Ethics in Business: Approaches to Ethical Decision-Making

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Business values and ethics
1/18/2019

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Part 1
Discuss the managers’ behaviour with respect to five approaches and compare each of the
approach, which supports the organization in a positive way.
Ans. The managers have to maintain the ethical standards and principles that they have to
follow in their company. The five approaches to ethical decision-making involve-
 The Utilitarian approach- It is stated that managers emphasize the ethical action,
which delivers the most good or produces the least harm or maintains the greatest
balance of good over harm. In this, the ethical corporate decision that delivers the
most good and does the least harm for all who are influenced i.e. employees,
stakeholders, society, customers, and the environment. In this manager, also inform
at the earliest possible to the employees who are influenced so that they can find
enough time for searching for the alternate jobs. This behaviour of managers predicts
that they have good concern for their employees and does the least harm for them in
taking that unfortunate decision. This utilitarian approach is all about balance and
tries to maintain the greatest good with the minimum harm to the personnel in the
organization. It deals with the concerns that use this method to develop the ethical
approach for most people (Zuber and Asheim, 2012).
 The Rights approach- It is stated that managers take ethical actions, which best
prevents and respects the moral rights of employees who are affected. This approach
initiates the understanding of conviction that employees have dignity, which is based
on human nature on their capability to choose freely in their lives. In this manager,
gives a letter, which elaborates the reason for taking this unfortunate action with an
apology to all the employees. Based on dignity, they have a right to be treated as ends
as not as means to other ends. Their moral right incorporates to make their own
choices to a degree of privacy. It states that it is the duty of every manager to perform
the duty of respecting the rights of their employees (Schwartz, 2016).
 The Fairness or Justice approach- It is stated that this approach contributed to the
belief that all employees should be treated equally irrespective of their status or
influence in the organization. They use the conviction to predict that ethical decision
making treats all employees equally as fair standard is defensible. They are more
concentrate on harder work or the greater amount that they contribute positively to

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the organization. In this, the manager supports to pursuit for jobs, this gives a positive
impression in the minds of every employee in the organization. Everyone should be
treated equally as favoritism provide benefits to some people without a defensible
reason for singling them out. Discrimination enforces a burden on people, which are
not different from those who are not affected so they both are wrong and unfair (Van
Craen and Skogan, 2017).
 The Common Good Approach- This approach contributed to the notion that life in
society is good to itself, as they need to support others also. It depicts the interlocking
relationship are the basis of respect, compassion, and ethical reasoning for every
people in the society. It also stresses the attention to the consequences and situations
that are significant for the welfare of society. This may be a framework for the
regulations and efficient policy of health care, educational system, fire department,
and recreational areas. In this, the manager has tried to act honestly by informing at
the earlier stage, by which he had adopted a common good approach and done well
with their employees. The ethical standard drives a lot of concentration on the
relationship and manages the compassion for the fellow employees, which initiated to
do well to others (Ryan, 2018).
 The Virtue approach- This approach depicts the ethical actions, which ought to be
constant with definite ideal virtues that deliver full advancement to humanity. These
virtues are dispositions that empower to act as per the highest potential to the values
like honesty, beauty, and truth. The various examples are courage, generosity, love,
integrity, self-control, honesty, compassion, tolerance, fidelity, fairness, and
prudence. This approach requires leaders to develop ethical standards on such kinds
of universal virtues. These principles should create people to attempt to be
maintaining a need on their own, as an adequate action will adversely influence their
need to be kind to others. In this, the manager has also been kind to others as it was
their need to fire them for the betterment of other people (Tudge, Freitas and O'Brien,
2015).
Overall benefits to the organization
Each of the approaches will assist to determine the standards and values of behavior, which is
considered ethical. The benefits of each approach are described below-

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 The Utilitarian approach- It is moral conduct, which carries that the ethical course of
action in any situation generates a balance of advantages over producing harms to
others. It delivers an innovative method for choosing the appropriate course of action
for any particular understanding. They should determine all the identifiable
advantages and harm that would lead to an action by which every people affected by
it. In this, the manager has also taken an unexpected action, which is taken all of a
sudden, as this affects many people in the organization (Ozkara, Ozmen and Kim,
2017).
 The Rights approach- This approach identifies that a human-based approach tends to
a better, effective, and sustainable human development mechanism. It secures the
rights of every people as by taking an initiative of enhancing girls’ education,
safeguards women’s equality, security of tenure, and significance to political
governance. In this, managers have protected the employees right and deal with
humanity and dignity (Shestack, 2017).
 The Fairness approach- It concentrates on the fair and equitable distribution of good
and harm in the organization. It will enhance social benefits, costs, and contributes to
the effort and profitability (Perales, Baxter and Tai, 2015).
 The Common Good approach- This approach concentrates on ensuring effective
public safety, the legal system, affordable health care, and peace among countries
(Nicolaides, 2016).
 The Virtue approach- It will promote and enhance the development of moral
reasoning. It concentrates on making better people and avoids making bias decision.
These approaches will assist to attain success and development in the future (Hart,
2017).
Part 2
a) The NHS approval of a new drug focus on clinical effectiveness or concentrates on
cost-effectiveness for the patient suffered from multiple sclerosis?
Ans. Multiple sclerosis is a distressing disease that can arise in early life, developing to
loss of economic, physical, and psychosocial functioning, and rapid ill health, which
progressively affects the quality of life. The long-term medication of multiple sclerosis
with interferon-beta should be cost-effective. The traditional treatment has been
indicative, which treats acute diseases without influencing the underlying disease (Buller,