Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Business Ethics - Essay Example This applies to all the aspects of an organization and deals with both the conduct of individuals and organizations. The field of ethics is made up of various theoretical principles that represent ideas upon which moral principles are based. These theories are systematic and coherent in terms of guiding people on what they ought to do and how they ought to live their lives. The ethical theories can also be used to judge the moral values of one’s actions and behavior as well as predicting how one ought to act in certain situations in order to act morally right (Singer, 2011). Some of the ethical theories include the utilitarian theory, Kantian theories, Virtue ethics theory, the ethics of care theories and human rights theories among others. In a business environment, these ethical theories are used to guide major decision makers in a business to make appropriate decisions that uphold the morality of the individuals within the organizations and the moral values of the organizat ion as a whole. ... Organizations encounter a lot of ethical challenges that require the leadership of the organization to make relevant moral decisions in order to help the organization to move forward. Organizations are expected to uphold high ethical standards and ethical business properties centered on honesty, full disclosure, confidentiality and respect for other individuals and businesses. Business ethics ensures that organizations engage in ethical business practices with their employees, partners, suppliers and customers among other stakeholders. This essay will therefore seek to apply ethical principles to a business environment and to make appropriate judgments and recommendations. The four theories that will be used to assess the business ethical environment include the utilitarian theory, the ethics of care, Kantian ethics and the social contract theory. These theories have been relied upon in the field of ethics for a very long time in judging, explain and predicting and recommending ethic al behavior. This essay will rely on the four theories to reflect on the ethical dilemma that faced a British bank, The Northern Rock bank, based in Newcastle, England, in 2008. The bank was rocked with a funding crisis that exposed the ethical problems of the bank and its managers in decision making processes affecting various stakeholders in the bank including employees and the shareholders (Shin, 2009). The ethical crisis of the bank led to the bank being nationalized, more people losing their jobs and most of the creditors of the bank incurring losses. This essay will examine the situation, assessing the various management decisions that were made in order to determine their ethical and moral values. The essay will attempt to answer the question as to whether the management decisions