Assignment: Ethical Dilemmas
Purpose:
In the first assignment, you have the opportunity to gain an understanding of how to identify different types of ethical dilemmas that occur within business, apply ethical theories to solve dilemmas, and after comparing the results, take a critical stance of determining a theorist who can best address all three dilemmas.
Outcome Met by Completing This Assignment:
1. Identify ethical issues that arise in domestic and global business environments using an understanding of ethical concepts and of legal and business principles
2. Develop and evaluate alternatives to, and recommend solutions for, ethical dilemmas, taking into account ethical and legal requirements and the essential mission of the business enterprise
3. Effectively communicate to internal and external business stakeholders the complexities of ethical issues, suggesting and analyzing various solutions in order to ensure appropriate business practices and accountability
NOTE: All submitted work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse. You are expected to understand the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 6th Ed. (Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated reference list only).
Instructions:
Step 1: Create the introductory paragraph.
Within this paragraph, provide a brief overview of the scenario. Then, provide a thesis statement and tell the reader the main topics covered in the paper. The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper. View this website to learn how to write an introductory paragraph:
The Introductory Paragraph
The paragraph that begins an essay causes students the most trouble, yet carries the most importance. Although its precise construction varies from genre to genre (and from essay to essay), good introductory paragraphs generally accomplish the same tasks and follow a few basic patterns. I have listed some of them below, but keep in mind that what follows are guidelines, not immutable templates.
Tasks: The introductory paragraph to a short essay usually attempts to do three things:
• Introduce the topic with some indication of its inherent interest or importance, and a clear definition of the boundaries of the subject area
• Indicate the structure and/or methodology of the essay, often with the major sections of the essay or its structural principle clearly stated
• State the thesis of the essay, preferably in a single, arguable statement with a clear main clause
Not every essay does all three in the first paragraph, and the degree to which an essay declares its structure or methodology may vary widely, depending on how necessary that information will be to the readers. Sometimes, the entire first paragraph will serve no other purpose than to generate interest in the subject or raise a question, leaving the other tasks for the second paragraph. However, this kind of opening requires a lot of skill, and you can lose your readers in the second and third paragraphs if do not make your purpose clear.
Patterns: The standard pattern for an introductory paragraph follows the order of the tasks outlined above. Below is an outline of that pattern, written as if it were the first section of a formal outline of the entire essay:
I: Introduction
A. The topic
1. Its boundaries
2. Why it is interesting
B. Structure and/or Methodology
1. The essay's main sections (structure)
2. Why they come in that order (structural principle)
3. How the author plans to draw the necessary conclusions from the information available (methodology)
C. The Thesis Statement (usually a single sentence)
1. Its premise (the general claim about the information available)
2. Its conclusion (the consequences of the first claim)
Not every essay contains every element in precisely this order, but most good essays cover all of them, either explicitly or implicitly. In longer and more scholarly essays, the structure/methodology section should be longer, or can even be its own paragraph. It should also include some mention of the essay's position within the field as a whole.
Step 2: Read critically and analyze the case scenario under Week 3 Content area.
Step 3: Identify and discuss the three business dilemmas and one personal dilemma presented in the case scenario. Explain the facts that you have relied upon to make the selection. Use the course material to support your reasoning and conclusions.
Step 4: Identify and discuss the common ethical issues categories to which each of the three business dilemmas belong. Use the course material to support your reasoning and conclusions.
Step 5: State each dilemma in question form and then apply the ethical theories of Kant, Rand, and Bentham to answer the question: How would each of these theorists solve the dilemma? You need only chose one theorist per dilemma but all three theorists must be used in discussing the three dilemmas. Explain in detail how the conclusions were conceived using the class material, the facts from the case scenario, and any additional resources necessary to define the answer.
Step 6: In a final paragraph, compare the results and select one theorist who would best solve all three dilemmas. Since this last part is reflective of your personal opinion, be sure to support the conclusion with the class material, facts from the case scenario, and a definition of any personal ethical values that influenced the decision process.
Step 7: Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical issues and third person writing as this assignment requires college-level writing.
• Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a first measure;
• Have someone who has excellent English skills to proof the paper;
• Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC). The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.
Preparation for the Assignment
o Before you begin writing the assignment, you will read the following requirements that will help you meet the writing and APA requirements. Not reading this information will lead to a lower grade:
o Read the grading rubric for the assignment. Use the grading rubric while writing the report to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
o Third person writing is required. Third person means that there are no words such as "I, me, my, we, or us" (first person writing), nor is there use of "you or your" (second person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person.
o Contractions are not used in business writing, so you are expected NOT to use contractions in writing this assignment.
o You are expected to paraphrase and are NOT to use direct quotes.
o You are responsible for APA only for in-text citations and a reference list.
o You are expected to use the facts from the case scenario paired with the weekly course readings to develop the analysis and support the reasoning. No more than three external resources can be used in completing the assignment. Books cannot be used as resources for this assignment. The expectation is that you provide a robust use of the course readings. No other books besides the course eBook can be used. When using a source document, the expectation is that the information is cited and referenced with a page or paragraph number.
How to Set Up the Paper
Task 1: Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is double-spaced, 12-point font. The final product will be between 4-6 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page. Write clearly and concisely.
Task 2: Use the following format with headings:
• Create a title page with title, your name, the course, the instructor's name and date;
• Introduction (one paragraph)
• Ethical Dilemmas;
• Ethical Categories;
• Applying Theorists
• Reflection.