Ethical Decision Making: A Case Study of James Hardie Scandal

ESSAY 2
Ethics are the moral values and principles through which the behaviour or the conduct of an
individual towards an activity is governed. It is a moral philosophy which covers the
systematizing, recommending and even defending the right and wrong conduct (Corrigan and
Farrell 2010). They help in decision making and the aim of such decision making is towards the
right choice selection. This right choice requires identification and prioritization of
responsibilities to the person themselves, their profession and even the wider community. In the
following parts, this very concept has been highlighted in context of James Hardie scandal and
the activities undertaken by it.
As stated in the introductory segment, the decision making under ethics require the emphasis to
be placed on the person themself, the profession they belong to and the community in general.
This is because these are deemed as the stakeholders who are impact or have the capacity of
being impacted as a result of the conduct undertaken by the person. This requires a care to be
taken in making decisions in such a manner which neither put a negative impact on themselves,
nor on the different stakeholders (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell 2016). The same is particularly
important in not putting a negative impact, if the positive impact cannot be attained on the
different stakeholder groups, which is the key requirement as per the leading ethical theories. A
leading ethical theory which assists in ethical decision making is that of utilitarianism. As per
this theory, such decisions are deemed as ethical where the utility is maximized (Bykvist 2010).
In other words, where the happiness is maximized from undertaking a particular action, such an
action is deemed ethical. Thus, the consequence of an action can decide if an action is right or
wrong (Mill 2017).
Deontological theory can also be used for the purpose of undertaking ethical decision making
and had been given by Immanuel Kant. This theory is provides that the morality of an action is
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