Introduction
Early researchers in the field of business ethics established grand ideas upon which the guiding principles on the concept are based. In particular, the researchers attempted to achieve logic as they sought to determine the answers to some of the most basic questions on ethics and the related practicality. The ethical principles influence the actions of ethicists as they aim at appealing principles.
Among the most outstanding ethical theories established by the researchers in this area include ethical fundamentalism, utilitarianism, as well as the Kantian ethics.
The Kantian ethics are also referred to as the duty ethics. Other ethical theories include the Rawlsian perspective and ethical relativism instructions. This paper seeks to evaluate and analyse each of the highlighted theories and introduce case studies that emphasize the theories appropriately.
Ethical fundamentalism
This theory suggests that people learn ethical regulations by observing outside sources. Outside sources comprise of different materials or scenarios, including books and historical persons (Berger, 2010, p. 63). It is upon the individual to make judgments on whether a particular conduct is ethical or unethical after analysing the external source.
Utilitarianism
The basis of this theory is the fact that an individual is expected to make choices concerning the actual action or set of rules that underscore conduct theory.
This, however, relies heavily on what is perceived to be of high value to the society (Shafer-Landau, 2013, p. 23). Nevertheless, this proposition is difficult owing to the fact that evaluating and determining a positive outcome expected from varying actions makes it almost impossible to evaluate effectively.
Kantian/ duty ethics
This presumption is based on the fact that people have a duty to observe universal rules that generally call upon acting towards others in the same way that one would wish to be handled. This is also considered to be the categorical imperative rule. The universal rule is both consistent and reversible, where a person is required to regard different ethical considerations in the same way or react to them uniformly.
Equally, a person is expected to put up with the rules that he formulates for purposes of judging one’s, as well others’ morality. An individual cannot come up with rules that he terms as universal and then opt to exempt himself from some of its requirements (Shafer-Landau, 2013, p. 40). If such an exemption occurs, then the indemnity automatically qualifies to be a universal rule.
Rawls social justice perspective
This theory, as proposed by John Rawls, suggests that justice has to be present for justice to be upheld. The social justice theory attributed to Rawls is an improvement of a previously existing social justice theory, which argued that all individuals are bound by a social contract.
The expectation of this contract is such that all individuals have to observe morality as they go about their day-to-day life to sustain peace along with harmony (Berger, 2010, p. 63).
Rawls considers justice as a determination of those not yet cognizant of their actual position within the society. In such circumstances, the principles considered to be much fairer would end up being created or selected (Berger, 2010, p. 67). Rawls also suggests that the less privileged individuals in a society ought to be supported through aid to realize their potential.
Ethical relativism instructions
This theory suggests that individual feelings should be used to determine the rightness or wrongness of an act. The ethical relativism theory, thus, holds that a person meeting his own ethics standard escapes criticism for his respective conduct (Berger, 2010, p. 63).
According to researchers studying this ethical theory, actions that are regarded as unethical in a society would not necessarily be regarded as unethical by a person who considers his conduct in terms of right and wrong.
Personal Preference of the Theories
The Kantian ethics are the most important among all the suppositions fronted by the various ethical theorists. It gives preference to a uniform rule of ethics that cuts across all the societies in the world.
It means that if killing a human being is considered as immoral in the USA, for instance, then the same verdict will suffice even in Africa, Russia, or Asia. This makes it easy to control the behaviour and actions of human beings from all walks of life.
Equally, the Kantian ethics are based on very fundamental principles of consistency and reversibility. This makes it practical for people to control themselves when it comes to observing ethics. Thus, in terms of consistency, people all over the world would have the same perception towards every ethical consideration without seeking or wishing to exempt themselves.
On the other hand, in terms of reversibility, even the people who determine what is morally good and bad are compelled to observe and respect the ethical standards without having other alternatives.
Case Studies
Case 1: Ethics Controversy in Walmart
Chalace Epley Lowry was employed as an administrative assistant in the world’s largest retailer, Walmart Stores, in the USA. Lowry worked in the communications unit. According to the retailer’s own guidelines on ethics, employees were required to observe the highest level of ethics when discharging their roles, including reporting activities that appeared as unethical.
Corporate communications vice president of the firm, Mona Williams, once instructed Lowry to copy papers that appeared as though they were related to stocks (Gogoi, 2007, p. 13). This incident was immediately followed by an announcement by the retailer to the effect that a stock buyback worth $15 billion was on offer. Lowly felt that Williams was acting in an unethical way.
She reported the incident, as an employee who observes set out guidelines on ethics (Gogoi, 2007, p. 13). However, the company dismissed Lowry’s actions and insisted that the documents in question had no relations with stock trading.
Lowry’s identity was revealed to Williams, although the employee insisted she did not agree to the disclosure. This prompted the worker to request for a transfer from the department given that Williams was her boss (Gogoi, 2007, p. 13).
Analysis and application of a relevant theory
This case offers the best example of ethical fundamentalism theory where morality is based on the fact that the outside sources determine the understanding of the ethical rules.
In this case, Lowry had undergone orientation immediately after joining Walmart and had been briefed about the ethical standards that the company upheld. This formed her outside source and she made her own ethical judgments relative to the company’s rules on ethics when she suspected immoral practise on the part of her boss.
Case 2: Employee Abuse at Apple Inc.
Apple Inc.’s labour outsourcing decisions saw the computer firm relocate its manufacturing activities to two plants based in southern China. Apple’s decision to relocate its manufacturing activities to China targeted at lowering its operation costs given the increasing global competition amongst product manufacturers, especially in the mobile and computer industries (Sitkin & Bowen, 2013, p. 193).
Given the ready availability of cheap labour in China, Apple proceeded to hire close to half a million workers who were based in the Chengdu and Shenzhen plants. The work conditions, however, were poor and Apple acted in unacceptable ways to achieve its objectives.
For instance, all employees were required to sign an anti-suicide agreement indicating that they were not to attempt suicide. This was a result of escalating suicide cases that had been reported in 2011 (Sitkin & Bowen, 2013, p. 193).
The employees were also required to sign and agree that they would readily be subjected to excessive overtime periods. While the Chinese laws stipulate that workers should not exceed a maximum of 36 hours in a month working overtime, Apple had subjected its employees to an average of 98 hours a month working overtime.
In every 14 days, workers were only allowed a single day off, with the daily wages paid by Apple ranging between $17 and $22. The computer company also erected dormitories for its half a million workers around the two production plants. Workers were required to wake up at any time to continue with the production, depending on the market demand pressures (Sitkin & Bowen, 2013, p. 193).
Analysis and application of a relevant theory
This case is a perfect example of the utilitarianism theory, which holds that an individual should act in a way that maximizes happiness not only for oneself, but for other people around as well. It is clear from this case that the Chinese workers hired by one of the world’s most profitable firms, Apple Inc., were depressed as a result of the poor working conditions in the two plants.
According to the utilitarian perspective, individuals have the onus of choosing rules that they feel uphold conduct theory. Therefore, Apple’s decisions and rules about the handling of employees squarely lay in the company’s jurisdiction.
However, even as the company enjoyed the onus of determining ethics and ethical standards, it may be deemed that it considered its actions as benefiting the society. China is a developing economy and there are hundreds of millions of the Chinese who lack jobs and employment.
Thus, Apple considered itself as providing value to this society because it hired up to half a million of the population, who would otherwise have remained jobless nevertheless.
Case 3: General Motors Bankruptcy
The General Motors, one of America’s leading car manufacturers, suffered a poor economic stance as a result of the global financial crisis that set off in the USA in 2008. Following GM’s bankruptcy, the US government quickly acted by opting to bail out GM from its woes (‘UAW Says Labor Deal Reached With Treasury, GM’, 2009, para 2).
The government literally forced the outcomes that it wanted out of the company by using money from the taxpayers’ kitty to fund operations of the giant automaker. However, in actual sense, the legal system rather than government intervention should have determined the course of the company.
The American legal system has established a bankruptcy court that often determines the fate of companies that face similar circumstances. The United Auto Workers’ body played a significant role in the bailout exercise by contributing millions of dollars.
The settlement process, nevertheless, will see the UAW union receive more equity in GM once it fully recovers from bankruptcy (‘UAW Says Labor Deal Reached With Treasury, GM’, 2009, para 4). In other words, UAW will eventually gain more compared to the protected debt holders.
As a player in the auto industry, part of GM’s financial woes are connected to UAW itself. In essence, giving UAW ownership of the company ignores all other surrounding aspects that highlight ethical immorality.
Analysis and application of a relevant theory
GM’s case of financial woes can best be explained using the principles of the Kantian theory. This theory is built upon consistency and reversibility as its main bedrock of universality. The rules set out to guide particular situations must be applied uniformly without appearing to uphold selective decisions.
In this case, GM should have followed the uniform procedure that applies to all American firms that end up being declared bankrupt. The bankruptcy court should have decided the company’s fate as has always been the case with all companies that have run bankrupt in the past and those that file for bankruptcy now.
The US government failed to observe the universal rule by insisting that GM was a special company. The government, therefore, opted to fund it directly. There was an obvious lack of consistency in the manner in which GM’s bankruptcy was handled.
With respect to reversibility, the US government as the custodian of the rules and laws that exist in the country should have followed what the constitution says about companies and bankruptcy.
Instead, what the federal government did in soliciting for funds to bail out GM qualified to be the universal rule of law. Any company that suffers bankruptcy after the GM incident can as well demand the government to come to its aid unconditionally.
Case 4: Labour Unrest in Company X
Workers in the production department at company X had for long complained of poor labour practices from their supervisors. The firm was big enough and comprised of other departments, including marketing, purchasing and supplies, IT, and accounting. The departments worked together in harmony to fulfil the corporate objectives.
Employees based in all the other departments, apart from production, were pleased with their jobs and showed greater support for their respective managers and supervisors. In a survey conducted throughout the firm, the average employee satisfaction levels recorded was 76%.
However, in terms of departments, the production unit fared poorly because it was the only one that returned below the average corporate percentage figure. While the other departments posted satisfaction percentage figures of 80%, the production department posted a dismal 43%. Workers in the department cited the lack of employee training, poor remuneration, and poor work environment as their major grievances.
An industrial action plan was hatched amongst the production department employees as the company’s management had done little to resort the grievances. The company had strong multiple union bodies that agitated for workers’ rights in each of the individual departments.
Although the management was informed of the planned strike by the production workers, it assumed that the action would not affect its operations because all the other departments had expressed great confidence with the manner in which their respective units were being run. However, on the material day, all workers in the firm downed their tools expressing solidarity with their colleagues in the production department.
Analysis and application of a relevant theory
Workers at firm X strongly showcased the fact that they were bound by a social contract. As per Rawls’ social justice assumption, the other workers drawn from departments that had indicated higher satisfaction levels in their employment felt indebted to the plight of their colleagues in the production department.
Thus, their decision to join in the strike that was organised by the production unit workers was a way of expressing and fulfilling the social justice contract that they were party to. Even though the workers from other departments did not complain of any injustices in their respective work areas, they felt compelled to help their colleagues so that they could equally receive the justice that they deserved.
Case 5: Unwritten Ethical Laws XYZ Ltd
The XYZ Ltd had an open policy on ethics that allowed workers and managers to make moral decisions that they thought would effectively protect the company’s image. Although all employees were introduced to some basic standards on ethics during recruitment, they were expected to act responsibly by making most of the ethical decisions on their own.
Among the personal ethical standards that Mr. Smith had set by virtue of his position as the chief executive officer in the company was the discouragement of company employees from forming romantic love relationships. Although it was not an outright rule, Smith had continuously discouraged his younger members of staff from marrying each other. He lamented that it portrayed indecency to some degree.
However, Mr. Smith resigned from his position to take up a similar challenge in a more established corporation after heading XYZ Ltd for more than a decade. His replacement, Jack Dunne, was 15 years younger than Smith and had a different stand on the idea of employees choosing freely with whom they wished to marry or form love relations with.
Analysis and application of a relevant theory
This case highlights the argument fronted by the ethical relativism instruction theory. Individuals consider their ethical standards differently depending on their judgments.
Thus, although Mr. Smith disliked the idea of colleagues marrying their workplace colleagues and went on to discourage it, his predecessor held a different opinion on the same. Mr. Dunne admitted to not seeing anything indecent in the practise for as long as his workers knew how to separate their love relations with job performance and requirements.
Conclusion
Ethical theory is a concept that has received varying contributions and research from various academic quarters. Different schools of thought have since been established, each attempting to define ethics in specific ways and offer various underlying principles.
Among the ethical theories suggested include ethical fundamentalism, utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, as well as social justice theory and Rawls social justice perspective. Various case studies can be used as a means of highlighting these theoretical stands.
Apple Inc. established its manufacturing operations in China in a bid to benefit from the country’s abundant labour that is also relatively cheap. The company forced workers to work overtime and exceeding the maximum limits. It also built dormitories for workers around their work areas to maximize on production. This scenario can best be summarised by the utilitarianism theory.
List of References
Berger, PL 2010, Between relativism and fundamentalism: Religious resources for a middle position, B. Eerdmans Publishing, Cambridge, UK
Gogoi, P 2007, ‘Wal-Mart’s latest ethics controversy’, Businessweek Online, p. 13
Shafer-Landau, R 2013, Ethical theory: An anthology, Wiley-Blackwell, West Sussex, UK
Sitkin, A & Bowen, N 2013, International business: Challenges and choices, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
‘UAW Says Labor Deal Reached With Treasury, GM’, 2009, CongressDaily, 21 May, Regional Business News, EBSCOhost, .