Ethics in Business
Ethics in business identifies with a moral approach to conducting business. The case of Aaron Feuerstein is a classic instance of ethical idealism to business.
Aaron Feuerstein's Decision
When his business caught on fire all of a sudden in 1995, Aaron opted to continue paying his employees with the insurance cash while he struggled to rebuild the business. The purpose of this paper is to examine the magnitude of Aaron’s decision.
Aaron made the selection to continue catering for his employee’s needs simply due to the fact it was the right thing to do. According to an interview he gave, he cited that his decision was primarily based totally on morality as opposed to an attempt at publicity (ServiceSpace 1). "While Aaron’s decision is undoubtedly noble, there are many who argue that it cost him his entire business (Gill 1). Malden Mills was not able to recover successfully following the fire incident and Aaron’s decision to continue paying his employees (Toughsledding 1). His decision to favor the employees came at the expense of his business. The primary advantage, however, is that Aaron became known as a contemporary ethical protagonist. His ethical idealism is virtually legendary in the business world and sets the standard for ethical practices today.
Virtue Ethics and Aaron Feuerstein
Virtue ethics denotes an ethical approach that focuses on a person’s character as the primary concept of ethical thinking, as opposed to rules concerning the act itself or the repercussions. Aaron’s character and his religious ideology propelled him to do right by his workers. He was able to consider the impact that losing their jobs would have on their lives. Moreover, he also fulfilled his corporate social responsibility by considering the welfare of the society around him. He did this by reestablishing the business at the exact same spot where it had razed to the ground (ServiceSpace 1).
Conclusion
Conclusively, ethical idealism is hardly practiced in actuality in modern business. It is for this reason that Aaron’s actions are revered to date. He put the needs of people above the needs of his own business.
Work Cited
Gill, David. Was Aaron Feuerstein Wrong. 2011.
ServiceSpace. “Aaron Feuerstein’s Malden Mills.” YouTube, 21 Mar, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry7_FcSiQL8
Toughsledding. Putting people before profits: classic PR case study, but without the fairytale ending. 2010.
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