Judging the Morality of Business Practices: The Influence of Personal Moral Philosophies

Judging the Morality of Business Practices: The Influence of Personal Moral Philosophies

Donelson R. Forsyth

Journal of Busines Ethics, vol. 11 no. 5/6

http://doi.org/10.1007/BF00870557

Source: WeLib

The article explains how individuals evaluate the morality of business practices based on their underlying personal moral philosophies rather than on fixed ethical rules alone. The article highlights that ethical disagreement in business contexts often arises not from ignorance or dishonesty, but from fundamentally different moral frameworks. Understanding these differences helps explain variability in ethical judgments among managers, employees, and consumers, and underscores the importance of moral philosophy in business ethics analysis. Moral judgment varies systematically according to two key dimensions: relativism and idealism.

Relativism refers to the rejection of universal moral rules in favor of context-dependent judgments. Individuals high in relativism evaluate actions based on situational factors rather than absolute principles.

Idealism refers to the belief that ethical actions should always avoid harm and lead to positive outcomes for others. Individuals high in idealism expect morally right actions to produce beneficial consequences in all situations.

Combining these two dimensions produces four moral philosophies.

Absolutists are high in idealism and low in relativism; they believe that following moral rules will consistently lead to positive outcomes.

Situationists are high in both idealism and relativism; they prioritize minimizing harm but reject rigid moral rules.

Exceptionists are low in idealism and low in relativism; they accept moral rules but allow exceptions when necessary.

Subjectivists are low in idealism and high in relativism; they rely heavily on personal values and situational interpretation.

The study demonstrates that these moral philosophies strongly influence how individuals judge controversial business practices such as deception, coercion, or exploitation. People with different moral philosophies reach different conclusions about the same business behavior, even when they have access to identical information.

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