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Chapter 3. Applying Moral Philosophies to Business Ethics. Moral Philosophy…. refers to principles or rules that people use to decide what is right or wrong presents guidelines for determining how to settle conflicts in human interests
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Chapter 3 Applying Moral Philosophies to Business Ethics
Moral Philosophy… • refers to principles or rules that people use to decide what is right or wrong • presents guidelines for determining how to settle conflicts in human interests • guides businesspeople in formulating strategies & resolving specific ethical issues • there is no one moral philosophy accepted by everyone
Moral Philosophy Perspectives • Teleology • Egoism • Utilitarianism • Deontology • The Relativist Perspective • Virtue Ethics • Justice Perspectives • Distributive • Procedural • Interactional
Teleology… • considers an act morally right or acceptable if it produces some desired result such as pleasure, knowledge, career growth, the realization of a self interest, or utility • assesses moral worth by looking at the consequences for the individual
Categories of Teleology • Egoism • right or acceptable behavior defined in terms of consequences to the individual • maximizes personal interests • Utilitarianism • conduct a cost/benefit analysis • determine behavior on the basis of principles of rules that promote the greatest utility rather than on an examination of each situation
Deontology… • focuses on the rights of the individual, not consequences • believes in equal respect and view certain behaviors as inherently right • individuals have certain inherent freedoms • rule deontologist- conformity to general moral prinicples • act deontologists- evaluate ethicalness based on the act
The Relativist Perspective… • defines ethical behavior subjectively from the experiences of individuals & groups • a positive group concensus indicates that an action is considered ethical by the group • acknowledges that we live in a society in which people have different views and many different bases from which to justify a decision as right or wrong.
Virtue Ethics… • what is moral in a given situation is not only what conventional wisdom suggests, but also what a “moral” character would deem appropriate • elements include: truthfulness, trust, self control, empathy, & fairness • negative virtues include: lying, cheating, fraud & corruption
Three Types of Justice… • Distributive justice-an evaluation of the outcomes or results of a business relationship • Procedural justice-based on the processes and activities that produce the outcomes or results • Interactional justice-based on an evaluation of the communication processes used in business relationships (often based on the accuracy of information provided)