This document provides an overview of several theories in ethics including utilitarianism, rights, justice, and egoism. It discusses each theory in 2-3 sentences and provides examples. Utilitarianism holds that an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number. Rights theory focuses on respecting people's entitlements and acting toward others as equals. Justice examines fair distribution of benefits and burdens among groups. Egoism asserts one should act in their self-interest or rational self-interest. The document compares the different theories and discusses some limitations and objections to certain approaches.

1. THEORIES IN
ETHICS
Presented By:
Somya (1310
Khushbu(1310
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2. Letsseeanexample….
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The Reluctant Donor Case: Suppose that you are famous transplant
surgeon, and that your transplants always work. You have five patients,
each of whom needs a transplant. One needs a heart, one a brain, two
need one lung each, and one needs a liver. You have a patient named
“Mr. Kumar” who has come in today to find out the results from some
lab work. You know from the results of the lab work that Mr. Kumar
would be a perfect donor for each of your five other patients, and you
know that
there are no other available donors. So you ask Mr. Kumar if he would
be willing to be cut up and have his organs distributed. He declines
your kind offer. But you then realize that you could cut Mr. Kumar up
without his permission during some minor surgery he has already
consented to. Is it permissible for you do so?

3. BusinessEthics:WhatDoesIt
ReallyMean?
3
Definitions
• Ethicsinvolvesadisciplinethatexaminesgood
orbadpracticeswithinthecontextofamoral
duty
• Moral conductisbehavior that isright or wrong
• Businessethicsincludepracticesand
behaviorsthat aregoodor bad

4. BusinessEthics:WhatDoesIt
ReallyMean?
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TwoKeyBranchesofEthics
• Descriptiveethicsinvolvesdescribing,
characterizingandstudyingmorality
– “What is”
• Normativeethicsinvolvessupplyingand
justifyingmoral systems
– “What shouldbe”

5. SourcesofEthical Norms
Fellow Workers
Family
Friends
The Law
Regions of
Country
Profession
Employer
Society at Large
Religious
Beliefs
The Individual
Conscience
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6. EthicsandtheLaw
Ethics Law
• Lawoftenrepresentsanethical minimum
• Ethicsoftenrepresentsastandardthatexceeds
thelegal minimum
Frequent Overlap
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7. MakingEthicalJudgments
Behavior or act
that has been
committed
Prevailing norms
of acceptability
Value judgments
and perceptions of
the observer
compared with
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8. 3Modelsof Management Ethics
Three Types Of Management Ethics
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9. ThreeModelsof Management
MoralityandEmphasisonCSR
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10. DevelopingMoral Judgment
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ExternalSourcesofaManager’sValues
• Religiousvalues
• Philosophical values
• Cultural values
• Legal values
• Professional values

11. DevelopingMoral Judgment
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InternalSourcesofaManager’sValues
• Respect for theauthority structure
• Loyalty
• Conformity
• Performance
• Results

12. CanBusinessEthicsBe
Taught AndTrained?
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• Ethiccoursesshouldnot:
– Advocateasetofrulesfromasingleperspective
– Not offer only one best solution to specific
ethical problems
– Not promise superior or absolute ways of thinking and
behavinginsituations

13. CanBusinessEthicsBe
Taught AndTrained?
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• Scholars argue that ethical training can add value to the
moral environment of a firm and to relationships in the
workplaceby:
– Finding a match between employer’s and employee’s
values
– Handlinganunethical directive
– Coping with a performance system that encourages
unethical means

14. Ethics-Moral Disengagement
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• Social LearningTheory
– Moral reasoningtranslatestomoral actionthrough
self regulatory processes
• Y
oudothingsthat bringyouself-worth
• Y
ouavoidthingsthat avoidself censure
• Youhavetodisengagefromyour normal internal
selfsanctionstocommit unethical or deviant
acts

15. TheoriesofEthics
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• Fourmajortheoriesofethicsin theWestern
world
– Utilitarianism: net benefits
– Rights: entitlement
– Justice: fairness
– Egoism: self-interest

16. Howdoesthiswork?
Inclination IntendedResult
Will
Duty Actual Result
What makes an act right or wrong?

17. EthicalTheory1: Utilitarianism
• FamousProponents:JeremyBentham,J.S. Mill
• What makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is that it
producesthe greatest amountof pleasure(or lack of pain) for the
greatest number of people
• BasicPrinciple: GreatestHappinessPrinciple
 Maximizing positive outcomes for the largest number of people,
negative outcomes for lowest number of people
 One should chose the action which will lead to the greatest happiness
(i.e. pleasure, lackof pain) overall
 One’s own pleasure and pain only count as much as any other
person’s affected 17

18. Utilitarianism(Contd)
• Assessment of net benefits includes any important indirect
effects
• Example: assessing the effects of pollutant discharge
from a factory on the immediate surrounding environment
andthosedownstreamordownwindfromthefactory
• Twoforms: act andrule
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19. Actutilitarianism
• It asksapersontoassesstheeffectsofall actions
• Rejectstheviewthat actionscanbeclassifiedas
right or wronginthemselves
• Example: lyingisethical if it producesmore good
thanbad
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20. Ruleutilitarianism
• It asksapersontoassessactionsaccordingto asetof
rulesdesignedtoyieldthegreatest net benefit toall
affected
• Compares act torules
• Doesnotacceptanactionasrightif it maximizesnet
benefitsonlyonce
• Example: lyingisalwayswrongor “thoushalt not lie”
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21. LimitationsofUtilitarianism
• Hardto usein difficult to quantify situations
• Doesnot include rightsandjustice
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22. Example
• Afewdoctorsdecidethat anumber of
experimentsonafewpeople,evenif mostof
themdied, wouldbeworthit if theycouldfinda
curefor adiseasethat wouldrelievethe
sufferingofmillionsofpeople.Utilitarianism
wouldgivetheapprovalfor suchbecauseit
producesthegreatestgoodfor thegreatest
number of people.
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23. Inclination IntendedResult
Will
Duty Actual Result
What makes an act right or wrong?
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24. EthicalTheory2: Justice
• Looks at the balance of benefits and burdens
distributed amongmembers of agroup
• Canresultfromtheapplicationofrules,policies,orlawsthat
applytoasocietyor agroup
• Justresults of actions override utilitarian results
• Rejects view that an injustice is acceptable if others benefit
theaction 24

25. EthicalTheory3: Rights
• Right: a person’s just claim or entitlement
• Focuses on the person’s actions or the actions of
others toward the person
 Legal rights: defined by a system of laws
 Moral rights: based on ethical standards
• Purpose: let a person freely pursue certain actions
without interference from others
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26. Rights(contd)
• Features
• Respecttherightsof others
• Letspeopleact asequals
• Moral justificationof aperson’saction
• Examples
• Legal right: right toafair trial intheUnitedStates
• Moral right: right todueprocesswithinanorganization
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27. Rights(contd)
• Rejectsviewof assessingtheresults of actions
• Expresses moral rights from individual's view, not society's.
Does not look to the number of people who benefit from
limitinganother person'srights
• Example: right to free speech in the United States stands
evenif apersonexpressesadissentingview
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28. TypesOf Rights
• Negativerights: donot interfere with another person’s rights
• Positiverights: Apersonhasadutytohelpotherspursuetheir rights
Negative: donot stopapersonfromwhistleblowing
Positive: coworker helpsanother personblow
thewhistle onunethical actions
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29. Inclination IntendedResult
Will
Duty Actual Result
What makes an act right or wrong?
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30. EthicalTheory4: Egoism
• FamousProponents: AynRand,AdamSmith
• Whatmakessomething goodorbad,right orwrong,is thatit
satisfies one’s desires, ormeetsone’s needs
• Basic Principle: Self-interest ofperson doing, considering, or
affectedbytheaction
• Oneshould chose theaction which mostrealizes orconduces to
one’s ownself-interest
• Important Variation: should theperson look simply toself-
interest, or toenlightenedor rationalself-interest?
• Conception of RationalSelf-Interest isbasic component of
capitalist economy andbusiness models 30

31. TypesofEgoism
Individual Ethical Egoism
– Judgesactions only bytheir effectsonone’s interests
– Usually rejected bymoralphilosophers asadefensible basis of ethics
Universal EthicalEgoism
– Caninclude theinterests of others whenassessing one’s actions
– Still self-centered: pursuing pleasure andavoiding pain
– “Enlightened self-interest.” Considers theinterests of othersbecause
thepersonwantsotherstodothesametowardhimor her
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32. Objectionsregarding
Egoism Theory
• Doesnot resolve conflictsinpeople’sinterests
• Onepartywouldalways havethepursuit of hisor her
interestsblocked
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33. QuestionsFromThe
Ethical Theories
• Utilitarianism: does the action yield the greatest
net benefits?
• Rights: does the action negatively affect someone’s moral
rights?
• Justice: does the action give a fair distribution of costs and
benefitsamongthoseaffected?
• Egoism: will the action lead to other people behaving
towardmeinawayI wouldlike? 33

34. Thank
Y
ou..!!!
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