Posted: May 25th, 2022

Business ethics Research Paper

Ethics

Lauren is faced with a choice between letting a substandard product go through, which would require her to lie, and reporting, it above her supervisors’ heads, which would damage her relationship with those supervisors. As there is no outcome that does not result in harm, this represents a true ethical dilemma (McConnell, 2014). This is basically the prisoner’s dilemma. Yet, there are some subtle differences between this and the prisoner’s dilemma that allow this issue to be resolved.

The basic ethical issue here is that the company has a contractual obligation to its customer. Moreover, depending on the nature of the defect, passing this product could put human lives at risk. But more clearly, the two immediate supervisors are asking Lauren to commit fraud. Unlike in the Prisoner’s dilemma, she hasn’t yet committed a crime, so there is still time to avoid negative consequences entirely. Lauren has to file the report honestly, and let the chips fall where they may. If the supervisors pass along the product that she rejected, she has a duty of care to the shareholders to inform senior management.

Stakeholder Analysis

There are a number of different stakeholders in this scenario. Lauren, the two bosses, the senior management, and the client are all stakeholders, but so too are the customers who will end up using the product. They are perhaps the most at risk, depending on the nature of this defect. There are shareholders for both companies, regulators and employees for these companies, all of whom will be affected. The most important stakeholders, however, are the ones who are either directly affected or have the potential to be directly affected. That means Lauren, the client and the end users who might suffer injury from this defect. The two bosses are not as important as stakeholders go because the outcomes that they face are not the result of Lauren’s choice, but their choices. If senior management comes down on them, then that is because they violated company policy. Senior management is on the next tier of stakeholder, just below. But most other stakeholders are tangential to this issue. Theoretically, Lauren owes a duty of care to the shareholders, but she is looking at the big picture here — a major product defect that management covered up but that eventually kills someone is a lot more destructive that telling the engineers to raise their game, or seeing if the customer is okay with the current specs and test results.

Ethical Approaches

This scenario is a question of an illegal act — fraud — so in that sense it is merely a formality to examine the ethical approaches. Let’s get real — if Lauren is found to have committed fraud she could go to jail and be open for suit in civil court. The scenario was written to frame this as a dilemma in the sense that each choice Lauren makes will have some sort of negative outcome, but in the real world, it is not a dilemma normally to choose between breaking the law for one’s own self-interest and not breaking the law.

The utilitarian perspective is fairly simple, as a result of the facts of the case. There is risk, if Lauren passes the product, to the end user, the client, and ultimately to the shareholders of her company and the other company, to say nothing of the she faces committing an illegal act. The trade-off is marginal at best — Lauren gets to remain buddies with her bosses.. The utilitarian recognizes that there is almost no upside to this choice because both companies are likely to suffer, the minute somebody gets hurt from this product.

The rights approach holds that humanity must be treated as an end, not a mean. The risks that would be put upon the end users and the client are untenable under this philosophy (Velasquez et al., 2014). This is because to approve the product would be to put people at risk, simply as a means of increasing one’s own profit, and that is entirely incompatible with the rights approach.

The justice approach seeks to resolve ethical dilemmas by treating people as equals when they are. In other words, this approach is about fairness. In theory, Lauren could rationalize that it is fair to cheat a little bit but that would be false. The contract terms with the client were agreed to on the basis of negotiation, and fairness demands that those contract terms are met. Lauren’s job is basically to test the products to ensure that they meet the contract terms, so fairness would be to uphold the specs, and reject the product if it does not meet spec.

The common good approach seeks to position ourselves as members of a common community (Velasquez et al., 1996). Thus, Lauren is not positioning herself through the lens of independence. Her actions affect both her and the other members of the community. One of the things that comes ot of this is that Lauren owes a duty of care to the other members of the community. As such, she owes a duty to perform her job as she is contractually obligated, and that means rejecting the product.

Lastly, there is virtue ethics. This approach “assumes that there are certain ideals toward which we should strive, which provide for the full development of humanity.” Who gets to define this is a major issue with this method of decision-making, because ultimately you have to apply it. But one thing that is reasonably certain is that neither greed nor covering for bad work and bad bosses will be among the virtues to which we as a species should strive. Honesty even when it means sacrifice, on the other hand, might be one of those virtues. It’s certainly closer than the alternative presented here.

The different ethical approaches all lead to the same conclusion. One of the reasons is that the proponents of the fraud are dramatically understating the downside risk. First, Lauren could face legal action — and if she cannot prove the bosses ordered her to do it, then she would be the only one. Moreover, both companies could suffer, but Lauren’s company in particular. Only one element of the argument was presented in the case, the idea that the company will suffer adverse consequences if they do not push the product through. But in the real world, there is opportunity cost to this. The opportunity cost is that the company sets itself up for a class action suit, or some other legal action, should the defect is pushed through actually result in harm to person or property. By understating the downside risk, the case creates a framing that there is a dilemma here. If there is, it is a thin one. All five approaches deliver a clear verdict, and so would a jury. The question to break a law or not is not usually an ethical dilemma. This situation is surely not one of the exceptions, because the outcomes to most stakeholders are negative anyway. The hypothetical win — a situation where pushing the product through does not come back on the company — is just that, hypothetical. There is no guarantee that a positive outcome will even occur here, whereas under most reasonable scenarios a negative outcome seems likely.

Conclusions

Lauren should file her report honestly, with the results she has unadulterated. If need be, she should go above her bosses to stop the product from reaching market, though technically that is an independent dilemma unto itself. All five ethical approaches hold that this is the best course of action for Lauren. Additionally, since she would be committing fraud to push the product through, Lauren’s “dilemma” is actually just a choice between doing her job, and breaking the law because her boss told her to. That’s not much of a dilemma.

References

Kuhn, S. (2014). The Prisoner’s Dilemma. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 23, 2015 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prisoner-dilemma/

McConnell, T. (2014). Moral dilemmas. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 23, 2015 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-dilemmas/

Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., Meyer, M. (1996). Thinking ethically: A framework for moral decision making. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Retrieved November 23, 2015 from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html

Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., Meyer, M. (2014). . Rights. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Retrieved November 23, 2015 from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/rights.html

---

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

• Plagiarism free papers
• Timely delivery
• Any deadline
• Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
• Subject-relevant academic writer
• Adherence to paper instructions
• Ability to tackle bulk assignments
• Reasonable prices
• 24/7 Customer Support
• Get superb grades consistently

 

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

• When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
• We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

• The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
• We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
• Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment  Help Service Works

1.      Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2.      Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3.      Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4.      Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!

---