Category: Ethics

The need for corporate social responsibility

According to Plant (2004), various factors appear to affect the relationship amid alcohol and society. Though the interaction between these influences exists, no particular factor tends to emerge dominant in the drinking pattern development especially among young people.

In fact, this explains why any prescription on alcoholism in the society requires a blend of several approaches (Plant 2004, p.906). In the same way, no single sector, corporation, or institution can claim to have measures that can tackle the issue (Wilsnack & Wilsnack, 1997).

In the UK, for instance, the government, health organizations and other entities as part of the wider stakeholder has a responsibility to contribute towards the reduction of harmful health impacts or the unsafe alcohol consumption patterns (Turrisi et al., 2000, p.348).

As part of the corporate social responsibility strategies, firms in the industry find it critical to collaborate with other stakeholders in order to attain this goal. Each partner must play its role succinctly. The firms reexamine important issues that are of great essence to the wellbeing of the businesses including research, responsible marketing, as well as issues concerning alcohol abuse prevention and consumer enlightenment.

The government must put in place appropriate policies such as social policing control, tax policies, and quality control measures to curb the menace (Vakalahi, 2001). In essence, corporate social responsibility takes cognizant of the societal basic values, corporate ethics, policies, and practices that control the beverage alcohol industry (Crane & Matten, 2010).

The continuous public scrutiny measures the extent of social responsibility and accountability that the alcohol industry has on the consumption of alcohol (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2008). According to Mundt (2011), corporate social responsibility requires collaborating with other stakeholders within the industry through joint actions and via dialogue.

Scholars claim that coming up with a strategy intended to reduce alcohol consumption entails various multifaceted health, confidentiality, takings, and edifying concerns (Mundt, 2011). Therefore, there is need for alcohol policies based on the wider stakeholders engagement (Trevino & Nelson, 2010).

The CSR model in the control of alcoholism

According to bylaws, corporations are considered as independent entities. Though managed by individuals, corporations are independent from these individual managers and the employees (Visser et al., 2010). The CSR approach asserts that the sole responsibility of the firm is to improve the well-being of the stakeholders (Visser et al., 2010).

In other words, corporations have the responsibility of increasing returns on investments made by the shareholders. However, corporations have a moral obligation not only to the stakeholders, but also to the society. In terms of CSR model, the moral obligation is the ethical responsibility while returns on investment can be considered as the economic responsibility (Crane et al., 2008).

Besides the economic and legal responsibilities, ethical responsibilities are critical in the attainment of the organizational goals. Modern organizations particularly firms in the alcohol industry take into consideration the need for moral obligations for their sustained growth and development (Crane & Matten, 2007).

These companies engage in CRS not only to build their reputation but also to create good relations with the public and the government (Crane et al., 2008). The nature of their product, the public perception, and scrutiny requires that they adopt socially responsible strategies.

The utilitarian approach

The utilitarian model argues that any action of the firm would be correct so long as it results in the greater societal good (Crane & Matten, 2010). The argument is that provided the action of the firm leads to the happiness of the stakeholders then such actions should be upheld.

Crane and Matten (2010) argue that firms should embrace those values that increase happiness or greater returns to the stakeholders including societies in which they operate. In fact, this is the moral obligation of the firm, which can be applied by firms within the alcohol industry.

Whether happiness or good can be valued remains an opposing viewpoint of this approach. However, Fisher and Lovell (2006) argue that quality and quantity of such attributes can be calculated when it comes to ethical considerations.

Mariya, C argue that the values that strengthen this philosophical view point are that enhancing the amount of pleasure and reducing the amount of pain for the greatest amount of people is more important than ones self interest. The increase in pleasure and reduction of pain are more important than the means used to acquire the outputs (Fisher and Lovell, 2006).

The firms in the alcohol industry in the UK can emphasize on those activities that pleases the society rather than those activities that benefits the company and its shareholders. In essence, the companies should not only emphasize on profit making but also measures that reduces the effect of alcoholism in society.

These actions include reduction of alcohol content and creating public awareness on the harms of excessive and underage drinking. In this sense, the companies become society friendly and reputable. The reputations of the companies have long-term benefits that outweigh the losses they currently incur through increased public campaigns.

Egoistic approach

According to Jennifer, C entities ought to pursue their own self-interest exclusively and they have no any other duty apart from fulfilling their self interest. Even though this approach is concerned with self-interest, it does not mean that entities should not embark on helping others. However, entities will have long-term benefit through helping others. In essence, entities will help themselves through helping others.

This theoretical perspective coins three important values. First, entities are obligated to meet the desires of their stakeholders. Secondly, these needs can only be sustained if all get fulfillment and finally all must come up with strategies that will help fulfill such desires.

This perspective looks at the individual benefit rather than the benefits that the society derives from other entities. Hassan, C asserts that the approach is based on the notion that an act is considered moral if the person who has done it have the freedom to do it and it is aligned with short or long-term desires or interests that the person may have.

Egoism underpin values that fosters the freedom of choice and access of information necessary to help businesses to chose the right decisions in their point of view that leads them to satisfy their desire. Another value is customers and stakeholders are the ones that could decide what is morally acceptable.

Alcohol beverages if consumed irresponsibly can cause severe individual and social harm. In the contrary, alcohol offers substantial individual gratification as well as social benefits (Turrisi et al., 2000, p.348). The quantity consumed by individual as well as the quality is the most important factor to consider in its consumption (Plant 2004, p.906).

Individuals are responsible to control their behaviors towards others as well as for themselves. However, they need information from corporations that act as guidance or help them delineate suitable degree of that responsibility. In other words, corporations have the responsibility of providing standards and control in the consumption of the beverage alcohol (Shaw, WH 2010).

De George (2012) asserts this does not mean that the firms in the industry stop pursuing the goal of profit making, rather legitimately pursues both profit making and promotion of public good through responsible social behaviors. The corporate social responsibility in this sense entails encouraging consumers to drink sensibly and responsibly.

The ethical action should be part of long-term strategy for the attainment of economic interest for the company (Beccaria et al., 2012). The efforts of the industry that are directed towards promoting increased responsible drinking pattern among citizens is a way of demonstrating to the public and other stakeholders particularly those concerned with public health that the industry is serious about alcohol abuse.

In essence, the industry as well as associated stakeholders is seriously contributing to the reduction of alcohol consumption misuse and harm (Pettersson et al., 2009).

The stakeholders models

Stakeholders theories suggest that the interest of all stakeholders ensure sustained growth and long-term development of the company (Crane & Matten, 2010). If properly applied, firms within the beverage alcohol industry in the UK will have no conflict of interest with other stakeholders especially those concerned with health.

Crane and Matten (2010) claim that the strategy will ensure the corporations attain the long-term profit making objectives and the attainment of their social responsibilities.

According to Crane and Matten (2010), normative stakeholders theory provides an elaborate framework through which corporations can take into account the interest of all stakeholders. In addition, the theory provides a framework through which moral or philosophical guidelines linking the corporations and their activities are identified.

The framework on how these corporations can actually take into consideration all the stakeholders interest is provided in the descriptive stakeholders model. The model views corporations as a convergence of various interests most of which are competing though others might be collaborating (Malachowski, 2001).

This can be applied by firms within the beverage alcohol industry on how to deal with divergent interest of various stakeholders. Moreover, the theoretical framework provides ways through which these corporations can fulfill their corporate responsibilities particularly those concerned with the harmonization of alcohol consumption, responsible marketing, and health (Ferrell et al., 2009).

The normative descriptive model provides a framework through which corporations can involve various stakeholders in the attainment of their social responsibility goals.

Whether it is beneficial to take into account the various stakeholders interest in the moral obligations of these firms is anchored in the instrumental stakeholders model (Fisher & Lovell, 2006). This model analyzes the benefits the firm will get by considering the interest of other stakeholders.

That is, the impact of including the interest of other stakeholders (Crane & Matten, 2007). Firms within the industry can use the instrumental stakeholders model to examine the relations between their stakeholders management practices and the attainment of their various governance goals (Malachowski, 2001).

References

Beccaria, F, Rolando, S & Ascani, P 2012, Alcohol consumption and quality of life among young adults: a comparison among three European countries, Substance Use & Misuse, vol. 47 no.11, pp.1214-1223.

Carroll, AB & Buchholtz, AK 2008, Business & society: ethics & stakeholder management, Cengage Learning, Farmington Hills, MI.

Crane, A & Matten D 2010, Business ethics: managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford

Crane, A & Matten, D 2007, Business ethics: managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization, Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford.

Crane, A, Matten, D & Moon, J 2008, Corporations and citizenship, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

De George, RT 2012, Business ethics, Pearson Education India, Delhi, India.

Ferrell, OC, Fraedrich, J & Ferrel, L 2009, Business ethics: ethical decision making and cases, Cengage Learning, Farmington Hills, MI.

Fisher, CM & Lovell, A 2006, Business ethics and values: individual, corporate and international perspectives, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Malachowski, AR 2001, Business ethics: critical perspectives on business and management, Routledge, London, UK.

Mundt, M P 2011, The impact of peer social networks on adolescent alcohol use initiation, Academic Pediatrics, vol.11 no.5, pp.414-421.

Pettersson, C, Bostrom, M & Eriksson, C 2009, Parental attitudes and behavior concerning adolescent alcohol consumption: do socio-demographic factors matter? Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, vol.37 no.6, pp.509-517

Plant, M 2004, The alcohol harms reduction strategy for England, British Medical Journal, vol. 328 no.7445, pp.905-906.

Shaw, WH 2010, Business ethics, Cengage Learning, Farmington Hills, MI.

Trevino, LK & Nelson, KA 2010, Managing business ethics, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.

Turrisi, R, Wiersma, KA, & Hughes, KK 2000, Binge-drinking-related consequences in college students: role of drinking beliefs and mother-teen communications, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, vol.14 no.4, pp.342-355.

Vakalahi, HF 2001, Adolescent substance use and family-based risk and protective factors: a literature review, Journal of Drug Education, vol.31 no.1, pp.29-46.

Visser, W, Matten, D, Pohl, M & Tolhurst, N 2010, The A to Z of corporate social responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey

Wilsnack, RW & Wilsnack, SC 1997, Gender and alcohol: individual and social perspectives. Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, New Brunswick, NJ.

Introduction

The case under analysis called Incident at Morale focuses on ethical responsibilities and decisions that are highlighted in engineering practice. In particular, the video demonstrates that good and conscientious people can sometimes face situations, leading to unfortunate and unethical outcomes.

Therefore, the main aspects of the case rely on ethical considerations, overview of codes of ethics affecting the decision-making process, and evaluation of obligations that engineers should fulfill while concluding an agreement with a customer.

Step 1: Determine Facts of the Case

Incident at Morales involves a range of ethical issues that the company confronts while building a plant and launching a new chemical product to sustain a competitive edge. Phaust Chemical manufactures a paint remover that is considered the leader at the market. Chemitoil plans to launch a new product to capture the market dominated by Phaust.

On learning that, Phausts executives have decided to work out a new highly competitive product and build a new plant in Mexico. In order to develop a new paint remover, the company employs a chemical engineer that had previously been working for Chemitoil. As the project begins, Phausts parent firm located in France reduces budget by 20 %. Under these circumstances, the vice president tells the newly hired engineer Fred to decrease the construction costs.

However, Fred encounters a number of ethical contradictions that play an important role in discussing expenditures, budget plans, environmental issues, management issues. In order to produce paint removal, Fred has to buy pipes and other devices that are made up of either of high pressure alloy or stainless steel.

Due to the fact that the major conception of Phausts new product lies in delivering the remover requiring higher pressures and temperatures, it can cause significant problems in terms of technical process and ethics. As a result of reduced terms and challenging conditions, an unfortunate accident occurs, causing serious problems.

Step 2 and 3: Stakeholders and Their Motivations

Both Chuck, the head of engineering department, and Dominique, the head of the parent company in France, were interested in immediate construction of chemical plant in Mexico to produce a new product and capture new markets. Under these circumstances, they also have the opportunity to outstrip to the indices of their competitor  Chemitoil.

The main responsibility imposed on Mr. Martinez lied in designing a new firm within the established deadline and budgeting, which is a serious challenge. These terms, however, prevented the new engineer from taking environmental and safety issues into consideration and considering the responsibility for the personnel and quality of equipment.

Finally, Wally, the official representative of the Mexican department, exposed significant pressure on Fred who attempted to make certain amendments to the construction plan. The role of Wally, therefore, lied in convincing Mr. Martinez of using his own experience in creating the chemical manufacture. Ignorance of safety measures and inspection process could be the main reason for the accident at the plant.

Step 4: Formulate Possible Solutions

While evaluating the main premises of the case, specific emphasis should be placed on such aspects as responsibility distribution, accountability, and corporate culture. To begin with, the Mexican official should have considered the role of responsibility in handling such issues as inspection control, human resources management, and adherence to quality standards.

Negligence of the construction plan procedures was explained by Wally excess attention to the outcomes of the venture. At this point, Wally should have been more careful before choosing the supplier for delivering details to a new plant and accelerating the process by all means.

Aside from the security measures, Fred should have been more strict and accountable for the construction process before making decision. In particular, Mr. Martinez should reconsider the budget and insist on development of new alternatives for construction process. This is of particular concern to purchasing alloys, which the plant could not afford.

Second, the new plant designer was under the pressure of environmental contradictions because most of the regulations were not followed. At this point, the solution here should involve assessment of ecological situation before analyzing the possibility for purchasing new equipment.

Step 5: Evaluate Alternatives

Strict allocation of responsibilities should be introduced to the new team of constructors and engineers. Chuck should be more concerned with moral codes and corporate culture before deciding on the new chemical plant project.

Moreover, the attention also requires external environment evaluation, including social and political challenges that are predetermined by other environmental organizations and governmental authorities. The case with Wallys power overuse demonstrates increased pressure and serious violation of ethical norms, which can result in negative consequences for the welfare of the personnel

Step 6: Additional Assistance

Environmental protection and social corporate responsibilities should be the pillars of any business organization operating at the global market. Therefore, the company should, first of all, rely on these concepts before launching a new business venture. Second, the head of the engineering department should be aware of the professional obligations that each employee should observe.

Step 7: The Best Course of Action

Adherence to ethical values, such as civility, respect, fairness, and kindness, is crucial for the managers to succeed in monitoring and administering the entire business project. In order to avoid complication and disagreements with environmental organization, the head of the engineering department should take greater control of inspection, testing, and reliability of the plant design to avert damage and ensure security issues.

This is of particular concern to personnel testing, analysis of legality and publicity, as well as common practice test, which identifies the reasonability of the implemented practices.

Step 8: Implementing the Solution

Before implementing the above-proposed solutions, the managerial staff should conduct a performance test to evaluate emotional, psychological, and cultural aspects in the employed environment. All these issues are urgent for ensuring productivity and ethics in the workplace.

In addition, all actions carried out during the construction process should be transparent and, therefore, the public relation department should be more concerned with constant reporting. Information related to the environmental aspects of construction, as well as employees ethics should not be concealed because it prevents from fulfilling the main objectives of an international company.

Step 9: Monitoring and Assessing the Outcomes

Open Door policy should be beneficial for introducing amendment to ethical and moral issues of the project. At this point, the manager should constantly monitor the fulfillment of and compliance with existing legal and ethical regulations to avoid complications. Such a policy can contribute greatly to companys reputation and attract larger customer base.

While assessing the outcomes, the managers and engineers should pay closer attention to testing procedures, including performance procedure and employees engagement into the production process.

Introduction

Ethics refers to moral behavior that is acceptable to a particular society. Seglin defines ethics as a set of moral issues that are regarded to be righteous (4). Given a narrower perspective, ethics can be considered as an act of doing what the society expects at the right time and in the right manner. However, ethics can be viewed from a wider perspective.

In this regard, it can be viewed as a meta-ethics, normative ethics, applied ethics, moral psychology and descriptive ethics. Whichever way one views ethics from, this is the morality in actions of an individuals or a group of individuals.

The current society is very sensitive on issues that pertain to morals. Many organizations consider ethics as a basic requirement that its members must consider when conducting their daily duties. It is a requisite for any institution that hopes to achieve its set objectives within a set time line.

Ethics in Law and Religion

Ethics cuts across different institutions, each with its own specifications of what it takes to be considered ethical.

Law and ethics may not go hand in hand in most of the cases. What the law may demand of an individual may be considered as unethical to the society. Law may demand that an individual make a confession against a friend or family member, act in line with some demands that may force one to hit back, or such other actions that may result in one being viewed as not considerate to others plight.

In law, ethics is viewed as practices that are in line with legislation of a given country or state. Professionals such as lawyers, doctors, marketers, engineers among others have a code of conduct that is expected of them. This is called professional or legal ethics. As a representative to his or her clients, a lawyer is expected to respect the privacy that may be due to the client.

He or she should be a representative who is trustworthy either financially or otherwise. Ethics in law is of benefit to the professionals and their clients. A lawyer who maintains ethics is likely to attract more clients to his or her firm. The clients will be assured of a standard service, without the fear of fraud from the service provider.

However, ethics may not work well in some cases. One may fail to deliver justice if ethics is considered. There may be a case that demands for a punishment that the society considers unethical, but one which delivers justice. Therefore, one may be forced to sacrifice justice for ethics.

Religion refers to a set of beliefs of a given group of people. Ethics in religion may be defined as acting according to the beliefs and practices of a given religion (Badaracco 51). The world is characterized by a variety of religious groups, each with different doctrines. The Muslim religion has a very strict code of conduct expected of the followers of both gender.

This is in regard to dress code and other behavioral factors. Religion, unlike law, emphasizes on doing what society considers right, regardless of its standings in a court of law. The church emphasizes on forgiveness as one of the best form of ethics in society, a fact that may not be the case if law is to be followed.

According to most religions, law is the guide to the society. However, it should not be viewed as a source of oppression to mankind. For this reason therefore, what may be considered as ethical before the law, may be very unethical to a given religion.

Ethics is of benefit to religion. It ensures that a given religious group stays in cohesion, always seeing each other as a brother. However, ethics may be a source of punishment to the believers. What a religious group considers ethical may be oppressive to a section of that religious group.

Works Cited

Badaracco, Joseph. Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose Between the Right and the Right. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 1997. Print.

Seglin, Jeffrey. The Right Thing: Conscious, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Todays Business. New York: Spiro Press, 2003. Print.

Engineers are the professionals who are the masterminds of projects. Specifically civil engineers are the ones who oversee the construction of buildings, roads and other structures. According to findings of American Society of Civil Engineers (2000), in their day to day work, they encounter various problems concerning their professionalism. It is important to note that when a problem happens in the construction industry the first accusing finger is pointed towards the civil engineer who was assigned to the structure in question. Some of these problems are caused by engineers who fail to stick to the ethics of engineering. This paper reviews some of the reasons behind the setbacks in construction industry.

A major constraint in any engineering practice, especially multinational corporations, is the international law. An international agreement is not a law in a country but it binds all the members of that association while a law is applied in a country and it varies from one country to another. Thus, it has an impact on the delivery of engineering or spatial science projects in any particular country. An example of international agreements is the forest principles of the Rio Earth Summit which applies to countries that are members of the United Nations. This agreement encourages governments to preserve forests. For instance, before the construction of a building or any other structure commences the engineers are the ones who are responsible of verifying the plan of the building and they act as the project managers because they are the ones who man the entire process of construction. They are the ones who schedule tasks and determine the timeline that the project should take (Kelleher, 2005).

In addition to that, they are the ones who compute the budgets of projects. Sweet and Schneier (2008) argue that all of the above tasks are supposed to be carried out with honesty. Engineers are supposed to make their decisions without being manipulated but some of them fall in this test may be due to greed. They are faced with a dilemma of delivering projects that meet customer requirements and at the same time satisfying their personal needs.

There are engineers who are corrupt because they are bribed by those who supply building materials in order to grant them tenders for supplying the said materials. According to Madhavan, Oakley, and Kun (2008), sometimes the materials are of poor quality which can be dangerous to the stability of the structure in question. This is also another form of negligence which often results in the collapse of the structure. This happens when engineers are selfish and are not concerned about the welfare of others because when a building collapses its not the engineer who is injured but the construction workers and other people who are adjacent to the structure.

Kelleher (2005) explains that when such things happen, the engineer in question may loose his/her membership and certificate of registration in addition to being sued in a court of law. Engineers are supposed to ensure that their employer, that is, the project developer fulfills all the legal requirements before the commencement of a project.

Sometimes the engineers themselves sabotage the efforts of their fellow engineers hence an engineer should be vigilant at all times. Engineers are supposed to withhold details concerning the owner of the structure that they are working on. Engineers are prone to being manipulated by those in influential government offices to obtain money fraudulently by over estimating the budget of the project. But then this vice cannot go unnoticed because if the project is evaluated by surveyors, they are most likely to notice that the quality of work on the ground does not correspond to the proposal on paper.

An example of how negligence can lead to loss of lives is the Tay bridge disaster which took place in December 1879. In this disaster the bridge was brought down by a strong wind that was accompanied by a heavy down fall of rain. It is perceived that the engineer who was in charge of its construction used materials of low quality. Perhaps he/she did this to save some extra bucks but then he ruined his reputation due to the many lives that were lost on that particular day (Christou, 2005).

Therefore, engineers should adhere to the ethics of engineering because they are not only answerable to governments in their respective countries but also to God. An engineer should always interpret and evaluate the consequences of his/her actions because overlooking issues can be disastrous as mentioned above.

Reference List

American Society of Civil Engineers., 2000. Standards of Professional Conduct. Reston, Virginia: ASCE Press.

Christou, R., 2005.Boilerplate: Practical Clauses. 4^th Ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell Limited.

Kelleher, T., 2005. Smith, Currie & Hancocks Common Sense Construction Law. 3^rd Eds. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Madhavan, G., Oakley, B. & Kun, G., 2008. Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, New York: Springer Science and Business Media.

Sweet, J. & Schneier, M., 2008. Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering and the Construction Process. Stanford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Introduction

Ethical Awareness Inventory is an instrument that helps in the evaluation of ones ethical perspective. The judgment of an issue as being right or wrong is relative as individual judges; that is, individuals judge an act as being right or wrong from their own perspective.

The ethical perspective that one belongs to determines the ethical decisions made by the person as well as how the person relates with other people. The Ethics Awareness Inventory program involves the use of a series of questions, followed by the analysis of responses.

The answers, usually four, are given and classified ranging from the most ethical decision to the least ethical decision an individual can make to show the type of ethical perspective an individual belongs.

There are four main ethical perspectives that most people base their ethical views on, viz. character, obligation, results, and equity. The knowledge of ones ethical perspective is vital in making good moral judgment and also in good interpersonal relationships.

Ethical Perspectives

Ethical perspectives are different and are important in personal and professional development. The obligation ethical perspective is based on an individuals sense of duty or obligation to do what is morally right. This perspective considers the persons actions to determine intention, rather than looking at the results of an action.

It holds true Kants deontological ethics that an action is good or bad depending on ones motives not results achieved thereafter. Equity ethical perspective is based on an individuals daily experience as a guide to making ethical decisions.

The perspective holds that there are no absolute standards for a right or wrong actions because the circumstances of actions may be different. Other people view actions from a character ethical perspective. They tend to look at the virtues of an individual instead of concentrating on the action itself.

They believe that the person should have good character and strive to live up to high moral standards. The results of ethical perspective on the other hand, consider the results of an action to determine whether an action is morally good or not.

Personal Ethics

The Ethical Awareness inventory program is important in evaluation of an individuals ethical style, which has profound effects on professional and personal life. Culture, religion, and family issues heavily influence personal ethics of an individual.

The awareness of right or wrong from early childhood helps a child to develop the same values and morals later in life. Religious teachings also influence individuals ethical perspective as people are taught that good ways prevail over evil behaviors.

Cultural norms also impact upon the ethical perspectives of the individuals. Certain actions are considered to be against cultural norms of some communities. However, cultural influence on the ethics is varied as culture varies from community to community. Going against cultural norms attracts a punishment including being labeled an outcast.

Professional Ethics

Personal ethics focus on the behavior of an individual in the workplace as opposed to the behavior at home. The professional ethics entail integrity, honesty, and respect to the seniors and the co-workers for the proper working relationships in the workplace. The professional ethics is also under the influence of culture, family and religion.

In professional ethics, acts such as corruption are seen as morally wrong. The professional ethics and the personal ethics in most times are interrelated as an individual with good personal ethics always has a good professional ethics.

Importance of Personal ethics

It is important that people adhere to ethical norms either at an individual level or at a professional level. Adherence to ethical norms promotes the development of research and truth in peoples social lives. Understanding ones ethical perspective is important in making sound and ethical decisions and in promoting good interpersonal relations.

People with good character ethical perspective try to achieve moral excellence by focusing on the virtues or character of an individual. They focus on the integrity, honesty, justice, honor and wisdom of an individual. This is important as an individuals virtues supersede the action itself.

The ethical perspective of equity judges an act objectively from a practical point of view as the circumstances of an action are different. In this perspective, right, or wrong does not exist, as an action is judged based on the practical outcome.

The results of equity perspective focus on the results of an action, whether they are morally good or wrong while the obligation ethical perspective looks at an individuals sense of duty as a basis for doing what is right or wrong.

Conclusion

People view ethics from different perspectives but majority are influenced by four main perspectives that is, character, obligation, results and equity. These different ethical perspectives translate to conflicts among people if not well understood.

Understanding ones ethical perspective therefore helps in promoting ethical decision-making and promotes good interpersonal relationships. Without knowing ones ethical perspective, it will be almost impossible to know and appreciate other peoples ethical perspectives.

Consequently, people will live in conflicts because no one will appreciate the other for he/she does not understand his/her ethical perspective let alone understanding others perspectives.

Introduction

Ethical obligations are intrinsic to any profession; nonetheless, people often make little account of them, giving priority to the efficiency and accomplishments of their work. In occupational spheres where moral qualities are not considered important, ones mistake usually has minor, short-term, and reversible consequences. However, in some cases, a breach of ethics can lead to significant detrimental outcomes. Negligence or an irresponsible attitude to work poses a threat to peoples safety, as it happened on the Three Mile Island, and result in long-term catastrophic repercussions, as illustrated by the Chernobyl tragedy. The two accidents serve as valuable lessons and warnings, showing the essential role of the human factor in the nuclear power industry. The well-functioning mechanisms and automated processes cannot guarantee stability and safety because an individual who makes major decisions is still prone to error. To review the mentioned events in the context of engineering ethics, it is necessary to study their history, causes, the underlying code of conduct, and professionals relative adherence to it.

The Background of the Two Nuclear Accidents

The Chernobyl disaster is known for its drastic impact not only on the Ukrainian population and environment but also on the whole world. As Plokhy (2019) explains, the engineers working on the nuclear power plant were given the task to improve the automatic shutdown mechanisms and, consequently, establish a new emergency safety system. The ministry prompted them to run a corresponding test that would imitate the conditions of power failure (Plokhy, 2019). None of the workers had expected that the procedure would disrupt protective appliances. However, on April 6, 1986, an abrupt power emission during the reactor system test had caused an intense explosion (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). The resulting fire contributed to the destruction of Unit 4 and the extensive spread of radiation (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). Thus, the intention to enhance the work of the plant in case of emergency has turned into the worst nuclear catastrophe globally.

Despite the significant efforts of the responders to the Chernobyl accident, its consequences included the creation of the exclusion zone, peoples deaths, and worsening of the populations health. The remaining reactors were eventually stopped, and the area within 30 kilometers of the plant was closed (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). Shortly after the disaster, 28 workers died, many others suffered from the radiation, and millions of people were exposed to the adverse impact in the contaminated areas (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). The drastic event has also led to the change in the mental health of the affected individuals. They are prone to depression, addictive behaviors, and anxiety; some people experience unrecognized physical symptoms, overestimate their conditions, and make negative predictions regarding their life span (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). The disasters widely spread outcomes should motivate society to pay more attention to safety within the industry.

The Three Mile Island occurrence is considered the most serious nuclear accident which happened in the United States. The personnel working on the plant on March 28, 1979, were unaware of the emergency feedwater valves closure after a maintenance procedure, which had an ultimate influence on their further actions (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). The absence of the main feedwater had stopped the turbine and caused a chain of complicated events and alarms which misled the operators into making wrong decisions (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). They had also missed the fact of inadequate core cooling and the failure of Power Operated Relief Valves, which resulted in radiation releases and gathering of hydrogen in the reactors vessel (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). The accident did not bring dangerous consequences because the large explosion was avoided. Nonetheless, being on the verge of the catastrophe makes that day on Three Mile Island admonitory.

The implications of the nuclear plant accident in the United States were realized later. According to Filburn and Bullard (2016), although peoples exposure to the radiation was insignificant and they did not suffer from long-term health issues, the event entailed economic losses. The rectification of the consequences demanded time and money  ten years and approximately one billion dollars respectively (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). Removing the fuel remains and the subsequent careful examination of the ill-conditioned components helped investigate the matter, and the proper recycling of radioactive waste ensured safety on the plants territory (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). Moreover, Three Mile Island aims at full decontamination of Unit 2 by 2034 (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). The accident did not impact the environmental situation in the region and did not worsen the residents health, but it caused financial troubles for the involved parties.

The Causes of Disasters

The Chernobyl catastrophe is viewed as unprecedented because of its unique circumstances and contributing factors. First of all, the utilized RBMK reactor included a mixture of a graphite moderator and water coolant and was considered unacceptable outside the Soviet Union because of its instability (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). It means that the respective authorities ignored the risks associated with the items characteristics. The reactors conditions were difficult to predict at low power due to its peculiarities: the absence of cooling water increased the speed of the nuclear chain reaction and power output (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Secondly, the plant was less protected in comparison with similar buildings in the world. It was deprived of the reinforced containment structure, which allowed radioactive materials to enter the environment (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Consequently, the Chernobyl power station was not prepared for emergency situations, which made it much more dangerous than other nuclear plants.

There is no doubt that the causes of the Chernobyl tragedy are also related to the human factor. As stated in Low Safety Culture (2019), at that time, economic and sociopolitical aspects in the atomic energy sphere were not legally regulated. There was no person fully responsible for the safety of nuclear power utilization (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The plants Unit 4 was subject to prearranged maintenance; and operators had to perform the procedures determining whether the equipment can maintain enough power for the cooling system during the transition phase (Plokhy, 2019). However, the workers did not take proper precautions when performing the system testing because they were not aware of the existing risks. Most importantly, they were under the pressure of the deputy chief engineer, focused on the task accomplishment, and could not prioritize safety (Low Safety Culture, 2019). Thus, the system of seniority prevailed overprotective measures, leading to the disaster.

Regarding Three Mile Island, the reasons for the accident included minor failures of equipment and inadequate control instrumentation. The chain of events began when the malfunction of the secondary cooling circuit increased the temperature, the subsequent step of the reactor occurred, and the relief valve could not close (World Nuclear Association, 2020). However, the control room instrumentation did not detect the problem. The unnoticed stuck of the pilot-operated relief valve (PORV) has led to a series of misconceptions, which prevented the staff from the timely and effective actions and shifted their focus in the wrong direction. They underestimated the significance of the PORV and the block valve because the manufacturer was unaware of its safety function during accident loads (Rosztoczy, 2019). The flaws in the design of the plant systems had led to confusion during their handling.

The Three Mile Island accident was not deprived of human errors as well. Because of the deficient instrumentation with indicators and the lack of training in a similar situation, the operators could not decide on the appropriate course of actions. Rosztoczy (2019) explains that unable to find the problem, they were improvising and counted on the pressurizer water level data. The employees made several mistakes, such as shutting the emergency core cooling system, opening the letdown line, missing overheating of the core, and injecting radioactive water into the auxiliary building (Rosztoczy, 2019). These errors were fixed late as the partial meltdown had already occurred. Besides, the operators training constituted their preparation for the worst scenario. Their treatment of the situation as a minor did not allow seeing it as potentially dangerous and prevented the workers from reacting to it more seriously (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). Therefore, the incorrect approach to the staff coaching subjected the power station to a disturbing experience.

The Principles of Engineering Ethics

Those individuals who are involved in the nuclear industry should recognize the basic moral values connected with radiological protection. The first one involves beneficence, which is the facilitation of good, and nonmaleficence  the avoidance of doing harm. The principles are realized in the protection of society from the adverse influence of radiation and minimizing the likelihood of threats (Cho et al., 2018). The second  prudence  means ones competence to make informed and thought-out choices depending on what they can do in the given circumstances (Cho et al., 2018). The virtue is related to the obligation to monitor radiological conditions and make sound decisions even when facing uncertainties (Cho et al., 2018). The third value is dignity; it implies that every individual deserves unconditional respect and has the right to take or reject the risk (Cho et al., 2018). The final principle  justice  constitutes the equal distribution of benefits and losses, which means that peoples exposure to radiation should be limited, but not at the expense of others (Cho et al., 2018). The underlying ethical values should become a norm for the workers of nuclear power plants.

The practical application of moral principles can be reflected in such aspects as accountability, transparency, and inclusiveness. The first concept obliges a person or an organization to take responsibility for their actions and related consequences, as well as the provided advice, given order, and developed requirements (Cho et al., 2018). The second one means the establishment of explicit procedures and demands, ensuring unimpeded access to the information which impacts society and the environment (Cho et al., 2018). The last aspect reflects the freedom of stakeholder participation, allowing for the possibility to involve other people besides specialists in the radiological protection because it serves their interests (Cho et al., 2018). The collaboration between the experienced professionals and stakeholders helps them approach an issue in a comprehensive manner and contributes to mutual understanding. The adherence to the accountability, transparency, and inclusiveness elements is the key to upholding safety within the nuclear industry.

Engineers are respectable professionals; given the nature of their work, they are expected to follow the most demanding guidelines of ethical conduct and conform to the corresponding code. The National Society of Professional Engineers offers a comprehensive, detailed, and well-organized set of requirements for the individuals choosing this occupation. It outlines the rules of practice, dividing them into five categories (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). According to the code, engineers should prioritize the publics safety, health and welfare, work only in the spheres of their competence, and deliver unbiased information to the population (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). Furthermore, the representatives of this profession should be faithful to their employers and clients and refrain from fraudulent acts (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). The engineering practice means complying with the highest ethical standards.

People working in the nuclear industry are prepared to undertake a number of obligations connected to their job. For example, engineers make honesty and integrity their moral priority, serve the public interest, avoid potentially misleading actions, and preserve the confidentiality of the clients or employees (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). They do not allow conflicting interests to hinder their judgment and do not purposefully worsen the reputation of colleagues to obtain a promotion (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). On the contrary, the professionals recognize the proprietary rights of others and accept personal responsibility for their work (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). The National Society of Professional Engineers recognizes that their activities directly influence peoples quality of life, setting enhanced demands regarding ones virtues. Such an attitude is commendable and promising in terms of the safety of nuclear power stations.

Breach of Ethics in Chernobyl and Three Mile Island

The tragedy of Chernobyl and its causes can be explained by the absence of certain ethical standards, beginning from the government officials and ending with ordinary performers. The desire to keep pace with other countries has prompted the Soviet Union led to building own nuclear power plant. Nikita Khrushchev ignored the engineers warnings that it would be dangerous to use uranium-graphite channel-type reactors to produce electricity (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The alternative options were inapproachable because of the technological complexity of the reactor vessel production (Low Safety Culture, 2019). Thus, one can perceive the leaders decision as contradicting the principles of nonmaleficence, accountability, and inclusiveness: he did not prevent harm, possess a sense of responsibility, and consider the public interests. Moreover, Khrushchev was acting beyond his area of competence, refusing to accept the advice of specialists in the field. Such breach of ethics has served as a prerequisite for future disaster, given the flawed design of the reactor.

A further breach of ethics can be seen right before the accident on the Chernobyl station and even afterward. As evident from the background description, the plant operators were forced to perform a risky procedure, prioritizing the deputy chief engineers orders over safety (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The head manager did not adhere to the principles of prudence and dignity, threatening everyones well-being and showing no respect for his employees. He also did not demonstrate the willingness to ensure public welfare. When the catastrophe occurred, despite the reactors flawed design, the officials could have limited radioactive exposure (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Nonetheless, the plant operators hid the news from authorities and the affected population, which led to the late evacuation alert and peoples consumption of contaminated food (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Such actions signify the breach of nonmaleficence, justice, transparency, as well as providing false information, ignoring public interests, and avoiding accountability. The continued disregard of ethics has resulted in long-term and extensive outcomes.

The Three Mile Island accident presents slightly different aspects, given that its consequences were manageable and reversible. Firstly, the safety function of PORV was disrupted because such a requirement was not indicated in its purchase order (Rosztoczy, 2019). The supplier did not comprehend the clients demand, which illustrates the violation of beneficence, prudence, and inclusiveness due to poor communication and the reluctance to reach mutual understanding. Secondly, the design of the control room was not well-thought-out because the operators found it difficult to notice and interpret the indicators (World Nuclear Association, 2020). It means that the individuals responsible for this work did not organize the procedures explicitly and did not strive to contribute to the employees welfare and favorable job conditions. These various shortcomings had affected the involved personnel, causing their quite rambling actions and making their diagnostic process increasingly complicated.

The plants staff had played the greatest role in the Three Mile Island disaster because of their non-adherence to the expected ethical conduct. Some of the operators were not experienced enough to handle emergency cases, and the previous training did not seem to prepare them for such situations. It included the mitigation of the presupposed accidents, but very small of them, such as PORV failure, were not analyzed by the designer and consequently were excluded from the program (Rosztoczy, 2019). Without considering the stations reaction to such a breakdown, instructors had taught the operators to rely on the pressurizer water level indication for water level measurements

in the reactor coolant system (Rosztoczy, 2019). The individuals who had developed the training of operators demonstrated the breach of accountability and beneficence because they did not offer a comprehensive preparation that would prove their professionalism and become useful to the students. In turn, the operators did not act within their area of competence as their knowledge was insufficient during the accident. The companys staff should have been educated on the engineering code of conduct to comply with the necessary requirements.

The Comparison of Ethical Implications in the Two Cases

The difference in the consequences of the two discussed disasters is significant because of the variations in the ethical culture of the United States and the Soviet Union. While the related issues were regulated in the U.S. during the corresponding accident, the USSR did not have clearly developed rules of professional conduct in the nuclear industry (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). In addition, the economic progress of the foreign countries has placed the latter state in an unfavorable position. To withstand the competition, the Soviet Union had to make fast decisions and focus on efficiency and production volume, ignoring ethical obligations, including safety (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The authoritarian regimen disapproved initiative and demanded upholding the system of seniority. Conversely, the U.S. continued to promote democratic values and recognized the importance of collaboration. Therefore, the existence of ethical standards and better technical conditions did not result in the tragedy in Three Mile Island, but placing competition and authority before safety caused the Chernobyl tragedy.

The dissimilar outcomes of the accidents can be commented on based on the different attitudes to the precautions, which can be partially attributed to the peoples mentality. The Chernobyl disaster was provoked because of the breach of transparency and accountability. The workers performed a dangerous test without being aware of the potential consequences as the leaders ignored or hid these details (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). The procedure was not accompanied by the proper safety procedures because nobody was responsible solely for this aspect (Low Safety Culture, 2019). On the Three Mile Island plant, the employees did not conduct questionable procedures under pressure and were just subject to an unexpected situation. They took corrective actions as soon as possible, and the serious influence of the accident was avoided (Rosztoczy, 2019). Thus, taking safety measures means following ethical standards and preventing detrimental events.

Nevertheless, both disasters involved a breach of engineering ethics and needed improvement in this realm. The accidents have revealed gaps in the leaders and subordinates accountability, prudence, and transparency, which formed the prerequisites for the occurred issues (Low Safety Culture, 2019). Some individuals acted beyond their competency area and provided misleading information, for instance, the chief engineer on the Chernobyl nuclear station and the managers organizing the training of employees on Three Mile Island. Furthermore, both accidents have illustrated the incidences of violating the principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and inclusiveness, revealing the professionals inability to sympathize and communicate in an efficient manner. The underlying standards of honesty and integrity were not followed as well. One can notice that every breach of ethical obligations can hinder the safety of the enterprise, which is why it is crucial to uphold the existing codes of conduct within the nuclear industry.

Conclusion

The analysis of engineering ethics related to the disasters in Chernobyl and on Three Mile Island requires examining their backgrounds and factors, viewing the accepted principles and standards, and assessing compliance of the involved parties. The former tragedy has happened after the system test resulted in the massive explosion, peoples deaths, diseases, and considerable harm to the local environment. The latter accident involved partial melting of the reactors core due to the unnoticed problem and incorrect series of actions; it entailed mostly economic losses. The causes of the Chernobyl event included poor design of the reactor and the human factor, while the Three Mile Island incident occurred due to minor equipment deficiencies and the insufficient preparation of the operators. In this light, the obligatory aspects of industry ethics encompass nonmaleficence, prudence, justice, dignity, accountability, transparency, and inclusivity. In the Chernobyl case, mostly all involved individuals violated at least one ethical principle, while in the other event the breach was limited to the designers fault and inadequate training of the employees. The comparison of the disasters allows concluding that improving the ethical culture will help enhance nuclear power safety.

References

Cho, K. W. et al. (2018). ICRP Publication 138: Ethical foundations of the system of radiological protection. Annals of the ICRP, 47(1), 1-65.

Filburn, T., & Bullard, S. (2016). Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima: Curse of the nuclear genie. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Low safety culture of the entire system  The cause of the Chernobyl accident. (2019).

National Society of Professional Engineers. (2019). Code of ethics for engineers [PDF document].

Plokhy, S. (2019). Chernobyl: History of a tragedy. London, UK: Penguin Books.

Rosztoczy, Z. R. (2019). Root causes of the Three Mile Island accident. Nuclear News.

The Nuclear Energy Institute. (2019). Chernobyl accident and its consequences.

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (2018). Backgrounder on Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.

World Nuclear Association. (2020). Three Mile Island accident.

As Cline (2011) provides, ethical concepts is an association of people organized under system of rules (p.1). He broadly defines ethical concepts as rational examination of morality and evaluation of peoples behaviour. This provides rules and guidelines aligned with business objectives for the realisation of business strategic goals (De George, 2010).

Ethical concepts have enables coordination and management that ensures implementation of company planning to operate effectively. Overall success of an integrated business objective is stated by Cline (2011) as a guiding conduct and principles for evaluating rules rational based on formal laws (p.1).

This therefore implies that ethical conducts are indeed management function and requires the integration of both morality and evaluation of peoples behaviour in a given setting. It also implies what Cline (2011) succinctly defines to be morals are derived from societys system of values (p.1).

Kantian deontology is basically a duty based ethic. As Cline (2011) argues good without qualification is a goodwill (p.1). As a control and coordinative function, deontology is increasingly becoming important integration unit in many business application services. Cline (2011) further defines deontology as Deontology as approaches in ethics usually constructed with teleological approaches (p.1).

The author is trying to explain that ethics have increased the global nature of interdependent to ethical conducts which in turn enhances business strategy (Takala 2007; Ross 1963,). Kantian deontology is basically grounded in duty that requires people to be responsible to each other (Sheth 1994).

Rule deontology on the other hand determines what Cline (2011) defines as the basis for moral obligation, act on a rule that can be universally binding on all people (p.1). In other words, deontology acts on the rule that ensures people are treated equally at the end.

Kants moral theory is based on the assumptions that views of the human being have the unique capacity for rationality (p.1).This approach to ethical concepts has influenced the forces will see today. Business Ethics (2005) reasons that propensity applies to what he states as reasoned thoughts and actions, and its exactly this ability which obliges us to act according with and for the sake of duty (p.1).

Their contribution and impacts sufficiently support Kants belief that argues in Business Ethics (2005) that inclination, emotions and consequences should play no role in moral action (p.3). This theory captures how emotions are applied and challenges moral actions. This simply implies that motivation for action should be equated with moral obligation.

Business Ethics (2005) further adds that morality should provide us with a framework of rational principles (rules) that guide and restrict action-independent of personal intentional and desires (p.3). In this regard, deontology should be generally understood as a critical requirement to corporate principles and development inter-relationships that meet companys needs.

Consequently, realisation of the need to make moral obligations importance to organisation has become practical bringing with it an intertwined relationship business ethics and corporate strategy.

Deontology definition tries to answer the following questions as stated in Ethical Concepts (2005) as what is my moral duty, what are my moral obligation, how do I weigh one moral duty against another? (p.2).

In other words, deontology plans to integrate into the corporate system moral duties and obligation that are specific and adequate to allow understanding of each application, and to understand its procedural order of development. This simply means that organisations should provide a new checklist to ensure most critical priorities are met first.

Therefore, if the best consequence such as happiness or pleasure has resulted from moral obligation, it means that the theory is utilitarianism because pleasure is the absolute good. Kants moral theory on the other hand argues in Business Ethics (2005) that we are morally obliged to act in accordance with a certain set of principles/rules regardless of the outcome (p.3).

Evidently, deontology and utilitarian theories are polar opposites. In a given setting, utilitarianism is the most favoured theory since it makes most people happy in a certain set of circumstances. Business Ethics (2005) mentions this as some of the ethical complications with utilitarianism. Business Ethics (2005) stresses the theory to disregards the intrinsic value of all persons justifies of killing one to save many (p.3).

Put forward by Immanuel Kant in 1788, Kantian deontology is major ethical theory that applies to human conduct. Utilitarianism aims at satisfying a specific goal such as happiness and pleasure and justifies any consequence of any act that achieves that goal precisely because it achieves it.

Deontological theories on the other hand argue as provided by Business Ethics (2005) that some acts are always wrong-even if they achieve morally admirable ends (p.3). The same analysis explains an act, in deontology, as a morality that is constantly judged independently of its outcome.

Unlike deontology, utilitarianism does not to equate the right with the good (Ross 1972). Thus, if someone has the moral duty not to steal, then stealing is always wrong regardless if the consequences are harmful to others.

Merely as a tool for understanding business ethics, utilitarianism is basically a consequence based while ethical relativism is subjective and cultural. Relativism explains that rights and wrongs are not universally determined. Subjective relativism on other hand provides that the decisions to do right and wrong depends on an individual judgment- meaning that moral people can agree or differ on moral issues.

Finally, cultural relativism provides morals guidelines on which to determine right and wrong (McCloskey 1976). Business Ethics (2005) states that deontologists moral systems are characterised by a focus upon adherence to independent moral rules or duties (p.3). He adds that, to make the correct moral choices, we need to understand what our moral duties are and what correct rules exist to regulate those duties (p.3).

Deontological system is trying to argue that duties, rules and obligations are determined by God and re-emphasises the reason why certain actions are performed. Deontologists argue in Business Ethics (2005) that simply following the correct moral rules is often not sufficient; instead, we have to have the correct motivations (p.3).

While deontology is generally recognised as obligations individuals are required to adhere to, Business Ethics (2005) consider it as one of the most ethical source of moral duties and obligations. In reality, a person may not regard this as Business Ethics (2005) states as immoral even though they have broken a moral rule, but only so long as they were motivated to adhere to some correct moral duty (p.3).

Deontology is evidently goal oriented and a morally right action strikes to bring about happiness. Utilitarianism on the other hand means that one has to act right to bring the overall good. Deontological theories are not elaborated and do not explain theories based on features alone and fails to explain actions alongside their consequences.

Immanuel Kant questions the fundamental source of morality by stating in Business Ethics (2005) &.what is about peoples action that make susceptible to evaluation as right and wrong (p.4). This theory explains does not classify involuntary actions performed by human beings as either right or wrong.

Kants concludes in Business Ethics (2005) that the source of morality is our ability to rationally make decisions, our possession of a will (in the sense of free will) (p.2). According to Kants explanation to rationalism as stated in Business Ethics (2005), morality applies to all rational beings, so its source cannot be pleasure or desire (p.2).

The article adds that morality applies to non emotional things like Vulcans even though they cannot experience pleasure. Rational being with super strong emotions would not have a higher moral strong status than us. Kant further adds in the Business Ethics (2005) article that without nothing beside rationality can dictate what rules of morality are (p.2).

Kants theory on deontology that applies to moral goodness differentiates moral and ethical goodness different from other kinds of goodness. Ethics (2005) states, when something serves its well served purpose. Other kinds of goodness depend on needs or desire; moral goodness is good (p.2). Here Kant believes that & act has no moral worth if it is not performed for the sake of morality alone (p.2).

The article provides another example where he stated one does not cheat his customers because its the right thing to do, the other doesnt cheat his customers because it is bad for business in the long run. Kant thinks an act must be done for the sake of duty to have moral value (p.2).

Corporate Responsibility

The second dimension ethical theory is BHP Billiton corporate responsibility embedded in its business operations, polices and practices. Involved with leading the way in the organisation operates, ethical theories when applied correctly create value with its employees, customers, shareholders and the surrounding community by connecting companys sense of purpose with a sense of accomplishment.

Corporate responsibility ahs immensely gained recognition in top management functions. Kloppers (2007), the company chief executive states its business objective that enables it to prosper as we must actively manage and build our portfolio of high quality assets and services (p.1).

He further adds we continue to drive towards a high performance organization in which every individual accepts responsibility and is rewarded for results(p.2). It is worth mentioning that BHP Billiton corporate responsibility provides a divergent between the two theories of utilitarianism and deontology in the way in which its policies are constructed.

BHP Billiton Company applies utilitarianism in the way it actively maximises the good of the society by following the principles while deontology is applied where it employs maximum efforts in avoiding the morally wrong doings or rather putting constraints on actions.

Since moral worth of an action is determined by the will, Kloppers (2007) states, we earn the trust of employees, suppliers, customers, communities and shareholders by being forthright in our communication and consistency delivering on commitment (p.3). This in itself is a moral duty that strives to fulfil an action as applied by Kantian deontology which is a duty based ethic. On the other hand Cline (2011) argues that

a correct motivation alone never is never a justification for an action in deontological moral system and cannot be used as a basis for describing an action as a morally correct. It is also not enough to simply believe that something is the correct duty to follow.

Duties and obligations must be determined objectively and absolutely, not subjectively. There is no deontological system of subjective feelings; on the contrary most adherents condemn subjectivism and relativism in all their forms (1).

Dating back to the 60s radicals, Cline (2011) states the most significant thing to understand about deontological moral systems is that their moral principles are completely separated from any consequences which following those principles might have (p.1). Thus if someones moral duty not to spread gossip, then gossiping is always wrong even if it does not result to harming others.

BHPbilliton (2010) goes on to state their mission as one that values the environment and sustainment development, committed to achieving superior business results, and one that builds relation which focuses on the creation of value for all customers (p.1).

By trying to respect the company and its immediate environment, Kloppers (2007) mission statement highlights companys efforts of embracing diversity, enriched by openness, sharing, trust, teamwork and involvement (p.1). Also by accepting the responsibility to inspire and deliver positive change in the face of adversity (p.1) is another way of creating value and embracing corporate responsibility (Narveson 1977.

BHP Billiton Code of Business Conduct (the Code), represents the companys commitment to uphold ethical business practice. Since utilitarianism aims at satisfying a specific goal such as happiness and pleasure and justifies any consequence of any act that achieves that goal precisely because it achieves it, the companys adherence to local customs, laws or regulations, code requirements applies to this ethic.

Kloppers (2007) re-emphasises this code by stating upholding our values relies on every one of us, everywhere, every day, taking responsibility for our decisions and actions (p.5).

Kloppers (2007) further provides a clause in the code that stated we are successful in creating value when our shareholders are realizing a superior return on their investment, when our customers and suppliers are benefiting from our business relationship, every employee starts with a sense of purpose and ends each day with a sense of accomplishment (p.6).

The code has been structured with detailed information regarding work related activities and provides the expected business behaviour. This code explains integrity and good judgement support operations and spreading power away from local administrative support functions to the centre of strategic integrated operation.

Kloppers (2007) goes ahead and explains that the code does not remove the need for us all to exercise good judgement-It just makes it easier for every one of us to do so (p.10). Goes on head and adds. &we all have a responsibility to work with integrity and good judgement (p.10). BHP Billiton Company focuses on adherence to moral rules or duties just as deontologist provide.

Kloppers (2007) explains that correct moral choices require thorough understanding companys moral duties and correct rules that regulate those duties. Cline (2011) also explains that following stipulated duties is adherence to moral behaviours and when we fail, we are behaving immorally. Cline (2011) concludes by adding that deontology is following duties, rules and obligations are determined by God (p.1).

However, by merely following correct moral rules do not necessarily mean moral obligations are met; correct motivations aligned with morals obligations are required. Cline (2011) finalises his argument by stating that correct motivations might allow a person to not be considered immoral even though they have broken a moral rule, but only so long as they were motivated to adhere to some correct moral duty (p.1).

Justice According to Rawls and Nozick

Justice according to John Rawls theory is based on the idea that society provides mutual relationships between individuals (Lacewing 2002). In Pollocks (2002) book Capitalism for Consenting Adults Nozick argues that wage inequality that is justifiable is wrong. He views society as a cooperative venture for mutual gain; when he stated that gains derive from the collaboration by the participants in societys formal market economy (p.1).

A further premise from Phelps (2002) posits that in virtually anyones pay check, the part is the gain from cooperation is going to dwarf the part that could have been earned toiling as a hermit outside society (p.1).

Rawls wonders what kind of principle is being agreed upon when deciding which taxes and subsidies to be determined in average gain and how the gains are distributed over the economys contribution (Lordwick 1975. His theory rejects the idea of generalising net pay rates to all employees regardless of their social status (Kilcullen 1996).

In support of Nozick theory, Lacewing (2002) argues that determining wage gain through confiscatory taxes on higher pay, as it would not fill the right jobs with the right people and not to motivate the right effort and initiative (p.3).

Lacewing (2002) argues for the principle that marginal tax rates should be successively lowered from confiscatory levels, widening pay equality with each step, as long as each resulting improvement in efficiency and its consequent boost to the revenue yield serve to increase the lowest pay rate-not just higher pay rates (p.1). Pollocks book argues from some different perspectives.

On one avenue Pollock (2002) appears to be what Lacewing (2002) states as peopled by largely self made men whose productivity owes little to one another or others (p.2). On another avenue Pollock (2002) argues that the gain per worker from cooperation is so small that not much of a break for the low-paid could be funded without causing the well-paid earn less than they could by each going it alone (p.123).

This theory has however been long accepted preposition among economists when they argued in Lacewing (2002) that gains from cooperatives are large next to what families could earn through self-sufficiency (p.2).

Nozicks theory book envisions as stated in Phelps (2002) that a whole alliance of people might desire to secede from the society to form a new society if marginal tax rates were left as high as Rawls principle required; which Nozick saw this as their right (p.3).

This could be replied as Phelps (2002) states if the population would have endorsed Rawls principle when (as Rawls wants) they didnt know yet whose shoes they were going to be in whether out of fear they might turn out to be low-paid workers or simply because they liked it as a principle (p.3).

Nozicks criticises Rawls principles by challenging his partial conclusion of taxes and subsidies giving people the impression his theory of concentrates on the assumption that economy is founded on heavy-handed market socialism. Nozick provides his assumption by supporting the theory of capitalisation evident in Europe markets.

Capitalisation as emphasised by Nozick centralises on career development and job satisfaction while challenging the nature and the results of talent development coined under the term self-realisation. This theory exists on the primacy of basic freedoms including free speech. Nozick book became famous when it stated in Phelps (2002) that America to a brighter and more secure future for capitalism at a very dark moment (p.2).

His collective analysis argues that the 60s radicals of American society fought fort for the benefit of the rich and powerful interests (Kingston 2003). Rawls offered us a vision with which he could counter the radicals by stating in Phelps (2002) that

America might continue with the capitalists enterprise that had been so rewarding for the majority while at the same time taking the modest steps;-lower tax rates at the low end, wage subsidies for low-wage workers, e.t.c.-to pull up the pay for low-end workers to a more adequate level and thus to involve them more widely and fully in societys market economy and ultimately to dissolve Americas underclass (p.2).

Lewis article on wall street journal on Justice and Inequality supports Rawls views o inequality in American candidacy.

He compares the current candidates for Democratic presidential nominations to the 1971 Rawls book; A Theory of Justice Lewis article as stated in Phelps (2002) laments that Rawl theory on justice and equality neither argues nor supports where it states absolute economic well-being&matters less than&relative position (p.3).

The most significant thing is the book never mentions the subject of relative income or shares (Cooper 1977). In Rawlss theory Phelps (2002) states justice requires reducing the deprivation of the working poor to the maximum extend feasible-subsidizing their employment in order to raise their take-home pay to the maximum (p.3).

This implies that tax rates on high wage will be set higher to yield maximum rate revenue while on the radical left, higher tax rates set at almost punitive levels aimed at helping working poor results to revenue loss. While trying to impoverish the most advantaged, Rawls justification on inequality meant to reduce the relative deprivation of the poor while on the other by increasing their absolute deprivation.

Phelps (2002) explains Rawls understanding to be from the angle of the working poor have lives to lead, even children to rise, and fret little about the rich (p.3). True or not, Rawls conception does not portray any envy when he related good life with primary goods to have relationship with peoples quest for self-realisation.

It is also surprising to read Rawls view that held it is rational to envy people whose superiority in wealth exceeds certain limits (p.3). This statement is itself contradictory where he fails to relate his explanations to his theory of inequality and justice (Wolf & Musselman 1998). He justifies his statement by arguing that he did so by trying to reduce the relative deprivation of the poor (as it increased their absolute deprivation) (p.3).

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Bhpbilliton., 2010. Code of Business Conduct. Bhpbilliton, 1, pp.1

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Cooper,N., 1977. Justice and Historical Entitlement. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 7, pp.799

De George, R.T. 2010, Business Ethics (7th ed.), Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River: New Jersey

Ethical Concepts., 2005. Ethical Concepts and Theories. Aboutcom, 1, pp.137

Kilcullen, J., 1996. Robert Nozick: Against distributive justice. Modern Political Theory, 1, pp.1

Kingston, M., 2003. Rawls-v-Nozick: Liberty for all, or just the rich? Smh.com, 1, pp1

Kloppers, M., 2007. Working with integrity. Code of Business Conduct, 1-pp.80

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Lordwick, Francis., 1975. Nozicks Theory of Rights: A Critical Assessment. Western Political Quarterly, 39. pp. 634.

McCloskey, H., 1976. Rights  Some Conceptual Issues. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 54, pp.99

Narveson,J., 1977. Anarchy, State and Utopica. Dialogue 16, pp. 298

Phelps, E. 2002, Nozick vs. Rawls on Justice, Rights and the State, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

Pollocks, R. 2002, Capitalism for Consenting Adults, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

Ross, D. 1972, Right and Good, Routledge, London.

Ross, D. 1963, The Foundations of Ethics, Oxford, London.

Sheth, J., 1994. Deontology. Journal of Philosophy, 1, pp.1-2

Takala, T., 2007. A Tentative Tool for Making Morally Better Decisions in Business  a Rossian Approach. Business and Organization Ethics Network (BON), 12 (2), pp.1

Wolf, M., & Musselman, L., 1998. Voicing idea, 3, pp.49-57.

An ethical dilemma is a situation that involves conflicts between moral principles in which obeying one ultimately results to transgression of the other. The utilitarian ethical perspective holds that a good course of action maximizes happiness for the parties involved, and therefore the moral worth of a certain action is determined by its outcome.

Libertarian ethical principles hold that individuals have the right to be respected and the only limit to an individuals ability to enjoy these rights is the obligation to respect others basic rights.

Deontological theories are also referred to as duty-based ethics. In deontology, morality is judged through examining the nature of the actions and the will of the individuals to do the right thing. Drawing judgment from an individuals will and control of certain actions is based on the argument that the future is not controllable. Virtue ethics perspective emphasizes on the influence of character traits and moral virtues toward the resultant ethical behavior.¹

For the utilitarian principle, completion of the project could give a team a satisfaction for its achievement. Melanie and other members of her team were putting in extra time to ensure that the project was completed and launched in a few weeks. Several individuals at Zagante were forced to put in extra working hours to complete their assignments related to the software code project.

Some dedicated members of the staff were forced to sleep in their cubicles because of the demands of their assignments. Melanies hard work was aimed at ensuring a successful launch of the product together with hopes for promotion to the projects senior vice president.²

On the contrary, considering the deontological theory, Melanie and the team were working on TerraPix 2.0 map-making software meant for enhancing topographical view for the oil companies. Technology related companies in the region had suffered in the previous two years and Zagante was not exception.

Although the company survived through the hard time, it was affected financially thus forcing its management to freeze the hiring process. This meant that although the present employees were lucky to retain their jobs, they had to work extremely hard to ensure that the product was a success. In an effort to maintain their jobs, zagante staff was exploited through the requirement to put in extra time and effort at the minimal pay.³

In the process of carrying out evaluations for her team members, Melanies comparison between Toms and Jeremys profiles is a dilemma. This brings into focus the virtue ethics. Although both candidates displayed outstanding qualities, Toms profile was more striking professionally but Melanie leaned on Jeremys side because she considered him as a close friend.

On the contrary, considering libertarian principle, Melanie caught Jeremy programming a game instead of working on the running project, TerraPix. Later on, Jeremy admitted that he was working on a project he had picked from his brother-in-laws company. His brother in laws company was pressured by the need to complete the programs before the commencement of a certain trade show.

According to Jeremy, the offer, that includes the payment was good such that he could not decline. Melanie confronted Jeremy for moonlighting, and inquested to know how he felt about it. According to Melanie, the team had their own project, which might not be as enticing but it was important for the company.⁴

On the utilitarian principle, Jeremy argued that he was fully engaged in the project and only took the side assignments because he felt that he could comfortably handle them off his working hours. According to Jeremy, his brother in laws company was conversant with his tight schedule at work and were okay with it.⁵ Melanie was angered because he felt that the best programmer in the organization was on his exit from the company.

On the contrary, considering the deontological principles, Melanie continued to question Jeremy if he would take up the opportunity if they offered a full time position and whether he was happy in his current job. Jeremy took up the side job to have fun, break the monotony of doing the same thing day in day out, and he was interested in gaming from childhood.

In addition, he was learning new techniques which could be helpful to Zagante in the future. For example, he said that he was learning to use MAX 4 modelling tool, which at some point zagante had considered checking it out.⁶

According to Simons, straightforward ethical decisions are meant for enhancing both short-term and long-term benefits of the growth of the business.⁷

Ethics are aimed at protecting and maintaining a good business and individuals reputation. For example values like honesty, conscientiousness, and integrity create a connection between ethical principles and the expected business activities. Jeremys need for extra income to support his family brings in the deontological principle. Melanie demanded to know the precise reason as to why Jeremy decided to take up the extra work.

Was it because working at Zagante had become monotonous or for the need of the money. Jeremy made it clear that he was not sacrificing to be away from his family , especially the newborn for fun, but it was because life was becoming expensive day in day out. In addition the fact that his wife was not going to work for some time meant that he had to provide for the entire household solely.

In the interest of the company and Jeremy (utilitarian principle), Melanie requested Jeremy to focus on terrapix because they expected his entire devotion to enhance successful launching of the project. Melanie promised to keep the secret of Jeremys moonlighting so far as Jeremy would not do anything that would jeopardize the success of the project and his reputation.⁸

Appropriate ethical behavior acts as a guideline to what may be considered in a business organization as the right course of action. According to American Psychiatric Association, decisions made for proper business management are never ethical even in situations in which they seem to adhere to the required ethical principles.⁹ Ethical decisions are considered to be right when they in conflict with important business decisions.

The awareness of the existing conflict justifies the decision. In the process of safeguarding the interest of the company, deontological principle , Melanie carried out research in an effort to understand the consequences of moonlighting. Melanie found out about a case involving a supervisor from the city water department.

The supervisor operated an irrigation business besides his job and had used his employers resources to carry out his personal work. Melanie related this to Jeremys case whereby he was using Zagantes computers to carry out his personal tasks. In another case, a teacher moonlighted as a stripper in which although she enjoyed doing it, it was not beneficial to her toward her growth managerially. Jeremys case still bothered her.

This is because he moonlighted for a company which was not a competitor meaning that he had little to gain from the side job and he was using Zagantes resources (computer). But onto her fears, Melanie was not ready to fire Jeremy because the company could not afford to lose such a talent. Melanie considered that moonlighting could not earn Jeremy a promotion and after his search, there was no other case of an individual who had been promoted for moonlighting.¹⁰

In situations where an organization does not regulate a certain behavior, its activities can be regulated by external policies. For the virtue ethics, Melanie further inquested from the companys human resource director, Jill Darby, if there were any policies on employees moonlighting. Melanie lied that there was no one involved in moonlighting, but she was only concerned because the issue came up with her team. Jill confirmed that the company did not have any policies.

However, according to Jill, the state has stipulated clear rules about it, in addition to the vacuum created by the incomplete agreement signed when one is hired. In business organizations, there should be a coincidence between the quest for personal interests and ethical behavior.¹¹ Covering up of behavior is usually harmful to the business in the long run.

When Jill asked whether the company was facing a potential problem, Melanie covered up for Jeremy and lied that her team was a source of solutions and not problems. Melanie explained that her concern was fueled by frustration of her team members because of bare minimal pay rises in the entire year.

Melanie tried to explain that although employees understand the financial situation of the company, they could take up side jobs to meet their financial needs. To solve the employees financial strains, Jill referred Melanie to Aaron who could offer low interest rate loans to employees who were in a fix.¹²

Virtue Ethics Perspective

The ethical dilemma presented by the case study can be solved using the virtue ethics principles. A behavior which is detrimental to the business in the short term but enhances growth of the business in the long term should be encouraged. According to Grace and Cohen, the ideas acquired from such practices can be used in redefining the business.¹³ Changing of the new ideas into a profession enables the business to benefit from the inventions.

As Melanie thought about Jeremy, she gathered that he was faithful to the company, he had worked there for five years, earned promotions and importantly enjoyed working for the company. She informed David and Marc that Frank Lloyd was fired for moonlighting.

According to David, that was a bad managerial decision that most probably his boss regretted for a long time. Melanie said that she was not going to fire Jeremy because moonlighting was kind of normal to programmers. David supported her idea by explaining that when he worked at way bridge associates, the architects had side businesses of designing houses that paid less. In these circumstances, virtue ethics principle allows Jeremy to carry out the side business as far as it does not affect his performance in the project.

Melanie asked whether these side businesses affected their jobs and David said that it had no effect because it was expected. In addition, moonlighting for the architects gave the firm a reason to pay the architects less than their worth. However, side jobs enabled the architects to learn new ideas and bring them into the project.¹⁴

In conclusion, Melanie called jeremy in her office and explained to him that the company could give low interest loans and thus he would not be required to take up side jobs. Jeremy declined the offer and Melanie was upset because the side job was not beneficial to the project. In addition, she was afraid of the implications of Jeremys moonlighting to the rest of the team. Jeremy did not care about the effect of his actions to the rest of the team.¹⁵

He considered them as grown ups who were obligated to perform their duties. In addition, Jeremy considered that so long as he performed his duties to meet the projects expectations, it was not important to the team and the management on what he did with time out of the office.

Melanie was agitated by this statement and realized that it was time for her and the organization to fire Jeremy. In trying to offer Jeremy a solution to his financial constraints, Melanie did not consider other interests Jeremy derived from taking the side job and this made them to fall apart.¹⁶

Value Ethics

Bibliography

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Pub. 1994.

Drumwright, Minette, and Murphy, Patrick. How Advertising Practitioners View Ethics: Moral Muteness, Moral Myopia, and Moral Imagination. Journal of Advertising, 33 (2004): 7-24.

Grace, Damian and Cohen, Stephen. Business Ethics: Australian Problems and Cases. 2 Ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Hinman, Lawrence. Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1994.

Rachels, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.

Robinson, Mary 2000, Business and Human Rights: A Progress Report. PDF File. 8 August 2012.

Sandel, Michael. The Case Against Perfection. The Atlantic Monthly (April 2004): 1-11.

Savulescu, J et al. Why We Should Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38 (2004): 666-670.

Simons, Paul. Be Interested in the People You Serve and Your Life Will Be Happy, Fourth Annual Lecture. Sydney: St. James Ethics Centre. 1994.

Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1993.

Footnotes

¹ Savulescu, J. et al. Why We Should Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38 (2004): p. 669.

² Savulescu, J et al. Why We Should Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38 (2004): 669.

³ James, Rachels. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993. p. 226.

⁴ Minette, Drumwright, and Murphy, Patrick. How Advertising Practitioners View Ethics: Moral Muteness, Moral Myopia, and Moral Imagination. Journal of Advertising, 33 (2004): 7-24.

⁵ Robinson, Mary 2000, Business and Human Rights: A Progress Report. PDF File. 8 August 2012. <https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/BusinessHRen.pdf>

⁶ Minette, Drumwright, and Murphy, Patrick. How Advertising Practitioners View Ethics: Moral Muteness, Moral Myopia, and Moral Imagination. Journal of Advertising, 33 (2004): 7-24.

⁷ Simons, Paul. Be Interested in the People You Serve and Your Life Will Be Happy, Fourth Annual Lecture. Sydney: St. James Ethics Centre. 1994. p.16.

⁸ Lawrence, Hinman. Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1994.

⁹ James, Rachels. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993. p.56

¹⁰ Michael, Sandel. The Case Against Perfection. The Atlantic Monthly (April 2004): 1-11.

¹¹ Lawrence, Hinman. Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1994.p. 106.

¹² Michael, Sandel. The Case Against Perfection. The Atlantic Monthly (April 2004): 1-11.

¹³ Damian, Grace, and Stephen, Cohen. Business Ethics: Australian Problems and Cases. 2 Ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998. p.2

¹⁴ Hinman, Lawrence. Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1994. P.211.

¹⁵ Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1993. p.183.

¹⁶ Lawrence, Hinman. Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1994. p. 304

Introduction

In the 19^th and 20^th century people who were successful in business and political world had one thing in common, they all appreciated and invested a lot in physical capital.

During those times capital was any form of assets or finances but in the modern world things have changes and the definition of capital has broadened to not only including assets and finances but also the human and ethical aspects which constitute the human capital and ethical capital respectively. Human capital involves the skills and knowledge that individuals acquire from education and experiences.

Ethical capital on the other hand can be defined as the practices, tools, and techniques of refining and defining values that an organization possesses (Harvard Business review, pp 4). In other words ethical capital goes beyond the monetary value and involves the practices and techniques of creating values.

This essay primarily discusses peoples roles, understanding and perception, towards ethical capital in different societies and disciplines. It majors on the Indian community and their cultural religious and political beliefs that either help in building or destroying ethical capital in India. We will also briefly look into the Russian post soviet era and a new and invention in the medical field and their contributions towards ethical capital.

Ethical Capital in the Indian Society

According to a research done by Jacob Copeman (2-3), Indians are never willing to voluntarily donate their blood to blood banks, in other word they only donate with a clear objective in mind for instance donating blood for close relatives, friend or for certain rituals either religious or political. There were made to believe that one looses a lot of energy after donating blood.

This is the main reason why most Indians drink milk after donating blood to replenish the lost energy. Also in most parts of south Asia Impotence is linked with strength. This belief makes everyone not willing to sacrifice his blood to save the life of others in fear of becoming weak hence becoming impotent.

Going back to the definition of ethical capital it is clear that since time immemorial the Indian society has had the wrong perception of some ethical issues in relation to blood donation.

The caste system has also contributed to this situation in that Indians believe that a persons body parts, clothes and everything he owns can act as conduits of personal and spiritual qualities of that person since they possessed with them.

Blood donation and transfusion is also viewed in this perspective and no one especially in the higher castes wants to acquire the personality or spirit of a person from a lower caste through donated or transfused blood (Jacob 3). This complies with the Purity and Pollution belief of Sikh and Hindu revivalist organizations.

These organizations organize blood donation events all over India as part of seva (service) to purify oneself by removing some of the senile blood to allow formation of new and pure blood. As much as this groups help in donating blood they also discourage patients from accepting the blood.

They believe that the donated senile blood is polluted with sins and impurities of the donor. In a nut shell this belief does not actually hinder blood collection but limits some needy patients from receiving donated blood in fear of being polluted by it (Jacob 3).

This helps in building and destroying ethical capital in India but in my opinion it builds more than it destroys because comparing the number of people who donate and those who benefit from the donations to the ones who refuse it the donors and beneficiaries are more hence they build more than they destroy ethical capital.

Jacob also acknowledges Addlakhas work where he explains how the media is the main tool that can be effectively used in building a strong ethical capital base in the Indian population this is due to the fact that it assumes and performs several roles as he quoted it performs the role of commentator, communicator, educator and watchdog during crisis (Addlakha 154).

Some non-governmental organizations and other humanitarian organizations e.g. the Red Cross society in India have been advocating for a stronger ethical capital base by trying to change the attitude and perception of the public towards blood donation.

They have come up with slogans which are written on posters and websites e.g. A blood donor has no equal and the desire to share something of oneself is what singles out a blood donor from the others (Jacob 5). This enables more people to accept blood donation as a good thing since the people advocating for it are known to be of good motive e.g. the Red Cross society.

In my opinion deified politicians e.g. Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi (Jacob 6) help in building ethical capital when their deaths are commemorated. People donate blood in respect to this martyrs who died for their countries.

This political rituals help in uniting people from all over the country to shed (donated) blood in their remembrance. People consider it a good action and as a result they volunteer in large numbers hence ethical capital is built.

The soviet and Post soviet era

According to Rivkin-Fish (48) In the Soviet period in Russia paying physicians for medical care was an illegal and immoral action in that doctors who asked for any form of payment were viewed as the selfish, immoral and most corrupt. This changed in the post soviet Russia and doctors were allowed to accept and demand for payments for their expertise and time.

This situation complies with definition of capital as discussed earlier in this essay i.e. during the time when physicians were not allowed to demand for payment for their services the ethical were not relevant when considering capital as opposed to the modern world, post soviet Russia, where it is considered and appreciated.

In other words ethical capital has been is appreciated in post soviet Russia though it is facing certain challenges as discussed below.

People destroy the little traces of ethical capital in our modern society ignorantly without realizing by asking for favors from acquaintances. Rivkin-Fish gives an example of her friend, Valya, who earns favors from friends for medical checkup. She pays for the services through a friend who introduced her to the doctor and not through the hospital administration as required.

Some things may appear right to us but ethically they are not, for instance Valya gives her friend $150 and a few bottles of vodka as payment for the medical services which is literary right but ethically its wrong.

She was supposed to pay through the cashier where she would obtain a receipt. She suggests that paying for medical services is a moral action that conveys respect and recognition for professionals attention and expertise (Rivkin-Fish 48). She criticizes the traditional modes of operation of the soviet era yet she offers the doctor payments directly which in real sense is a form of bribery.

This proves to us that the same people who are in the frontline of fighting corruption are the same ones who engage in them ignorantly and as you know in a corrupt society ethical capital is usually very minimal.

Umbilical cord blood

According to Waldby (2006, 55) Umbilical cord blood has proved an effective substitute for bone marrow in the treatment of blood disorders. This has led to the establishment and development of both public and private cord blood banking facilities.

Bioethicists and other medical professionals advocating for ethical capital condemn private cord blood banking by claiming that it converts valuable clinical cord blood banks into privately owned and managed accounts which are of no help to the public and they can only selfishly benefit only the owners.

They also claim that the great demand and value for cord blood may lead to the risk of thee medical staff shifting their attention from the mother and child to the cord blood (Waldby, 59-60). By so doing the life of both the mother and the child are put to risk by the profit minded staff and this is against doctors work ethics hence it is against the ethical capital in the medical world.

Conclusion

As we have seen in the above discussed issues establishment of a strong ethical in any form of society requires critical evaluation of all actions and decisions with an aim of determining whether it is ethically right or wrong because ethics have proved to have a great influence to the success of any organization or society.

Works Cited

Addlakha, Renu. State Legitimacy and Social Suffering in a Modern Epidemic: A Case Study of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever in Delhi. Contributions to Indian Sociology Volume 35, [2001], Issue 2: p 154.

Harvard Business review. Ethical Capital Is Capitalisms New Cornerstone [2010]. pp4. Web.

Jacob, Copeman. BLOOD WILL HAVE BLOOD: A Study in Indian Political Ritual Social Analysis Volume 48, [2004]. Issue 3, p 2-6.

Rivkin-Fish, Michele. Bribes, Gifts and Unofficial payments: Rethinking Corruption in post-Soviet Russian Health Care. Corruption: Anthropological Perspectives, ed. Pluto press, [2005]. P 47-48.

Waldby, Catherine. Umbilical Cord Blood: From Social Gift to Venture Capital Sydney: The University of New South Wales, School of Sociology, 2006. p 55-60.

Ever since the death of the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes, men have been striving to understand the human body to prolong life as they wish. Up to the time of his death in 1650, Descartes was deeply concerned with how he could prolong his own life and modern scientists have picked up this pursuit. According to scientists, life is a part of the natural world and as such, it can be studied by standardized methods. Scientists claim that the results of these investigations are innate laws of nature, which like any field can be expressed using the lingo of arithmetic. Equipped with an understanding of the existing laws of nature, man can manage and influence the processes of life to work to his advantage. Although this has not yet been attained, the vision is still alive within science. This paper aims to present an overview of modern biotechnology in the breeding of poultry and to look at the possible side effects on both the consumer and the chicken.

Ever since the death of the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes, men have been striving to understand the human body to prolong life as they wish. Up to the time of his death in 1650, Descartes was deeply concerned with how he could prolong his own life and modern scientists have picked up this pursuit. According to scientists, life is a part of the natural world and as such, it can be studied by standardized methods. Scientists claim that the results of these investigations are innate laws of nature, which like any field can be expressed using the lingo of arithmetic. Equipped with an understanding of the existing laws of nature, man can manage and influence the processes of life to work to his advantage. Although this has not yet been attained, the vision is still alive within science. Over time, it has however emerged that Descartes and his colleagues underrated the task of understanding and calculating the processes of life. (Thompson 35)

In fact, it was not until the beginning of the 20^th century that scientists were able to make authentic progress in elucidating and conveniently altering the processes of life. Since the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics, there has been an evident improvement of reproductive expertise to make selective reproduction more proficient. Towards the 21^st century, cloning of embryos, transvaginal oocyte recovery, and in vitro embryo production was adopted to ensure that animals possessing excellent genetic potential produced more progeny than they would naturally have had. By looking at the current trend, it is obvious that a lot is still in the pipeline as far as animal biotechnology is concerned. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of modern biotechnology in the breeding of poultry and to look at the possible side effects on both the consumer and the chicken. (Baillie & Casey 96)

The subject of animal biotechnology cannot be complete without examining the issue of animal welfare. Even though it is currently a focus of a scientific investigation, the theory of animal welfare is hard to delineate, especially when one wants to broaden it beyond the scope of chicken health. Usually, animal health is taken to represent both bodily health and behavior and is assessed with consideration to both the chicken and its ability to cope with the environment around it. Potentially, there are diverse types of chicken wellbeing problems linked to breeding for high production effectiveness and the application of biotechnology can crop up. These problems can be linked to an assortment of factors, such as the genetic appearance, the propagation method, or alterations in transgenic chicken. (Boer & Vorstenbosch 458)

Moral concerns relating to animal health are often related to a consequent diminution of chicken wellbeing, e.g. increased egg production is likely to cause a higher incidence of coccidiosis, (Domingo 1749) which will, in turn, cause a reduction of chicken welfare. In fact, several authors have outlined in their work that the use of biotechnology has the potential of causing suffering to poultry. (Domingo 1749; Drake & Vlachos 651) One explanation for this is the perspective of the existing expertise to make chicken production more effective, and hence put upper pressure on the chicken than is seen today, thus further aggravating a situation previously considered undesirable. Presently, if pain, distress, or infection has not got in the way of production effectiveness, the condition has often been overlooked, as happens with production-related infections. This priority of output over animal wellbeing is a moral dilemma in poultry production and is not specific to the use of biotechnologies. (Pusztai)

Today, a broiler chicken has the ability to grow to a weight of close to 2kgs in less than 40 days. Thirty years ago, a broiler needed close to three months to attain this weight but this has drastically changed within that period. Due to this accelerated growth, the muscles and gut develop fast but the skeleton and cardiovascular systems do not reciprocate this fast growth. This discrepancy in growth makes the chicken have weak legs and possible heart failure. (Pusztai) Due to the large muscular development that turkeys have been bred for the male birds are now too big and therefore are unable to mount the females. This has necessitated the need for artificial insemination to reproduce. Additionally, the turkeys often suffer from acute leg malfunctions, as their weak bones cannot support their weight. Research in this field has also proved that the broilers and turkeys have reduced immune response thus increasing their susceptibility to diseases. This research also shows that the broilers and turkeys in this category have increased levels of stress and are therefore more likely to develop stress or even die at a faster rate than their relations. This is probably due to their unusual muscle composition and the unusual size of their heart. (Drake & Vlachos 651)

Perhaps to do justice to the whole issue of biotechnology on chicken, it is important to mention that its application helps in the introduction of genes that stand for disease resistance. If applied in the right manner, this has the capability of reducing suffering and serves to improve the welfare and health of the chicken. Additionally, the natural selection might help in ensuring that only chicken with desirable qualities that will give rise to enhanced egg production or even better quality of meat is allowed to breed. However, this theory has limitations since the objectives of research on disease resistance in biotechnology chicken are usually production-related diseases, which in effect might encounter higher production thus recreating the same problems but this time at an enhanced production level. Of main concern is that genes linked to disease resistance have the likelihood of possessing unanticipated consequences, which nullify the anticipated improvements. (Kuiper & Noteborn 1316).

On top of the existing concern of animal biotechnology on chicken, there has been growing concern in recent years over the effect that this has on the consumers. It is indeed worth mentioning that biotechnology foods produce varied effects on consumers. On a wide level, these foods are known to be beneficial to the human body since the eggs get from the chicken contain low levels of cholesterol, which is helpful to the body. Additionally, the level of fat content in the meat can be modified in quality and quantity to ensure that they correspond with the levels recommended by medics. Indeed, labeling the changed products to appeal to targeted consumers and make them identifiable to those who need to avoid them would be an effective way of marketing such foods. Another notable benefit of biotechnology is that it has the capability of producing equal food while utilizing fewer chickens. This potentially reduces pollution and it is, therefore, a great advantage to the environment. (ONeil & Reese 7)

Apart from these rather apparent benefits, it is important to note that there are existing health concerns over the consumption of cloned chicken. Currently, there is limited understanding of the physiology of animal biotechnology on human beings. There have been researches linking growth hormone genes to diseases like high blood pressure, kidney failure, diabetes, and bone malfunctions. (Holland & Johnson 26) Additionally, the meat from cloned chicken has the likelihood of containing antibiotic residues, which might potentially harm people. The antibiotic residues can also develop antibiotic-resistant pathogens due to the medicine used to camouflage chicken health issues. Although the research done in this field is still wanting, there is a need for one to tread cautiously to avoid possible health complications arising from this matter. (The National Academy of Sciences)

The ability to produce enhanced and cost-effective food in a more efficient manner is frequently cited as an argument in support of modern chicken breeding and its dependence on biotechnology. This is a potential for cheaper food and improved food production in developing nations. Means to achieve this objective are however available and analysts are questioning if the use of biotechnology poses any ethical difference. It is obvious that poor countries could greatly benefit by using various biotechnologies, and this leads to the argument that these countries are more justified in using the technology than the already developed nations, which currently have a surplus of food production. However, this presumes that these technologies be made available to the poor nations for them to be able to produce their own food. Indeed, increased food production in the developed nations is unlikely to be of any help to the poor nations. There is also a rising concern that scientists might use this technique to introduce human pathogens into chicken, which is an entirely unethical issue. (Ackerman 48)

For a long time, scientists have been trying to look for ways to influence life. However, their big break can at the beginning of the 20^th century after the discovery of Mendelian genetics. In debating on reproduction objectives and biotechnology, one of the chief concerns is that of animal wellbeing. However, the majority of the problems arising in connection with animal wellbeing also crop up with conservative selective reproduction. Regardless of the technique of breeding, queries arise on whether the intention of the breeding goal is important, and whether that intention can warrant certain risks. For medical research, the risks are more easily acknowledged, since in this accord the benefit might be essential to humans. In poultry production, the risks are however unacceptable especially in the case where the risks are undertaken to produce cheaper food.

There seems to be a consensus that the adoption of biotechnology should be regulated, although it is still uncertain what type of organization, and at what echelon, is best placed to execute such a regulation. It is, however, important to learn that there is existing legislation that offers some significant protection of animal wellbeing in spite of the breeding method employed. On the other hand, efforts should be made to advance, implement, and control the available legislation to cushion chicken from potential threats to their wellbeing. However, even if the threats of abridged chicken welfare were done away with, other fears and threats would still be at hand thus calling for open public appraisal. These are concerns such as the side effects of animal biotechnology for consumers and the potential risk to the chicken and the environment at large.

Works Cited

Ackerman, Jennifer. Food-How Altered. National Geographic, 2011. 48-53. Web.

Baillie, Harold & Casey, Timothy. Is Human Nature Obsolete? Genetics, Bioengineering, and the Future of the Human Condition, 2005. MIT Press, 95-100. Print.

Boer, Michael, & Vorstenbosch, James. An Ethical Evaluation of Animal Biotechnology: The Case of Using Clones in Dairy Cattle Breeding. Animal Science. 453-463. Print.

Domingo, Lewis. Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods: Many Opinions but Few Data. Science 288, 2000. 1748-1749. Print.

Drake, James, & Vlachos, David. Evaluation of Transgenic Event 176 Bt Corn in Broiler Chicken. Poultry Science, 1998. 648-653. Print.

Glenn, Linda. Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering and Transgenics, 2004. Web.

Holland, Allan & Johnson, Andrew. Animal Biotechnology and Ethics, 1998. Springer, 25-31. Print.

Kuiper, Henry, & Noteborn, Harry. Adequacy of Methods for Testing the Safety of Genetically Modified Foods. The Lancet. 1315-1316. Print.

ONeil, Chris, & Reese, George. Allergenic Potential of Recombinant Food Proteins. Allergy and Clinical Immunology International, 1998. 5-9. Print.

Pusztai, Arpad. Genetically Modified Foods: Are They a Risk to Human/Animal Health?, 2001. Web.

The National Academy of Sciences. Animal Biotechnology: Science Based Concerns, 2002. Web.

Thompson, Paul. Food Biotechnology in Ethical Perspective, 2007. Springer, 34-36. Print.