Midterm Business and Philosophy - Essay Example

Mid Term Business and Philosophy The Golden Rule n Business and Philosophy The Golden Rule theory is found tobe the main basis for most of the world’s religions. The theory mainly advocates for people to do to other people what they themselves would want those people to do to them. The Golden Rule theory that is also variously referred to as Care-Based Thinking, is mainly based on reversibility principles which require for one to test their actions by first of all undertaking to imagining how they themselves would feel if they happened to be the main recipients of the action rather than the main perpetrators (Dani, 74). This precept is considered to be the main basis of most business ethics in regards to the various interactions that may occur with the customers, stakeholders, members of the community, minority shareholders or the employees (Dani, 74). The label “golden” was first applied to the rule by the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.). Various other similar formulations of this maxims are to be found at the centre of Taoism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and some of the rest of the world’s major religions. As the American philosopher Marcus G. Singer, correctly deduced; the Golden Rule happens to be a principle of rather great antiquity. It is seen to have played a key role in establishing moral teachings in nearly all religions and cultures and presently continues to play a significant role in our moral education. More importantly is the point that has been put forth by Augustine and some of the other philosophers that the Golden Rule is not only key in the setting of limitations for our actions, but also it help in encouraging us to promote the interests of other people above those of ourselves (Dani, 74). Limitations of the Golden Rule Although it is considerably one of the oldest and best maxims to practice, the Golden Rule in some cases might not necessarily be the best standard in the management of people in business. It has been found that what one employee might find valuable and highly appreciate, another employee might absolutely despise. According to Zimbardo and Weber, This can be attributed to the fact that preferences in life are highly individualized and learned. These variances include how individuals prefer to be treated by their supervisors. The incorrect tendency for people to assume that other persons happen to share the same behaviour, feelings and opinions as they do is referred to by social psychologists as false consensus effect. This tendency is considered to be a fundamental bias that affects how people happen to think as concerning others (McLean 246). The Effectiveness of the use of the Golden Rule as a Standard for Action in the Business World The application of the Golden Rule standards as an action standard in the business world should be done in a selective manner. Certain aspects such as customer and public relations stand to greatly benefit from the implementation of this standard while some aspects of the business world would largely stand to loose. With the increasing globalization, different people can be seen to appreciate different things based on their various cultural influences. What an expatriate manager might consider to be an appropriate reward to grant to a local hard working employee might be perceived by the employee as being of relatively little value and not beneficial to them based on their cultural influences. Different ethical perception of business practices also exist based on gender differences. Franke, Crown, and Spake (1997) conducted a research on the various gender differences in the perception of ethical decision making. In conducting this research they used a sample size of 20,000 respondents. From this research the results showed that females respondents were more likely than the male respondents to perceive some of the specific hypothetical business practices as being highly unethical. The male and female genders have different underlying moral orientations and what might be considered as being good and adequate by one gender might in effect be considered as being totally unethical by the other gender. Arguably although the Golden Rule standard has a myriad of various benefits, its application in the business world should be done selectively and not uniformly. This can be proven by the fact that it s sometimes rather difficult to effectively apply the principles of the Golden Rule standard in some of the corporations where individual interests happen to be subordinated to the main needs of the firm and competitive activities require that employees exhibit high levels of selfish behaviour. An example of this is in the formulation of marketing strategies where competitors can never be treated in a kind manner and all measures are based on self interest (McLean, 247). Normative Ethics Normative ethical systems can basically be subdivided into three major categories. These categories are teleological, deontological and virtue ethics. Deontological and teleological ethics are perceived to be mainly deontic or action-based theories affecting morality because they are seen to mainly focus on the actions performed by a person (Kagan 1-5). Deontology and Ethics Deontological moral systems are mainly characterized by their concentrated focus on the adherence to certain set independent moral duties and rules. In establishing which are the correct moral choices to be made, It is vital for us to be able to comprehend what are our moral duties and identify the correct rules that have been established to aid in the regulation of these duties. When individuals follow their duties, they are seen to behave in a moral fashion but when they fail to follow their duty, they are judged as behaving immorally (Reuschling 29). Teleology and Ethics Teleological moral systems are mainly characterized by their focus on the possible consequences that an individual’s actions might cause. It is mainly as a resultant effect of this that these moral systems are also variously referred to as consequentialist moral systems. For one to be able to make a correct moral and ethical decision, it is vital for the individual to establish the possible potential consequences of their choices. Individuals are judged as behaving immorally if their actions result in incorrect consequences but when their actions result in correct consequences, they are judged as acting morally (Reuschling 29). Virtue Ethics Virtue-based ethical theories are mainly intent on trying to help people in the development of good character traits such as generosity and kindness as opposed to emphasizing on the rules that people should try to follow. These character traits are seen to subsequently help individuals in making positive correct decisions later on in life. The need to try and break negative bad character like anger or greed is also highly emphasized by virtue theorists. These bad characters are referred to as vices and seen to inhibit one from becoming a good person (Reuschling 29). The Overlapping of Normative Ethic Systems When the actions performed by a person as judged based on their subsequent consequences, it is then that we have the teleological or consequentialist ethical theory. When actions are judged morally on the basis of how well they happen to confirm to a certain set of duties it is then that we have the deontological ethical theory. The first two systems are heavily focused on trying to answer the basic question that seeks to establish what one should do while the third system asks the different question of trying to establish what sort of a person that one should be. This effectively forms a virtue-based ethical theory that is intent on not judging a person’s actions as being either wrong or right but focuses on trying to establish a person’s character by the actions performed. It subsequently then falls on the person to make appropriate moral decisions that are based on establishing which actions would effectively make one to be a good person (Reuschling 30). Case Study Illustration examples of Ethical Decision Making On having been caught on camera in the process of stealing money from the cash register, one of the company’s long term employees was effectively terminated by the management. In light of the schools of thought on normative ethics, the decision to terminate the employee’s contract can be perceived as being ethical in nature. This is mainly because as perceived from a deontological point of view, the employee acted immorally by failing to try and follow the agreed upon established rules and regulations. According to teleological moral systems, the stealing of money by the employee can be judged to be an immoral consequence of wanting to obtain more money. The vice of greed exhibited by the employee is also immoral according to the virtue based ethics. Distributive Justice The notion of distributive justice or fair distribution is mainly concerned with the fair allocation of the available resources among the diverse members of a given community. During this distribution process, among some of the factors that require to be taken into consideration include the benefits and burdens that are to be distributed, the procedure to be used in the distribution and the resultant pattern that emerges after completion of the distribution process (Keren-Paz 5-6). The burdens and benefits that are to be distributed are seen to span all the different dimensions of social life and assume different forms including political power, military service, education, economic wealth, taxation, income, religious activities, health care, work obligations and community involvement. Because societies in general happen to have limited amounts of various resources and wealth, there arises the question of how these limited benefits are supposed to be distributed. One of the most common answers to this question is that these public assets are supposed to be distributed in a manner which will see to it that each individual is able to receives a “fair share” of the resources in question. This is seen to leave open the question of what exactly constitutes a “fair share” (Keren-Paz ). The main principle used in distributive justice is “suum cuique”, which means to each her or his due. The Pros and Cons of the different principles for distributing goods There are several different principles that can potentially be used in the determination of how are to be distributed. The most common of these criteria are Equality, Equity and Need. Equality: Using this principle, goods are evenly distributed among all persons concerned with each person getting the same amount. However, due to the differences that exist in need levels, there will in effect not be an equal outcome in the distribution (Keren-Paz 6-7). Equity: In line with this principle, benefits and burdens are distributed in equal proportions among all the members based on their individual contributions. This will see those persons who happen to make larger productive contributions to the group deserving to receive more benefits. The principle is flawed as in theory people who happen to work harder in jobs that are perceived as being more valuable should earn more money. These valuable jobs might be limited and thus more deserving persons might not be able to get them. This type of distribution is mainly typically associated with the economic systems that provide equal opportunities for people to compete. In competitive systems, goods or wealth can be distributed according to an individual’s ability or efforts (Keren-Paz 6-7). Need: Using this principle, an equal outcome is ensured. Those persons on individuals that require more resources or benefits will receive more benefits. This is similar to when colleges structure their scholarship programs to be need based (Keren-Paz 6-7). Characterization of our current system Our current business system mainly relies on the principles of equity. It is seen to be largely competitive and persons who are able to work harder in better jobs such as key management in large companies are generally rewarded with more handsome benefits as compared to those who work in less attractive jobs such as casual labor. The systems sees to it that wealth and goods are distributed in accordance to the efforts and abilities of individuals. This system is not just since it is not always that the hardest working individuals get the best jobs or the most benefits. Sometimes, people in the lower levels of an organization are found to be the hardest workers and are mainly responsible for the success of the company while those in the top positions only do a fraction of the work that the low level employees do but benefit by being rewarded with more benefits as compared to these lower cadres. The Market Mechanism Market Mechanism is the technical term that is used in describing the interaction between producers and consumers. This interaction is responsible for the determination of the price at which a service or good be exchanged for as well as the number of times that exchange will take place (Myers 45). Why does Market Mechanism work so well? Society needs to make choices on what requires production, how it is to be produced and whom is allowed to produce these goods and services. For a conventional economics market, supply and demand are responsible for setting these requirements. Market Mechanism is mainly governed by supply and demand with price providing the incentive to both the producers and consumers. High prices are seen to encourage producers to produce more goods while at the same time causing consumers to consume less of the product. Contrary to this, Low prices tend to discourage producers from producing these goods and services while encouraging consumers to increase their consumption. Both of these two incentives tend to push the prices of commodities to hit a balance between production (supply) and consumption (demand). Economists refer to this balance as equilibrium. This balance by the Market Mechanism requires little external institution for any direction and is one of the reasons why Market Mechanism works so well (Myers 46). Limitations of Market Mechanisms Market Mechanisms has several key limitations such as it often tends to lead to the creation of various oligopolies and monopolies in an industry a factor which can often be quite disadvantageous to an organization (Wilkinson 473). The market Mechanisms forces that are at play sometimes tend to lead to the misallocation of some of the present and future resources. Market Mechanisms tend to fail to take into account the consideration of priorities and may sometimes favor items that are seen to not be in the best long-run interest of the society in general (Wilkinson 473). Due to the Market Mechanism forces, companies cannot be able to set artificially high prices aimed at maximizing their profit margins. As a result of this, shareholders tend to suffer. Economic Functions of Money Money is often defined in terms of three basic services or functions that it provides. Money is seen to serve as an acceptable medium of exchange for both services and goods, a unit of account as well as a store of value (Arnold 251). Medium of Exchange Acting as a medium of exchange so as to facilitate transactions is considered to be the most important function that money serves. Money is seen to effectively eliminate the problem of double coincidence of wants that is a requirement of the barter system. It is seen to effectively serve as a main medium of exchange that is accepted by all parties in a given transaction regardless of whether or not they happen to desire each other’ goods and services (Arnold 251). Unit of Account Money is able to provide an acceptable common measure of the total value of the various services and goods that are meant to be exchanged. By knowing the monetary price or value of a good or service helps the suppliers and purchasers of a service or good in the making of decisions as to how much of the good is supposed to be supplied or the specific quantity of the good to be purchased (Arnold 251). Store of Value Because of its ability of being able to hold its stated value over a period of time, money is able to effectively solve the problem of double coincidence of wants and is hence seen to effectively serve as a store of value. There are other stores of value such as works of art and land, but money is found to be the most effective as a result of its being more liquid as compared to the other stores of value (Arnold 251). Types of Money Commercial Bank Money: This is also referred to as deposits and are considered to be claims against given financial institutions and can effectively be used in the purchase of various services and goods (Cencini 23-25). Fiat Money: The word fiat is seen to mean “command of the sovereign”. This type of money is normally issued as a command of the sovereign. The most commonly used example of fiat money is paper money. It forms a usable monetary standard and is required by law to be accepted as a medium of exchange when it is offered by a person (Cencini 23-25). Commodity Money: When a commodity as opposed to money is used in an exchange process, the commodity effectively becomes equivalent in value to the money that would have been required for the exchange and is referred to as commodity money. Some of the commodities that might be used include silver, copper and gold (Cencini 23-25). Fiduciary Money: The current monetary system that is in use today is seen to be highly fiduciary. Wherever a bank assures its customers to pay using different forms of money and the customer subsequently transfers or sells this promise to someone else, this is what is referred to as fiduciary money. Examples of fiduciary forms of money include silver, paper money, gold, cheques and bank notes (Cencini 23-25). The Psychological and Philosophical Questions Associated with Money Some of the common psychological questions associated with money that are frequently asked by people include, how to decide what to spend the money on, why some people tend to be very obsessed with money while other happen not to really care about it and why things happen to coast the amount that they do. The main philosophical question associated with money is whether or not money is everything there is that is to be pursued. Works Cited: Dani, Ravi Prakash G. Desi-american Reflections on Suffering Change Secrets of a Triple Identity Enigma. Authorhouse. 2012. Print. George F McLean. Ethics at the crossroads. [Bucharest, Romania] : PAIDEIA Publishers ; Washington, D.C. : Council for Research in Values and Philosophy. 1996. Print. Shelly Kagan. Normative ethics. Boulder, Colo. : Westview, 1998. Wyndy Corbin Reuschling. Reviving evangelical ethics : the promises and pitfalls of classic models of morality. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Brazos Press. 2008. Print. Tsachi Keren-Paz. Torts, egalitarianism and distributive justice. Hampshire ; Burlington : Ashgate. 2007. Print. Danny Myers. Construction Economics: A New Approach Routledge. 2013. Nick Wilkinson. Managerial economics : a problem-solving approach. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 2005. Print. Roger A Arnold. Economics. Australia ; Mason, OH : South-Western Cengage Learning. 2010. Print. Alvaro Cencini. Monetary Macroeconomics: A New Approach. Publisher Routledge. 2001. Print. Read More