Societal and organizational ethics widely influence individuals’ behavior in an organization as well as in society. The term ethics refers to the principle that guides an individual or group of people in a given setup. Therefore, ethics can also be defined as the code of conduct of an individual or group of individuals such as employees ( Kaptein, 2013) . The Sweet Justice or Sour Dough case presents a case study whereby the ethics of the Hostess brand industry are to blame for the organization's downfall. The article reveals that the company has been suffering from huge debts owing to increasing rates socially unacceptable behaviors in the organization which led to increased rates of debts and financial constraints for the company leading to its closure.
Case Study and Ethic Theories
The principle of natural law ethics defines an act as right when its intentions are grounded on the principle of general goodness ( Murphy, 2002) . Even though Hostess company was justified and termed as ethical after laying off as well as reducing the salaries and benefits of the some of its employees in an attempt to cut down the operational cost of the company. The initial intentions of the company can be termed as unethical because after rendering some employees unemployed and withdrawing the employee's benefits, the top officials used the funds acquired to increase their salaries. In this case, the natural law of ethics terms the actions as flawed because no amount of good consequences of the actions would justify the company's operations to reduce the junior employees' salaries and benefits as well as laying off a large number of employees ( Murphy, 2002) . Additionally, Aquinas in his theory of substantive natural law ethics indicates that consideration of the general good of action is critical while reasoning, however, the intentions of the actions can render an action flawed ( Murphy, 2002) , hence, being unethical.
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Additionally, the ethics can be considered as moral goodness that aims at benefiting the majority as opposed to a minority ( Murphy, 2002) . In this case, ethical actions can be viewed as just actions. The natural law of ethics indicates that there is a significant difference between good and right. In this case, an effect can be useful but on the other hand wrong ( Murphy, 2002) . For example, the process of selling the Hostess Company was excellent. However, it was not a right action as the company's failures had stemmed from the company's mismanagement of funds. John Lock's contribution to the principles of desert-based principle argues that individuals should be rewarded for their efforts in an institution ( Miller, 2017) . The hostess company has significantly violated ethics and justice for its employees who have continuously engaged in the growth and development of the company. Instead of rewarding the employees for their excellent work and positive contribution towards the company, the company fired some employees, and at the same time, the retained employees were subjected to low salaries and withdrawn benefits. According to the desert-based principle, ethical behaviors within an organization take into consideration on contribution, efforts, and compensation ( Miller, 2017) . Further, the theory argues that individuals should be rewarded based on their participation and performances in an organization ( Miller, 2017) .
Catholic Social Teachings
The Catholic social teaching focuses on the numerous contribution of the Catholic religious leaders on matters relating to economic social as well as the political welfare of Christians. Concerning the Hostess Company, the CST demonstrates some inequalities. For example, Vatican II focused on the social injustices that employees face in a working environment due to inequality policies that focus on the minority as opposed to the majority ( O'Brien & Shannon, 2010) . In this case, the Hostess Company significantly practiced inequalities whereby the top officials of the organizations were subjected to an increment of salary, and on the contrary, the employees of the company said reduced wages as well as increased rate of lay off. Ethical actions focus on the general goodness of the large group as opposed to justice for a one percent population which comprises of influential people ( O'Brien & Shannon, 2010) .
Vatican II teachings are in line with the natural law theory which focuses on the inherent goodness of an action. For example, Hobbesian contribution to subjectivist theories of morality argues that what makes an action truly good is the fact that it is the desired action ( Murphy, 2002) . The subjectivist theories argue that an effect can be termed as good when it is socially acceptable, which implies that the action is desired ( Murphy, 2002) . Social inequalities in a society are not desired actions and are considered as unethical and injustice actions.
Additionally, Pope Leo XIII on his contributions towards social justice in his writing Rerum Novarum indicated the need for workers plights whereby the employees were supposed to be subjected to b human dignity and moral equality ( O'Brien & Shannon, 2010) . In this case, the Catholic teachings indicate that employees should be treated with fairness and at the same time subjected to a remuneration plan that allows the employees to meet their basic needs as well as those of their dependents. The Catholic teachings on equality and social justice are similar to distributive justice theory of ethics. The principle of the different principle of the distributive justice theory argues that social and economic inequalities should meet two significant conditions ( Miller, 2017) .
Firstly, the social and economic inequalities should focus on meeting the needs of the minority and socially disadvantaged individuals as opposed meeting the needs of the advantaged and wealthy members of the society ( Miller, 2017) . Secondly, social and economic inequalities should be attached to opportunities and offices that are opposed to all the people and to offices and opportunities that offer equal opportunities ( Miller, 2017) . In this case, the Catholic social teachings and distributive theory focuses on the provision of equality within a society which include working environments.
Conclusion
Ethics in society and working environment define people behavior as well as how people relate in a given set up. Additionally, ethics in a working environment define what is wrong or right ( Kaptein, 2013) . The analysis of the Hostess brand industry using the ethical theories demonstrates unethical behaviors in the industry that lead to the downfall of the company. Additionally, the distributive, natural law, and the Catholic social teaching theories have significantly demonstrated the social and moral injustices in the Hostess brand company.
References
Kaptein, M. (2013). Workplace morality: Behavioral ethics in organizations . gley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Miller, D. (2017). Distributive justice: What the people think. In Distributive Justice (pp. 135-173). Routledge.
Murphy, M. (2002). The natural law tradition in ethics.
O'Brien, D. J., & Shannon, T. A. (2010). Catholic social thought: The documentary heritage . Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis.
