Ethical Behavior Employees in the Research Paper

Immanuel Kant, an 18th century German philosopher, established a set of categorical imperatives on how one should conduct their lives, one of them being treat people as an end, and never as a means to an end (Johnson, 2010). A more recent duty-based theory is by British philosopher W.D. Ross, which emphasizes prima facie duties. Like those before him, Ross argues that our duties are part of the fundamental nature of the universe. Ross claims his list of duties reflects our actual moral convictions. They are 1) fidelity - the duty to keep our promises, 2) reparation - the duty to compensate others when we harm them, 3) gratitude - the duty to thank those who help us, 4) justice - the duty to recognize merit, 5) beneficence - the duty to improve the conditions of others, 6) self-improvement - the duty to improve our virtue and intelligence, and 7) non-malfeasance -- the duty not to injure others (Skelton, 2010).

In light of these theories, and the various ways Ron directly and indirectly damaged others one can easily support the claim the Ron acted unethically. Even if one were to claim that Ron's actions aided the employees in the Paint Department, the impetus for his actions can only be viewed as an attempt to defraud his employer.

4. What measure(s) might the company take to obtain valid data for setting the labor time standard?

There are a couple of safe guards the company might employ in order to ensure the validity of their data for setting the labor time standard. First, the tests should be conducted without the subject knowing how the information gathered would be used. This would help protect against deceptions such as Ron's. Next the test should be conducted a number of times and with a number of different employees in order to increase sample size and validity. This way the company could set a more realistic labor time standard.

References

Fieser, J. (2009). Ethics. Internet encyclopedia of philosopy. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/

Johnson, R. (2010, Summer). Kant's moral philosophy. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Edward N. Zalta, (ed.). Retrieved November 27,2010, from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2010/entries/kant-moral/

Skelton, a. (2010, Fall). William Davis Ross. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosopy. Edward N. Zalta, (ed.) Retrieved November 27, 2010, from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2010/entries/william-david-ross/

Uzgalis, W. (2010, Summer). John Locke. Ethics. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosopy. Edward N. Zalta, (ed.) Retrieved November 27, 2010, from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2010/entries/locke/