A Utilitarian Critique on Management Ethics

Abstract

The ethics of utilitarianism spans from Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), John Stuart Mill (1806–1873), Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900), and G. E. Moore (1873–1958) to contemporary ethicist Peter Singer. Utilitarianism is a philosophy which holds that an action, a law, or a rule is right only if it produces the best outcomes which is manifested in the Happiness Principle. It states that ethics must bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people.⁷¹ This creates a number of problems for management. Principally, management is not concerned with whether or not an action, a law, or a rule is right but with whether it delivers profitable outcomes for the company.