Business Ethics BUSI 1314 Lecture 5 – Ethical Theories part 2

outcomes: lecture/tutorial will enable you to

Recognise and distinguish different types

of ethical arguments
Understand the underlying sensitivities and assumptions of ethical theories
Appreciate the limits of specific ethic theories
Design and use different types of ethical argument in a complementary way

Business Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

Atrocities of WWII:
Deportations and death camps

No rational foundation of ethics is possible.
Is there ethics at all?

How can we
save ethics?

‘for now’ – it is never enough
Virtue Ethics
Procedural ethics –

moving goal posts
Coursework 1, task 3
Further reading:
Brague (forthcoming)
Rendtorff 2009
Crane & Matten (2010, chapter 3)

Wim Vandekerckhove - Business Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of Greenwich - 2010-2011

Business Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

Levinas - The Other never fits my categories/concepts/rules.

That is the
ethical moment; where I feel there is ‘an issue’

My responsibility to the Other is ENDLESS

Greenwich - 2010-2011
How can we

live like that?

Whatever rule or code we decide is good now, will not do forever.

Ethics
Wim Vandekerckhove - Business Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of

Greenwich - 2010-2011

deontology

justice

consequentialism

Evaluate the actor

How?

- University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

Virtue ethics is about the moral character

Becoming a virtuous person requires practice

What do you practice?

Practice the right measure

Too little

Too much

Courage
Forgiveness
Modesty

- University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

What is it a good does?

Bricklayer
Manager
Football player
Investor

Telos – full potential;
What is it a horse that is fully a horse, does?

Relates to the purpose or function in society

Greenwich - 2010-2011
Is philanthropy virtuous

for business people?

Business Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

We are the foundation of ethics

Revisit rational ethics

One person’s mind

People together

involved can join (stakeholders?)
4. Procedural ethics (cont)
Wim Vandekerckhove - Business

Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of Greenwich - 2010-2011

Foundation = consensus

What does ‘consensus’ assume?
What does it take for ‘consensus’ to mean anything?

Discussion

- University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

What makes a decision an ethical decision?

HOW it was taken.

Good procedures make good decisions

- University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

Corporate Governance Code

International Labour Organisation

UN Global Compact

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

UN Declaration of Human Rights

of Greenwich - 2010-2011
Ethical theories

will not tell you what to do

But they can inform you to what extent an action is justified

It is you who acts

Use ethical theories to structure your arguments
and justify your actions to others

Journal of Business Ethics, DOI 10.1007/s10551-010-0600-4
Crane, A. and Matten, D.

(2010), Business Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Rendtorff, J.D. (2009), ‘Basic ethical principles applied to service industries’, The Service Industries Journal 29(1), 9-19.
Stock, G. (1991), The Book of Questions: Business, Politics and Ethics. New York, Workman Publishing.

Wim Vandekerckhove - Business Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of Greenwich - 2010-2011

1314 - University of Greenwich -

2010-2011

Requirements:
Pick 1 of 3 situations (State which you chose).
Describe what you would do.
Justify your choice of action by using 2 ethical perspectives (choose from deontology, consequentialism, justice, virtue ethics, procedural ethics)

500 words, submit as part of coursework 1: Portfolio
Submit tasks 1+2+3 in one document as Portfolio (deadline 5 Nov 3pm)

programs would you fund if you had to choose only

one of them: a massive public health program that would increase life expectancy by two years; an overhaul of our educational system that would make our primary schools the best in the world; a housing program that would give everyone an adequate place to live?
You fire an incompetent employee who then files a hefty discrimination suit against you. If the charges were a complete fabrication but you knew that a court battle would be expensive, time consuming, and of uncertain outcome, would you be willing to settle out of court for a few thousand Euros?
Your business, which employs a hundred people, has only an even chance of making it through the year. If this gets out, your suppliers are likely to stop giving you credit and force you into bankruptcy; but if you don’t tell your employees, they may be caught unprepared and suffer great hardship. Would you tell your employees the truth?
500 words, submit as part of coursework 1: Portfolio
Submit tasks 1+2+3 in one document as Portfolio (deadline 5 Nov 3pm)

Wim Vandekerckhove - Business Ethics BUSI 1314 - University of Greenwich - 2010-2011

5. Coursework 1, task 3 (cont)