University Business Ethics: Moral Judgement Analysis Essay

This essay delves into the evolving landscape of business ethics, specifically examining how psychological understandings of moral judgement have challenged and potentially superseded traditional normative approaches. The essay begins by defining business ethics and highlighting the importance of ethical considerations in modern business practices, particularly in light of increasing competition and the potential for unethical behaviors to impact long-term profitability and stakeholder relationships. It then explores the limitations of normative ethics, which focuses on ethical theories and frameworks without fully considering the psychological factors that influence individual decision-making. The core argument centers on the rise of psychological approaches, which analyze moral judgements and decisions through the lens of psychology, offering insights into the cognitive and emotional processes that drive ethical behavior within organizations. The essay contrasts the normative and psychological approaches, demonstrating how the latter offers a more nuanced understanding of ethical dilemmas and provides practical tools for improving decision-making and fostering ethical conduct. It concludes by emphasizing the significance of integrating psychological insights into business ethics to promote responsible corporate behavior, consider the impact of decisions on stakeholders, and ensure long-term sustainability.

Running head: MORAL JUDGEMENT AND BUSINESS ETHICS
Moral judgement and Business Ethics
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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As opined by Davies (2016), the intensification of the business competition that the
different firms within the business markets in which they are operational had significantly
shifted the major focus of the modern business firms from the attribute of quality to quantity.
Hahn et al. (2018) are of the viewpoint that the different business firms in order to attain a
higher amount of profitability or financial returns are resorting to the usage of the kind of
business activities or practices which are not immoral or unethical but at the same time
derogatory. However, recent researches clearly reveal the fact that the although the short-term
usage of these unethical practices offer significant financial returns to the firms yet the long-
term usage of the same can adversely affect the profitability of the firms by way of
dissatisfying the customers and also the stakeholders who are related to them (Robertson,
Voegtlin and Maak 2017).
According to Randles and Laasch (2016), the notion that the corporate firms need to
take full responsibility for their business activities or actions as well as the damage that they
are causing to the environment had gained prominence within the contemporary business
world. In addition to these, the emergence of different approaches for the effective
understanding of the framework of business ethics like normative approach, psychological
approach and others clearly indicates the prominence gained by the concerned concept (Chell
et al. 2016). However, the emergence of the psychological understanding of moral judgement
has made the normative approaches to business ethics obsolete and this is perhaps one of the
major reasons why the different firms are increasingly opting for the usage of the
psychological approach. This essay will analyze the manner in which the emergence of the
psychological understandings of moral judgement had made the normative approaches to
business ethics obsolete.
Crane and Matten (2016) have noted that the business ethics or corporate ethics is a
kind of applied or professional ethics that the present-day firms are required to follow. On the

2MORAL JUDGEMENT AND BUSINESS ETHICS
other hand, Ferrell and Fraedrich (2015) have stated that the construct of business ethics
seeks to highlight the different moral or ethical issues that the firms face over the course of
their business activities and also the manner in which they need to resolve them. More
importantly, these ethical issues can emerge on an individual level or corporate level or legal
level for that matter and the business firms need to abide by the theories of ethics as well as
morals for the resolution of the same. Furthermore, the idea that the business firms need to
contribute in an adequate manner towards the improvement of the condition of the
environment, economy as well as the society of the nations in which they are operational had
also gained extensive amount of popularity in the contemporary times (Trevino and Nelson
2016). This becomes apparent from the fact that the firms in their efforts to earn a higher
amount of financial returns resort to the usage of the kind of business practices or activities
which are detrimental from the interests of the stakeholders and also the society or the planet.
Moreover, the prominence gained by the concept of business ethics becomes apparent from
the different approaches like the normative approach, psychological understandings of the
moral judgements and others which are being extensively used within the framework of the
contemporary business world (Chell et al. 2016).
Robertson, Voegtlin and Maak (2017) have noted that the framework of normative
ethics intends to analyze the questions or the issues that the business firms face during their
business operations and also the manner in which they can resolve these issues or questions
through the effective usage of the concepts of ethics and morals. This is important because of
the fact that the contemporary business firms during their business operations face different
kinds of ethical or moral issues, the resolution of which is of paramount importance for the
long-term survival of their firm (Newbert and Craig 2017). However, it is seen that the firms
inevitability end up taking the help of the kind of measures which although enables them to
resolve the issues in the best possible manner yet when analyzed through the specific lens of

3MORAL JUDGEMENT AND BUSINESS ETHICS
the different ethical or moral theories are found to be derogatory. Thus, it can be said that the
normative approach to business ethics enables the firms to understand the rightness or the
wrongness of the actions or the decisions that they are making and also the likely impact that
their actions are having on the wider society or the planet for that matter. However, the major
limitation of this approach to business ethics is the fact that it merely focuses on the ethical or
moral issues that the business firms face as well as the manner in which they can resolve
while completely disregarding the aspect of psychology or cognition or other psychological
factors that contribute towards the decision-making process of the individuals (Vitell et al.
2016).
Antonetti and Maklan (2016) are of the viewpoint that one of the most important
trends which is being seen within the framework of business ethics is the fact that psychology
is being employed to understand the moral decisions and judgements which are being made
by the individuals on behalf of the business firms. As opined by Newman, De Freitas and
Knobe (2015), this approach taken by the business firms and also the scholars for
understanding the concept of business ethics can be seen as an initiative to overcome the
limitations or the shortcomings of the earlier approaches like normative and others which
were used to understand the concept of business ethics. More importantly, one of the most
important aspects of this approach to business ethics is the fact that it requires the business
firms to examine or analyze the moral decisions that they make and also offers insight to
them regarding the best possible decisions that they can through an understanding of the
moral judgements (Sezer, Gino and Bazerman 2015). This is important because the majority
of the decisions which are being made by the business firms are completely based on the
factors of profit and loss and thereby completely disregard the moral connotations associated
with the same. The net result of this is that by articulating the need to take into account the
moral implications of the decisions which are being made by the firms and its wider

4MORAL JUDGEMENT AND BUSINESS ETHICS
implications on the stakeholders who are associated with the concerned firm, this approach to
business ethics tries to foster responsibility on the part of the business firms to take full
responsibility for the decisions that they are making (Wittmer 2016).
Vitell et al. (2016) have articulated the viewpoint that one of the most important
aspects of the usage of psychology for the analysis of the moral decisions made by the
business firms is the fact that it enables them to come out of the cocoon of profit and loss and
thereby make the kind of decisions which will be firmly rooted within the concepts of morals
and ethics. More importantly, this becomes especially important from the perspective of the
contemporary business firms because of the fact that during the course of their business
operations the business firms often come across situations wherein they make to certain
moral choices. As opined by Demirtas (2015), the long-term growth or sustainability of the
firms significantly depends on the moral choices or decisions that the business firms make
and also the manner in which they integrate the notions of ethics or morals within the
framework of the decisions that they make. Furthermore, the effective usage of the concept of
psychology enables the business firms and also the individuals making important decisions
on behalf had enabled the business firms take into account the impact of these decisions on
the stakeholders who are associated with the concerned firm or organization (Newbert and
Craig 2017). The net result of this is the fact that rather than dwelling on the aspects of
rightness or wrongness of their actions, the business firms are increasingly focusing of the
aspects of ethics and morals for the actions that they are taking.
As opined by Davies (2016), the business firms over the years had been taking the
help of two theories of ethics, namely, Utilitarianism and Kantianism for the analysis of the
decisions or their business actions that they undertake. In this regard, it needs to be said that
the theory of Utilitarianism requires the business firms to model their actions or the decisions
undertaken by them on the basis of the fact that they need to cause maximum amount of

5MORAL JUDGEMENT AND BUSINESS ETHICS
benefit to the maximum number of people or the stakeholders who are associated with them
(Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). On the other hand, the theory of Kantianism states that the end
justifies the means that had been taken for the achievement of the end (Hahn et al. 2018).
This is perhaps one of the major reasons why the different business firms often take the help
of various kinds of business practices which although are unethical or unjustified yet the
business firms try to justify them on the basis of the fact that they were being used by them
for the enhancement of their profitability and thereby to contribute in an effective manner
towards the development of the national economy of the nations in which they were
operational (Robertson, Voegtlin and Maak 2017). However, the recent emergence of the
psychological understanding of the morals judgements had made these theories of ethics
which have been used by the business firms for the analysis as well as the justification of
their actions or decisions completely obsolete. More importantly, these theories of ethics
merely tried to analyze the actions of the firms on the basis of the concepts of ethics and
morals and completely neglected the aspects of psychology or the factors which motivated
them to undertake such actions or decisions (Newbert and Craig 2017). Furthermore, an
analysis of the actions or the decisions of the firms on the basis of psychology enables the
individuals to analyze the factors which have propelled the firms to undertake such decisions
or actions and also the manner in which a better decision or action could have been
undertaken by the individuals or the firms involved in the process. This in turn is likely to
enable the business firms to handle similar situations or make similar decisions in a much
better manner in the future and thereby contribute in an effective manner towards the society,
environment and the planet (Chell et al. 2016). Thus, on the basis of these aspects it can be
said that the emergence of the process of use of psychology for the analysis or the
understanding of the moral judgements made by the business firms had made the normative
approaches to business ethics completely obsolete.

6MORAL JUDGEMENT AND BUSINESS ETHICS
To conclude, the construct of business ethics had become an important one within the
cannon of the business world because of the fact that the business firms so as to earn a higher
financial return or profitability are increasingly resorting to the usage of unethical practices.
This is important from the perspective that the business firms have a responsibility towards
the society as well as environment and are thereby required to contribute towards their
development. More importantly, in the present times it is seen that the field of business ethics
itself had undergone a significant amount of change and different new approaches are being
used for the analysis of the same. For example, in the earlier times it was seen that the
normative approaches to business ethics were extensively however because of the limitations
of the same the psychological approaches have gained more popularity in the present times.
More importantly, the effective usage of the psychological approaches to moral judgements
have enabled the business firms to make better quality decisions or actions which in turn had
enabled them to ardently follow the concept of business ethics. The net result of this is the
normative approaches to business ethics have become obsolete in the face of the emergence
of the psychological understanding of the moral judgements.

7MORAL JUDGEMENT AND BUSINESS ETHICS
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