Evaluate Ethical Approaches - Essay Example

Case 10: Laccaria and Eagle Evaluate the case on Laccaria and Eagle from the four ethical approaches given below. (Write at least five sentences for each ethical approach): a. Deontological Deontological ethics concerns the rights of individuals. However, individuals do not act alone, but have duties to their fellow man, in general or personally. .Deontological ethics could be considered closely linked to Kant, who believed that promoting the common good was good for everyone. The guiding criteria in deontological ethics is doing no harm—at the minimum, but ultimately helping people and leaving them better off , The choice in this instance using deontological ethics would be buying the Orista 45K.

It is unreliable, has poor service and the software need changes. However, it is good for the local economy and ultimately will help people. Of the other two, choices, the purchase of the Epsilon 4311 has neutral consequences, while the other, the Epsilon 45 is bad for the economy. b. Rights-Based Rights-based ethics is could be closely linked to the philosophy of formulated by John Locke emphasizing the rights of the individual and most importantly property-rights. This means that a person’s property should be protected against being compromised by another party’s action.

The individual is a person who as ‘contracted with’ or “bought into” this belief and thus has the overall responsibility to protect the property rights of others. Government may or may not protect these rights. We know in Laccaria, like many developing nations, software and hardware licenses are often ignored. Should Eagle be complicit with this illegal action and violation of property rights? The purchase of the Epsilon 45 is illegal and violation of licensing agreements. The other two options are both viable using this ethical logic.

Given that the Informatics Bureau advised purchasing the Epsilon 4311; this would probably be the tipping point for a decision over these two options. c. Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics is related to the characteristics or virtues of a person and their ability to act in a certain manner. A general statement that could characterize virtue ethics could be “Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.”—in other words, “The Golden Rule.” Should we encourage ‘knock-offs” that damage patents and hard-earned intellectual individual rights?

Should we help people with their skills so that they will feel better about themselves? If you view the three options, the purchase of the Orista 45 is the best under virtue ethics d. Pragmatic Ethics The pragmatic approach is one where ethics are variable according to the situation. It could be said to be similar to the Utilitarian and the Machiavellian approach. In viewing the three options, the most likely candidate would be buying the Epsilon 45. Although they are considered ‘illegal’ by the government, there is a minor possibility that the company will be prosecuted.

Also, there are others who are purchasing this ‘knock-off’ so there will probably be not too much damage or ‘dis-utility” from these parties. Overall, what should the manager’s decision be? What would you do? The managers decision should be the purchase of the Orista 45 due that: 1)it is good for the local economy—which is a pragmatic decision if the company wants a long-term presence in the country and 2)it is less costly than purchasing the Epsilon 4311 with no apparent benefits to the local economy.

My decision would be to purchase the Orista 45K, although it is not a very good decision for the efficiency of the company. In developing nations, it is often not the most efficient, but what can benefit people that count. The option, which will be time consuming, will be to help the company with better service and improved software. In the short term, you may have ‘clunky’ software, but in the long term if you work with the difficulties, the company will have helped the company making the Orista 45K a better product and benefit the country.