Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Utilitarian Model
Ethical decisions are made on the basic of
their outcomes or consequences
Rights Model
respects and protects individual liberties and
privileges
Justice Model
managers impose and enforce rules fairly
and impartially
UTILITARIANISM
(Rights)
Rights play an important role in business ethics and,
indeed, in many ethical issues in society. Both employers
and employees are commonly regarded as having certain
rights. Employers have the right to conduct business as they
see fit, to make decisions about hiring and promotion, and to
be protected against unfair forms of competition. Employees
have the right to organize and engage in collective
bargaining and to be protected against discrimination and
hazardous working conditions. Consumers and the general
public also have rights in such matters as marketing and
advertising, product safety, and the protection of the
environment. Some American manufacturers have been
accused of violating the rights of workers in developing
countries by offering low wages and substandard working
conditions. many rights come into conflict. The right of an
employee to leave his or her employer and join a competitor
conflicts with the legitimate right of employers to protect
trade secrets, for example, so that some balancing is
required. also because of the moral significance that we
attach to rights, there is a tendency to stretch the concept in
ways that dilute its meaning. For example, the rights to
receive adequate food, clothing, and medical care,
mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are
.perhaps better described as political goals rather than rights
Several different kinds of rights have been distinguished
(Justice)
Justice, like rights, is an important moral concept with a
wide range of applications. We use it to evaluate not only the
actions of individuals but also social, legal, political, and
economic practices and institutions.
Questions of justice or fairness) the tow terms are used here
interchangeably) often arise when there is something to
distribute. If there is a shortage of organ donors, for
example, we ask, what is a just or fair way of deciding who
gets a transplant? If there is a burden, such as taxes, we
want to make sure that everyone bears a fair share. Justice
is also concerned with the righting of wrongs. It requires, for
example, that a criminal be punished for a crime and that the
punishment fit the crime by being neither too lenient nor too
severe.
The concept of justice is relevant to business ethics
primarily in the distribution of benefits and burdens.
Economic transformations often involve an overall
improvement of welfare that is unevenly distributed, so that
some groups pay a price while others reap the
rewards, Justice also requires that something be done to
compensate the victims of discrimination or defective
products or industrial accidents.