Case study on Utilitarianism

Essay Instructions:

Case

Business Ethics and Consequentialism

Background

In the Module 2 Case, we will apply utilitarian ethics to an organizational problem. In order to be best prepared and perform well on the case assignments, please be sure that you complete the Background Information readings and the SLP before completing your Case.

Required Reading

Read the following excerpt concerning the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the father of utilitarian ethics: http://plato(dot)stanford(dot)edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/#JerBen

Please read the following case study from the Markkala Center for Applied Ethics:

http://www(dot)scu(dot)edu/ethics/dialogue/candc/cases/supplier.html

Here is the actual outcome:

http://www(dot)scu(dot)edu/ethics/dialogue/candc/cases/supplier_comments.html

Assignment

Please write a 5-6 page paper in which you address the following:

Drawing upon utilitarian ethics, discuss what you believe the supplier/transistor company should do.

Keys to the Assignment

The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered in your paper include the following:

What do you believe is/are the key utilitarian ethical problem(s) confronting the supplier/transistor company in this Case?
What advice do you believe Jeremy Bentham would have given the supplier company?
Apply Steps A through D of the Utility Test to the above case. Be sure that you carefully document each step in the process.
Choose one of the following five tests: Rights Test, Exceptions Test, Choices Test, Justice Test, or the Common Good Test. Click here: http://ethicsops(dot)com/EthicsTestsLinks.php . Now, apply the test you’ve chosen to the above case. In your paper, be sure that you have fully discussed your decisions at each step.
Compare and contrast the results you have obtained from the Utility Test with the additional test you have selected. Which of the two tests is most informative, and why?

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated on the following seven criteria:

Precision - Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?
Breadth - Is the full breadth of the subject (i.e., the Keys to the Assignment) addressed?
Depth - Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the background readings and other background resources as references?
Critical thinking - Is the subject thought about critically (i.e., accurately, logically, relevantly, and precisely)?
Clarity - Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of quotations?
Organization - Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings included in all papers longer than two pages?
Referencing (citations and references) - Does the paper include citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the background reading and assignment present and properly cited? Are all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to via citation?

Tips and Suggestions

Your paper will be graded on the following:

Your ability to apply utilitarianism to the decision faced by the transistor/supplier company;
Your ability to apply the Utility Test and your choice of the five tests to the problem confronting the supplier;
The extent to which you have logically and critically compared and contrasted the results from the two tests; and
Your assessment as to which of the two tests best informs the Case.

Please do not simply restate the facts of the Case. Instead, be sure to analyze! Critical analysis is key at the graduate level.
Remember to follow the Well-Written Paper guidelines.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Case study on Utilitarianism
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University
Date
Case Study on Utilitarianism
According to the account of social utility, the human nature is controlled by two forces, mainly pleasure and pain. In addition to that, the utility principles serve as a standard for the measurement of rightful actions among individual sand governments. Individual or organizational actions are either approved or disapproved with regard to whether they bring bout happiness/pleasure or pain/unhappiness respectively CITATION Wes04 \l 1033 (West, 2004). Rightness and the individual need for the promotion of overall happiness in one way or the other serve to be incompatible with people's psychological egoism. John Stuart Mill provides support for the value of utilitarianism as theory of morals and offers responses to the misconceptions concerning it. He highlights utilitarianism as a theory founded on the principle that actions are only right to the extent in which they promote happiness, and wrong in proportion when they attempt to give the inverse of happiness.
The company supplying transistors is facing critical ethical problems, with consideration to the utility principles. One of the main issues is whether they have an obligation to continue supplying the pacemaker company. The board is not certain whether there should be a continuation of supply to the pacemaker company. In addition to that, the board is experiencing a dilemma. First, they are not sure whether continuing with the supply would mean more patients get affected because physicians are not adept in the installation of the pacemakers. Second, the board cannot tell whether a continuation of the supply of transistors to the pacemaker company would mean better chances of living to patients with heart problems CITATION Dri09 \l 1033 (Driver, 2009).
Jeremy Bentham, being influenced by the human nature account by Hobbes and social utility account by Hume holds the view that human beings have to serve their two masters; pleasure and pain. With the confusion regarding the ethnic obligations the transistor supplier company is facing, it would be difficult to keep in check all the parameters, as this proves to be more complicated and in a way time wasting. According to Bentham, an action's moral quality should be measured/ sought in an instrumental manner. The company that supplies should check each of the options of their actions and weigh them against the consequences that they bring forth. This is because there is not really an action that is intrinsically wrong. The judgment of an action to be wrong is highly dependent on the effects/consequences it brings forth. Weighing the effects of an action if negative, make them instrumentally wrong CITATION Wes04 \l 1033 (West, 2004).
It is true that the supply of the pacemaker company with the transistors, considering the failure on their side, is a time bomb. This provides the board with two actions; they either have to stop the supply or to proceed with it. Either of the two is chosen having in mind there bearable consequence. The stoppage of the supply of transistors to the pacemaker will definitely result in the pacemaker company stopping its operation. In addition to this, another consequence would is that there won't be more pacemaker productions. This means no hope for individuals with heart problems. On the contrary, if the board proceeds with supplying the transistors, people with heart problems would have greater chances of life. However, in the long run, the transistor supplying company may face a law suit. If the pacemaker company had better standardization of their technology there would be a great reduction of the death risks resulting from the installation of pacemakers. Hence, the company producing transistors should find a way of making the pacemaker company to ensure the safety of their technology to the patients CITATION Eps87 \l 1033 (Epstein, 1987).
The first stage of conducting the utility test is the introduction of the test. This is carried out through asking the question whether the action maximizes good and minimizes the harm faced by those that are affected. This is based on the consequences of the action, which in this case is either to stop or proceed with the supply of transistors to the pacemaker company. ...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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