ETH501, Business Ethics, Mod 4 Case Assignment - Essay Example

ation is presented to us in the rejection of the promotion test results by the New Haven CT for its fire department due to the lack of minority representation. This paper aims to understand the managerial and organizational performance consequences resulting from a demographic representation in the workforce. After carefully analyzing the arguments and evidences available, a conclusion shall be made on whether organizations should indeed undertake a demographic approach in determining the composition of their workforce.

Representation is one of the basic tenets of social justice especially in a society priding itself of civility. Morality and ethics dictate that all members of society should have the opportunity to contribute to the development process. Power should be distributed and not confined to a few for democracy to persist. Carroll (1990) formalizes these concepts to two principles: the Golden Rule and the Disclosure Rule. The former takes root in religion and history and states that ‘if one wants to be fairly treated then one should treat others fairly too’.

The Disclosure Rule states that if you are comfortable with decisions after asking yourself if you would mind if others were aware of them, the decision is probably ethical. Velasquez (1996) states that the respect for fundamental rights emanates from the principle of Rights Approach where people should be given the right to self-determination and adequate opportunities to do so. Public service organizations will find these ethical and moral obligations as enough motivational reasons to adapt demographic representation in the workplace.

Nonetheless, idealistic principles can often be disregarded by prejudiced preferences and operational requirements. This is especially true in business settings where the desire for production, operational efficiency and sales volume often take priority rather than moral and ethical obligations. Adapting a demographically representative workforce must have