Kotter Theory

In Rosalind Hursthouse’s essay on Virtue Ethics, she aims to create a new type of ethics that is classified as Aristotelian in nature. Hursthouse’s model is more agent-based rather than action-based, which implies that it is based on the individual’s characteristics rather than the type of action implemented. Husrthouse believes that the agent’s thought process, beliefs, and personal view of moral values are ultimately what shapes virtue ethics. Although her discussion on virtue ethics is both intriguing and important, Hursthouse's model falls short of being a viable ethical theory for several reasons. Firstly, the idea of agent-based ethics is a nice one in theory, but is not easily employable because of the individual standard of ethics that would be required to take ethical action. It is important to present a model that can actually be applied in practice in order to achieve actual results. Virtue ethics cannot be considered as a real alternative to any other code of ethics because it is not employable in the real world, and is therefore not worthy of serious consideration. This underlying reason will be thoroughly discussed in order to refute the arguments that Rosalind Hursthouse provides on Virtue Ethics in her essay.

Virtue ethics is a theory of ethics in moral philosophy in which it emphasizes that the notion of virtue is key to a

Virtue ethics focuses on the benefits, or ethical personality, whereas deontology focuses on responsibilities or guidelines. Utilitarianism focuses on the repercussions of activities. Virtue ethics is also called agent-based or personality ethics. When using the quality principles approach, one should take the point of view that in living their lifestyle they should try growing quality in all that they do (Boylan, Chapter 11, 2009). Utilitarianism is a way of consequentialism; significance that the ethical worth of an activity is established by its results. Utilitarianism indicates that an activity is fairly right when that activity generates more total application for the group than any other alternative (Boylan, Chapter 12, 2009). Deontological principles mostly judge the activity, depending on the action's sticking with a concept or guidelines. This principle uses guidelines and responsibilities to determine what is “right.” Deontology preserves the wrongness of activities in the kind of activity that it is, rather than the repercussions it triggers.

The definition of "leadership" as defined in Wikipedia means "the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others."

The development of humans ethical abilities called virtue through training; often exposes the ethical behavior from being around families and communities. We learn how to be generous, courageous, honest, cheerful, and cooperative through virtues. These virtues come from everyday living conditions as well as from different social settings. We also learn from ethics that the learning habits we have embraced can help us excel in everyday life. “However, PharmaCARE’s virtue ethics with the Colberians were wrong because even though the executive managers own the native land, they should have treated the people with some dignity and respect,” (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012).

Ethics and virtue have been a very contentious issue facing society for centuries. Many argue over the merits of various theories, each with its own philosophies and assumptions. It is this argument that has given rise to many popular and followed theories of ethics and virtues. The theories discussed primarily in this document include the virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological theory. Each is very distinct to the others in regards to its principles and assumptions regarding human behavior. Each however, has merit in regards to question of ethics and virtue, and how it should subsequently be valued.

Virtue Ethics is neither deontological nor teleological, since it is concerned with neither duty nor consequences, but rather the state of the person acting. Aristotle believed that once you are good, good actions will necessarily follow, and this belief is at the centre of Virtue Ethics. Rather than defining good actions, Virtue Ethics looks at good people and the qualities that make them good. The non-normative theory, although very effective in determining the morality of individuals, is particularly flawed when applied to whole societies. This weakness is largely due to its imprecision and abstraction; however, before these weaknesses can be considered, it is necessary to give an account of the theory itself.

The third ethical theory is virtue ethics. Virtue ethics is character-based, which mean virtue ethics shows how a person’s character matter above everything else. It focuses more on a person’s character rather than the action. Being virtuous mean that no matter the situation your character will depict how you respond to that situation. Which is why when determining if an act is morally good or bad it depends on the character and motive. For example, if someone is having a bad day and gets upset at you and start yelling at you, your response isn’t going to be getting mad at that person and yelling back at them. Instead of doing that a virtuous person would show kindness toward that person so that they can make him or she feels better. The moral excellence of a person or being a good person is a start to being virtuous.

The ethical theories of deontology and the branches of utilitarianism; act and rule, display similarities and differences within the meanings of both. Act utilitarianism theory is the focus on the outcome of an act. Rule utilitarianism is the method of an individual’s actions. The theories of deontology and utilitarianism both present moral rules and values. Deontology focuses on the motives of an action, whereas utilitarianism centers more on the end result. The Act utilitarianism theory is more effective by judging the morality of an action based on the consequences of its outcome.

The third and final commonly used type of ethical behavior is virtue ethics. Virtue ethics, unlike utilitarianism and deontology, depends on the virtue of the individual. This virtue is learned from their surroundings so that he or she can be an upstanding member of the community. When this virtue is obtained the individual can make ethical decisions without a second thought. The virtue of an individual should be naturally good in order for a person to have ethical decisions (Donaldson 10). If the person makes all the right decisions but does them only to make himself or the company look good, then this person does not have virtue itself because he gives his ethical actions a second thought and he is only doing these things because he must.

Virtue, when I hear that word I think of value and morality and only good people can be virtuous. When I hear the word ethics I think of good versus evil, wrong and right. Now when the two are put together you get virtue ethics. You may wonder what can virtue ethics possibly mean. It’s just two words put together to form some type of fancy theory. Well this paper will discuss virtue ethics and the philosophy behind it.

Business is a changing scenario and it has different principles and rules in different environments. To perform a business, there is required a set of principles and rules to be based, so that the actions taken are proper and produce the desired results. (Shoemaker, 1999)Utilitarianism is an ethical theory for ranking various outcome from interpersonal stand point .it is a concept which is based on the theory of performing the right action to produce the right consequence where the benefits are maximised and sufferings are reduced to a minimum. (Gaus, 2001)Deontology is a theory in which only right making properties are good promoting properties. Which is based on being acting based o morality and having a correct motive which ends in all good and no bad.

An advantage of virtue ethics is that it brings in all the qualities of being human such as reason, responsibility and emotion to influence a person’s ethical consideration. This can be applied in situations where a person asks what sort of person he or she should be. However, our text book clarifies that “determining what the specific virtues are, and what the appropriate balance among those virtues should be, can be difficult” (Mosser, 2011).

Leadership, according to theorist John Kotter, “…is about… coping with change” (Kotter, 1990, p. 4). By this definition, one should consider leadership to be the product of change in context and the ways in which the response to this change informs strategy. “Leadership is…a set of traits, qualities and behavior possessed by the leader that encourage the participation, development, and

Leadership is about inspiring the confidence and support of people needed to achieve organisational goals, a dynamic relationship between leaders and group members and the facilitation of contribution (DuBrin 2016, p. 3: McShane and Von Glinow 2013, p.351). Kotter (1992, p. 102) draws a distinction between management and leadership, saying the former deals with getting things done while the latter decides what to do and why, but in practice they overlap and complement each other.