In business ethics, moral guidelines are used to help people make the right decisions in organizations and utilitarianism ultimately provides the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people and these rules help that to be followed through.
Utilitarianism provides the best approach as we know that utilitarianism is a teleological theory and looks at whether the ends justify the means and provide the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people. For example, if this is universalized in businesses, the results will be consistent and it will be easier for businesses to implement. When we apply rule utilitarianism to business ethics, this will prevent businesses from exploiting their children and workers, equal pay, and good working conditions. For example, there are 218 million child laborer’s and 118 of them are working in hazardous conditions but if we apply rule utilitarianism to businesses child exploitation can never be universalized.
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It could also be argued that the hedonic calculus and act utilitarianism have long-term benefits for businesses. Corporate social responsibility, says that businesses have a responsibility to make sure they are making the right ethical decisions about the environment and all the people that contribute towards making it a business. Milton Friedman argued that the purpose of a business is to make a profit and is not a form of socialism. people may choose to take on responsibilities outside of the company but that doesn’t then mean that the company has to do the same. He also raised the question about businesses like Lush, are they concerned about the environment or are they just targeting an environmentally aware audience to make a profit? However, Adam Smith disagreed and said this argument wasn’t effective as he believed that in the long run, swindling customers is only going to hurt the company when looking at John Stewart Mill he would agree with this because having flexible rules in a business can be very beneficial but making sure you stick to the ethical guidelines will ultimately produce the greater good for the greatest number.
Globalization involves businesses that operate internationally and one of the things it involves is people in less established countries making things at a faster pace and for cheaper. When companies are looking for manufacturers and factories, they can sometimes not want to pay and instead turn to cheap labor. One of the main arguments was the health and safety requirements in other countries and the conditions that the employees were working in. For example, in 2013 the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh collapsed causing over 1100 people to die and leaving more than 2500 injured after employees complained about the cracks in the wall and were still forced to go back to work. One criticism of utilitarianism when applied to business ethics is that it is too impersonal and fails to look at the individuals themselves whereas if the individual's needs were met, that would help businesses grow which is the goal. On the other hand, many companies have flourished economically through globalization for example Microsoft takes their ethics seriously has donated over $1 billion to charity, and also gives new parents 12 fully paid weeks of annual leave. This could encourage other global companies to participate in CSR and this could also improve their employee satisfaction.
Whistleblowing is when an employee privately or publicly raises an issue with the employer about something they think is ethically wrong in the company. One could argue that whistleblowing is a part of CSR and this enables employees to have a level of trust in confiding in their employers. Applying act utilitarianism to whistleblowing as a teleological theory, people need to think about the consequences of their actions and how they might affect the company for the greater good. Companies should always provide support for anyone who decides to come forward because if not, it can have a detrimental effect on individuals. For example, in 2015 the Freedom to ‘speak out’ report found that 30 percent of whistleblowers felt unsafe and some even contemplated suicide. Helping these individuals would consequentially make the company feel like a safer working environment which would help everyone.
It could be argued that utilitarianism is not the best approach to business ethics and Kant’s deontological and duty-based theory is. This says that we should act out of goodwill and do our duty which could cause some companies to not gain as much profit when acting ethically. For example, if you went into a shop and the shopkeeper can see your attention is divided or you maybe have a disability it would be easier for them to take advantage and give you less change or overcharge you. Kant argued that good ethics is more important than good business. Robert Solomon also agreed with this and said that how people act in their businesses and their personal lives should go hand in hand and the two shouldn’t be separate. However, it could be argued that Kant focuses too much on the goodwill and the intentions behind the action and some would say that this is just not realistic as you can't measure how true someone’s motives are and why they are being honest as other factors like religion can have a part and would take away the sense of duty and doing good because it is instinctively good.
Although Kant provides a duty-based argument treating people as ends themselves rather than ends to a means is better which would produce better business. Ultimately, utilitarianism provides the best approach to business ethics as practically it can be achievable and although it can be unpredictable, it's more clear cut which will make it easier to universalize.
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