Ethics Theory

and
Business Practice
3.3 Kantian Theory Part Three
Kantian Ethics Theory Applied to
Labour Standards in Offshore
Production

aims
to describe how Kantian theory can
be applied to evaluate the ethicality
of employment practices in an
offshore production scenario

offshoring
transfer of manufacturing and
assembly operations to the
developing world
lower costs
less-stringent labour laws
outsource production to specialist
factory operators

potential benefits of
offshoring

for consumers
for shareholders
for employees in developing nations
for local economy in developing
nations
for communities in developing
nations

some criticisms of labour standards

in offshored operations

low pay
long hours
harsh management
poor health and safety standards
no job security
no employee representation
(Klein, 2001)

applying Kantian theory to identify

corporate responsibilities in relation to
offshoring
identifying imperfect duty
identifying perfect duty

identifying imperfect duty

what sentiments might the
companys managers want other
people to show towards them and
their company?
those managers have an imperfect
duty to develop these sentiments in
their company and express them
towards others

identifying perfect duty: applying the

three formulas of the categorical
imperative
1. the formula of universal law
2. the formula of the end in itself
3. the formula of universal
acceptability

1. applying the formula of universal

law
ask five questions:
Question 1: what is the company trying to
achieve by its action?
Question 2: what is the maxim upon which it is
acting?
Question 3: what would universal adoption of
that maxim consist of?
Question 4: what would be the eventual result of
universal adoption of that maxim?
Question 5: how would this affect the companys
success in achieving what it is trying to achieve?

2. applying the formula of the end in

itself
is the company treating its
employees purely as a means to an
end, or is it also treating them as an
end in their own right?
what might treating employees as an
end in their own right consist of?

3. applying the formula of universal

acceptability
the New York Times test (Trevino
and Nelson, 2004: 99)
would the companys decisionmakers be happy for information
about labour standards in their
offshored operations to appear in the
national newspaper?

theory in practice
Rana Plaza: a disaster waiting to
happen

key points
Kant offers practical rules that can be used
to identify perfect duty in business
scenarios
Kant also encourages us to think about our
imperfect duty to encourage certain
sentiments in business
the emphasis that Kant places on freedom
highlights the desirability of
businesspeople making their own reasonbased decisions about ethics

references
Klein, N. (2001) No Logo. London:
Harper Collins.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A. (2004)
Managing Business Ethics: Straight
Talk About How To Do It Right (3rd
edn). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.