Business Ethics

Question 1

Describe what is virtue ethics and explain a clear example to illustrate the theory being applied in real life.
A US major manufacturer, GA, has outsourced its 8,000-worker production plant to a lower-cost country in order to boost profit margin and improve shareholders’ dividends. Many of the workers were made redundant as a result. Since the manufacturer no longer has a production facility in the US, its suppliers who used to provide raw materials, machinery, and other support services also suffered major losses and started retrenching their workers. The local government also collected fewer taxes since there were fewer employed workers and lowered business activities. Describe the utilitarian theory and apply it to determine if GA’s decision to outsource its production is considered ethical or not.