Act Utilitarianism
Student’s Name
University
Course Number and Name
Professors Name
Date
Act Utilitarianism
| Shareholders
(15) |
Employees
(2000) |
Suppliers
(50) |
Customers
(500,000) |
Net Utility | |
| Continue production | +4*15= +60 | +5*2000= +10,000 | +5*50= +250 | +3*500,000= +1,500,000 | +1,510,310 |
| Stop production | -3*15= -45 | -5*2,000= -10,000 | -5*50= -250 | 0*500,000= 0 | -10,295 |
| Sell | 2*15= 30 | -2*2000= -4000 | -2*50= -50 | 0*500,000= 0 | -4070 |
Shareholders
Continue: If the production continues, shareholders will continue generating income as the company re-establishes its market share, sales, and profitability.
Stop: Stopping production during the retooling could lead to the closure of the company; hence, losses to shareholders.
Sell: Owners could sell the company to another party and exit the business, thus, generating income.
Employees
Continue: If the production continues, employees will continue to work and generate income.
Stop: If the production stops, the company could go under, forcing workers to laid off
Sell: Selling the company could put some employees at risk of losing their jobs.
Suppliers
Continue: If the production continues, suppliers will continue to supply essential materials to the company and generate income.
Stop: Stopping production during the retooling would mean that suppliers would stop supplying and generating income during the delayed period.
Sell: Selling the company would cost suppliers their job unless the buyer elects to work with them.
Customers
Continue: If production continues, customers will continue to buy and derive satisfaction from the Jupiter Model.
Stop: Stopping production will not impact customers, as they will retain their money or buy other car models in the market.
Sell: Selling the company will not affect customers; they are neutral since they would find substitutes in the market.
Explanation
Act utilitarianism posits that an act is morally right if and only if it engenders the best possible outcomes in a particular situation or dilemma (Frey, 2013). Notably, the best possible outcome is identified by computing every action’s net utility and picking the act with the highest value. The chart above shows that continuing production has the highest net utility; hence, the company should continue producing the cars. The net utility is primarily the sum of total happiness that every group derives from an act. For example, if the production continues, total satisfaction for shareholders will be +60 and +10,000 for employees. Suppliers will derive total happiness of +250, while customers will derive +1,500,000. Therefore, the net utility for continuing production is the sum of these happiness levels, which equals 1,510,310.
References
Frey, R. G. (2013). Act‐utilitarianism. The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, 219-237.