Ethical Dilemma: Using Ethical Theories - Essay Example

(Assignment) Ethical Dilemma My friend is a senior manager in a well reputed company. The company management directed him to select a suitable employee for promotion from the workforce. There were three potential candidates. The first one was Bob, 57, a White gentleman with 22 years of service in the company. Though his sales records show mediocre performance, many people working under him have set sales records. In addition, he is considered as a hardworking and loyal employee, and as he is nearing retirement, many people think he deserves the promotion.

Another candidate was Rachel, 37, an African-American divorcee mother of two children, who is struggling to make her both ends meet. She is one of most hardworking employees of the company, and she has been with the company for 13 years. She has aggressive marketing plans and has set many records though many people working under her do not find it a pleasant experience to work under her. In addition, the company’s HR department opined that selecting Rachel would be good for the company’s public image.

In addition, my friend is well aware about the financial issues Rachel is into. It is very evident that a promotion would help her come out of the financial constraints. The next day, Rachel telephoned my friend informing that Rachel’s son had an accident and that she would need one week’s leave. At that juncture, ignoring Bob would be a huge injustice to the person who served the company for his whole life, and is going to have his retirement soon. On the other hand, Rachel is a minority women who is in dire need of a promotion.

She is hardworking and has good working experience too. In addition, throughout her service, her performance was appreciable. My friend was more than puzzled and confused. Even after prolonged discussion, there was no solution to the issue. Ignoring Bob would be considered as a wrong step. However, discriminating Rachel too seemed wrong as she possessed even better records of performance. In addition, her personal and financial situations were in dire need of improvement. Finally, my friend decided to go for Bob, though he could not justify why he ignored Rachel.

Now analyzing the decision in the light of various ethical theories, it becomes evident that while some theories support my friend’s decision, some are against it. To illustrate, deontological theory advocates that when moral rules are followed, the consequences of actions do not need to be taken into consideration (The Cultural Dimensions of Business Ethics). In other words, Deontologists are not supposed to look at how much good might be caused by their action. A deontologist identifies right or wrong in the action; not in the consequence.

Thus, based on this theory, it is evident that the right thing my friend had to do was to select Rachel, because the act of selecting Rachel is more justifiable than selecting Bob. However, it seems that my friend can be justified using the norms of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism advocates that the best approach is the one that produces maximum happiness for the greatest number. It seems that the selection of Bob brought happiness to all except Rachel. It made all the employees who expected Bob’s promotion happy, made subordinates happy as they were comfortable working under him, and made Bob happy as he deserved it.

The only one who could not benefit is Rachel. On the other hand selection of Rachel would be morally justifiable, but would seriously harm the happiness of many including Bob and many employees. In order to avoid this kind of dilemmas, it is necessary to have well-defined rules and regulations regarding the criteria for promotion. Works Cited The Cultural Dimensions of Business Ethics. Web 14 June 2011