Utilitarianism And Deontology From A Business Perspective

The purpose of this essay is to analyse and evaluate both Utilitarianism and Deontology from a business perspective. To come up with an answer to the age old question of what is better for business Utilitarianism, Deontology or something else? These two main ethical concepts rule almost all decisions made by companies nowadays. The paper is structured so that first it analyses Utilitarianism and compares it to Deontology by first defining the ethical terms based on current literatures, and later provide real live examples to illustrate the concepts mainly obtained from articles in authoritative sources. A conclusion is then derived from these discussions and examples to evaluate which one is better for business. This is done by drawing up†¦show more content†¦These are act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism is the concept that an action is permissible and even desirable if it increases utility – happiness – to the group as a whole. Take an example of a pharmaceutical company. This company has developed a drug that can lower cholesterol levels in patients. Cholesterol is a very dangerous substance and is directly linked to heart attacks and other serious health conditions. This drug has no major side effects confirmed by the preliminary tests conducted by the company. Because of this the company aims to achieve TGA approval, for which they are conducting human trials. In these trials the company has selected two groups with 100 individuals in each group. Group one; the treatment group will receive the drug, while group two, the group established as control group will receive a placebo. Neither group will use any additional drugs that would help their cholesterol levels while being in the trials. The trial takes one year while the company gathers data from both groups. According to utilitarian principles this trialling of the drug is permissible and even desired as all evidence points to the drug being highly effecti ve and without major side effects. So if TGA approves the drug, society as a whole will benefit from a new and effective treatment method for high cholesterol levels. On the other hand it can be argued that since cholesterol can be such a damagingShow MoreRelatedUtilitarian And Deontology Theories1640 Words   |  7 Pages Analyzing Utilitarian and Deontology Theories in Police Behavior Utilitarianism and deontological theories have been known to be critical the organizational transformation of law enforcement. These theories or ethical perspectives help law enforcement officers to; identify and define problems, forces them to think systematically, encourages them to view issues through many different points or positions, and provides them white decision-making guidelines. 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