Final answer:
A manager basing ethical behavior on the opinions and behaviors of relevant others is related to normative ethical relativism, which holds that ethics are relative to the cultural or societal context. Normative ethics includes consequentialism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics, each providing different criteria for ethical decisions affecting stakeholders' well-being.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a manager bases ethical behavior on the opinions and behaviors of relevant other people, the philosophy they are employing is often related to normative ethical relativism. This view posits that the correct moral and ethical behavior is determined by what the majority in a given society deems appropriate.
It is a form of relativism which suggests that there are no universal moral truths, and instead, ethics are relative to the cultural, societal, or individual context.
Normative ethics, a branch of ethics that deals with moral behavior, offers different approaches to determine what constitutes ethical actions. These include consequentialism, which assesses morality based on the outcomes of actions; deontological ethics, which focuses on adherence to moral duties or rules; and virtue ethics, which emphasizes the importance of developing virtuous characteristics.
The approach where a manager is looking to conform to the expectations and behaviors of those around them could also invoke elements of care ethics, which emphasizes the importance of relationships and the subjective, contextual factors impacting ethical decisions.
Understanding the complex nature of ethics, managers must carefully consider how their decisions align with various ethical frameworks, and how these decisions affect their stakeholders well-being.