The Role of Psychology of Moral Judgment in Business Ethics

Running head: MANAGEMENT ETHICS
Management Ethics
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1MANAGEMENT ETHICS
The psychology of moral judgment or moral philosophy as it is also commonly
known, refers to the value that is placed on important decisions about what constitutes right
behavior, wrong behavior, what is just or unjust and what is bad or good, as stated very
clearly by two well-known moral philosophers, Kenneth Bruder and Brooke Noel Moore
(Bowie 2017). The application of moral philosophy to something as complicated as business
ethics is not very easy to do given that in an international marketplace, notions of wrong and
right implies very different things for various types of cultures (Chell et al. 2016). This essay
seeks to answer the question as to whether the psychological understandings of moral
judgment are something that makes the normative approaches to business ethics obsolete.
Business ethics implies extension of the concept of moral philosophy into many
different practical questions that are posed on the business world (Crane and Matten 2016).
The idea of wrong and right is one that is endemic to all types of business organizations in
some or the other way, however, such concepts can be made use of on the part of business
owners to define organizational cultures of their respective enterprises by focusing on getting
employees of the enterprise to be a lot more aware, morally, about how they engage in
business dealings with people within the company as well as outside, and specifically their
moral obligations in such dealings (Crane and Matten 2016). What the psychology of moral
judgment can seek to do is create a culture of transparency and honesty in an
organization, much in the same way that business ethics can. It can encourage workers to
be forthright and honest about the manner in which they engage with other people in
the organization and how they can partake in ethical business practices by establishing a
code of ethics for this purpose (Davies 2016). This code of ethics is one that can be used not
only by the workers in the organization but also by its leaders in shaping the culture and the
ethos of the organization. An organization where the work culture is governed by a code of
ethics, is an organization will reflect terrific positive vibes, with workers feeling highly

2MANAGEMENT ETHICS
motivated about the work that they do and feeling encouraged at all times to do the best for
the organization that they serve (De Juan 2019). When workers know that there is a culture of
honesty prevailing within the organization and that the leaders and managers of the
organization conduct business operations along ethical lines, a lot of respect, admiration and
good feeling will develop among the workers towards the organization. They will feel highly
motivated to give more than hundred percent in order to achieve the goals and objectives of
the organization. Similarly, leaders and managers will also feel encouraged to give deploy
their best managerial and leadership skills to govern an organization where workers are
honest and transparent with one another and with the administration that they serve, resulting
in a positive climate prevailing within the organization and creating the platform needed for
the quick, efficient and effective attainment of business goals.
The psychology of moral judgment is one that helps in fostering a good deal of
discipline in an organization, much in the same way that business ethics does. Business
ethics in an organization implies that there is a code of ethics in place that requires workers to
attend or come to the organization on time and which requires workers to carry out their
chores at the organization in a disciplined and structured manner rather than being easy going
about their work. There is a lot that an organization can achieve when it is serviced by a
culture of discipline and this discipline in workers as well as in managers and leaders is
something that is brought about with the help of ethics and moral judgment. If there is a
culture of moral judgment or moral philosophy prevailing within the organization, then the
attitude of the workers to the business and to the organization will be one of immense
dedication (Dierksmier and Seele 2018). It will hurt the conscience of workers not to come to
work on time or to take indefinite leaves without any prior notice. Business ethics and moral
philosophy or the psychology of moral judgment is something that therefore has a very
crucial role to play in promoting disciplined work in the organization. An ethical approach