writing assignment

Introduction

Every seat is a seat of power, we are aware the responsibilities attached to the seat of the powers. This is why most of the companies hire people with higher moral values to handle such posts. A seat of power can become a seat of profit when an individual starts leaking or diverting resources to a certain group of people. (Siedel, 2016). Owning a seat of power or diverting favours to a group or individual can be unethical in many cases. They can cause a dilemma in the mind of the person. They can also be termed as a compromise on the ethical values. In the current assignment, we will adjudge a case and present a memo to a person based on the golden rule and Virtue ethics.

Facts

Luke is working with ABC company he is awarded the duty of developing an adult entertainment store in a particular area, coincidentally his brother and confidant Owen owns a house in the same area. Many real estate experts believe that inception of an adult entertainment store or any unwholesome business will fare negatively on the real estate price of the area. The inception of an adult entertainment store in the area is a classified trade secret shared by very few people in the company. The current status of the questioned land says that prices will go up with the passage of time. Any seller should wait for the right time to sell his property at the best prices.

Issues

After stepping into the shoes of the Luke we can see that he is suffering from the problem of the “conflicts of the role.” His seat has become the seat of the power because he owns a valuable information which can be termed as a tip. He is playing two roles simultaneously, first he is a trusted employee of ABC, and second, he is accountable to his brother Owen who is seeking an opinion from him in a good faith. Ethically speaking, Luke should serve him with his best abilities and knowledge, but he cannot share his knowledge because the sharing of the knowledge brings him in a tight spot and convert his seat into the seat of profit. We can also term it as a clash between "The oath of Secrecy” associated with his job and the duty of “Serving the interest of your buddy or confident."

A memo on the issue clearing it through Ethical Lens and two virtues of “Golden Rule” and “Virtue Ethics”

The principle of the "golden rule" clearly states that a person should treat the request of a person in accordance with the reciprocation of the same request when he is making it to someone else. (Hart, 2014). It is a theory developed by the humanists and rules the moral preaching sessions in most of the religious discourses as well. This theory has a special meaning in the case of Owen because his brother has made a request to him based on the trust and the consistent help given to him by Luke. Coming up with the best advice to serve the interests of the Owen is a duty of Luke and it is also right on the scale of humanist behavior or the "Golden Rule." It is true that an "oath of secrecy" is bounding Luke in acting freely, still, the practical wisdom and a moral judgment based on that practical wisdom is the right approach to solve this case.

The principle of the “Virtue ethics” can be taken into an account, the principle of the virtue ethics suggests the implementation of practical wisdom to come up with the best solution in a consequential impact scenario (Siedel, 2016). It gives us a liberty to make choice under the light of the consequences. In practical terms, we can match the impacts of an action under two different capacities. In the current case, a leakage of an information is paying no harm to the interests of the company ABC. They are in the driver's seat and acting as the agent of the change. The equations of the practical wisdom say that the leakage of the information in a trusted environment will not pay any major harm to the company.

If Owen holds the property for long then he is going to make huge losses in the deal. This again is a consequence and the impact is negative. Under the second capacity of being a confidant to the Owen, it is the duty of the Luke to save him from this disaster that can bring in some losses for him. The theory of the virtue ethics also opens a door here, the virtue ethics based theories often talks about an agent-based behavior. This agent-based behavior gives us a liberty to choose a certain impact of the consequence and then either mitigate it or enhance it. Luke is riding over a "role conflict" he can present his classified information under the guise of "practical wisdom." We can explain his role conflict and his duty-bound status by the virtue of "golden rule" as an agent and drive a behaviour based upon that. (Harris, 2014)..

The line of action prescribed for Luke in the current case

Luke should follow the golden rule; he should go by the virtue ethics. The system of virtue ethics sounds complex from the surface, however, this complexity has all the solutions ready for a certain behaviour and an explanation for the same. In the current case, Luke should follow a thought process where he should bring his moral and ethical predicaments on the page of Odontology. This will give him a prism to see the things from the point of view of virtue ethics. Here he can choose the path of checking the consequences of the actions based on his practical wisdom. As long as the action is not paying any direct harm to any party to whom Luke is directly responsible it is acceptable.

In the spirit of the practical wisdom, Luke should drop a hint to the Owen related to the decline in the price of the area. Making a prediction about any place is not a direct tip. He can further consolidate this prediction by giving him some hints and not revealing the complete truth to him. He should support Owen in saving/making money out of the deal under the provisions of golden rule because virtue-based ethics are explaining his behaviour well and keeping him inside the periphery of noble moral behaviour.

References

Harris, H. (2014). The Contribution of Fiction to Organizational Ethics.

Hart, D. W. (2014). Research Companion to Ethical Behavior in Organizations: Constructs and Measures.

Siedel, G. J. (2016). The Three Pillar Model for Business Decisions: Strategy, Law, and Ethics. The University of Michigan.