Ethics and Morality of Business

Ethics and Morality
of
Business

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Contents
Difference between morality and ethics.....................................................................................1
Trolley Dilemma........................................................................................................................1
Deontological ethics use in the business management and modern day business.....................1
Andrew Stark’s recommendation for improving business ethics..............................................2
For consequentialist no type of act is inherently wrong............................................................3
Corporate social responsibility...................................................................................................4
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................7

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Difference between morality and ethics
Often both these terms are considered as same thing. Morality is understood as something
that is normative and personal. On the other hand, ethics is considered as something that is
standard of bad and good and hence distinguished by any social setting or community
(Diffen, 2018). Morality is understood as something that is attached with individual i.e. their
own principles related to right and wrong. It is habits and principles with regards to wrong
and right conduct. Alongside ethics is referred to as the rules that are given by external
source such as codes of conduct in the workplaces or principles followed in different
religions (Weinstein, 2018). Ethics are the rules related to conduct that is recognised with
respect to a specific class of human actions or a specific culture or group. Ethics is something
that is practiced since society suggests that it is right while morality is practiced since an
individual believes in something being wrong or right.
Trolley Dilemma
In a trolley dilemma since there are no actual options available i.e. on both sides there will be
casualties hence choosing any option would lead to situations related to ethics. In such
situation different theories have different view point on this trolley dilemma. Consequentialist
or Unitarianism would have different set of recommendations so as to deal with this situation.
Since Consequentialist focuses on the consequences hence it suggests that lever must be
pulled so that only one person dies rather than five people (D’Olimpio, 2018). This is because
only one person will die if the lever is pulled and hence the casualties will be less. If the lever
is not pulled than 5 people may die which leads to more numbers of families to suffer while
on the other side the numbers of people that will suffer is relatively less. The overall
consequence of pulling the lever is less hence this theory suggests doing it. It is ethically
correct saving to lives of more people than to save one.
Deontological ethics use in the business management and modern day business
Deontological ethics suggests being rigid with the duties that is assigned to an individual at
any cost. This ethical approach focuses on wrongness and rightness of actions itself
irrespective of the rightness and wrongness of the results or consequences of these actions or
to the habits or character of the actor. The modern day businesses have become very much
competitive hence managers are forced to take actions that are against the rules and
regulations of the company at the lower levels (Kant, 2018). For example if the company

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aims to make cost reduction then there will be chances that company makes unnecessary job
cuts which was wrong but at the same time it was necessary too. Reducing the numbers of
people and increasing the load on few people to maintain the productivity may not be
deontological. Despite of the situations arising in the modern day business, it is possible to
conduct deontological ethics. The first and the most basic thing that has to be done as a
business manager is that to stick to the rules and ethics that is made within the firm. This will
help them to remain practical in terms of the way different operations within the organisation
can be maintained. In the management of role of organisational culture is very much
important hence a company that is able to adopt an organisational culture which is
deontological can be successful in practicing it.
Apart from this there are people from the different segments of the society working under the
same roof hence their cultural norms are very much different and may differ from the rules
and practices made by the company hence they might not work according to the duties
assigned by the company and hence it will violate the theory of deontology. Modern day
business managers have to adopt strategies according to the changing business scenario. This
might deviate from the actual line of duties that has been assigned to the people. At the
surface levels deontology is practiced but at the ground levels it is not practically
implemented. Since every organisation has a defined set of rules and regulations hence
implementing deontology may differ especially when it comes to practicing it (D’Olimpio,
2018). Modern day business managers will have to re-think about the ways in which they
want to achieve their goals so as to remain deontological. In the time to come situations in the
business are going to be more complex and hence being deontological can be more
challenging.
Andrew Stark’s recommendation for improving business ethics
Andrew Stark was very much concerned with the changing business practices that might lead
to ethical issues within a firm. It is essential that a company adopts a social responsibility
approach and hence they could take an expansive view of the market rather than only
focusing at the expansive view of the law. Under this approach he recommends to bring
experts in the moral philosophy in the business schools (Stark, 1993). Trainings related to
moral philosophy give the people an analytical frameworks and conceptual tools essential for
building fine-grained ethical distinctions and discerning the appropriate course in ethical