Dawn Riley at America True

Dawn Riley at America True
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Executive Summary
In this paper, the story of Dawn Riley at America True is analyzed exhaustively from an ethical viewpoint, particularly using utilitarian ethics. According to utilitarianism, whether any given action of a person is morally wrong or right depends on the effects of that particular action. The actions of Dawn Riley made her America True team more prepared and ready for the competition and so her actions are seen as being morally right – the consequences were good. Riley developed strong ties between the shore and sailing crews, something that was vital for the overall integration of her syndicate/team. The consequences of Riley’s actions resulted in a syndicate/team whose members were contented and pleased and who worked together in a very collaborative manner toward the accomplishment of team goal. From the utilitarian ethics standpoint, this is morally good.
Dawn Riley at America True
This paper analyzes the story of Dawn Riley at America True from an ethical perspective. In particular, the ethics in the story is analyzed from the utilitarian ethics perspective. Utilitarianism is a well-known moral theory. Its main concept, just like other types of consequentialism, is that whether the action of a person is morally wrong or right depends on the effects of that action. In other words, the only effect of an action that is relevant is the bad and good outcomes it produces (Henry, 2011). It is notable that people who uphold utilitarianism believe that morality has the purpose of making life better by way of increasing the amount of happiness, pleasure and other good things in the world and reducing the amount of unhappiness, pain and other bad things (Andre & Velasquez, 2012). Utilitarians reject moral systems or codes which include taboos and commands rooted in traditions, customs or orders that supernatural beings or the leaders give. They instead believe that what makes morality to be justified or true is essentially its constructive contribution to both people and non-human beings.
In the story of Dawn Riley at America True, Dawn Riley is basically the Captain and Chief Executive Officer while Chris Coffin was the COO of America True, which is a syndicate that challenges for the America’s Cup. Riley leads her America True team comprising 16 members which would start to race in the Louis Vuitton Challenger series in 6 weeks. Dawn Riley and her top management team always made decisions through consensus. In meetings, Dawn Riley and Chris Coffin often took a big picture viewpoint and they asked questions regarding how the other people in the team approached issues to make sure that they properly took into consideration all their options. Coffin and Riley did not consider themselves as being other people in the team; rather, they saw them as peers and mostly operated in peer straits. They do not give commands or order their team members around (Doughty, 2000). This is in line with the ethics of utilitarianism which rejects moral codes or systems comprising commands anchored in orders given by leaders.
Considering that utilitarianism places the locus of wrong and right exclusively on the consequences or outcomes of selecting one action over the other actions, determining whether Dawn Riley’s actions were right or wrong requires looking at the consequences of her actions. It is worth mentioning that the actions of Riley made her America True team more prepared and ready for the contest – the Louis Vuitton Cup – and thus her actions are considered as being morally right. Her team was able to make the necessary modifications to the race boat on time for the contest, which involved determining the best hull, rigging, rudder and keel shape configurations for the expected sailing conditions. Her crew members spent many hours on the water and they learned to collaborate and act as a team. They also learned to work p...