Sarayu Sharma

Select a topic of your interest and create a question out of the topic and answer.

Topic: Utilitarianism

In this material world, one seeks for happiness. Whatever actions done are to achieve one result which is happiness. In ethics, Utilitarianism is the term for happiness. The originality is still argued till this date as many great philosophers are linked to this term (Francis Hutcheson, Jeremy Bentham, Joseph Priestley). However, Jeremy Bentham is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism : It is regarded as a philosophy that bases the moral worth of an action upon the number of people it gives happiness or pleasure to.
When one is to take the decision for the good of society through social, economic or political this term is massively used. In utilitarianism, an action is considered to have utility when it contributes to the overall good. However, one can never measure the benefit if an action from one individual to another. Hence, in most cases, this concept is used for the betterment of a large group of people if not the overall population.

Question:
"During the course of doing business, is gratification a normal practice and is it a part of utilitarianism?"

First part of question:
During the course of doing business, is gratification a normal practice?

Gratification : The pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness in response of to a fulfillment of a desire or goal

If one is to look into this term, they will stumble on two types of gratification where one strangles a business while the other brings great success to business.

Instant Gratification: all about setting short term aims and wanting rewards straight away rather than waiting to receive them in the future.

Many immature minds look at a business venture as a short term profit. It is possible to gain a short term profit but the profit won't be a huge amount and when the bigger picture is seen it may not even worth anything. It can be said many business ventures has failed due to the carelessness of businessman not looking through this issue.

When, one ventures into business, they should consider many aspects for the success and the surviving rate of the business in the market. Hence, a good and strategic plan should be applied and carried. At the same time, one should realize it takes time to gain the profit out of the business and nothing can be done in an overnight. This relates to the latter type of gratification which is known as delayed gratification.

Delayed Gratification: is the ability to resists the temptations for an immediate reward and wait for a later reward

Gratification is a norm in business world as everyone who ventures into business sets a goal to gain profit where, when this goal is achieved leads to their happiness.

Second part of question
Is gratification a part of utilitarianism?

Yes it is!
In utilitarianism, an action is considered to have utility when it contributes to the overall good.

Any business venture (sole proprietor business, partnership business, private limited company, public listed company) is done to maximize profit (as explained above it is an action of gratification) and to achieve this, the businessman hires workforce. He then pays the work force to achieve the company's goal. Hence, the salary given is an action which has utility and it contributes to the good of the workforce.

Nevertheless, one cannot compare the benefits gained in one company to another and this is also stated in the term utilitarianism itself as this term is regarded for the betterment of a large group of people and not the overall population.

Example on the answer of question

An excellent example of business venture where both utilitarianism and gratification actions can be seen is through Reliance Industries Ltd..

Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani started his trading business from a small 500 sq.ft. office in Mumbai in 1957 and after 9 years of great hard work, in 1966 he manged to create his own and the biggest textile brand named Reliance. In 1977, he then issued IPO where he gave the public an opportunity to be part of his success. First, it was polyester then he ventured into petrochemical and then into petroleum sector in 1991. Mr. Ambani never forgot the give back to mother nature where in 1999 he created a refinery and established a manmade mango orchard in a desert! In 2002, the world's largest gas discovery was done by Reliance.
For over 5 decades Mr. Ambani worked hard to create his empire and if only in 1957, he wanted a small and immediate profit, his name wouldn't appear as one of the successful man in the business world today even after his passing.

After his passing, his son took over and new initiatives were done. Mr. Mukesh Ambani believed in " Give to the world the best that you have and the best will come back to you". New approaches were taken to gain the trust and loyalty of its employees. This was seen when, Reliance bought over Hualon Corporation and renamed it as Recron Sdn.Bhd. During the takeover, the current employers of Hualon were worried of losing their jobs, but much to their surprise Recron absorbed all the employees of Hualon and provided all sort of benefits to them and their families. Accommodation for 10,000 its employees were provided with transport, medical, insurance and other benefits. This boosted the employees to provide the best for the company and in return the company which was liquidated due to financial crunch managed to make a turnover of USD 1 in just 3 years.

Here we can see how the concept of delayed gratification and utilitarianism takes place where, the action of giving benefits to the employees of Recron Sdn. Bhd. contributed to the overall good and how the action itself gave the overall good to Reliance itself.

References

(Gratification )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratification

(Utilitarianism )

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/utilitarianism.asp#axzz2KOktXRYp

(A case of delayed gratification, 2011)

http://www.bio-itworld.com/BioIT_Article.aspx?id=104204

(Yew, 2012)

http://www.lowhanyew.com/delayed-gratification/

(Delayed Gratification versus Immediate Gratification)

http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/delayed-gratification.html