Business law and ethics

Business Law Ethics

Ethical Challenges

Facts: The case involving Luke is showing the ethical challenges he is facing with the construction of an adult entertainment center inside his community. This is because he is aware of their plans prior to the public announcement and believes that property values will decline. At the same time, he has close personal relationship with his brother Owen. He has received an offer to sell his property above fair market value. However, Owen believes that there is a possibility he will receive a better price if he waited a few years for more favorable conditions.

The primary issue Luke is dealing with is if he should disclose to Owen the information he knows about the pending announcement. This will violate the confidentiality he has to his employer from working on the project. Yet, if he does not inform Owen about what is happening, there is a probability he will lose his profit margins. Moreover, Owen may not trust or believe in his brother, who failed to disclose this important information to him. The challenges for Luke are determining if he should let Owen know about the pending announcement or maintain confidentiality to his employer and the client.

Issue: The issue for Luke is the ethical conflicts he is facing. This is occurring based upon two different conflicts of interest. From the perspective of his employer, he is obligated to follow their policies of confidentiality and not disclose his knowledge of the project to anyone. If he were to do so, it could be used by property owners to sell their homes at higher prices prior to the announcement. This could hurt the ability of the clients to quietly prepare for opening the adult entertainment center and impact their competitive position inside the marketplace.

Yet, if he did not let Owen know about these facts, there is a possibility he could look at Luke negatively. This will hurt their relationship with Owen, as he no longer trusts him. It is at this point, when they will become more distanced from each other with Owen believing that Luke withheld confidential information from him.

Using the Golden Rule of ethics, it is clear that Luke must take into consideration the way he would like to be treated himself. This means that if did not let Owen know about the announcement, he would feel a sense of betrayal. However, in doing so, would cause his employer to view him as untrustworthy. This is showing how there are conflicting standards which are impacting the decisions as to what is the most appropriate course of action he should take. (Stone, 2009)

Whereas virtue ethics; is relying on the values of a person's character to determine the most appropriate course of action. Under this approach, deontology requires emphasizing duty to the rules. While consequentialism, is determining if an act is morally correct based upon the outcome itself. Moreover, the normative approach is concerned with how basic conclusions are reached and justified. The way that this is accomplished is through focusing on: institutions, human actions and the long-term effects. This is illustrating how there are conflicting views about the most appropriate course of action for Luke. (Stone, 2009)

Analysis: The problem with using the Golden Rule is that Luke will be at odds from his duty to his employer and loyalty towards Owen. This is creating a no win situation, where he will disappoint one party in order to benefit the other. It is at this point, when he could dishearten someone for failing to meet his moral obligations to them. This is problematic, in illustrating the overall challenges impacting Luke and the lasting effects they are having on others. (Stone, 2009)

While virtue ethics, will create challenges based upon the interpretation and application of three sub-theories. In the case of consequentalism, the different courses of action will negatively impact either his brother or employer (based upon the outcome). While deontology, obligates him to follow the different rules that are in place. This means that he must show loyalty to his employer over everything else. The normative approach is concentrating how these conclusions can be justified and reached. These areas highlighting the conflicts among various stakeholders and the impact Luke can have on them. (Stone, 2009)

Recommendation: The most appropriate course of action for Luke is to focus on using the normative approach (under virtue ethics). This is because he must seek to justify his decision and provide an understanding of the long-term effects it will have on everyone. In this particular case, the best approach is to tell Owen about the plans for the adult entertainment center. This is because the community and property owners have a right to know about how this will impact their long-term investments. Hiding the information from them, will cause greater amounts of harm by making it harder for them to sell and question the reasoning for locating this business to their area. (Stone, 2009)