Assignment 1
What Would You Do?
Read Decision Point: What Would You Do? pages 46
1. Scenario 1: You are the first person to arrive in your classroom and as you sit down you notice an iPod on the floor underneath the adjacent seat. You pick it up and turn it on.
It works fine and even has some of your favorite music listed. You realize that you are the only one in the room and no one will know if you keep it. You see other students entering the room so you place the iPod on the floor next to your belonging. You will have the whole class period to decide what to do.
2. Scenario 2: Instead of finding the iPod, you are a friend who sits next to the person who finds it. As class begins, your friend leans over and asks your advice about what to do.
3. Scenario 3: You are now a student representative on the judicial board at school. The student who kept the iPod is accused of stealing.
How would you make the decision about the situation?
Write a 2-3 page APA style paper discussing the following questions related to the above scenarios:
• What are the key facts that you should consider before making a decision, as either the person who discovered the iPod, the friend, or the judicial board member?
• Is this an ethical issue? What exactly are the ethical aspects involved in your decision?
• Who else is involved, or should be involved, in this decision? Who has a stake in the outcome?
• What alternatives are available to you? What are the consequences of each alternative?
• How would each of your alternatives affect the other people you have identified as having a stake in the outcome?
• Where might you look for additional guidance to assist you in resolving this particular dilemma?
Provide 3-5 APA style references both inline and at the end of the paper to support your analysis. Please write in 3rd person.
Note: This is your opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the week's theory linked to personal opinion and outside evidence.
Your paper should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Please include citations to support your ideas.
Assignment 2
The Corporate Culture
Read Decision Point: Creating an Ethics Program, pages 148
Choose one of the following companies (or any company that has been in the press) and write a 2-3 page, APA style critical analysis of the ethical issues involved in the case.
Legal Cases:
• Tyco
• Imclone
• Global Crossing
• WorldCom
• Adelphia
• NYSE and Richard Grasso
• Merrill Lynch
• Health South
• Marsh and McLennan
• Al Dunlap and Sunbeam
The analysis should include the following:
• A short description of case
• Identification of the ethical issues involved (what was the alleged ethical wrong done, and why is/was it wrong?)
• A statement, in their own opinion, of whether it was wrong or not, and more importantly, why?
• Thoughts on what could have been done to avoid the problem - do we need more laws & government regulation? What internal controls might have prevented this situation?
• Was the problem more a matter of individuals gone wrong, or was it more systemic and organizational?
Provide 3-5 APA style references both inline and at the end of the paper to support your analysis. Please write in 3rd person. Note: This is your opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the week's theory linked to personal opinion and outside evidence.
Your paper should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Please include citations to support your ideas.
Assignment 3
Measuring Our Worth
Read the Decision: Point Measuring Our Worth, page 277
This Decision Point deals with how we measure the intrinsic value of a life in addition to the instrumental value.
The scenario discussed is that of the Ford Pinto, which involves a decision that teaches the hazards of considering only the instrumental value of a life.
In 1968, Ford Motor Company made a historic decision regarding the Pinto, which was engineered with a rear gas tank assembly that had a tendency to explode in accidents that involved some rear-end collisions.
The company allowed the Pinto to remain on the market after it determined that it would be more costly to engage in a recall effort than to pay out the costs of liability for injuries and deaths incurred.
In an infamous memo, Ford's senior management calculated what the company would likely have to pay per life lost.
It is noteworthy that these estimates were not Ford's alone but were based on figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Using these figures, the costs for recalling and modifying the Pinto were $121 million, while the costs for settling cases in which injuries were expected to occur would be only about $50 million.
Write a 2-3 page, APA style paper considering the following questions when assessing this scenario:
1. How should the decision-making process be handled?
2. How should the intrinsic as well as the instrumental value of a human life be determined?
3. Consider how you would measure your own worth or the value of someone close to you. Who are their stakeholders and what is their value to each of them? How will they measure it financially?
• How much would your stakeholders suffer if they lost you?
• How much do you currently contribute to society and what would society lose if you were not here?
• How much would society benefit if you continued to survive?
Businesses have reasons to consider these issues, though extraordinarily difficult; how would you prefer that they reach conclusions in these areas? Provide 3-5 APA style references both inline and at the end of the paper to support your analysis.
Note: This is your opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the week's theory linked to personal opinion and outside evidence.
Your paper should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Please include citations to support your ideas.
Assignment 4
Milton Friedman - What is America?
Critical Thinking skill:
Write a 750 word summary of the lecture.
Answer the following questions:
1. What ethical considerations were discussed in the video?
2. Are the questions posed in this video still relevant today in light of the current business environment?
3. How can this lecture help you to become a better business person provide two good examples on how this lecture material could change the way you do business?
Your paper should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Please include citations to support your ideas.