ETHICAL THEORIES AND MORALITY IN A COMPANY

Several business organizations encounter challenges because of unethical behaviors of their employees that are against the expected norms. According to Paul and Paul (2005), ethical theories lay emphasis on the various features of an ethical problem that lead to getting the appropriate solution in relation to the theory’s stipulated guidelines. Normally, workers base their personal choice of the ethical theories in accordance with their life experiences. They derive their reasoning from theories such as utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics and relativism to explain their actions in a morally challenging circumstance. When deciding rules, regulations and guidelines to be followed in a business organization, everybody experiences the challenge of agreeing with one’s idea without argument due to the complication of dealing with human nature. Therefore, business industries are trying to formulate solutions that are not complicated for everyone when handling work matters and the challenges they experience within their working environments. Both parties; employees and employers, need to adhere to the code of ethics that relate to the relevant duties in business by faithfully adhering to rules and regulations, thus avoiding the activities that would undermine the wellbeing of the consumers, investors, employees and employers in business endeavors.

Hume (2003) suggests that the deontological theory defines the degree to which an act conforms to the recognized societal norms and moral duties in the business world. For instance, in the finance industry, an employee refers a client to his friend’s business firm ignoring the fact that the firm he is working at also needs clients who can use the same services. This theory fails to look in...

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...ds for the moral dimensions of how people are required to behave in this world. What a person values comes in to the question when dealing with an ethical dilemma. Cultural context is brought about when the matter is confronted with a moral choice in the context of ethical consideration and interpretation. The important features of corporate decision making normally demonstrate the important components of the moral conduct in an organization. Shomali (2001) argues that a corporation has corporate internal decision (CID) structure which provides enough grounds for the development of the moral conduct. An organization chart should correspond to the decision authority with enough grounds as an element to their moral agency. This helps a business to determine whether the decision making process made by an individual has authority in accordance to the organization chart.