ModernSims

Step 1 of 5 · Business Ethics: The Sales Dilemma

Frameworks

Utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics

Stage 1 · Prepare· ~25 min

Before You Begin

Review the Business Ethics slides posted in Module 1, then work through the three short framework lessons below. The lessons are formative -- nothing in them is graded -- but the questions you will answer in the case study expect fluency with all three.

Brass scale balanced between a single pebble and a heap of smaller stones — the utilitarian calculus made visible.

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory: an action is right if and only if it produces the best overall balance of welfare across everyone affected. It treats every person's interests as equally important and asks only one question -- what does this action actually bring about?

  • Consequences -- not intentions, not rules -- determine moral worth.
  • Each affected person counts equally in the calculus of welfare.
  • Act utilitarianism evaluates each action; rule utilitarianism evaluates the policies behind actions.
  • Strong in triage, scale, and impartiality; weak when minorities can be sacrificed for majorities.
  • Hidden costs and second-order effects (loss of trust, precedent, reputation) are easy to under-weight.
ExampleA factory must lay off 20 employees or shut down entirely and lose 200 jobs. A utilitarian counts welfare across all 200 stakeholders, not just the 20 directly affected.
ReflectionBrainstorm the consequences of an action across stakeholder groups (self, family, customers, coworkers, the firm, the industry). The map is for your own use -- you will later list these consequences in Question 3.
A heavy oak door with a hand paused short of the handle — duty hesitating before action.

Deontology says morality is grounded in duties and rules, not consequences. The right action is the one that respects every person's rational agency, even when breaking a rule would produce a better outcome. Two of Kant's tests are central:

  • Universalizability: act only on a rule you could will to be a universal law for everyone, in every similar case.
  • Humanity as an end: never treat another person merely as a means to your own purposes.
  • Intent and motive matter: doing the right thing for the wrong reason is morally suspect.
  • Strong in protecting individual rights, fiduciary duty, and fair dealing; rigid when duties conflict.
  • Lying, deception, and manipulation are nearly always ruled out -- you cannot universalize a rule that says 'lie when convenient'.
ExampleA doctor lies to a patient about a diagnosis to spare them stress. Even if the lie produces better short-term welfare, deontology rejects it -- the lie disrespects the patient's rational agency and could not be made a universal medical rule.
ReflectionSort each of these duties of a B2B salesperson into 'core', 'contextual', or 'not a duty': fiduciary duty to the customer, duty to the employer, duty to family, duty of fair dealing, duty to coworkers, honesty, confidentiality. There is no single right answer -- the point is to surface conflicts you'll face in Question 4.
A still life reflected in an oval mirror — character described through the objects a person keeps.

Virtue ethics centers on character rather than rules or outcomes. The right action is the one a person of practical wisdom and excellent character (a phronimos) would take. Virtues are habits of acting well, formed over time. Vices are their distortions.

  • Honesty, integrity, courage, justice, prudence, and loyalty are core business virtues.
  • Aristotle's 'golden mean': every virtue sits between two vices (courage between cowardice and recklessness).
  • Habituation matters: small choices form the character that handles big ones.
  • Strong in capturing how moral life actually feels; less prescriptive in genuine dilemmas.
  • Loyalty is a virtue, but loyalty exercised through deception corrupts itself.
ExampleA manager who has built a reputation for honesty over a decade gives bad news directly to a client. Years of habituation made the courageous choice the easy one -- which is exactly Aristotle's point about character.
ReflectionFor each virtue (honesty, courage, loyalty, prudence, justice, integrity), write one sentence describing how it would apply to a salesperson under quota pressure. Where do two virtues seem to pull in opposite directions?
Side by side

Framework Comparison

CriterionUtilitarianDeontologyVirtue
What is morally fundamental?Aggregate welfareDuty / rulesCharacter / virtues
How is an action judged?By its consequencesBy the rule it expressesBy the kind of person it makes you
Where does it shine?Triage, policy, scaleRights, fiduciary dutyCharacter formation, hard cases
Where does it struggle?Minority rights, hidden costsConflicting duties, rigidityWhose virtues count?