Explain why you think it is important at both a personal and a professional level to be knowledgeable about the ethical principles of analysis

• Explain why you think it is important at both a personal and a professional level to be knowledgeable about the ethical principles of analysis.

Ethics affects many people, many stakeholders not just one person.  Ethics in business normally generates from personal views.  If a business does something unethical then the community will not trust them and take their business elsewhere.  The ethical principles of analysis help decision making in personal and professional roles.

• Analyze the philosophical approaches (consequentialist, deontological, and virtue philosophical) discussed in Chapters 2 & 3 (Business Ethics).

Consequence ethics judge the morality of actions or rules based on whether the actions are good.  Decisions should be made for all stakeholders. Ethical rules do not ensure that a decision will be right because there is no one-rule-fits-all.  An example of this would be if your employer had a rule that lying was grounds for termination and you were caught lying to a supplier then you would be fired.  Under consequence ethics it would not matter if you were lying to the supplier to get the company a better deal it would only matter that you were caught lying.

Deontological ethics believe that an action should be based on rules, obligations and duties.  The actions and outcomes are independent from each other.  An example would be killing a person would be wrong even if it was for self-defense.Virtue philosophical ethics refers to character and quality rather than duty or acting to achieve good consequences.  An example would be if you make a mistake at work you own up to the mistake not blaming other or making excuse.

• Evaluate ONE or the philosophical approaches and describe why you have (or would) use that approach to guide your decision making in everyday business life.

I would use the virtue ethic approach at work.  I feel that how you act at work says a lot about a person, if you are trustworthy, respectful and take responsibility a company run smooth.   These ideas build teamwork and keep people motivated to help each other and be productive.  It is awful in a work in a place where you do not trust or respect your coworkers.