Ethical Dilemma: Case Study
Facts:
Luke is an employee with ABC Company and is responsible for working on a project that to develop land purchased by his company to build adult entertainment retail store. By doing so, the property values for the surrounding the project land neighborhood will fall down significantly, including Luke’s brother house. While Luke is required to keep the plans from higher-ups strictly private, his brother, Owen, told him about the decisions of either selling the house at the current market price or waiting for a better offer few years later. Issue:
The ethical issue in this case is whether Luke should fulfill his obligations of loyalty to his company or being honest with his brother by telling the truth that might save Owen’s property from losing the value. This raise an ethical question is because Luke is related to Owen; he has to face with a situation in which there is no right or wrong answer, but instead a right and right answer.
Ethical Lenses and Analysis:
According to deontological theories, Luke’s case can be applied by either Universal Ethics or Utilitarianism. Based on the Utilitarian theory, which is considered as “the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the most people is the choice that is ethically correct”, Luke should tell Owen his company’s plan only if it benefits more people than not. Luke has to consider all of ABC’s employees, stakeholders, and also the customers. While telling Owen the truth might be a good decision making because Owen is Luke’s brother, his action may result a bad consequence if it appears that he exposed the company’s private information to his family member
Universal Ethics is defined as “actions are taken out of duty and obligation to a purely moral ideal rather than based on the needs of the need of the situation, since the universal
Luke is an employee with ABC Company and is responsible for working on a project that to develop land purchased by his company to build adult entertainment retail store. By doing so, the property values for the surrounding the project land neighborhood will fall down significantly, including Luke’s brother house. While Luke is required to keep the plans from higher-ups strictly private, his brother, Owen, told him about the decisions of either selling the house at the current market price or waiting for a better offer few years later. Issue:
The ethical issue in this case is whether Luke should fulfill his obligations of loyalty to his company or being honest with his brother by telling the truth that might save Owen’s property from losing the value. This raise an ethical question is because Luke is related to Owen; he has to face with a situation in which there is no right or wrong answer, but instead a right and right answer.
Ethical Lenses and Analysis:
According to deontological theories, Luke’s case can be applied by either Universal Ethics or Utilitarianism. Based on the Utilitarian theory, which is considered as “the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the most people is the choice that is ethically correct”, Luke should tell Owen his company’s plan only if it benefits more people than not. Luke has to consider all of ABC’s employees, stakeholders, and also the customers. While telling Owen the truth might be a good decision making because Owen is Luke’s brother, his action may result a bad consequence if it appears that he exposed the company’s private information to his family member
Universal Ethics is defined as “actions are taken out of duty and obligation to a purely moral ideal rather than based on the needs of the need of the situation, since the universal