¶ … duty-based or deontological ethics will be defined and applied to Mattel Inc.'s case.
Duty-Based Ethics
Duty-based or deontological ethics deals with what individuals do, rather than the outcomes of their doings. Its key tenets are:
Do what is ethically right.
Do it since it's ethically right.
Refrain from doing wrong things.
Refrain from doing them since they're wrong.
Under deontological ethics, one cannot simply validate one's actions by proving that its end result was good; thus, this approach is occasionally termed as "non-Consequentialist." "Deontological" is derived from deon (the Greek term for "duty"). This ethical approach is commonly referred to as 'the principle of the thing', by society (BBC - Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Duty-based ethics). It teaches us that specific actions are wrong or right due to the "types" of actions they are. Further, individuals are duty-bound to act in accordance to this knowledge, irrespective of whether the outcomes are bad or good.
An individual who is a follower of deontological ethics must do what is right, even if his/her actions do less good (or more harm) as compared to doing what is wrong: In other words, individuals are duty-bound to act right, even when the end result will probably be negative (BBC - Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Duty-based ethics). A deontologist seems to be doing things backwards, first deciding which action is 'right' and then proceeding from there. (The actual fact is that, this is what they actually do, and not the actual basis of their thoughts.) Deontological ethics focuses on every person's individual value and addresses goals and purposes. Thus, an individual does the good thing only if he/she does what is ethically correct.
Mattel Case
In the course of the past two decades or more, multinational companies have braved accusations of unethical and unjust business practices and market power abuse, particularly with regard to management of their supply chains and operations in foreign countries. These...
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