Journal
Name of the Not-For-Profit Organization: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Name of the For-Profit Organization: D. light Design
Reflection Prompt #1
Three of the ethical theories: Moral objectivism
Ethics in an organization refers to the rightness or wrongness of actions in relation to human conduct. Ethics is said to be very closely related to morality (Velasquez, &Velazquez, 2002). The theory of moral objectivism has three main components and it is a theory used to guide ethics and morality. These key components include: morality is objective, moral standards are unchanging with time or location, and moral standards are universal. Morality as an objective means that moral standards are not determined by human beings but by a higher spiritual realm which is not part of the physical world that we see. This spiritual realm has much power than human beings and they have high moral standards that it expects human beings to fulfill (Velasquez, &Velazquez, 2002). Moral standards are unchanging means that the moral standards that existed since the beginning of time are the same moral standards that exist today and they do not change with time or even location and they apply in the same way in all parts of the world. Moral standards are universal means that the moral standards that exist are equal in all parts of the world and they do not change with race, gender, wealth or social status. Every human being in the world is faced with the same moral standards as the other. This makes sure that some people are not discriminated and the standards of morality remain equal. Plato who is a great proponent of this theory argues that morality exists in a realm higher than that of human beings and that is the spiritual realm (Velasquez, &Velazquez, 2002). According to him, the world is two-tiered, that is, the spiritual and the physical world.
Moral relativism theory
This is a theory that is also used to guide human moral principles and it is composed of three contrasting features (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002). These features are: morality is not objective, moral standards are not unchanging, and moral standards are not universal. According to this theory, morality is not objective because moral standards are created by human beings through human inventions and this is done by either individuals or human societies. Moral standards are not unchanging because moral standards are different in various societies and they vary as time goes by. Moral standards are not universal because some moral standards apply to some people but they do not apply to others (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002). The application of moral standards is different to different people because of differences in human preference. This theory does not believe that there is a high spiritual realm that determines moral standards of human beings. This theory opposes the objectivism beliefs of the higher realm of absolute truth. This theory argues that humans do not have any experience of the higher spiritual realm and humans have only experienced the physical world where they live. Therefore, there is no prove of the higher spiritual realm and therefore the beliefs of a higher realm are just but a creation of humans (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002). Sin relation to business, there are different business environments and different ethical standards are used and one ethical standard may not be applicable everywhere. Different businesses in different business environments use different ethical standards. Some use the moral objectivism while others use moral relativism. Therefore, moral standards in business differ in different parts of the world (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Divine command theory
This theory is based on moral values and it argues that all moral standards are created by God. According to this theory, God creates these moral standards from a pure act of will and they are not based on prior standards of reason and logic (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002). This theory gains strength from the belief that morality has its roots from religion and therefore God is the determiner of what is moral and what is immoral. This theory is used mostly by believers but it is disputed by non believers because they think that moral standards are purely human innovation. This theory has two weaknesses that make it disputable. One, the theory presumes that God exists without any proof that He actually exists. This is disputable because it is a mere personal belief and an assumption. The matter of personal faith in the belief in God makes it possible that God does not exist and he is a creation of human mind. Two, is moral standards were created by God without prior standard of reason, they would be arbitrary. For these reasons, many people disapprove this theory because it does not guarantee the existence of God and the creation of moral standards (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Running a business on utilitarianism
When a business is being run under utilitarianism ethics, the main aim of the business is to please the highest number of people. This business is run to ensure that ensure that the needs of the highest number of people are fulfilled and the lesser percentage of the unsatisfied is not considered with great emphasis (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002). An example that is based on utilitarian ethics would for example make beauty products for ladies and the acceptability of these products would determine the success of the business. The products could be created with some chemicals that are destructive to the skin but the response of the people to the product would enable the business to continue running despite the fact that the products do not meet the necessary requirements. The company would treat their employees very well and ensure that their needs are met so that the employees will in turn treat the customers well (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002). The employees treat the customers with respect and attention so that they can seek their services another time without concentrating much on the contents of the products they are purchasing. The production of the products would be done in a way that ensures that the materials that make the beauty products are not known. The company would use its resources and profits in advertisements and other processes of making their products known in the market. This makes it possible for the company to penetrate the market and secure a good market position (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Reflection Prompt 2
Three actions of punishment for unethical actions
There are different punishments imposed by the government on corporations that commit unethical actions (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002). These punishments are aimed at accomplishing some needs of the society at large. However, there are standards that determine the kind of punishments imposed on the corporations and the weight of the offense determines the level of punishments. Some of punishments imposed in corporations include:
Fines
A fine can be said to be an amount of money that the corporation is expected to pay after committing an offense. However, these fines have limitation on what is the minimum and maximum amount of money that the corporation can be required to pay depending with the offense committed. Fines have some weaknesses that make them to be criticized. For example, most fines have the nature that the large corporations pay a small fine and small corporations pay a large fine on a similar offense committed (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Corporate incapacitation
This kind of a punishment involves a court issuing an order to restrict the corporation from carrying out business activities in a specific area. The restriction is for a specific period of time then from there the corporation can continue with its normal business activities in the area. The court could also make it impossible for the corporation to get specific contracts by collecting its operating license. The court may also use another technique which involves freezing the profits of the corporation. These actions are taken against corporations so as to ensure that they do not carry out activities that break the law (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Corporate death penalty
This is the form of punishment whereby the corporation is forced to stop operating and stop all its activities. This kind of punishment is used when the corporation commits a seriously egregious offence. After it has been established that the corporation really committed the offence, the corporation is forced to give back its operating license and close business for good (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Threats of running an ethical corporation
The profit motive
The threat comes in because the company wants to make profit from its business and in the other hand there are social responsibilities of ensuring that they make money for its stakeholders. It becomes difficult to balance between these two requirements of the company (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Strategic misrepresentation
This can be said to be the act of willingly making alterations to company’s facts in order to gain financial advantage. This is a threat because mostly it does not involve all the people in the company and this has negative effects on running business smoothly (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Groupthink
This is where the decision making process involves a group and therefore people are not responsible for their actions in the company. This is a threat because it reduces the sense of individual responsibility and groups act to meet the ethical standards of the group and they do away with their individual ethical concerns (Velasquez, & Velazquez, 2002).
Perspective on whether or not corporations should function on the same codes of morality as individual people in society
Corporations should function by the same codes of morality like other people so that the moral standards can be upheld. They should not be allowed to get away with ethical offences they commit and therefore punishments should be imposed on them to ensure that take the guidelines of corporate culture seriously.
References
Velasquez, M. G., & Velazquez, M. (2002). Business ethics: Concepts and cases (5th ed., p. 528). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
