Introduction
An ethical dilemma is best described as all the complicated challenges people struggle with while trying to live a life due to conflicting rules of what is right and fair. While it is not uncommon for it to arise between two or more tradeoffs, each one is likely to have some ethical implications for the other (Timmerman & Cohen, 2020). For instance, as an entrepreneur, my integrity was compromised in an event where I was able to pick whether to tell all the real facts about a product or to give incorrect information. Here, I had to complain about salary, to sell the product, or to tell fewer facts about the product, which would cause the integrity to be compromised. Such uncertainties were unveiled by the need to choose between unclear outcomes where no option offers the promise of a completely ethical result. Ethically, the problem lies in the fact that ethical grounds with the values of a person may collide. However, this is unavoidable for the person to be involved in some kind of ethical compromise (Melé, 2024). Therefore, each person has to bear in mind that ethics, morals, values, and legal frameworks are distinct. This means that each one of them has its contribution to the problem analysis that may reveal the complicated nature that lies in the personal beliefs, and social and professional norms.
Personal implication of the dilemma
Being an entrepreneur, explaining ethical problems is not just a theory exercise, but a very clear and practical reality that influences my decision-making and activities all the time. In the ethical situation of choosing a product to be sold, the most recognizable example was the combination of the idea of remaining true to oneself with the concern about sales. Any way of believing in either full disclosure of all crucial product-related facts that might not sell the product or partial omission of details some of which might influence the marketability in a particular direction poses a huge moral dilemma (Freeman & Sollars, 2023). This was not only an act of profit maximization but also a move that met my standard of high levels of truthfulness and transparency in my business operations.
I think that such dilemmas have wider-ranging not only professional but also ethical impacts on my conception of who I am as a person (Freeman & Sollars, 2023). For me, it was all about being in a contest with meaning each time I was confronted with the opposing principles of ethics where I was the one highlighting the complex interaction of personal ethics, social norms, and professional ethics expected of me. Although I was not sure which was right or true, I faced the tension of making my decision based on the ethical and short-term positive results. This internalizing procedure deepened the sense that ethical areas must be tackled with empathy and thought transference as one needs to understand that sometimes I have to make ethical negotiations but the essence of keeping integrity will help me to stay out of the ethical confusion.
Ethical theory application
In this ethical dilemma, I am subject to disclose information regarding the product consumers and this situation can be evaluated using two ethics theories which are consequential ethics and virtue ethics. The first theory, commonly known as consequential ethics or utilitarianism, defines the worth of the action or conduct by its effects or outcomes (Melé, 2024). In my ethical dilemma, the theory using the consequentialist approach should be applied to assess the anticipated impact of specifying both full product information and leaving out details. According to the utilitarian approach, the deed that ensures overall happiness or provides utility for the maximum number of people is what is regarded as the ethically right thing to do. To be more specific, honestly revealing all the relevant information could lead to the reduction of immediate product sales, but this could put together in the middle term a very sensitive welcome for customers and the community and consequently could maximize the utility of all stakeholders (Trevino & Nelson, 2021). On the contrary, filtering information about sales in a way that only boosts short-term profits may lead to long-term negative outcomes such as customer disappointment or legal action that will portray low overall utility. A consequentialist approach would very likely prefer an imperative for candor and openness in its product disclosure regulations and thus the general welfare is promoted.
In addition, by application of virtue ethics theory to solve the case since, it emphasizes character morality-formation and the perfecting of virtuous traits such as honesty, integrity, and compassion (Melé, 2024). Here, the ethical problem faced by businesspeople dictates emphasizing ethical virtues such as honesty and integrity over short-term profits in a virtue ethics perspective. Notably, an entrepreneur does not just maintain ethics in the business when he does the right things each time but he modifies also his virtuous character traits that are vital for long-term success and fulfillment. For instance, revealing all-important trust everywhere even to the point of sacrificing the sales tells the customers about his or her commitment to honesty and offers them integrity (Timmerman & Cohen, 2020). As a result, the virtue of such actions accumulatively promotes an ethical personality. These attributes serve to bind the whole stakeholder community together by mutual trust and respect.
Alternative ethical theory application.
One of the alternative ethical theories to consequentialism and virtue ethics theory is ethical relativism (Timmerman & Cohen, 2020). Ethical relativism holds that ethical principles vary with individual beliefs, cultural standards, or the society within which a person is living is the position taken by proponents of this theory (Melé, 2024). The principle of subjectivism holds that there is no absolute moral truth that is objective and should be applied universally, as the believers of this kind of theory hold differently in this matter that their moral judgments differ in content and context. In my ethical dilemma where the entrepreneur is faced with the situation of risk and rewards, relativists of ethicality might argue that disclosing or keeping the secret to the information lays the basis of the norms in the business environment (Vidgen et al., 2020). For example, in cultures or business environments where deceptive marketing tactics are a norm, ethical relativists may see nothing wrong with somewhat ignoring the ethical considerations for the sake of getting ahead in that particular sphere by doing.
In contrast, the other alternative ethical theory that is different from consequential ethics and virtue ethics is known as deontological ethics theory. In this theory, deontological ethics which refers to the philosophical approach in which Immanuel Kant typically considers the natural moral duty or obligation of people, such as the results and the consequences are not of any relevance (Timmerman & Cohen, 2020). A consequence theory holds that if something is morally wrong, it’s wrong even if it yields positive results. On the ethical dilemma, the deontologist is concerned about the entrepreneur’s ethical dilemma through the obligation to report the truth and do an honest job no matter the ending it will have (Vidgen et al., 2020). Deontologically speaking, honesty, and openness are absolute duties that need to be fulfilled consistently; whatever possible consequences for sales or business might be, they still have to be followed without much second thought.
Nevertheless, ethics of relative and deontological moralities offer you other points of view on the ethical dilemma, yet they both have deficits that do not allow them to solve the situation quickly (Melé, 2024). Ethical relativism might be guilty of the sanctioning of immoral behavior paradox if it happens in a culture of manipulation and ethically doubtful behavior, as there will be no unified rules and only subjective moral judgment (Carroll & Brown, 2022). In addition, critics say that deontological ethics may not pay enough attention to the possible consequences of moral judgment and thus result in either rigid or impractical rules. The authority of the entrepreneur concludes that an absolute truth should be disclosed notwithstanding the critical outcomes for sales and company sustainability that might result in undesired effects including economic strain and the termination of employees’ contracts.
Conclusion
In the provided ethical dilemma of product disclosure as an entrepreneur, it can be seen that by adhering to ethics of several ethical theories and principles cases of morality can be settled. Consequential ethics and virtue ethics point out the outcomes and the character of actions as principal, while ethical relativism and deontological ethics approach from different standpoints by considering the values of cultures and duties of people. While efficiency in an ethical life necessitates a balance of both the outcome of actions and the moral duties in decision-making, it also implies revisiting one’s reason at the point when they are faced with choices. In this context, the provision for honesty and transparency in product disclosure stands in consonance with the core ethical principles of integrity and accountability that bring about long-term customer loyalty and sustainability. Consequently, my decision to choose honesty and disclose all pertinent pieces of information remains determined, since I confidently ground my commitment on ethics to foster and promotion of the well-being of everyone involved.
References
Carroll, A. B., & Brown, J. (2022). Business & society: Ethics, sustainability & stakeholder management. Cengage Learning.
Freeman, R. E., & Sollars, G. G. (2023). A puzzle about business ethics. In R. Edward Freeman’s Selected Works on Stakeholder Theory and Business Ethics (pp. 319-322). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Melé, D. (2024). Ethical theories in business ethics: A critical review. Journal of Human Values, 09716858231201191.
Timmerman, T., & Cohen, Y. (2020). The limits of virtue ethics. Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, 10, 255-282.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2021). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Vidgen, R., Hindle, G., & Randolph, I. (2020). Exploring the ethical implications of business analytics with a business ethics canvas. European Journal of Operational Research, 281(3), 491-501.
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