Critical Paper:
Ethical Approaches
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XXXUniversity
Instructor: XXX
Course Name: XXX
Date: XXX
This paper summarizes each of ethical approaches, especially the Grand Principles, Nash’s Covenantal Business Ethic, Damon’s Four Dimensions of Business Morality, and Hill’s (2008) Christian Ethic for Business. Also, this paper critiques each of them through analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of approaches. Finally, the most favor approach is provided at the end. The Grand Principles which are called the prescriptive approach are provided by some philosophers such as Kant and Aristotle. The Grand Principles include Consequentialist Theories, Deontological Theories, and Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics. Firstly,
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In addition, from a law perspective, the Grand Principles are not strict. Thus, it is not practical if people don’t understand the real meaning. For example, according to this sentence,“Love your neighbor as yourself”, if a neighbor broke someone’s house, could this person call polices to catch the chief? Nash’s covenantal business ethic is to emphasize that cooperation between people bases on the profit motive and other-oriented values. It has three essential aspects: “First, it sees value-creation in its many forms as the primary objective. Secondly, it sees profit and other social returns as a result of other goals rather than the overriding objective. Thirdly, it approaches business problems more in terms of relationships than tangible products” (p. 20). There are two strengths of Nash’s covenantal business. One is that this theory increases the cooperation between people. The other one is that this theory can increase a manager’s sense of self-worth. The weakness is that the profits probably have negative effects on businesses. More specifically, managers probably struggle to make right decisions because there is a conflict between profits and ethics. I believe that Nash’s covenantal business is common nowadays. Although a covenantal ethic can stimulate the business to succeed through creating values, a manager is hard to keep morality under competitive environment.
The purpose of this paper is to show that Revelational Christian Ethics is a viable metaethical approach to Business. This ethical theory is a prescriptive and a concrete expression of objective reality. It exemplifies the core values and teachings of Jesus Christ as the foundation of morality and guiding principles for ethical conduct, treatment of others, as well corporate leadership decisions that affect the environment, community, and economics.
In the book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris argues that the teachings of the ancients can and should be applied to today's corporation. His message is that the four virtues - truth, beauty, goodness, and unity - form the foundation of human excellence. Putting them into practice leads not only to self-fulfillment, but ultimately to an open, nurturing, and ethical workplace that is more productive and successful in the long-term. The purpose of this essay is to examine how Morris treats the system of ethics in relation to these four virtues.
What is ethically responsible management? How can a corporation, given its economic mission, be managed with appropriate attention to ethical concerns? These are central questions in the field of business ethics. There are two approaches to answering such questions. The first one is Milton Friedman’s shareholder theory of management and the second one is Edwards Freeman’s “Stakeholder” theory of management, two different views about the purpose and aims of a business.
Wayne Grudem wrote the book ‘Business for the Glory of God,’ this book is based on biblical teachings. The book discusses issues such as ownership, productivity, employment, commercial transactions, profit, money, inequality of possessions, competition, borrowing and lending, attitudes of heart and effect on world poverty from a biblical standpoint, each are “fundamentally good and provides many opportunities for glorifying God but also many temptations to sin.” (Grudem, 2003, p. 19) Grudem claims that business can glorify God. He states “I am going to argue that many aspects of business activity are
Unethical practices of business managements are also tough for the employees who get confused whether to do what is right or just avoid complications and go with the flow. Solomon states that
“Business ethics is the application of general ethical ideas to business behavior” (Lawrence & Weber, 2017, p. 94) and it’s through these ideas that good, bad, moral, and immoral decisions are made based on the foundation and framework of how we view life. For this reason, our moral compass when based on a biblical worldview should influence how we approach making decisions as it pertains to business ethics (Porter,2013).
Grudem, W. (2003). Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business. Wheaton: IL: Crossway. ISBN: 978-1581345179.
The article make a link between the nonspiritual and Biblical principles within which business that will be considered responsible and just should follow to. It is going to draw from principles enlisted by the Caux Round Table and those by White. (White, 1978) Caux focus mainly on the secular section of the principles without putting any emphasis on any one religion but rather as a guidance for proper business dealings for the improvement of society and not just benefit the one conducting it alone White drew his principles from teachings in the Bible therefore caters to those business with practicing Christian stakeholders. These two are drawn from what can be seen as
Through these nine key concepts, Dr. Grudem illustrates how a variety of business techniques, when implemented in a Godly manner, allow those to pose certain characteristics of God. Grudem isn’t naïve, though. He does, after all, explain that in every aspect of business there are multiple layers of opportunities to give glory to God, as well as multiple temptations to sin (Grudem, 2003, p. 17). He is also aware about the easy ways these activities can be perverted and used as a means to sin ("Business for the," 2003). This book is tailored to echo God’s glory in relation to correlation with employees, co-workers, customers, and other businesses involved in the business unity. Furthermore, it does not only promote a positive impact within the business realm, but also in the personal realm of one’s life in business.
This will be an over view of ethics as it relates to business in our society. Concepts from Philosophy will seek to describe the correlation between actions that are classified as morally right or ethical in our dealings with each other as human beings. Clear and concise examples will be given as well as ways in which to improve upon business ethics.
Business Ethics is a set of moral principles applied in the commercial world. Business ethics provide guidelines for acceptable behavior by organizations in both their strategy formulation and day-to-day operations. An ethical approach is becoming necessary both for corporate success and a positive corporate image. Following pressure from
Alexander Hill’s Christian Ethics for the Marketplace in my view point focuses on ethics as it relates to business which also includes the Christian element. Hill outlines the scripturally grounded ethical structure of holiness, justice, and love for business practices. Hill also connects his Christian ethic to the dominant methods of ethical practice in the world of business. Lastly, Hill uses the analysis of case studies in lieu of his proposed Christian ethic. Although questions in regards to ethical behaviors remain conclusively unanswered, several find ethical structure valuable when dealing with difficult situations.
The market system is critical if people are to receive rewards for helping others accomplish their goals (Gable, W., and Ellig, J ). It is believed that leaders who focus strictly on profitability don’t think about the longevity of the organization. For instance if an incentive is set
The issue of business relations with government has increasingly become a key issue of business ethics. Some of the many questions raised are
One philosopher wrote, "Like the wheel, business is one of the great human inventions. But unlike the wheel, the existence of business depends upon a social context, on unwritten rules and conventions…there is no more chance that we could return to an idyllic state before business existed than we could uninvent the wheel" (Klempner, n.d.). Just as the wheel has been redeveloped time and time again, thus making it better and better, we too must redevelop and enhance our philosophical and ethical decisions in the way we operate businesses in today 's society. Trying to maximize profits in business while catering to growing societal demands, proves to be quite complicated and challenging. Society and business owners alike are continually struggling to find that happy medium. Comparing and contrasting the many moral philosophies and belief systems, combined with trial and error is one way society as a whole can create a system that hopefully one day works for us all.