Ethics- Current Business Problem

Ethics- Current Business Problem

One of the current business problems in the corporate world is the greed for profits by business firms. Cutthroat competition is now witnessed in all the industries in which business firms are experiencing very aggressive competition. Firms are innovating while others are investing heavily in the factors of production to capture a large share of the market to make significant sales and huge profits. Due to this competition, many firms violate corporate ethics by focusing much on profit maximization without minding the negative impact they are causing. Greed for profits is pushing firms to violate business rules and also makes them not good citizens.

One theory that applies to the greediness for profits by modern business organizations is the virtue ethics theory. Aristotle and other ancient Greek philosophers postulated this theory. Virtue ethics theory has the quest to understand and live a life of moral character. It emphasizes the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy that deals with honesty, generosity, and integrity (Sakelariouv, 2015). This theory looks at the virtue of the moral character of an individual carrying out a particular action rather than looking at the ethical duties. In other words, a virtuous person identifies virtues and desirable characteristics that the moral and virtuous person embodies. Having virtues is what makes an individual an honest person (Utm.edu, 2020). Business organizations like persons have the moral obligation of choosing to do virtuous actions. Still, because of the stiff competition and greed for profits, they engage in vices that compromise corporate ethics and business regulations.

Factory farms are one best case study that explains how modern business organizations have a high appetite for profits regardless of the negative consequences. Leading poultry producers in the U.S., such as Perdue, are reaping huge profits, but what happens in the background compromises the business ethics. Due to greed for profits, these suppliers use science to crossbreed the poultry to get a breed that matures within a month (Mishler, 2020). It is evident the suppliers are selling 40 days of chicken and claiming that they are mature. This crossbreeding has led to the breeding of overweight chickens that cannot walk, and some are lame or have some genetic complications in that they cannot survive for long. These suppliers do so to meet the high demand for chicken (Mishler, 2020).  Due to greed for profits, they cannot wait for the chicken to mature naturally; they inject some growth chemicals that speed up the maturity to make more profits.

In other words, large American poultry suppliers do not practice what virtue ethics theory states. These suppliers are not honest and generous. The chemicals they use to speed up the chicken growth could have adverse effects on the consumers. However, the suppliers do not care as long as they are making huge profits (Utm.edu, 2020). Like the poultry suppliers, many business organizations also engage in activities geared towards maximizing profits at the expense of the consumers; this means that they have failed the virtue ethics theory test.

References

Mishler, J. (2020). Despite Perdue’s High Welfare Standards, Some Chickens Can’t Survive 45 Days. https://sentientmedia.org/despite-perdues-high-welfare-standards-some-chickens-cant-survive-45-days/

Sakelariouv, A. (2015). Virtue Ethics and its Potential as the Leading Moral Theory. Student Pulse: Journal quest. VOL. 12 NO. 1

Utm.edu. (2020). Virtue Ethics. https://iep.utm.edu/virtue/

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Prepare: In your first post in this discussion, you will identify and apply one ethical theory of your choosing to a current problem in business, also of your choosing. Start by reviewing your notes on the Week 1 course material and your completed work for Week 1.

Then, choose one of the three ethical theories-i.e., utilitarianism, deontology, or virtue ethics the basis of your thoughtfully considered preference in general and independent of the business problem that you will select here. Keep in mind that you will employ this ethical theory to support your position not only for this discussion but also for this week’s assignment and the Final Project.
To prepare for your selection of the current problem in business, look at the list of required articles and multimedia which are divided into the six case categories as follows:
• Banking (Lehman Brothers)
• Environment (BP)
• GMOs (Monsanto)
⚫ Pharmaceuticals (Merck)
• Gender Discrimination (Goodyear)
Factory Farms (Perdue)