crime in the work place

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White Collar Crimes

Crime in the Workplace (White Collar Crimes)

Crime in the Workplace (White Collar Crimes)

Utilitarianism

I believe some may say this may be challenging from the disadvantages of Utilitarianism, which is the concept of utilitarianism is based on the estimation, we are “forecasting” the consequences of a certain situation to determine what should be done under Utilitarianism. They may argue that using utilitarianism to analyze this scandal is not accurate enough. I believe this to be true that utilitarianism is based on a guess that the consequences of a certain act, but I do not agree that disadvantages will make utilitarianism not suitable for applying in this scandal, in this case, Enron and Arthur Anderson are counterfeiting on the report, it is not only an ethical issue, it also be a legal issue since they might commit a crime, so that the consequences of their act are predictable—they will punish by the law and their reputation will be damaged, so that I do not agree with the claim that Utilitarianism should not be use on this case since that is the consequences of their action.

Deontological Ethics

The media coverage of the Enron scandal revealed a major breach of ethics due to accounting fraud. The specific actions caused an ethical problem within the company. The news coverage detailed the consequences of the actions of those involved in ethically questionable behavior, but according to the deontological ethics theory, it is the actions of those individuals that need to be examined (Fisher & Lovell, 1). Ethically wise decisions are those that increase the good of the company (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1). In the short term, those involved in faulty accounting practices benefited monetarily from their poor choices. In the long term, those same individuals face prison time, which didn't end up serving the good of the company at all.

According to Kant under the deontological ethics theory, the rules are more important than the outcome. In other words, the moral duty of a person is a better predictor of proper ethics than the consequences of that behavior (Herman, vi). A familiar notion of this theory is that a moral person so someone who always acts out of duty. In addition, a moral person is driven to do what is right even when it is not required (Campbell, 1). Those persons within the Enron corporation who chose not to conduct themselves in an ethically appropriate manner lacked this duty to do what was right. This brings a great lack of ethics to a corporation. If those employed by a corporation cannot run a business with correct ethics, then that business will, like Enron, ultimately fail.

Virtue Ethics

As opposed to deontological ethics, virtue ethics focus on the character of a person rather than on rules and consequences (Fisher & Lovell, 1). The soul and its habits make up the character of a person and determine whether that person has good character or poor character. “Without the habitual make-up of the human person, like so much conductive metal for the transference of an electric current, there is no substrate by which transmission can occur” (Wilson, 176 - 77). For the Enron executives to have shown moral character, they would have had to have that moral drive within themselves. Considering how the situation ended, the conclusion is drawn that they did not have moral character.

Both the actions and consequences have important implications for the failure of Enron (Audi, 1). Deontological ethics and virtue ethics played a major role in what happened within the Enron corporation. Doing the right thing because one's character dictates it results in desirable outcomes. The opposite is also true. Doing the wrong thing because one doesn't have moral character results in undesirable outcomes. This is painfully evident when discussing the Enron scandal.

Reference:

Fisher, Colin & Lovell, Alan. (2006). Business, ethics and values. 2nd edition. New York, NY:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2007). Deontological ethics. Retrieved on November 17, 2022

from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/.

Herman, Barbara. (1996). The practice of moral judgment. New York, NY: Harvard University

Campbell, John. (1995). The practice of moral judgment - book review.  Mind, Jan. Retrieved on November 17, 2022.

Wilson, Stephen A. (2005). Virtue reformed: rereading Jonathan Edwards's ethics. Retrieved on November 17, 2022

Audi, Robert. (1995). Acting from virtue. Mind, July. Retrieved on November 17, 2022