Ethical of Buiness Bartender Case Study Questions

Q1. What are the moral issues raised?

• The bartender serves her friend first over others waiting and pours extra.
• The bar manager’s inappropriate treatment of and behaviours towards her.
• Repeatedly undercharging her friend for the drinks.
• Revengeful attitude and behaviour adopted by the bartender.

Q2. From a utilitarian, deontologica and from a virtue perspective - is it morally okay to accept the free drinks? Why? (explain utilitarian, deontological and virtue perspective first)

Utilitarian perspective:

• Utilitarian ethics essentially means the greatest amount of good/happiness for the greatest amount of people.
• Accepting free drinks means more pleasure because the friend and her group can enjoy cheaper drinks repeatedly. Therefore, it is morally okay to accept free drinks.

Deontological perspective:

• Deontological ethics essentially talks of the ‘Categorical Imperative’ whereby people should not be treated as a means to an end, as well, the principle of universal law applies.

• To consider the consequences of the bartender, if the bar manager were to find out about what all is happening with her friends, the bartender would very likely get into major trouble. Therefore, as her friend, it is not morally okay to accept the free drinks, given the potential consequences involved.

Virtue perspective:

• The virtue ethics can be defined in three key parts, which are the virtuous character, the community and the situation. According to Aristotle, “ethics is not about principles, but about living a good life, which is a life that demonstrates virtuous character.”
• If her friend accepts the free drinks, she is giving in to being greedy in that situation and not displaying a strong, good character, as greed is not a good character trait that would be expected from the larger community. So, it is not morally okay to accept the free drinks.

Q3. Is deliberately undercharging your friends different from other forms of preferential treatment such as serving your friends in front of other customers waiting? Defend your response.

No, in our opinion, deliberately undercharging your friends is not any different from other forms of preferential treatment, this is because in either situation the intentions are definitely there, and they are not right to begin with, no matter how small or big the manifestation of “preference” itself be, it cannot be justified in the eyes of others or self.

Using the Virtue ethics perspective -

Character: showing preference is not a virtuous, good character trait to possess.

Situationalism: what is good and bad is often framed by people from different perspectives, given the specific time, place and situation.

Q4. Considering everyone involved: who is most right and who is most wrong in this situation? Defend your choice.

Based on the following analysis, we think

• MOST RIGHT: Group of friends - as they already know that they would give out a free drink but they only go through the flow and it would be impolite to accept the offer.

• MOST WRONG: Her friends- because under this situation her friend keeps going back to the bar and accept the free drinks.

Q5. How will you handle the situation in the future? Do nothing or ask your friend to stop undercharging you? If you take the latter option, what would you do if she refused?

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