UTILITARIAN MODEL
The Utilitarian Approach assesses an action in terms of its consequences or outcomes;
i.e., the net benefits and costs to all stakeholders on an individual level. It strives to
achieve the greatest good for the greatest number while creating the least amount of
harm or preventing the greatest amount of suffering. It holds that every entity’s
interests should be considered equally when making the decision, and this includes
those of other species since they also are capable of suffering.
So for any set of options it would view the most ethical option as the one which
produces the best balance of benefits over harm for the most stakeholders. Outcomes
may be quantified in such terms as contentment and suffering, the relative value of
individual preferences, monetary gain or loss, or the short-term and long-term effects
of an action.
In a business context, this approach might rely on a statistical analysis of probable
outcomes, a classic costs/benefits assessment, and/or a consideration of the marginal
utility of a consequence for various stakeholders in the group.
