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Homework answers / question archive / -Suggested Length: 750 to 1000 words Ethical Theories to Apply: Utilitarianism and Universal Ethics You work in the Ethics Department for ABC Company (ABC)
-Suggested Length: 750 to 1000 words Ethical Theories to Apply: Utilitarianism and Universal Ethics
You work in the Ethics Department for ABC Company (ABC). Your department is dedicated to advising its employees about their ethical obligations in the corporate setting. You are an internal consultant who provides advice and most importantly, recommendations for action to employees of the firm. All communications you receive in this capacity are confidential. Luke, an employee of ABC, comes to you with the following scenario and asks for your advice. He wants to fully consider the situation. Your task is to advise and recommend a course of action based on the specified ethical lenses and facts as given. Below are the facts that Luke provides to you.
Luke has been asked to work on a project that involves developing land recently purchased by ABC to build an adult entertainment retail store. According to the plan, the land is located on the corner of the neighborhood where Owen, Luke’s brother, lives. Luke knows that as soon as the plans for the store are made public, property values for the surrounding neighborhood will decrease significantly. ABC plans to publicly announce the project one month from today. Luke is concerned about his obligations of confidentiality to his company. However, Luke is also very close to Owen, who recently told Luke that he received an offer to sell his house at an “okay” price given the current real estate market. Owen is considering selling but hasn’t made any final decision yet. He wonders if he might get a better offer a few years from now when the real estate market improves.
What is the ethical issue, why is this an issue, and what should Luke do about it?
For assignment , prepare a memo, setting out your analysis and recommendations, that considers ONLY the following two theories: Utilitarianism and Universal Ethics
Answer:
Universal Ethics
The Universal Ethics, or Categorical Imperative, approach states that an action is only ethical if
it should be a universal law that everyone in all similar situations should follow all the time. In
other words, it is only okay for Luke to disclose the development to Owen if it is always okay for
all employees to disclose confidential information all the time. The unique circumstances of one
situation cannot trump the universal ethical requirements for all similar situations.
By applying Universal Ethics to the scenario discussed above, Luke’s loyalty to Owen is not
considered. We should only evaluate which one of Luke’s options is most ethical. More
specifically, we should ask what kind of a world it would be if all employees shared information
with their relatives or friends at the expense of their companies? How could business be
effectively conducted day-to-day in this kind of environment? Through this lens, it is never
ethical for an employee to divulge confidential information, because confidential information
must be kept confidential for certain businesses to operate. If employees did not respect their
client’s privacy, trust would break down. Also, Owen will experience an insider’s advantage
over his neighbors by knowing this information, and that would not be fair to Owen’s neighbors.
On the other hand, one can ask whether it is ethical to keep information from one’s siblings.
However, we need to look at the situation as a whole, which reveals that it is more ethical to
keep his client information confidential. Therefore, there can be no exceptions
The issue with Universal Ethics is that it does not allow for any flexibility. Since there are not
any extenuating circumstances that can change how a situation is judged, the ethical decision is
generally straight-forward. In other words, Universal Ethics is always black and white
Analyzing the situation through the lens of Utilitarianism, many more people will suffer negativeconsequences if Luke divulges this information. This would include Luke’s co-workers, clients, and Owen’s neighbors. If Luke keeps the information confidential, only Owen suffers. In addition, applying Universal Ethics also concludes that Luke should keep the development confidential until the public announcement. Virtue Ethics subjective in this case, and we do not know what is important to Luke. Therefore, Virtue Ethics could justify either position. The Golden Rule concludes that Luke should keep the development confidential until the public announcement. This is conceivably what each stakeholder would want if the tables were turned.However, in my reasoning, I relied more on Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism allows the whole situation to be considered. That is what makes it the proper way to analyze this and other similar situations. Through the lens of Utilitarianism, Owen’s predicament pales in comparison to the ramifications on ABC Company and its employees by divulging the confidential information. As a representative of the Ethics Department of ABC Company, my recommendation to Luke is keep the development of the adult retail store confidential.
