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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Ethical conflicts and dilemmas

A finance manager is asked to approve a supplier payment that she suspects breaches company policy. She considers the action purely by asking whether it follows rules and duties she is bound by, regardless of the outcome. Which ethical approach is she applying?

She is applying a deontological approach, which judges an action by whether it conforms to rules, duties or rights rather than by its consequences. A utilitarian would instead weigh outcomes for the greatest number of people affected by the decision.

  1. ADeontological (rules and duty based)Correct
  2. BUtilitarian (consequences based)
  3. CVirtue ethics based on character only
  4. DEthical egoism

Explanation

A deontological approach judges actions by whether they conform to duties, rules or rights, regardless of consequences. A utilitarian approach would weigh the outcomes for the greatest number of people. Egoism focuses on self-interest, which is not what she is doing here.

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