WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY

Workplace spirituality



Workplace spirituality

Assignment 1)

The utilitarian theory of just distribution is best formulated in terms of rule rather than act utilitarianism, the former being the idea that we do not judge every single action by the standard of whether it contributes to the greatest utility, but rather according to society's rules and practices on this basis (Cobb, 2004).

On this view, social rules are preferred that raise overall utility, irrespective, in principle, of its distribution. In practice, however, the classical utilitarian's, including Jeremy Bentham, J. S. Mill and Henry Sidgwick, believed that utility is increased by having more equal distributions of resources. Earlier neoclassical economists thus used the principle of diminishing marginal utility and the concept of interpersonal comparisons of utility to argue that overall utility would be enhanced if goods and/ or income were transferred from well-off individuals, for whom this would involve a modest loss of utility, to less well-off individuals, for whom this would involve a significant increase in utility. In the limit this implied that an equal distribution of income produces maximum utility (Hewstone, 2001), an egalitarian conclusion reinforced by the assumption that every person's utility counts equally.

After Lionel Robbins, however, the fact that nothing in utilitarianism in principle required any assumptions regarding distribution enabled neoclassical economists to abandon interpersonal utility comparisons and distributive justice concerns. This has not prevented many heterodox economists from arguing that a more equal distribution of resources is just, because it increases the greater good (Dworki, 2001).

Assignment 2)

A key term when discussing the influence of the majority on individuals is conformity. To what extent is our behavior shaped by what others do? Our everyday experience provides examples of how majorities within groups influence minorities to conform to their norms which raise the question of whether we are really independently thinking individuals (Baron, 2002).

Conformity refers to the changes in behavior that arise from real or imagined group pressure. The pressure to be conventional may arise from an actual community interface or situation or from the custom that an individual perceives a certain desirable group to possess. These norms can be real or imagined. An individual will conform in order to align themselves with the thinking of a particular group. Social norms, for example, represent the common behavioral code that dictates the behavior of people within the society in which they live.

Conformity is an important and powerful force that shapes all our daily lives. The organization of society into groups of various descriptions presents individuals with a bewildering array of behavioral norms. Research by Asche and others has demonstrated that the influence of the majority within each of these groups through various means has a powerful effect on individual conformity. Thus, due to our desire and need for belonging and acceptance, the majority will influence the thoughts and behavior of the individual (Levine, 2007).

Assignment 3)

If we analyze the given case, we will come to know that Ahmad has clearly been a victim of ...