Business Law and Ethics

Question 1

Utilitarianism

In this section you apply utilitarianism to the facts to answer the question. You should not be defining utilitarianism or explaining what the theory is.

Kantian ethics

In this section you apply Kantian ethics to the facts to answer the question. You should not be defining or explaining what Kantian ethics is. You must in your answer address the Kantian principles of universal acceptability and respect.

Virtue ethics

In this section you apply one relevant virtue to the facts to answer the question. You should not be defining or explaining what is virtue ethics. You must pick a virtue from Aristotle’s list of virtues – you can find this in the lecture slides and also on the CMD reading. You may include Carol Gilligan's virtue of care/wisdom, vice of deficiency (inflexible rule following) and vice of excess (appeasement) in the context of moral reasoning. You must pick a virtue that is relevant to the facts.

Question 2

In your answer, you explain what you would have done. You must state what stage of Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development you were in and explain why you say you were in that stage. You use the first person in your answer: “I was in Stage”. Example of how to reference the textbook: I was in stage 6 because I “followed ethical principles of justice” (Low, 2013).

Question 3

(a) Stakeholders

In this section you identity four stakeholders. You must also explain for each stakeholder you have identified, why you say they are a stakeholder.

(b) Opinion

In this section you state whether you agree with the question or not. You must justify your answer by applying either Milton Friedman’s theory or Edward Freeman’s stakeholder theory. Simple re-stating the theory is not sufficient. You must use the arguments together with the stakeholders to justify your decision.

Reference List

Low, R. (2013). Business Law and Ethics. Qld: John Wiley & Sons