The Differences between Various Theories of Ethics

There are several types of hypotheses, and each one can be used in a variety of contexts to enlighten our thinking and assist decision-making. Consequentialism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Principlism are examples of philosophies. Shaw and Barry (2014) define formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized The perception of consequential ethics is that the right moral approach is consistent with the action's result or effect. Deontology is based on roles and rights, and it considers humans to be the ends of themselves. It places value on the person's plans (rather than the outcomes of any action) and focuses on responsibilities, laws, and obligations. Deontology needs utter obedience to these responsibilities and performing from duty is perceived as performing ethically. One of the major arguments in healthcare is that using a strictly deontological theory to healthcare can result to conflicting interests between equally deserving people which can be hard or even seemingly unpractical to settle. Virtue ethics differs from ontology and Consquentialism mainly in its emphasis on the moral character or nobility of the person. Principlism or Ethical principles are a popularly applied approach in healthcare. It puts emphasizes on four main ethical principles namely justice, beneficence, nonmalefecence and autonomy. (Shaw, Barry, 2014)
This is an effort to assemble together the best segments of ethical theories, which are easily acceptable in most individual, religious or societal belief systems.
Ethical Issues in Business Situations
Recent studies indicate that an increasing number of organizations are discovering that ethical training in an important element of their businesses. Other researchers reveal that the number of organizations that were conducting formal ethics training had gone up. As more organizations are establishing that ethical training assists business proprietors to effectively run a working environment, the significance of knowledge of what ethical issues are faced by business people has increased. (Odell, 2004) Various ethical issues identified include Employee Behavior, Employee working Conditions, and Supplier/Customer Relations.
Employee Behavior
From big companies to small organizations, people undertaking various types of business always encounter ethical issues originating from workforce behavior. For instance, whether a worker can spend time perusing personal social media accounts, how a director handles claims of harassment and to what level can a director mentor a particular worker for promotion are all examples of ethical issues concerning employee behavior. Some unethical employee behavior attracts legal consequences. (Shaw, Barry, 2014) For instance, legal action could be taken if a worker was discriminated by his manager for a promotion. Managers of small organizations can help avert ethical problems originating from employee behavior by writing a clear attorney-reviewed well-designed standards that stipulate behavior systems for employees at all levels.
Employee Working Conditions
Apart from employee behavior, there are several ethical issues that individuals must contemplate about employee’s working environment. For example, employers must know about the working conditions of their workers and whether they have paid them for the period they have performed their duties. In addition, they must consider whether they have employed a worker for a longer period of time longer than required or they had him perform an unreasonably challenging task. Unethical working conditions would attract legal consequences. (Shaw, 2011)
Supplier/Customer Relations
Furthermore, workers and their employers must take into consideration ethical issues regarding their relationships with customers and suppliers. Employers, in particular, should consider whether it deems practical to conduct businesses with suppliers who do not adhere to ethical practices. When handling clients or customers, business individuals should ensure that they apply their information in the right way, do not insincerely advertise for service or product and do not deliberately perform substandard work.
Small Business Ethics
Despite the many ethical issues like discrimination that relate to all domains of business, every organization has its own corns about ethical issues. (Shaw, Barry, 2014) For example business individuals who work as consultants should make sure that they are providing sound advice. In the field of small organizations, various main ethical issues are due to hiring, firing and handling workers. An example could be a conflict of interests which may lead to ethical issues in small organizations that are run by family members.
Consquentialist
Consquentialist theories argue that the moral rightness, moral wrongness or moral value of an act is wholly a function of the repercussions or the effects of that act. Consquentialism is founded on two concepts: whether the act is right or not is determined by the outcomes of the act and, the higher the degree of outcomes the more right or better the act is. It guides us when experiencing moral dilemma. (Shaw, 2011) An individual must opt for the action that produces more good outcomes. Other types of Consquentialism use a more delicate approach. An example is like asserting that individuals must maximize the fulfillment of their entirely rational and informed preferences. Practically, individuals fail to assess the ethical repercussions of each single act because they do not get time. For example, going by the rules of consequential m, lying is regarded to be wrong because we are aware that general lying results into negative consequences. Outcome-based ethics offers this significant conclusion for ethical thoughtfulness; No form of lying is inherently bad not even murder depending on the outcome of the act. (Paliwal, 2006)This unlikely example may develop clearer issues; what if by murdering Y, a completely innocent individual, lives of 10 other people can be saved. A Consquentialist would argue that murdering Y is explained because the outcome would be that only 1 individual dies instead of 10.On the other hand, a Consquentialist would state that it is wrong to kill individuals and fail to kill Y, even if not killing Y results into the death of 9 more individuals than killing Y.References
Odell, S. (2004). On Consquentialist ethics (1st ed.). Southbank, Vic., Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth.Paliwal, M. (2006). Business ethics (1st ed.). New Delhi: New Age International.Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. (2014). Moral Issues in Business (13th ed.). Boston: Cenage Learning. Shaw, W. (2011). Moore on right and wrong (1st ed.). [Place of publication not identified]: Springer.