Download Affirmative action

Business Ethics Unit 6
UTILITARIANISM
 Part One.
Fundamental Tenets
of
Utilitarianism
2
Utilitarianism: Problems
 Maximizing happiness might require
performing immoral actions.
 E.g.. Could save three lives by taking one.
 Utilitarianism does not explain why we should
respect people’s “rights”.
 Utilitarianism does not support keeping
promises, unless it will support the general
happiness.
 Utilitarianism seems to be too demanding
3
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
 Sought to establish all philosophy on a
rational ground.
 Believed that what is right and wrong could
be determined by reason.
 Reason dictates a basic, unconditional
imperative, that applies to all rational beings.
(Kant called this ‘the categorical imperative.’)
4
The Categorical Imperative
Two formulations.
 The Universal Law Formulation: Always act on those maxims
that you could at the same time (rationally) will to become a
universal law (of nature).



Application: You are thinking of cheating on your exam.
Could you will a world in which everyone cheated? No.
Because if everyone cheated, then the exams would not be
taken seriously and you would not achieve what you are
seeking in cheating.
Kant argued that it is never right to lie.
Basic idea: If you have a reason that makes it rational for
you to do something, then that same reason would make it
rational for any human being to do the same thing. If you
could not rationally will for everyone to do it, then it must not
really be rational for you to perform that action.
5
The Categorical Imperative
Two formulations.
The End-in-themselves Formulation: Always treat rational
beings (other persons) as ends-in-themselves, and never
merely as a means.


Application: You are thinking of cheating on your exam. But
to cheat on an exam is to manipulate your instructor into
giving you a grade you do not deserve. You are simply using
them to get a good grade.
Basic idea: Humans beings have inherent worth or dignity
and should be treated with respect due to their status as
rational beings. To be a rational being is to have the capacity
to make autonomous, rational decisions. Lying, killing,
cheating, injuring, manipulating, etc., others in order to
achieve you own goals is to treat them as things to be used
and to bypass their own freedom and right to set their own
rational goals.
6
Business Ethics...
 comprises principles and standards that guide
behavior in the world of business
 is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable
behavior within the organization
 is determined by key stakeholders
Social Responsibility...
 is the obligation a business assumes toward
society
 is designed to maximize the positive
influence & minimize the negative
 includes economic, legal, ethical, and
philanthropic dimensions
Why study business ethics &
social issues?
 in an Ethics Officer Assoc. Survey, 48% of
employees indicated that they had done
something unethical or illegal in the past
year
 annual cost of unethical or illegal acts by
U.S. employees: $400 billion
Common Unethical Acts...
 lying to supervisors
 falsifying records
 alcohol and drug abuse
 conflict of interest
 stealing
 gift/entertainment receipt in violation of
company policy
 1997 Society for Human Resource Management/
Ethics Resource Center, Business Ethics Survey.
Key Causes of Unethical
Behavior...
 meeting overly aggressive financial or business





objectives
meeting schedule pressures
helping the organization survive
rationalizing that others do it
resisting competitive threats
saving jobs
 1997 Society for Human Resource Management/
Ethics Resource Center, Business Ethics Survey.
Key Influences On Ethical
Behavior...







personal values
supervisor influence
senior management influence
internal drive to succeed
performance pressures
lack of punishment
friends/coworker influence
 1997 Society for Human Resource Management/
Ethics Resource Center, Business Ethics Survey.
Why Misconduct Is Not
Reported...





fear of not being considered a team player
did not think corrective action would be taken
fear of retribution (from management)
“no one else cares, why should I”
did not trust the organization to keep report
confidential
 1997 Society for Human Resource Management/
Ethics Resource Center, Business Ethics Survey.
Classification of Ethical Issues...
 conflict of interest
 honesty and fairness
 communications
 organizational relationships
Conflict of Interest...
 exists when an individual must choose
whether to advance his/her own interests, the
organization’s, or others’
 examples include bribes or personal
payments, gifts, or special favors intended to
influence decision making
Honesty & Fairness...
 following applicable laws a regulations & not
knowingly harming stakeholders
 Is advertising prescription drugs on TV and in
magazines fair?
 Are long distance information ads that place
the cost of the call in very small print at the
bottom of the screen fair?
Communications...
 refers to the transmission of information
and the sharing of meaning
 examples: deceptive advertising, product
safety information, & product composition
 Are vitamin and herbal supplements using
‘puffery’ in their advertising?

Note: roughly half of Americans take
supplements
Organizational Relationships...
 behavior of organizational members toward
stakeholders
 includes confidentiality, meeting obligations &
deadlines, not pressuring others to behave
unethically
Ethical Issues Can Relate to All
Functional Areas...
 accounting
 finance
 management
 marketing
Discrimination define
 to discriminate in employment is “to make an
adverse / unfavorable decision regarding an
employee or job applicant based on his or her
membership in a certain group
Determining whether discrimination occurs
in employment depends …..
3 basic facts:
a. whether the decision in some way harms or
disadvantages the employee or job applicant;
b. whether the decision is based on an employee’s or
job applicant’s membership in a certain group, rather
than individual merit; and
c. whether the decision rests on prejudice, false
stereotypes, or the assumption that the group is in
some way inferior and thus deserving of unequal
treatment.
On moral perspectives there are
compelling moral arguments against job
discrimination:
 on racial or sexual grounds for 3 instances:
a. Utilitarian grounds:
• The idea is that an action (or rule) is right only if
there is no other act (or rule) that would produce a
greater amount of whatever consequence that the
utilitarian is focusing on (e.g., happiness, preferences,
welfare).
• Since acts (or rules) that do not discriminate result in
less harm than those that do, it follows that
discrimination is wrong.
3 instances
b. Kantian grounds: If one attempted to
universalize a maxim / saying advocating
discrimination,
 namely, that an action is right only if the
agent would be willing to be so treated
 Presumably, no one (who was rational) would
be willing to be discriminated against on the
basis of gender or race.
3 instances
c. Moral rights: On the assumption that there are moral
rights, then people have these rights not because of their
gender or race, but simply in virtue of being human.
 There seems to be a moral right to be treated fairly, and
discrimination on the basis of gender or race is, by its
very nature, unfair.
 Thus, moral rights are violated by discrimination on the
basis of gender or race.
Evidence of Discrimination
 two kinds of evidence – (race and gender):
a. Statistical evidence
b. Attitudinal / Outlook (mind-set)
evidence
Affirmative action:
 an organisational program designed to give
preference in hiring and promotion to
women and minorities, including veterans,
the aged, and the disabled.
3 arguments for affirmative
action,
i.


Compensatory Justice demands
affirmative action programs.
Here the key idea is that discrimination on
the basis of race and sex has existed in the
past.
We need to do something (compensate)
to “help repair the wrongs of the past.”
3 arguments for affirmative
action,
2.


Affirmative Action is necessary to permit fairer
competition.
Here the key idea is that members of certain races
and women have been raised in families that have
been affected by discrimination.
they are treated unfairly by many of the institutions
that exist in our society, therefore at a
disadvantage, and so cannot compete fairly with
white men in the job market.
3 arguments for affirmative
action,
3.
Affirmative Action is necessary to break the
cycle that keeps minorities and women locked
into low-paying, low- prestige jobs.

Here the key idea is that members of certain
races and women have been locked into lowpaying, low-prestige jobs. ( has bad social
consequences so there must be programs to
break this pattern.)
3 arguments against affirmative
action.
Affirmative Action injures white men and
violates their rights.
2. Affirmative Action itself violates the
principle of equality (egalitarianism /
fairness)
3. Nondiscrimination will achieve our social
goals; stronger affirmative action is
unnecessary.
1.
Comparable Worth
 the doctrine of comparable worth holds -
that women and men should be paid on the
same scale, not just for doing the same or
equivalent jobs, but for doing different jobs
involving equal skill, effort and responsibility.”
Advocates of comparable worth say…
 that justice demands that women receive
equal pay for doing work of comparable
value.
 Jobs should be objectively evaluated in terms
of


education, skills, and experience required
Responsibilities & working conditions
Opponents of comparable worth insist
that ..
 women, desiring flexible schedules and less
demanding jobs, have freely chosen lowerpaying occupations and thus are not entitled
to any redistribution in pay scales.
Sexual Harassment


Sexual harassment occurs as behaviour of
a sexual nature that affects a person’s
employment situation.
3 kinds of sexual harassment



Sexual threats
Sexual offer
hostile work environment
 End
35