Ethics Of Business

5 Pages 1172 Words

In today’s world it is all too prevalent to see more and more people hungry to gain success at an ever-increasing rate. Modern culture can and indeed is labeled ‘greedy’ and ‘thoughtless’. What role does greed play in business organizations in today’s culture, and where can this greed by eliminated and ethical judgement used to replace it? Why is it that modern businesses value a “quick buck” or the easy road to wealth rather than the high road? At what point is there a line drawn in the sand for business owners to be accountable for their unethical practices? These are all questions asked constantly in the business domain, questions that often seem to include the many different views of ethics in their answer. Whether we look to utilitarianism or consequentialism and always consider the outcome of a particular action, or conform to a more deontological form of ethical thinking and focus on always acting in a manner that seems ‘right,’ the beginning of an overview on this subject would serve to shed light on a common, yet far from resolved issue plaguing those who deal with the modern business world regularly. If ethics within the marketplace should be common sense as well as common practice, why is it that in today’s society, we often find ourselves looking for a more ethical approach to our business organizations and practices?

In examining the ethical issues surrounding businesses today, it is important that we examine a few types of ethical views in order to better understand this heated issue at hand. The Consequentialist view is that thoughts and actions must be right to make the world a better place, and therefore, the right action is the one that produces the best consequences. Utilitarianism is a form of Consequentialism developed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism takes Consequentialism one step further and defines the action that will produce the best consequences as the one...