Macro Case: You are the head of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). You have learned that numerous vitamin companies are making claims about the effi¬cacy of their over-the-counter products that are not entirely correct and in some cases are patently wrong. it has been agency policy to treat over-the-counter vitamins largely as unregulated so long as the products actually contain what the label says (e.g., vitamin E in a vitamin E pill).
The current situation worries you. More and more vitamins and herbal medications are available in increasingly potent amounts and pose health problems to people who use them improperly. Some affect heart rate, and others are mood altering. This poses a difficulty to your understanding of the professional responsibility incumbent in your position. You believe that your job is to protect the public; however, when you bring this up in a staff meeting, it becomes apparent that at least three clear positions emerge. First is the position that the marketplace will police itself and the media will inform the public of excesses andproblems, which will result in putting financial pressures on those companies to reform themselves.
The second position is that only the government can treat corporations as moral entities with the moral (and legal) responsibility to act responsibly (with a high level of care and professionalism). Those who say that companies ought to be made account¬able use language suggesting that these companies are persons in their own right.
A third position is to view the situation as the interface of stakeholders' intersts.
Obviously, these three positions predict radically different solutions to what everyone agrees is a disaster waiting to happen. You have an appointment with the secretary of Health and Human Services to discuss this problem. Write a position paper noting the practical and professional issues and the way you characterize a corporation.
Business Ethics Rubric
I will be looking for the following items in your Case Study Analysis.
I. Developing a Practical Ethical Viewpoint (Have you clearly picked and stated an Ethical Viewpoint) (You need to choose one for each case study)
A. Utilitarianism
B. Deontology
C. Ethical Intuitionism
D. Virtue Ethics
II. To help you choose the ethical theory do the following (By looking at the moral situations):
A. Interpret what is right and wrong according to each of the four theories
B. Give an argument that each theory might provide
C. State your own assessment of the strengths of each theory
III. Find the Ethical Conflict (Develop questions to identify the ethical issues)
A. Is any party being exploited solely for the advantage of another?
1. Is there any lying?
2. Is anyone or party injured
3. Is there a deliberate falsification of information
4. Has there been a creation of unequal competition?
5. The above mentioned items are prohibitions(these are actions that you must refrain from doing)
B. Is every effort being made to assist and affirm the human dignity of all parties involved?
1. Is there encouragement of fulfillment of legal and human rights
2. Take personal responsibility for results
3. The above mentioned items are obligations(these are actions that you are required to do)
C. Anything that is not an obligation or a prohibition is a permission.(Permissions are actions that you may do if you choose)
D. Summary of finding the Ethical Conflict
1. List the professional practice issues at stake
2. Identify your practical ethical viewpoint including any linking principles
3. Determine which character's perspective you will adopt
4. Identify two or more detection questions that define obligation and prohibition within the ethical theory you have chosen.
5. Apply the detection questions to the cases to bring attention to the ethical issues.
6. Discuss the interrelationships between the dictates of the ethical issues and those of the professional practice. How might they work together? How might they be opposed?
IV. Assessing Embedded Levels
A. Embeddedness refers to how deeply ingrained a proposition(Three Levels)
1. Look at the depth of Professional Practice Issues
2. Look at the depth of Ethical Issues
3. Look at the depth of Cost Issues
B. Surface
C. Medium
D. Deep
V. Applying Ethical Issues
A. Thoughts on the position and Argument for the position (Brainstorm list)
B. Thoughts on the position and Argument against the position (Brainstorm list)
C. Compare the pivotal premises in those arguments using ethical consideration as part of the decision making matrix
D. Make a judgment on which course to take
VI. Structuring the Essay
A. Executive Summary
B. Introduction
C. Body of the Essay
D. Conclusion
E. Spelling and Mechanics
F. Page Requirements.