A basic understanding of the concepts relating business and societal ethics.

A basic understanding of the concepts relating business and societal ethics.

Through studying the module 21st Century Business and Societal Ethics, I have a basic understanding of the concepts relating business and societal ethics from knowing nothing at all and also know how to use which ethical theory to judge whether it is an ethical behavior or an unethical behavior.

Ethics are a suit of moral standards by which we judge what is right and what is wrong. Ethical issues are a situation in which someone had to choose between a series of actions which are likely to be ethical or unethical.

For example, rob the rich to feed the poor. Would this be unethical? Of courses, different people may have different opinions concerning this question. But we must get some guidance on identifying unethical situations.  For instance, violating rules, taking away what doesn’t belong to you, committing improper personal behavior, etc., they are all unethical situations (Peter A. Stanwick, Sarah D. Stanwick, 2015).

After realizing that these situations are unethical, then we will use some ethical theories to judge whether it is an ethical behavior or an unethical behavior. The action a person takes is based in part on his or her ethical philosophy. The environment in which we live and work also affects our behavior. We can use the Theory of Justice( John Rawls, 1971), Utilitarianism(Mill, John Stuart, 1969), Deontology (Kantian Ethics), Stakeholders Theory(R. Edward Freeman, 1984), Virtue Ethics(Aristotle, 350 B. C. E.) to make our judgments when faced with moral dilemmas.

Number of words:  243

References:

1. Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2016. Business ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization(2^nd edn.). Oxford University Press.
2. Alexander, Larry, and Michael Moore.2016. “Deontological Ethics.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University.
3. Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl McDaniel,etc. 2018. Introduction to Business. Rice University
4. Mill, John Stuart.1969. Utilitarianism. In John M. Robson (ed.), Collected Works of John Stuart Mill vol. X. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Originally published 1861.
5. Peter A. Stanwick, Sarah D. Stanwick. 2015. Understanding Business ethics(3^rd edn.).  SAGE Publications, Inc. http://stakeholder theory.org/about/
6. Rawls, John.1971.A Theory of Justice  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
7. Muel Koaptein, Johan Wempe. 2002. The Balanced Company: A Theory of Corporate Integrity. Oxford University Press. Journal of European Integration 34 (7): 809–824.