Acme, Inc. is a clothing manufacturer that employees 1,500 people in the state o

Question

Acme, Inc. is a clothing manufacturer that employees 1,500 people in the state of New York. Unfortunately, it has experienced two straight years of business losses and must increase profits in order to stay in business. Acme is bidding on a contract with a major retail chain, and must come in as the lowest bidder in order to win the contract. In order to cut costs, Acme is considering purchasing T-shirts from China from a company that is known for cheap labor and sweatshop conditions.   Clearly state the ethical dilemma. Evaluate the scenario using the three ethical frameworks (utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics) that were discussed in the Halbert chapter in the lessons section. Identify which framework resonates with your own line of thinking.

Explanation / Answer

The ethical dilemma that is present in the following case is due to the fact that Acme is allowing product from another market which has inferior quality and has low working conditions and standards to allow their business to stay afloat because they haven't had a good profit in over 2 years. This is not only bad for their reputation and customer satisfaction but also where ethics are considered. Using the three different approaches, it can be seen that utilitarianism approach to ethics, in this case, is being followed by Acme which can be seen from the fact that Acme has only considered their end goals as opposed to their morals or virtue. While, deontology or virtue ethics depends on the company's moral values and virtue which, in this case, Acne is not worried about. I believe the utilitarianism approach that Acne followed, in this case, inappropriate for the business but where ethics are concerned outside the scope of business, I believe deontology or virtue ethics should have been followed by the company. This is due to the fact that even though their business is not daring well right now, forming a business with a manufacturer that does not adhere to the standard of workers is morally not justified. As far as business is considered though, utilitarianism is the best approach that can be followed by Acme.

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