Document Title: Ethics in business, importance and theories

Paper code: 13042

Ethics in business, importance and theories

Make a critical analysis of any three of the theories of business ethics and indicate your view which one is more practical and why.

Develop arguments for and against business ethics

In applying relevant theories and ethical philosophies in the business sector of Uganda and how the business administration takes actions to avoid ethical considerations and consequences, the ethical theories are discussed;

There are generally three philosophical approaches, or what may be considered the science, to ethical reasoning. The competing approaches to ethical analysis include consequentialism/ utilitarian, deontology, and virtue ethics that apply to the business administration of Uganda.  

The moral content of action in consequentialist ethics is determined by the real and expected consequences of an action. Deontological ethical theories regard the action itself as the object of moral evaluation whereas virtue theory is concerned with the intention behind the action (Dion, 2012).

Thus the below discussion of the three approaches is on the one hand as a framework that has been used for solving ethical dilemmas and on the other, as a stepping-stone for the ethical analysis and evaluation of behavior and practices in businesses.

Applying consequentialist/ utilitarian ethics theory

According to consequentialist ethics, the moral content of an action is determined by the real and expected consequences of that action. An action is morally good if its consequences are desirable and bad if they are not. Consequentialist ethics employs a certain standard (the purpose or end) against which the consequences of an action are judged.