Solved: What is unique and useful in the framework it provides for decision making in business?

Ethics in Decision making:

With the increasing size of Business day by day, there has been a need to keep the business aligned with that of the ethics governing the same. In case of decision making in any Business, ethics should hence play an important role. It is to be noted that ethical problems in management are complex in nature due to

§ Extended consequences

§ Multiple alternatives

§ Mixed outcomes

§ Uncertain occurrences

§ Personal implications

Accordingly, Kant’s normative philosophy ‘Greatest good for the greatest number’ should be put into practice to undertake the process of decision making. Thus, in order to put the principles into action:

1.     Act only in ways that I would wish all others to act, faced with the same set of circumstances and

2.     Always to treat other people with dignity and respect – can be viewed as a single injunction.

Thus, what is morally right for me must be morally right for others.

Besides, the four major secular system of ethical belief could also be put in the new situation to undertake decision-making process:

q Utilitarianism

v The principal to be followed is that of beneficence: a decision or act is right and proper and good only if it generates the greatest amount of benefit for the largest number of people at the lowest cost or harm to others.

q Universalism

v The principle to be followed is that of consistency: a decision or act is right and proper and good only if we could will that everyone, faced with the same set of circumstances, should be expected to make the same decision or take the same act.

q Distributive justice

v Selecting decisions and actions as right and proper and good only if the least advantaged members of our society somehow enjoy a better standard of living after the decision or act than they did before.

q Personal Liberty

v Selecting decisions and actions as right and proper and good only if all members of our society somehow have a greater freedom to develop their own lives after the decision or act than they did before

Thus, overall, adherence of Business ethics while in Decision-making process, can attempt to make a person, both morally right along with being legally correct towards various business activities.

However, few shortcomings of the same would be:

• It centers on the continual conflict, or on the continual potential for that conflict, that exists between the economic and the social performance of an organization.
• Business firms have to operate profitably or they will not survive over the long term; that is their economic performance. However, while taking decisions, when ethical aspects are also to be concerned then in such a case, there could be some compromise over the profitability.
• Business firms also have to recognize their obligations to employees, customers, suppliers, distributors, stockholders, and the general public; that is their social performance with regards to the Business ethics. Decisions in business are to be made keeping on mind all these stakeholders which may be a challenging task.
• The Ethical egoism may also come into play wherein people become selfish and try to act in a way which maximizes his individual long term interest.