Moral Theories

1485 Words3 Pages

Introduction The use of wasta to hire employees, or transact important business in companies is an age old behavior that has been in existence for many years. Here, individuals often use their influential capacity (wasta) operational in a trusted network of relatives (or other trusted but powerful members of the society) to acquire job/business opportunities (Hansen 1996). Although one can argue that the use of wasta can be beneficial in creating a network of trust for business organizations, as it will become clear here, its justification cannot withstand moral theories that should ideally apply to all business transactions within an organization. Moreover, with the present social costs in our society that have arisen through the use of wasta, it is impossible to justify the use of wasta in hiring and performing business transactions. Let us consider an example of a wasta ethical dilemma. Someone has just graduated from a university with a bachelor degree in business and is seeking employment. When applying for an employment opportunity, he undergoes an interviewing process after which he gets an evaluation of his chances of securing the job from his interviewer. Being honest with him, she (the interviewer) tells the interviewee that his chances of obtaining the given job are little since there are other candidates that have obtained higher scores during the interviewing process. At this moment, the interviewee starts wrestling with the idea of using wasta to contact his uncle who can effortlessly secure this particular job for him. How will he make his decision here? Let us consider the theory of utilitarianism. What one does here is judged from a threshold that measures how one’s act will affect the majority... ... middle of paper ... ... through the use of corruption that societal resources are diverted from improving the wellbeing of societal members (William 1973). Conclusion The practice of favoring persons apart from merit to secure job vacancies, as it is the case when wasta is employed by someone to secure a job vacancy, is the one that is well embedded in our society. When the three business theories that I have described in this paper are considered, one can see that such an act of ‘job favoritism’ is morally unacceptable. Moreover, when the consequences of such behavior on our society are considered, it can be seen clearly that the described kind of behavior has led to a number of societal burdens that we experience today. It is therefore necessary for all morally upright persons (in whatever sense: virtuous, deontological or utilitarian) to desist from such kind of behavior.

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