Business Ethics: Case Study
The onset of Covid 19 has not only shaken the health sector of most superpower countries such as Italy but has also led to significant economic depression in the world economies. Among the many industries that have been affected include the airline industries. This is because the airline industry plays a crucial role in the transportation of people and goods from one destination to the next. The halting of the airline services has led to massive losses, with the majority of the airline operators such as the British Airline suffering massive losses and calling for an emergency bailout as a measure to prevent the airline companies from sinking (Jones, 2020). The British airline company has found itself in an ethical dilemma as a result of the Covid 19 state of affairs. This has resulted in British airline business taking measures such as laying off employees or sending employees on a compulsory non-paid leave day.
These measures have ethical implications because they affect society for the best or for the worst. According to Kantian ethical theory, any action that results in the unhappiness is considered immoral. Kantian theory justifies the end irrespective of how good the intentions are (Bowie, 2017). Hence, analysing retrenchment of employees using the Kantian theory implies that this business decision is unethical. This is because it results in suffering, depression among many economic implications, which add an injury to the current social and economic situation of the employees. The utilitarian theory also deduces that any action that results in the unhappiness of the majority is considered unethical (Mill, (2016). The decision to retrench employees results in the unhappiness of the employees and their families. Hence, in summary, the utilitarian Kantian theories deduce that irrespective of the current business situation, it is ethical for the business to uphold the welfare of the employees.
References
Bowie, N. E. (2017). Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press
Jones, R. (2020). UK airlines call for multibillion bailout to survive Covid-19 crisis. the Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/uk-airlines-call-for-multibillion-bailout-to-survive-covid-19-crisis.
Mill, J. S. (2016). Utilitarianism. In Seven masterpieces of philosophy (pp. 337-383). Routledge.