Theoretical Ethical Approaches and Business Code of Conduct

Ethics 101 1. 1 background and development of theoretical ethical approaches Deontological Theory The deontological theory state that the consequences or outcomes of actions are not important, what actually matter is that the actions are morally Justified. For example drunken driving is wrong, now if a person argues that he safely navigated his way back home and for that reason he/she should not be held accountable by law, they are wrong because their action was wrong in the first place and was breaking the basic principle for morally correct behaviour that a person should not drive while being drunk.

The contribution of Immanuel Kant towards development of Deontological theory Immanuel Kant proposes that in taking a decision “Duty’ carries the foremost importance. Kant is of the view that a person’s actions will only be regarded as morally and ethically correct when they are taken keeping in mind the sense of duty and responsibility in mind. Teleological Ethical Theory The teleological ethical theory put the primary focus on the “Consequences” i. e. “What are those actions that produce the best possible results”?

Along with attaching importance to the consequences the teleological theory also suggests that the ecisions framework that is developed for achieving the desired consequences should also be managed with care. Consequentialist Theory According to the “Consequentiality Theory’, the basis for determining how moral a person’s actions are the consequences. The consequences of actions can be good or bad, and they can be damaging or favourable. The contribution of Jeremy Bentham towards development of a person’s actions can be a classified as good or bad depending on what consequences the action has produced.

According to Bentham’s opinion the good things are classified as “pleasure” and the bad ones as pain”. (http://www. studymode. com/) 1. 2 Absolute ethics has only two sides: Something is good or bad, black or white. Some examples in police ethics would be unethical behaviours such as bribery, extortion, excessive force, and perjury, which nearly everyone would agree are unacceptable behaviours by the police. Relative ethics is more complicated and can nave a multitude ot sides witn varying shades ot gray . What is considered ethical behaviour by one person may be deemed highly unethical by someone else.

The Absolutist theory is the theory that certain things are right or wrong from an bjective point of view and cannot change according to culture. Certain actions are intrinsically right or wrong, which means they are right or wrong in themselves. This is also known as deontological. The relativist theory is the theory that there are no universally valid moral principles. All principles and values are relative toa particular culture or age. Ethical relativism means that there is no such thing as good “in itself”, but if and action seems good to you and bad to me, that is it, and there is no objective basis for us to discover the truth.

This theory is also known as teleological. An example of an absolutist ethical system would be if a single mother with a very young child had no money and therefore no food to feed the child, and she stole some food from the shop and the mother was caught and had a trial, an absolutist would argue that its morally wrong to steal and should suffer the consequences of the crime. They don’t take into account the situation the person might be in and use an absolute law. However, this is in contrast to the alternative ethical system, called “relativist”, because this system is really the complete opposite.

Again I’ll use the same example s I did for absolutist. If a relativist was looking at this they would take into consideration the situation the woman might be in and empathize with her and try to find an outcome that is the most fair. One reason to support the absolutist approach as the only defensible approach is that it provides Justification for acting which means that morality seems to demand some sort of obligation. If there’s a fixed moral code then there is no obligation to act in a way. Another strength is that it gives clear guidelines, which basically means the rules are fixed and clear to apply. () 1. 3 Ethics refers to a prescribed or accepted code of conduct. Ethical issues are a set of moral values that need to be addressed while carrying out business. Businesses operate in a society that is structured around moral values. Therefore, when conducting its operations, a business has certain responsibilities which are to provide the society with quality goods and services that will improve the people’s living standards. In order to survive, a business needs to maintain its customers. Product packaging is one way of ensuring a business maintains its existing customers and also acquire ew customers.

Some companies are known to allow underweight packaging of products which are then highly priced and this is a rude way of increasing profits. However this negative trend will affect the business in the long run as customers will eventually come to learn that they are being swindled. In an attempt to boost sales, some businessmen adapt promotional method mislead customers as the message conveyed may not give the exact details of the product. Businesses should desist from increasing prices without valid reasons. In doing so, they will be taking advantage of the customer and this is unethical.

Businessmen should also desist from taking part in corrupt practices such as selling low standard goods while bribing government officials in order to continue operating. Entrepreneurs should consider the effects of their activities on the society they serve. In the long run, wrong dealings and corruption will tarnish the image of the business and have a negative effect on sales. Business people ought to comply with the law requirements and observe laid down principles of morality in their dealings. They should seriously consider expectations of the community they serve. (