Discussion: Privacy, Ethics, and Social Responsibility
What does it mean to you when you think about your privacy rights? Should you even have an expectation of privacy in today's electronic world? This week, Dr. LeClaire is sharing with us some very important information with us about how we should think about our privacy. Then he's also sharing about how businesses should act regarding the vast volumes of information that they're collecting. What are their responsibilities here? How does morality fit into all of this? Is there even such a thing as a ‘right to privacy'? I don't recall seeing that in the US Constitution, but you may be able to find something out there convincing me otherwise.
Then we're going to look at social responsibility for a bit. Why should a business concern itself with ‘being green'? There have been numerous occasions where employees have pushed their companies to into the direction of greater social responsibility. What impact does this have on the organization? If ‘going green' results in lower profits that are offset by reduced staffing, how would you feel about that. If it resulted in greater cost saving through reduced resource use, should that saving be passed along to the employees that pushed for it? What are the other issues here?
After reviewing the lecture, share with me and your peer students your thoughts on privacy, ethics, and social responsibility. Have you been involved in activities that you found unethical? What did you do about it? Have you been involved in an organization that pushed for social change at your workplace (not simply Occupy Wall Street or other generic cause)? Tell us about your experiences.
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.