FACTS

Luke is an employee of the ABC company and has been requested to work on a development
team for the company’s plan to build an adult entertainment retail store. Owen, Luke’s brother,
lives within the vicinity of where the retail store is planned to be built and is contemplating either
accepting an average bid now or waiting for a better offer a few years down the line. Luke is
aware of the negative impact this will have on property value within that vicinity.
ISSUE
In this scenario should Luke inform his brother about these plans or maintain confidentiality? In
this specific case, the main ethical issue is between loyalty and honesty. Luke must decide on
being honest about the plan to this brother or staying loyal to his company. It is imperative for
employees within any company to keep such non-public information confidential. Luke
potentially risks an ethical breach by disclosing this information and is aware of his obligations
to the company. At the same time, as Owen’s close brother, he feels obligated to be honest with
his brother for the betterment of his family member’s investments. Luke knows that his brother is
contemplating on waiting for a good offer in the future, which would not occur due to the
monetary impact the plans will have in the surrounding area.
ANALYSIS – APPLICATION OF ETHICAL LENSES/THEORIES
Utilitarianism
This ethical theory, stemming from Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, that is being applied
in definition is a “good” decision that is made with the thought of benefitting the majority
affected. A theory which calls for actions that mostly benefits for the “greater good” with the
least harm. The most common use being the consequentially moral theory, in which believes that
decisions are solely based on their consequences. The pro to this theory is that it will garner the
most positive benefits for most individuals, whereas the con would be that the greatest outcome
for most people may not appear to be the most ethical.
With applying Utilitarianism to this situation, Luke can make different decisions, but must think
of how disclosing private company plans may cost him his job or affect his position within the
company. Not only will he have to think about his brother, but also the general betterment of the
company and other stakeholders. For example, Luke can give his brother, his insight on whether
to accept the current bid on his house without informing his brother of the company’s plan. With
this option, Luke can look out for his brother and prevent him from a potentially great monetary
loss within the future. At the same time, one can see the possible ethical breach due to the bias of
guidance he would give to Owen. Secondly, Luke can decide to leave it on Owen to whether he
wants to hold off or continue with the sale. This can result in his brother either selling it now or
losing money from waiting. This option allows for Luke to maintain confidentiality and loyalty
to his company, but potentially having to deal with the guilt of his brother’s loss. As for societal
consequences, this can possibly lead to Owen spreading the bad news to his neighbors and
creating backlash, such as lawsuits and protests, within the community, all due to Luke’s
decision.
Universal Ethics
This ethical theory focuses on what is considered right or wrong and in situations ask, “what
would everyone else do?”. Under duty-based/Kantian ethics, Kant’s view in making ethical
decisions avoids consequences and lies on the basis that human beings are “qualitatively
different from other physical objects”. The pro to this would be deciding on the morally right
thing to do whereas the con would be not acknowledging the possible consequences.
When applying Universal Ethics to this scenario, under the basis of Categorical Imperative, it is
our moral obligation to act in a manner that we would expect others to do as well. With acting
accordingly to the standard that you would want other rational human beings to uphold. “Act
only on the maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal
law” stated by Imannuel Kant. Other rational human beings in Luke’s situation would have the
imperative of assisting their family member. If this the case, according to Universal Ethics, then
it should be acceptable for everyone else to do the same as Luke and that is where there are
potential flaws to this theory. Are we ever able to be sure of all consequences resulting from our
actions? This is where there are potential issues in the belief of doing what is right no matter the
consequence. Imagine if all the employees, due to universal ethics, were to share confidential
information at the expense of their companies. This would be detrimental to any business
environment as there would be many conflicts of interest, most likely resulting in the decline of
their companies.
Golden Rule
The Golden Rule, is one of the most general principles of treating other people the way you want
to be treated, found in most cultures and religions. Being very simple, but at the same time so
profound. In order to apply this approach, it requires one to imagine being in other’s positions
and mindful of the impact of decisions. It implies that everyone has worth and value. That the
person on the other side is just as worthy as you (Mark S. Putnam).
Applying the Golden Rule to this scenario, Luke is expected to be honest with his brother and
inform him about the project and the negative impact it will have within his neighborhood. Luke
should understand that he would not want to be put through the same situation and therefore
understand that Owen is worthy of the same knowledge. This also means that Luke is expected
to be consistent and uphold the fairness with everyone such as ABC Co, stockholders, his
supervisor and inform them he is unable to keep the information classified and therefore to
prevent conflict of interest, possibly be removed from the project. He must ask himself, “What
would I want myself to do in each case”. The basis of this rule suggests treating others fairly and
with respect and imagining yourself in other’s positions. If you were Luke and roles were
reversed, you would not want to be left in the dark on information detrimental to your
investments and overall living. This leaves the question on how Luke should prioritize between
these choices. The implications of this theory could be that since Luke’s actions may impact
several people that are related to him in different ways, it can be hard for everyone to be pleased
by the outcome resulting in a family feud or upset stockholders.
Virtue Ethics
Virtue Ethics focuses on the individual’s characters and the virtues they hold which decide their
ethical behavior rather than a set of rules. Although this approach considers the character of
people, it is also important to keep in consideration that people are very impressionable due to
their communities. In this scenario, Luke is dealing with two separate distinct
groups/communities. One being his professional workplace community with the team project and
the ABC company. Secondly, he has his family, this being a much different community than his
work.
When applying Virtue Ethics to this scenario, given that Luke is Owen’s brother, he should have
the moral obligation to inform his brother about the project without thinking of the
confidentiality he needs to uphold. Although, if he is an honest and loyal worker, it can also be
seen how due to his virtues as a loyal hard worker would prevent him from disclosing that
information. Additionally, his team members could also see this as a lack of morals and character
to see someone withhold such detrimental information from a family member, let alone a
brother. Luke must decide what community he should reference and what kind of person he
wants to be. This will define which traits and virtues he decides to use in making decisions.
Considering that Luke has the obligation to be a good brother here, there is the implication of
bias. One changing defining virtues and different character traits based off each community and
the situation at hand.

RECOMMENDATION/CONCLUSION
With Utilitarianism one is weighing the decision on consequences, where it is the opposite for
Universal Law. As for the Golden Rule, it can be viable due to the consistency that can be upheld
given that Luke can put himself in each and everyone’s perspective that is being impacted by the
project. Whereas Virtue Ethics are dependent on the individual’s traits and virtues and result in
bias decision making. In this situation, my recommendation would be to abide by the
Utilitarianism theory. Since the decision is based on consequences and keeps in mind the benefit
of the majority, I believe Luke would be able to provide his guidance to his brother without
jeopardizing the “greater good” of the company. If Luke is ethically conflicted with doing so, he
can respectfully decline the job offer for the project in order to uphold his obligations of
confidentiality to the company as well as look out for his brother.