Ethical Models for Business Decision-Making Essay Plan

This essay plan explores the application of ethical models in business decision-making. It introduces key concepts such as utilitarianism, moral rights, the justice rule, and the practical rule. The plan discusses how these models can be applied to real-world scenarios, emphasizing the importance of balancing ethical considerations with business objectives. The essay argues that the practical rule theory is the most suitable for managers, advocating for transparent decision-making that considers stakeholder perspectives. References to relevant academic sources are provided to support the arguments presented. This plan serves as a guide for students studying business ethics, offering a framework for analyzing ethical dilemmas and formulating effective strategies.

Running head: ESSAY PLAN
ESSAY PLAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ESSAY PLAN
Introduction
Ethics can be considered to be an effective part of the organization and all the managers
who are involved in the domain of the effective business environment would be required to see
to it that they are being able to deal with all the scenarios ethically (Bowie 2017). However, very
often dealing ethically tends to lead to additional costs on the side of the firm and in relation to
this, a balance between the ethical model used and the business scenario needs to be made.
Therefore, the senior management of the coal company has to come up with a viable decision
and in such a case, the Practical rule model has been adopted adequately.
Discussion
The first crucial ethical model can be understood to be the Utilitarianism Model which
suggests that an action or a particular decision that has the largest positive impact on the highest
number of people in a community should be the decision undertaken as it reflects the highest
level of benefit (Crane et al. 2019). Hence, Bowie (2017) states that this model suggests that
even if a particular action is taken to be incorrect, then in such a scenario, in case it has a positive
benefit on the majority of the society, it should be the primary action taken.
The next model is the Moral rights rule which makes a reference to a past action or a
decision that has upheld or safeguarded the basic rights of a population. In addition to this, the
rule is also better suited to the manner in which the decisions which have been made by the firm
need to match with the moral code of conducts (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). For instance, as
mentioned by Ling et al. (2019), the access to food can be considered to be a basic human right
but still there are instances of food insecurity and the Breaking Bread business has been
undertaking considerable steps to address the concern by providing a daily source of nutrients to
those in need. Hence, this portrays the manner in which moral rights need to be upheld.

2ESSAY PLAN
The third model to be discussed is the Justice Rule model which is centered around the
information that any ethical decision needs to be undertaken in a manner such that the benefits
and harm which is distributed amongst the people in a fair, impartial and equitable manner (Ling
et al. 2019). The theory states that all decisions must have an equal impact for those involved in
the action.
The last theory to be discussed is the Practical rule theory which is centered around the
fact that when taking a right ethical decision a manager should not hesitate to communicate the
decision to the other stakeholders because if the decision is ethical it needs to be deemed to be
just and acceptable by the people present (Trevino and Nelson 2016).
With respect to the case study, which has been provided, it is crucial to understand that
the senior manager would be required to undertake a decision which would help them to
maintain a balance and hence, by using the Practical rule theory, the request from the investors
would be agreed upon because it will be deemed to be just and acceptable by the people present.
Conclusion
Hence, in any organization, there might be various scenarios which may lead to the
decision making of the manager, but if the manager has the ability to take the right decision ,
then in such a case, he would be able to gain long term sustainability. The best fit ethical model
for a manager would be the Practical rule theory whereby the senior manager would be required
to accept the investor request and undertake the decision in favor of the environment as well
even though it will increase the costs of the firm.

3ESSAY PLAN
References
Bowie, Norman E. Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Crane, Andrew, Dirk Matten, Sarah Glozer, and Laura Spence. Business ethics: Managing
corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University
Press, 2019.
Ferrell, Odies C., and John Fraedrich. Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson
Education, 2015.
Ling, Thomson J., Jessica M. Hauck, Caitlin J. Doyle, Kristy N. Percario, and Tiffany Henawi.
"Evaluating the Use of Ethical Decision-Making Models for Art Therapy." Art
Therapy (2019): 1-5.
Trevino, Linda K., and Katherine A. Nelson. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how
to do it right. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.