Ethics
There are two parts to this assignment. Make sure you read through the entire assignment description.
Ethics – before writing this paper make sure you review the lectures and Power point on ethics listed in Module #4. Each
student will prepare a paper of at least 5-6 pages of text addressing a situation that interests her/him dealing with the
application of a decision that resulted in either ethical or unethical conduct on the part of the student. (The recall of
Tylenol, Anderson and Enron are examples of major corporate ethics violations).
• Do not use a company like these.
• The student should use an example from PERSONAL experience if at all possible.
• Either an ethical dilemma in which the student was directly involved — or one which was witnessed by the
student, would be the best example for the paper.
Note: this paper should not be written about a situation where you — the student writing this paper, felt there was some
annoying affront against you and you were the victim. In other words – DO NOT tell me about a boss who treated you
badly. I want a situation where you had to make the decision and ethical considerations were a factor. Do not use a
situation that is not your personal experience without specific permission from the professor.?It is expected that your
paper will be well documented — use credible sources to support your statements.
Situation
? Clearly identify the situation. Make sure this is a real ethical dilemma. (see page 410 in Daft for a definition of
an ethical dilemma) Simply disagreeing with some action may not actually be an ethical dilemma.
? State the dilemma in one or two sentences and highlight it so that the specific dilemma is clearly identified at
the start of the paper.
? Explain what action was taken and what happened.
? Identify what the options were in the case presented. What were all of the possible choices or decisions that
could have been made?
? What decision was made?
? If you were the person making the decision what ethical theory did you use?
? If you were not the person making the decision what ethical theory or theories did the person making the
decision use?
? Make sure you apply the appropriate ethical theory to each person involved in the situation you describe.
Analysis and Evaluation
? What ethical theory or theories should have been used — or was the proper theory used?
? What should have been done in this situation?
? Fully explain if this was the right decision and connect it to the ethical theory. If it was not the right decision
explain what should have been done and connect it to ethical theory. It is important that you use some situation in
which you were personally involved.
? If the situation arose again, or one similar — what action would/should be taken? Why?
? Consider the ethical theories explained in the lecture Module 4. This is crucial to the content of this paper.
The organization
? Does the organization have a code of ethics?
? What is it?
? Is it working?
? What external factors impact the way the organization deals? Are other similar organizations operating with
similar codes or not? How does your organization deal with this to be successful?
? Is your organization looking ahead and planning for the future in terms of changing ethical mores?
Your ethics
? What exactly is your code of ethics?
? Does your ethical code blend well with your organization’s? If not – what will you do about this?
? How will you deal with ethical dilemmas in the future?
Additional considerations.
? It would be best if you are the individual making the choice/decision in the dilemma.
? It does not matter if you now believe you made the wrong choice/decision.
? The important aspect of the paper is to analyze the situation and make a judgment on the action taken.
Please understand — doing the ethical thing in any situation is a challenge. No one is ever perfect every time. It is
crucial that one examine her/his actions and learn from the experience. You may have made the wrong decision —- and
then you may have made the right decision. The important thing is to reflect on the situation and present it in your
paper.
Use references as appropriate. The paper should include an abstract. (See APA). Be certain the paper has a well
constructed introduction that contains a clear statement of purpose, and a brief discussion of the approach and
limitations that may apply. Ensure that the body of the paper accomplishes the stated purpose and approach, and that
the summary analysis, conclusions and recommendations are based upon a clear chain of logic. Make sure that you
adhere to APA. Your paper must be turned in to Turnitin before you submit to the class. Place your Turnitin score on the
first page of your paper. As usual – if your Turnitin similarity score is above a 25% figure out what parts of the paper
are too much like some other source or what part of the paper your have not cited adequately and fix it before you
submit it to me. Do not submit to me, a paper with a similarity score of greater than 25%
Examples of ethical dilemmas – these are examples only and should not be addressed in the paper.
Example One:
You work for a company that has many team meetings over the course of the year. The company provides note paper,
pens, pencils binders – in other words, writing material is provided during these meetings. You are responsible for
putting all of this out for each participant, but at the end of each year there is always a lot left over. You know a school
in a poor community that could use these supplies for the kids. However, your company has a policy that all left over
material must be destroyed at the end of each year. You want to send the supplies to the poor school but that would be
against company policy. What do you do?
THE DILEMMA: Follow company policy and destroy the supplies or send the supplies to the needy school against
company policy
• If you allow the material to be destroyed what ethical theory would you be following?
• If you send the supplies to the school, even though it is against the company policy, what ethical theory
would you be following?
• What ethical theory is the company using when it makes that policy?
Example Two:
You work in a retail store and are responsible for the final money count at the end of each day. You discover that a co-
worker, your best friend, has been taking money from the registers and lying about the actual sales. You confront her
and she begs you to let it continue because she needs the money to pay the medical bills for her sick child. She swears
that by the end of the year she will pay back the money.
What do you do?
THE DILAMMA: Allow your friend to continue to steal money and therefore care for her sick kid or report her to upper
management knowing your friend will be fired
• If you tell upper management what ethical theory would you be using?
• If you do not tell upper management what ethical theory would you be using?
• If you fire her what ethical theory would you be using?
• What ethical theory is your friend using by taking the money and saying it is OK because it is for a good
cause?
Final – PART II
Using the three ethical theories from the Ethics lecture in Module #4, briefly analyze this case. ?Corneas for the Congo.?
You are responsible for purchasing body parts (specifically corneas) for individuals who have had their eyes damaged
by a parasite that lives in the water in this African area. You get the corneas from a neighboring country. In that country
corneas are plentiful. They take them from political prisoners who are being executed. You become aware that the
criteria for a political prisoner receiving the death penalty, is very flexible. A prisoner can even become a death penalty
candidate after sentencing with a lesser penalty, seemingly at the whim of the prison warden. You have just ordered
another shipment of corneas and have been told it is on its way. Just as this shipment is being confirmed you learn of
the way in which these corneas are harvested. You realize that there are prisoners being killed for corneas, who have not
legally been sentenced to death. You also know that the corneas can bring sight to many victims of the parasite. What
do you do?
This situation is from:?Ciulla, J. B. (2003). The ethics of leadership. United States: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ??Using
this format briefly answer each question. ?Put this section on a separate page and DO NOT submit this part to Turnitin
or the writing coach. If even just one other person submits this section to Turnitin, and you submit your paper — you
will get close to a 100% match. This section should be no more than ONE page long.
A. Using Mill’s approach to ethics:
1 What should you consider in making your decision?
1 What would be the decision if you were using this philosophy?
1 What would be any disadvantages and what would be the advantages of using this approach?
B. Using Kant’s approach to ethics
1 What should you consider in making your decision?
1 What would be the decision if you were using this philosophy?
1 What would be any disadvantages and what would be the advantages of using this approach?
C. Using Aristotle’s “Golden Mean” approach to ethics:
1 What should you consider in making your decision?
1 What would be the decision if you were using this philosophy?
1 What would be any disadvantages and what would be the advantages of using this approach?
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