Business Ethics: Reflexive Journal on Ethical Principles, Theories, and Perspectives

This reflexive journal on business ethics covers ethical principles, theories, and perspectives such as utilitarianism, deontological ethics, altruism, Confucianism, and Rawl's justice as fairness. It also includes personal reflections on implicit theory of morality and the importance of practicing ethics in the workplace.

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Table of Content
askT 1.....................................................................................................................................................2
hat was discussed in class Do you agree with the ethical principle s discussed hy or why1.1 W ? ( ) ? W
not ustify your stand on this as an ethical business professional? J .........................................................2
1.2 ow would you define your own implicit theory of morality hat fundamental assumptions doH ? W
you make?.............................................................................................................................................4
ask rite about the various theories of ethics which we have discussed in class hich aspect ofT 2: W . W
ethics seems most definitive to you hy Draw on various aspects of your life to discuss your ethical? W ?
perspectives.............................................................................................................................................5
askT 3: Compile a coherent account of your reflections to demonstrate the journey you have
undertaken throughout this course particularly relating to your changed ethical perspectives, ( ?) .............8
References...........................................................................................................................................10

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Task 1
1.1 What was discussed in class? Do you agree with the ethical principle(s)
discussed? Why or why not? Justify your stand on this as an ethical
business professional
In order to give an overview to the readers, the module of organizational ethics
covered sections such as ethical perspectives, business ethics, ethical decision making and
action, exercising ethical influence and improving group ethical performance. Besides this a
good light was thrown upon the contemporary subjects like corporate social responsibility,
introduction to ethics, theory of ethics, ethical interpersonal communication, leadership
ethics, followership ethics and combative destructive behaviour. All in all, the entire course
was highly engaging and covered concepts which were of significant importance.
I learnt about different theories in ethical perspective such as Utilitarianism which
states to do the greatest good for the great number of people. It stated that ethical choices just
like other decision should be made on the basis of their ramifications. The greatest strength of
the theory was its greatest weakness which states the concern for collective human welfare.
The second theory which I learnt was based on the work of Kant, also called as Kant’s
categorical imperative, which states to do what’s right despite the consequences. The
critiques of Kant’s theory mentioned that there have to be universal principles which have to
be followed in every situation (Goodrich & Meng, 2015).
I also studied at length about the Rawl’s theory of Justice as fairness which was based
on the concept of balancing freedom and equality. Rawl’s theory honoured individual
freedom which was also the foundation for the democratic culture, at the same time
encouraged more equitable distribution of societal benefits (Edson et. al., 2017). The biggest
weakness of Rawl’s theory was its abstractness, which limited the theory to a greater extent.
Another theory which is my personal favourite was the theory of Confucianism which was
based on building healthy relationships (Martinez & Wueste, 2016). He mentioned that the
ideal society is created and based on a series of hierarchical and harmonious relationship
which starts from the family and is extended to the outer world (Zhang, 2018). The best part
about the theory of Confucianism was that it was practical in nature, it was stated on the

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fundamental truth that economies, societies and organizations are built on relationship. The
theory also stated that it’s the leaders who shape up the ethical climate of the organization
(Ewest, 2015).
I then learnt about business ethics and different components mentioned as part of its
learning exercise. The first component facing the shadow side of personality was important
and mentioned that the shadow of the person is more likely to surface in a stressful condition.
The second component of business ethics was finding or discovering vocation, it was
important to understand what really excites an individual in order to understand the direction
of the life (Choondassery, 2017).The third and one of the most important components was
identifying the personal values, it is important to identify the personal values based on one’s
moral which would dictate the life of an individual. My personal values for example are
honesty, integrity, discipline and passion towards everything I do. The next important
component was developing character; character plays an important role in the ethical and
decision making behaviour of an individual. My personal character is based on my strength
which is love, courage, wisdom and knowledge. Another component which is important is
creating a moral identity, it is used to describe one powerful motivating force behind the
ethical behaviour of the individual .Drawing upon spiritual resources is gaining a significant
leverage in the present times, as people have started caring more for their soul, which makes
it prevalent both in the society and the organization (Hammersley, 2015).
Another important concept which I learnt in the module of ethics was to understand
how to exercise ethical influence in professional business surroundings. I learnt that the
power in business organization is classified into five categories such as coercive, referent,
legitimate, reward and expert power, and it is advised to pick the power which helps in
achieving the said goals of the organization (Lucas, VanWee & Maat, 2016). It can be seen
that legitimate, coercive and reward power reduced the task satisfaction and trust in the
longer term, thus it is advised to select the power appropriately. Politics also plays an
important role in the business organization; employees in the organization accumulate and
use informal power to achieve personal and organizational objectives (Fainstein &
DeFilippis, 2015). Two kinds of politics exist here, one kind is the negative politics which is
self-centred in nature, and the other type of politics is positive politics, wherein power is no
longer used to exercise control, on the contrary it is used to serve other individuals in the
organization (Denzin & Gairdina, 2016).

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Ethical principles for me are of paramount important, preferably because I have
practiced ethics all my life and I have been given values which emphasize on practicing
ethics in my daily life. I concur with a couple of ethical principle such as autonomy,
beneficence, Non-maleficence and justice (Kagan, 2018). Autonomy refers to the respect for
human dignity and the right of individuals to decide things for themselves. In my opinion the
principle of autonomy creates a perfect balance between human dignity and right of
individuals. The second principle of ethics, beneficence refers to the obligation to do well and
remove the harm of injury (Bhopal, 2016). I believe that it is very much needed in the present
day, doing good for people and remove the harm or any kind of injury from the behaviour.
The last principle of ethics is justice, which I believe is extremely important in every walk of
life. The principle of justice is reliant on the foundation of distributive justice, fairness to all,
equality and impartiality (Vinnari, Vinnari & Kupsala, 2017).
In order to summarize my learning from the module, I would say that for a business
professional it becomes highly important to practice ethics in one’s organization, as people
learn from others. Thus, if they see a person practicing ethical values and principles which
are doing no harm to a person, community or the organization, everyone will start following
the same.
1.2 How would you define your own implicit theory of morality? What
fundamental assumptions do you make?
Implicit theory of morality is linked to the moral behaviour of an individual which is
linked to the implicit behaviour of the nature in the context of social-moral reality. In order to
come up with the theory it was assumed that individuals believe in a fixed reality and they
tend to hold moral beliefs in which duties within the system are seen as the fundamental for
the theory (Rusconi, 2018). However, it was seen that when individuals believe in a
malleable reality they hold moral beliefs which are focussed on moral principles on the likes
of human rights. Hence, it can be said that implicit theory of morality predicted duty based
v/s right based moral beliefs (Myers & Venable, 2014).
I would like to define my implicit theory of morality more inclined towards duty
based; it makes more sense to me because the organization I work for definitely holds a
significant value in the society and the community. More so, I am a believer that the

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organization are always focussed on doing good for the humanity, society and the world, and
in order to do so, it becomes convenient for one to align themselves with the duty assigned to
them by their respective organization. The implicit theory in the professional environment is
valid, because as an employee, it is asked from us to obey the rules, policies and procedures
of the organization. As we ourselves have given this right to the employer, hence whatever
duties are being assigned to us have to be done with no questions asked. Only then an aura of
enhanced productivity in the organization will be created benefitting both the individual and
the organization.
However, there are instances when the organization is at fault, in such cases one has
to use his personal judgement and belief of morality while coming to a decision. It will be
really imbecile to work and follow the instructions of the organization which does not mean
well to anybody, except themselves, such an organization is a big burden to the society. In
such cases, one has to exercise the value system in which a person believes in, in order to
come out of the situation and help the community. A few assumptions which I create are;
believing in the utilitarianism and the Confucianism theory. The theory of utilitarianism
states that one has to do good for all, focus on the collective good, and not just the good of
one person. It states that one should make ethical choices after thinking of the possible
consequences of the choices we made, which hold true in all the cases. Similarly, the theory
of Confucianism is based on the logic that the ideal society is based on the series of
harmonious and hierarchical relationship which erupt from the family and then extended to
the outer world. I am personally a big believer in doing well for the society, as I believe that
it is natural to expect the same output as the input given by a person. Hence, these two
theories form the grounds of assumption for me while choosing my principle of implicit
theory of morality.
Task 2: Write about the various theories of ethics which we have discussed
in class. Which aspect of ethics seems most definitive to you? Why? Draw
on various aspects of your life to discuss your ethical perspectives.
Ethics equals morality which is basically doing what is right. Every person has his or
her own ethics which are derived from the values, belief or the culture in which a person is
raised. Ethics is both a philosophy and a psychology of an individual, thus it varies from one
person to other. Within the purview of the module I learnt about different theories of ethics

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which helped me in developing a coherent understanding of ethics. Some of the important
theories of ethics as discussed in the class are:
Utilitarianism
The theory of utilitarianism is based on the principle of doing the greatest good for the
greatest number. The theory rationalizes by stating that one should make ethical choices and
decision after an in depth analysis of the possible consequences of that particular choice. The
theory asks an individual to make the ethical choice while considering the short and long
term consequence of the ethical decision (Bass, Frick & Young, 2018). The theory is a simple
three step process which can be summarized as:
 Identifying all the possible courses of action
 Estimate the direct and indirect cost attached with the course of action (Dewitt et. al.,
2017).
 Selecting the alternative which produces the greatest amount of good which is based
on the cost benefit analysis of all the course of action.
Deontological Ethics
This theory is derived from the classical deontology which states that it is God who
determines the right and wrong, but looking at the rising number of atheist in the society,
Kane modified the theory. According to Kane, he stated that it’s not the consequences which
make the action right or wrong, but it is the moral law which proves the action to be right or
wrong (Beever & Brightman, 2016).
Altruism: Concern for others
The theory of altruism or as it is popularly called as concern for others is based on the
principle that one should always help others without a thought that this help would benefit us
or not. This theory of ethics has a global appeal in the sense that cares for others are also
promoted in the religion. Caring for others also puts to rest antagonism between individuals
and other departments (Stenmark, 2017).
Confucianism

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The theory of Confucianism was founded by Confucius and he believed that an ideal
society is created on the basis of series of hierarchical and harmonious relationships which
erupt from the family and then extend me the society or the organization on the basis of trust
and mutual respect. Confucius in his theory mentioned that human cannot live aloof; they
exist in the society by creating and building relationships with one another. The same kind of
relationships has to be created and fostered in the business organization (West, Huijser &
Heath, 2016).
Rawl’s Justice as Fairness
Rawl developed a theory of ethics which was based on treating justice and fairness
whilst balancing freedom and equality. Rawl’s theory holds significant importance to foster
cooperation in democracies. Rawl’s theory besides honouring individual freedom, also gave
paramount importance to encourage more equitable distribution and societal benefits
(Robinson, 2017).
The aspects of ethics which I closely relate to are building harmonious relationship in
the society with the virtue of helping one another and focussing on the greatest good for the
greatest number of people. These two aspects have a high significance in the present self-
centred world, where people are running behind their own aspiration without giving a
concern about other people’s concern and happiness.
In my life, I try to do well to all, first because it is and has to be the law of nature, and
secondly my family values have made me realize and understand the difference between right
and wrong. I am a kind of individual who will go to any extent to help an individual,
provided if I can be of any help. I tend to forget my personal timelines and start empathizing
with the concerns of others; I make it my personal agenda to help the person. My moral
values of honesty integrity, strong character and discipline help me in translating these moral
values into strong ethical values.

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Task 3: Compile a coherent account of your reflections to demonstrate the
journey you have undertaken throughout this course, particularly relating
to your (changed?) ethical perspectives
This course was particularly helpful to me in various ways, one of the most important
aspects of which was to develop a coherent understanding of ethics, its importance in
personal and professional life. The course in depth provided me with information on various
theories of ethics, principles of ethics, aspects of ethics, importance of ethics in organization
and one’s personal life. Before the course, ethics to me simply meant separating wrong from
the right. I lacked the inherent ability to grasp the concept of ethics and apply in my life.
One theory of ethics which deeply moved me was altruism theory, besides have
strong likes of utilitarian and Confucius theory. The theory of altruism was based on a
comprehensive thought that one should selflessly help others, without any consideration for
potential benefits. The theory has been promoted by various religious leaders as well who
said that one should love thy neighbors at all cost. This theory can also be extended towards
one’s own professional journey, help the team and the organization to grow and succeed, it
will eventually help one in climbing the ladder of success (Eckenwiler & Hunt, 2017).
The learning of the module was coupled with plenty of case studies which helped me
in having a critical analysis of ethical issues at hand, and also how various organization
practically applied ethics and morality in the real world. For instance one of the case studies
titled helping Harvard medical school make the grade made me learnt that big pharmaceutical
companies have lot of influence on the medical school, so much that the professors started
promoting these drugs without answering the question of side effects. More so, a lot of study
material was seen to be biased to certain pharmaceutical companies, and the university due to
all this received F grade from the American medical school association for the way the
students tracked and controlled the use of drug money in the university. The case study took
me through a rollercoaster ride, thinking on whether it is right or wrong to take money from
the big druggist. That is when I realized ethics come into place, and it is very important to
communicate with equality and fairness to all the stakeholders.

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Another case study which helped me develop better understanding of negotiation,
communication, importance of written document was the $ 2.3 Million handshake deal.
Former university of Oregon Football coach, Mike Bellotti was considered as a state icon, for
what he did to the football program. The man single handedly transformed the lacklusture
football program into a national power house. However, Mike soon resigned after serving the
position of athletic director for 9 months. The man was given a hefty severance package to
the tune of $ 2.3 Million, this news when broke in the market was not acceptable to many.
There was country wide criticism of the package; hence an inquiry was attached to it. It was
later found that there was no signed document or contract; however, the inspecting in charge
found that there is no wrong doing in the severance package. But, a system was soon created
and put in place to have better policies in terms of severance package and everything has to
be documented. This made me realize the importance of negotiation and ethics in business
dealings.
A case study on Sparks of Aggression was helpful in understanding the factors which
contributes towards the aggressive behavior of a person. Pedro worked at a credit union, and
he was for absolutely no reason miffed at one of the student working there as the summer fill
in. Pedro left no stones unturned to make his life worse, constant humiliation, bantering were
the order of the house for the student. It took an extreme step one day, when Pedro followed
the student in public transport and assaulted him, since then Pedro never returned to credit
union. I realized that there are several factors which are responsible for aggressive behavior
such as Inflated or deflated self-esteem. In this case of Pedro, however, it is not clear if he
suffered from the problem of Inflated or deflated self-esteem, however ,one thing was certain,
Pedro was having troubles with self –esteem which pushed him to take such extreme
measures.
Another important aspect which I learnt in this course was importance of leadership in
driving ethics in the business organization. Leadership as we all know is the practical skill
encompassing the ability of the individual to lead, manage, motivate ,influence and inspire
people to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. Ethics play a very important role in
driving leadership, an ethical leader will always ensure that ethics are practiced in the
organization and no harm is inflicted upon the customer, employees and other stakeholders.
A leader can easily do this by leading from the front, once the employees see how ethical the
leader is in his professional business conduct, it becomes more of a system to follow such

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high standard ethical practices, which then leads to creation of ethical culture in the
organization (Hwang, 2015).
There does come a time, when a person is unable to decide whether this thing is
ethical or not. Thus, in order to determine if the particular action should be taken or not,
utilitarianism theory suggested that taking ethical decision is just like taking normal decisions
of life. One has to think of the consequences, if the consequences point towards the greatest
good for the greatest number, one should make that ethical choice. Also, one should view
ones action always from the perspective of ethics, as to what can be the future ramification of
their action, on the basis of which they can decide on making the ethical choice (Hall, Gartner
& Forlini, 2015).
I also learnt an important lesson while diving into the course on ethics, every business
is operating to maximize its profits, and their ethics therefore are guided by laws, market
constraints and the level of commitment of the managers towards ethical and social
responsibility. Some other factors which affect the organizational ethics are; ethical dilemma,
stage of moral development, structural variables, organizational culture, individual
characteristics and issue intensity. Organization has to focus on all these factors and put
efforts to practice ethics with the view of doing well for the society, community and the
organization (Mansell, 2015).
I learnt through the course that ethics are also important in combatting the destructive
behavior of the employees in the organization. The manager or the leadership has an
important role to play here, they can intervene the employees who are disrupting the entire
environment of the business and provide them with an understanding of practicing ethics in
the organization. The employee will then be in a position to understand that their destructive
behavior is causing harm not only the organization, but is also impacting the productivity of
other employees in the team and causing great harm to the community. Thus, ethics helps in
combating such type of destructive behavior (Weaver & Mitcham, 2016).
Towards the end, I would like to conclude this section by saying that ethics are very
personal in nature; however one should always focus on the consequences of their ethical
choices in the longer and shorter run for other people. Only then, one can come to an ethical
decision which would not cause any harm or injury to other people. In my life, I have always
learnt from my family, friends, peers and colleagues that one should always help others, use

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the best rationale to separate wrong from the right and work towards the betterment of the
society and the community. My sincere gratitude is towards my teachers who helped me in
gaining sufficient knowledge on ethics, which would help me become a good responsible and
ethical citizen of the world.
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