Barcelona, like many popular cities, faces an everyday dilemma: should it maximize the economic benefits of tourism or protect the daily life of its residents? Tourism results in packed streets, rising rents, and crowded transit. But it also generates jobs, tax revenue, and global vibrancy. When leaders consider these competing goods, they are likely using the classic ethical approach known as utilitarianism.
The ethical principle of utilitarianism seeks to decide upon the choice what produces the greatest overall good for the greatest number. Each of us uses this principle almost daily. It is an outcomes-based approach. In much ethics thinking, what matters are the results of the decision or the course of action.
Utilitarian thinking logic influences much of modern societies today. When city authorities place caps on short-term rentals, they evaluate residents’ quality of life compared to tourist spending. When business firms employ artificial intelligence, they balance efficiency and innovation against privacy and bias. When companies invest in climate change assets, they acknowledge short-term costs for possible long-term community gains. When this is done, leaders are contrasting impacts across groups and time which is utilitarian thinking.
Utilitarianism is popular because it forces decision-makers, and each of us, to look beyond narrow interests and consider total impact. It encourages evidence, not slogans. It aligns with the tools governments and businesses already use—cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, and stakeholder mapping. In a complex city like Barcelona, where trade-offs are unavoidable, that discipline is invaluable.
But utilitarianism also has issues. First, it can justify real harm to minorities if the majority benefits. A practice or policy that raises overall prosperity but displaces a vulnerable neighborhood may “add up” on paper while violating necessary fairness. Second, measuring “well-being” is notoriously difficult. Economic gains are easy to count; dignity, belonging, and cultural heritage are not. Third, the approach can drift into technocracy—decisions presented as neutral calculations when they are, in fact, value-laden judgments about what and who counts.
That is why utilitarianism should be a starting point, not the final word in ethical thinking. Europe’s ethical tradition places strong weight on rights and human dignity. Rules around privacy, labor, and environmental protection exist precisely to set boundaries that pure outcome-maximizing might cross over. The leadership challenge is to integrate both: use utilitarian analysis to understand consequences, while respecting non-negotiable principles that protect individuals and communities.
For Barcelona, this means being explicit about trade-offs. If tourism is limited in certain zones, who bears the cost—and how will they be supported? If new technologies are adopted, how will risks be mitigated for those most exposed? If climate policies raise prices, how will fairness be ensured? Transparency builds trust; hidden trade-offs erode it. As in much ethical thinking, nothing is simple.
Utilitarianism raises a powerful question: what course of action does the most good overall? But the harder, more honest question is this: what counts as “good,” who decides, and who might be left behind? The quality of our answers will determine the usefulness and legitimacy of utilitarianism as an ethical precept.
Professor emeritus, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, USA. Dr. Carroll received his three academic degrees in management (1965; 1966; 1972) from the College of Business, The Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida USA). He is founding author and now co-author of BUSINESS & SOCIETY: ETHICS, SUSTAINABILITY & STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT (2023), 11th edition, with Jill A Brown; Co-author of CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE which won the 2014 BEST BOOK AWARD at the Academy of Management--Social Issues in Management Meeting; and Author of BUSINESS ETHICS: BRIEF READINGS ON VITAL TOPICS. Carroll won the first Lifetime Achievement Award in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the Institute of Management, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Management, International Association for Business & Society, and the Southern Management Association. He has published over 100 articles, and his citations exceed 100,000 according to Google Scholar Citations.