit. For example, a industrial company may know that dumping chemical waste into a nearby river is harmful to the environment, and by extension, human and non-human animals, although still decide to dispose of their waste in such a manner, as it is economically cheaper to do so, than to dispose of the waste in a safe but more costly manner. In coming to such a decision, they may have also weighed the potential fines and loss of business if they are exposed, although determined that such costs are not sufficiently high compared to the economic savings of cheaper, inappropriate dumping, so will maintain the current method of disposal.
A utilitarian approach to moral reasoning is also one where different options are weighed, although utilitarians are interested in minimising harm and maximising benefit. Importantly, utilitarians hold a universal perspective when reasoning, where they consider the impact upon all those who may be affected, who have interests of their own (Grace & Cohen 2013: 14-15).
Importantly for Kant, morality must come ...
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...idual who does not take the risk to their own life in service to others, but nonetheless, we would consider an individual that does take such a risk, or even die during the act of attempting to save others, highly moral.
Works Cited
Chomsky, N. (2013). Can Civilization Survive Capitalism. As retrieved from RSN: http://readersupportednews. org/opinion2/279-82/16453-focus-can-civilizationsurvive- capitalism.
Evan, W. M., & Freeman, R. E. (1988). A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation: Kantian Capitalism. London: Chapman and Hall.
Friedman, M. (1970). The Social Responsibility of Business is to make Profit. New York Times Magazine, 13.
Grace, D., & Cohen, S. (2013). Business Ethics. Melbourne: Oxford.
Kelman, S. (1981). Cost-benefit analysis: an ethical critique. Regulation, 5, 33.
Sorell, T., & Hendry, J. (1994). Business ethics. Oxford: Oxford.
The utilitarian faces many problems because he loses any ability to live a personal life. By this is meant that in making decisions the utilitarian must consider the steps which lead to the highest level of goodness in society. The utilitarian reaches for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Two main aspects dominate the light of utilitarian beliefs. The consequentialist principle explains that in determining the rightness or wrongness of an act one must examine the results that will follow. The utility principle is that you can only deem something to be good if it in itself will bring upon a specific desired state, such as happiness or fulfillment. There are two types of utilitarians: Act utilitarians and Rule utilitarians. An act utilitarian believes that a person must think things through before making a decision. The only exception to this idea applies with rules of thumb; decisions that need to be made spontaneously. The right act is the one that results in the most utility. Rule utilitarians believe that an act is only deemed appropriate if it fits in line with the outline of valid rules within a system of rules that target the most favorable outcome.
The ethical theory of utilitarianism has one basis, one must chose the action that will contribute to the greatest good; the greatest good for the greatest number. In any instance one may ask, which action will make the most people happy and how long? As a method
Examining the case with the Utilitarian mindset, we consider the overall positivity of the action vs the positivity of the alternative. In this case, what is the measure
Bibliography:.. Works Cited Friedman, Milton. A. The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Profit. N.P. Santayana, George.
Do you agree with Schmeltekopf that business schools are not preparing students well for the for the ethical challenges they will face in the workplace? Why or why not?
The term “ethical business” is seen, by many people, as an oxymoron. This is because a business’s main objective is to make as much money as possible. Making the most money possible, however, can often lead to unethical actions. Companies like Enron, WorldCom, and Satyam have been the posterchildren for how corporations’ greed lead to unethical practices. In recent times however, companies have been accused of being unethical based on, not how they manage their finances, but on how they treat the society that they operate in. People have started to realize that the damage companies have been doing to the world around them is more impactful and far worse than any financial fraud that these companies might be engaging in. Events like the BP oil
Explain the connection between the economic model of corporate social responsibility and “free market” or “neoclassical” economic theory.
Utilitarianism is a theory aimed at defining one simple basis that can be applied when making any ethical decision. It is based on a human’s natural instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
Schmidtz writes that the greatest problem with cost-benefit analysis is that it allows for some people to be sacrificed for the greater good, and thus may call for some violation of morals (154). Similar to Nussbaum’s idea of a tragic situation, Schmidtz agrees that one may have to make a decision that will ultimately require a violation of someone’s morals, but contrary to Nussbaum, Schmidtz claims that one can use cost-benefit analysis to determine which option will violate the morals of only some rather than all. Another limit of cost-benefit analysis that Schmidtz brings up is that it may not be easy or even possible for a decision maker to consider every possible externality: “Even if we know the costs and benefits of any particular factor, that does not guarantee that we have considered everything. In the real world, we must acknowledge that for any actual calculation we perform, there could be some cost or benefit or risk we have overlooked” (162). Schmidtz acknowledges that human decision makers cannot possibility account for every single external cost, but he does claim that this limit can be accounted for if the decision is opened to the public for scrutiny. For Schmidtz, public deliberation of a decision is a practical way for a decision maker to account for the most externalities to avoid moral
Friedman, M., (2007). The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits. In W.
Utilitarianism places high emphasis on the consequences and outcomes of one’s action. It is premised on the general principle that an action is right and ought to be performed insofar as it leads to overall happiness or benefits, as opposed to pains or costs (Chan & Shenoy, 2010). However, many businesses have a sole objective of maximizing its profits and shareholder value. While focusing on the interest of its internal stakeholders, the interest of its external stakeholders is often neglected.
The four principles of individual decision- making suggest that people face trade off. People have to give up a thing to acquire some other thing. This includes money, time, resources, and energy. The cost of something is what a person is willing to give up to obtain it. Therefore, the need is to find an alternative and then to compare and contrast the cost and the benefits of the alternative action by making a rational decision. Rational people think at a margin. Rational people purposefully evaluate options and opportunities. The marginal benefit is look at from the viewpoint of the consumers’ end of the equation, whereas, the marginal cost affect the producers. ...
Utilitarianism is defined to be “the view that right actions are those that result in the most beneficial balance of good over bad consequences for everyone involved” (Vaughn 64). In other words, for a utilitarian,
The Facts: Kermit Vandivier works for B.F. Goodrich. His job assignment was to write the qualifying report on the four disk brakes for LTV Aerospace Corporation. LTV purchased aircraft brakes from B.F. Goodrich for the Air Force. Goodrich desperately wanted the contract because it guaranteed a commitment from the Air Force on future brake purchases for the A7D from them, even if they lost money on the initial contract.
Ethics is the study of right or wrong and the morality of the choices that individuals make. That basicly means the set of morals or responsibility that a person, group, or field have. Ethics can also be classified as code of morals. In business there are ethics that portray to business. These are called business ethics, business ethics just happen to be the application of ethics, morals, into the business field. Some examples of business ethics are obeying all rules and regulations even when nobody 's looking, which is pretty self explanatory, you shouldn’t be breaking rules. Even if it is as simple as washing your hands after you use the restroom or straight up lying to your customers, they are the ones making you money so if they find out