Blog 1: Introduction

As I am an MBA candidate, with little background in healthcare administration, I believed that the theories and issues presented by the required textbooks would not relate to the business environment at all. The healthcare industry is very unique in the types of ethical dilemmas that can arise, and for this reason I thought there would be many stark differences in applicable theories. However, as I began reading The Tracks We Leave, I quickly realized that everything presented in the introduction was universally applicable, not only valid in the healthcare industry. The ten principles offered by John Worthley undoubtedly apply to all aspects of the business world, from virtues and benefits to justice and liberty. In all cases in the introduction, one could easily swap the word “patient” for “business client” and find themselves in a better position to handle ethical situations and dilemmas.

One thing that stood out to me while reading through the ethical decision-making frameworks was the ambiguity of the terms used. It is difficult to determine what “the greater good” means, and to whom is it greater? Determining “legitimate moral rights” is another situation that can be difficult to fully integrate into business decisions. What determines the legitimacy of a moral right, and who is the one to make that decision? These are questions that I anticipate will be answered over the course of the summer semester. These answers will determine the best applications of the theories in both the healthcare industry and the business environment.