Discussion: BUSINESS ETHICS

Business Ethics

There may be different answers to this question whereby businesses may choose
between doing the right thing without the government's regulation. In contrast, in other
instances, for the businesses to comply, there have to be regulations that are put in place.
Therefore, resolving this dilemma requires applying utilitarian or deontological ethical
approaches.
According to the utilitarian approach, one would weigh the harms and benefits of
government regulations. Government regulation may harm in that there may be a possibility
of stifling innovation, and also, there is a cost of compliance to businesses. Government
regulations that may be of benefit include limiting businesses from using child labor and
making sure that employees are accorded reasonable working hours weekly.
Considering the deontological approach, the focus would be if applying government
regulation is the right decision to make regardless of the consequences (Jain, 2020).
Therefore, in this scenario, businesses should do the right thing without considering the
government regulations because this would eradicate child labor and ensure fair treatment of
employees even during their working hours. However, it is also arguable that to enhance
compliance with the law and employee fairness, there should be government regulation for
businesses.
If a company makes products from a secret formula that other competitor companies
have not succeeded in imitating, a polygraph test is taken so that they can protect their secret.
However, even in such a scenario, it is not ethical to demand a polygraph test from
employees. Companies demanding employees to take a polygraph test before they are
promoted or hired is not an ethical act, it is a violation of a person's privacy and may result in
false accusations (Dierksmeier & Seele, 2020).

3
Finally, whenever ethics are made part of a company’s corporate culture, the company
benefits because a more positive working environment is created, and trust is built between
the employees and the company.

4

References

Jain, H. (2020). Mandatory corporate social responsibility: a utilitarian and deontological
perspective. Open Journal of Business and Management, 8(5), 2278-2284.
Dierksmeier, C., & Seele, P. (2020). Blockchain and business ethics. Business