Ethics and Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 6

Ethics and Governance - Essay Example Kantian’s approach to ethics is relevant to business and management because it focuses on the maxim of the action. To Kant’s thinking, business stands to gain when it focuses its maxim on securing goodwill. Paying bribe does not add to the goodwill of business although the practice may be universal. â€Å"A business manager who accepts Kantian morality would ask for any given decision, does the principle on which the decision is based pass the test of the categorical imperative, that is, can it be willed universally without contradiction? If it can, then the decision would be morally permissible. If it cannot, the action is morally forbidden† (Bowie, Norman E; 2002, p5).A robust business house following Kant’s approach to ethics weighs its every action in ways that secures business without depending on malpractices such as payment of bribes. Such business houses are strongly self-reliant and prefer ethically sound actions irrespective of the outcome. In Ka ntian ideology, there is no means. There is only the end. Actions culminate as the end.Kantian approach is flexible. It does not treat other approaches as untouchables. However, it upholds high values and sets standards that weigh individual actions by the acceptance or rejection of others universally. In commercial terms, â€Å"Ethical capital reflects the additional revenues created by corporate moral agency, such as a price premium paid by an ethical consumer for an environmentally friendly product†.