Applying Moral Philosophies to Business Ethics
Moral philosophies - present guidelines for determining how conflicts in human interests are to be settled and for optimizing mutual benefit of people living together in groups.

--There is no one correct way to resolve ethical issues in business.
-- Each type of philosophy has a distinct basis for deciding whether a particular action is right or wrong.
-- Ethics issues analyzed using different philosophical theories generally have the same appropriate outcome.

Role Morality — people have a moral responsibility to fulfill their role in the organization

Do employees have a moral responsibility to “do their jobs?” What are their responsibilities?

Do employers have a moral responsibility to “do their jobs?” What are their responsibilities?

How do employers handle conflicts in the different roles they perform? What if your superior wants you to carry out some responsibility, and your workgroup thinks this is unfair? What if some personal role conflicts with a work role? (Others roles include: student, parent, child, organization member, etc.)

Moral Philosophy Perspectives

1. Teleology — egoism - enlightened egoism - utilitarianism
2. Deontology
3. Relativist Perspective
4. Virtue Ethics

I. Teleology — consequences (consequentialist theories)

egoism — right behavior is based on good consequences for the individual

enlightened egoism — some basic “rules” or policies are followed not because they are right, but because they will help a person in some way

Utilitarianism- the greatest good for the greatest number

Utilitarianism--- Whether an action is right or wrong depends on the good or bad consequences produced for everyone affected by the action (not just the affect on oneself or just the affect on others).

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