Question

After reviewing Utilitarianism and Universalism this week, discuss which of these principles you think is most often applied in business. Explain your reasoning by providing examples to support your thought process.

Answer 1

Utiitarianism in business is the consideration of the actions that should be taken by business to ensure end result does the greater good for the maximum stakeholders.

Universalism is an approach to ethical decision making in business by consdering what is acceptable universally and what is condemnable.

I believe that Utilitarianism is most often applied in the business as any business can be successful if it satisfies maximum stakeholders viz. customers, suppliers, employees, public, government etc. Any decision taken by business is analyzed considering the impact of the decision on all of these stakeholders to avoid any opposition resulting in loss of goodwill for the business.

Example of a scenario for application of utilitarianism is a business decision to construct a new manufacturing unit which increases the production capacity of the firm to meet demand. Apart from Techno-economic feasibility of the project, the other points that need to be considered include - environmental impact of the emissions, land acquisition to be done by dealing with locals, employment generated etc.