Question

Case 3: Webporn

Case Summary: Al Smetana, the CEO of Rayburn Unlimited Company, has built the company on foundations of honesty, integrity, and acknowledging the values that every individual at the company possesses. One day, he realized that an employee had found a way of accessing emails belonging to other people at the company. He immediately asked the employee to leave the company for violating the code of conduct.

As the employee was leaving, he made some remarks in anger regarding the vice president of the human resources division at the company, Mr. Craig Lindsey. The employee alleged that Lindsey used his computer to watch pornography.

At the time, Al Smetana was skeptical about the allegation, but later he decided to call Lindsey in his office and make inquiries. During the meeting, Lindsey accepted the allegations amid tears and stated that he was addicted to it and he was trying to stop. He asked the CEO for help, but Smetana said he needed time to think about the matter.

Discussion and application: The scenario creates a dilemma for Al Smetana where on one hand, he does not want to lose a friend, but on the other hand, he does not want to apply double standards and fail to abide by his own rules.

This scenario brings out Bentham’s point on morality as being an abstract concept that requires certain rules in order to apply to diverse situations without changing the core values. In this case, the rules are the presumptions that form the utilitarian theory. Application of the theory to the situation in this case will depend on the desired outcome as well as the company rules.

Give a conclusion about the case. The standard would be at least 3 to 5 sentences.

Answer this question:

How is Utilitarianism theory related to the case studies discussed?

Answer 1

According to the theory of utilitarianism, something is morally good if it is good for the maximum number of individuals in a society. Hence, and action should produce a balance between happiness and sufferring. For the given case study, Rayburn Unlimited Company can be considered as a representative society. If Mr Craig Lindsey is still kept in the company it will set a bad precedent for the other employees. They will believe that anything wrong can be forgiven if one is friends with the CEO. Hence, in the interest of other employees which maximizes happiness it will be good to get rid of Mr Craig Lindsey.