Three Major Ethical Views/rules/models

In the first part of the paper, I will discuss three major ethical views/rules/models and try to summarize some detailed information about each rule including its application and limitations.

The first one that I want to share is the Utilitarian or Consequential Rule, which believe that the ethics of a decision are based on the decision’s consequences. That is to say, the ethical outcomes must benefit most of the people or stakeholders. Based on this understanding, the classical view of social responsibility can be served as a perfect example. This view of social responsibility claims that the only responsibility of the managers is to maximize the profit on behalf of firm’s stockholders and other stakeholders. However, here is an obvious problem behind this rule; the minority would be harmed if the decision is made based on the Utilitarian or Consequential Rule. More importantly, does this harm born by a few stakeholders justify a moderate benefit for all others? Besides, the problems go to the managers who are using this rule as well. They have to figure out how to evaluate the importance of each stakeholder’s claim, which is not easy.

The next rule, Moral Right Rule, tries to respect and protect the fundamental rights of people such as the rights of privacy, due process. Based on this rule, the decision maker would evaluate how the results affect the rights of stakeholders and choose the one that protect the rights of all stakeholders. This rule is being widely used and one of the applications of this rule is to help firm create a strong ethical culture. For example, if the employees believe that the firm will protect them, they will more likely to reveal unethical truth. However, there are two major limitations of the Moral Right Rule. The first one is how to define the fundamental rights? The second limitation is that you can never make a decision that protects all fundamental rights of all stakeholders.

The last rule I am most interested in is the Integrative Social Contracts Rule. This rule puts much emphasis on cultural influence. According to this rule, any ethical decision should reflect the existing cultural or ethical norms in a specific industries and communities. Some of the firms apply this rule to create an ethical code that best fits its own culture. However, sometimes these ethical codes created by the firm fail to reflect values held by the larger society. This disadvantage may cause some people take a attitude that against the firm. As a result, the number of potential customers will decrease, thus losing the profit of the firm.

Personal Perspective

As far as I am concerned, the Utilitarian or Consequential Rule, which believe that the ethics of a decision are based on the decision’s consequences, most closely reflects my ethical perspective. This rule also stresses that the ethical decision or behavior will benefit the majority