1. What is the purpose of the company? This question can have an infinite amount of answers and they can all be correct. The goal will not be to find a definitive answer but to explore four main theories of business ethics to better understand what the purpose of business is.2. A purely profit-based economic model would define shareholder theory in which the overarching goal of the company is to produce the most profit for its shareholders. Prioritizing profits over a positive public image. Goldman Sachs becomes a prime example of shareholder theory. The rights and desert theory can be used to support the shareholder theory.3. When shares are purchased in a company, that person is entitled to the profits or losses that those shares of stock are worth, the rights theory supports the shareholder theory in which the shareholders have the right to reap the profits from the shares as long as they were purchased fairly. Desert theory states that if the action is morally right, then the person should be able to reap the benefits and absorb the losses. The shareholder theory supports this because being a shareholder in a company is morally accepted, but if an unethical act is performed when buying or selling shares, the desert theory would not support the shareholder theory. shareholders. When Martha Stewart was arrested for insider trading, she demonstrated that committing an unethical act negates the desert theory.4. Shareholder theory is about pleasing one stakeholder, the shareholders; Stakeholder theory expands this view to try to please all stakeholders. The Ben and Jerry's company was a good example of stakeholder theory because it kept the pay differences between the CEO and the lowest paid worker to only ten times. Utilitarianism and virtue ethics theory can be used to support a business middle of paper and benefit from the benefits that actions can bring.9. Since shareholder and stakeholder theories are very different, they constitute the extremes of the business ethics spectrum, in between these are the Kantian minimal view and the Rawlsian position. The minimum Kantian view is closer to the shareholder view, but the main difference is that it does not treat any stakeholder group as a mere means to an end. The Rawlsian position is closer to the stakeholder view that life is not fair, but if you did not know what position you would be in, you would choose the situation that would be in your best interest. After an overview of the four viewpoints, the Rawlsian position would be the most ethically justified. It enjoys net happiness in which there is no big difference between stakeholder groups, and there is also room for promotion between groups because not all stakeholders are equal..