Ethics Mid Paper

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR
MID TERM EXAMINATION 2021
NAME: RIMSHA ALAM
ROLL NO: 167
SEMESTER: (4TH) BBA
SECTION: D
SUBJECT: BUSINESS ETHICS
SUBMITTED TO: SIR SAQIB SHINWARI
SECTION: B
QUESTION NO:2
Categorical imperative, in the ethics of the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant,
founder of critical philosophy, a rule of conduct that is unconditional or absolute for all
agents, the validity or claim of which does not depend on any desire or end.
Business organization is intended to serve the good of man. But, the reverse could be the case
if not properly guided by rules and regulations codified as moral laws and legal laws. Just as
the political organization that is expected to provide a viable society that will serve as a
platform for the attainment of the goals and projection for the citizens is being misused by the
Machiavellian Prince, so also is the business organization in the hands of immoral
entrepreneurs. Business organization has become a tool for the exploitation of man by man. It
has become the machinery for the devaluation and destruction of the human person.
Business ethics emerged as a distinctive discipline to guide against the violation of any of those
qualities above. Man, as an imperfect being, subject to errors, operates within the interface of
business organization, must be guided with codes of conduct to avoid destroying the lives of
others. In other words, business organization as a man-dominated activity must be guided by
rules and regulations to avoid being turned to a tool of man’s destruction. Business organization
represents a human and technical system designed to produce goods or provide varied services
to satisfy human needs and wants. This system thus entails choice-making; and according to
Barcalow, moral issues arise more fundamentally when the choices people face will affect the
well-being of others by either increasing or decreasing it, causing either harm or benefit.
The imperatives are meant to help man act morally. They are only formulae to express the
relation of objective laws of all volition to the subjective imperfection of the will of this or that
rational being, e.g., the human will.
According to him, all imperative command either hypothetically or categorically. A

hypothetical imperative command us to do that which is a means to an end: thus, it is
conditional. He further distinguished between problematic hypothetical imperative and
assertoric hypothetical imperative. The latter commands one to act in certain ways or do certain
things in order to be happy while the former commands one to do certain thing in order to
achieve an end.
When I conceive a hypothetical imperative, in general I do not know beforehand what it will
contain until I am given the condition. But when I conceive a categorical imperative, I know at
once what it contains. For as the imperative contains besides the law only the necessity that the
maxims shall conform to this law, while the law contains no conditions restricting it, there
remains nothing but the general statement that the maxim of the action should conform to a
universal law, and is the principle on which it ought to act that is an imperative
QUESTION NO:3
ETHICAL EGOISM:
Whatever action serves my self-interest is also the morally right action. What’s good for me in the sense that it
gives me pleasure and happiness is also good in the sense that it’s the morally right thing to do.
Ethical egoism is based on the belief that people should act in a way that brings maximum benefits to the
individual in making a decision. It also states that the behavior of the individual is to maximize their own self-
interest and effect on other people is of much less consequences.
There are possibilities other than maximization. One might, for example, claim that one ought to achieve a
certain level of welfare, but that there is no requirement to achieve more. Ethical egoism might also apply to
things other than acts, such as rules or character traits. Since these variants are uncommon, and the arguments
for and against them are largely the same as those concerning the standard version, I set them aside
UTILITARIANISM:
Richard T. DeGeorge defines utilitarianism as, “an ethical theory that holds that an action is right if it produces, or
if it tends to produce, the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people affected by the action.
Otherwise, the action is wrong.”
Making decisions in business based on Utilitarianism may result in higher cash-flow in the short run, but the
company will come to be viewed as without any morality.
The theory of utilitarianism can be applied in business in many ways. To begin with, business persons who wish
to use this theory must first understand its four components. The application of this theory can either be positive
or negative. The first element is consequentialism, which is the understanding that the wrongness or rightness of
actions is entirely determined by their actions.
The second element that businesses require to apply utilitarianism is welfarism. According to Eggleston
welfarism is the understanding that the wrongness or rightness of operations depends on society’s conceptions
of welfare or wellbeing.
The third element that businesses need to understand as to how the principle of utility applies to their operations
is individualism. The principle of individualism in utilitarianism holds that every individual, as it is human
nature, pursues happiness, thus, will engage in actions that maximize utility.
The fourth element required to apply utilitarianism in business is aggregation, which is the notion that the
wrongness or rightness of actions depends on their ability to average the benefits brought to all individuals.
A business applying this element should engage in activities that increase its profits while at the same time
serve the best interests of its customers, the community, and the government. For example, by selling quality
and safe products, a business will be increasing its intrinsic value while meeting the needs of their customers at
the same time.

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INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

According to him, all imperative command either hypothetically or categorically. A

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