The following assignment is due no later than April 17th. You may hand it in early in class or during my office hours. Do not put your name on the paper. Identify yourself by your local phone number. Staple your paper together; omit graphics, file folders or report coverings. You are limited to five pages single-spaced, 11pt font. You may work with other students in gathering and analyzing information. However, your written paper should be completed individually; no collaboration is permitted. The paper should be thorough, concise and complete. The Fatal Error Policy for Written Work applies to this assignment. Today
Grading – the assignment is worth 200 points.
Throughout this course, the relation between particular laws and the broad, underlying ethical premises on which they rest are considered. Students need to develop basic tools for analyzing ethical and social responsibility issues in a business context. It is inevitable that students will face many difficult and conflicting ethical dilemmas in their working life. Exactly how to resolve these dilemmas is something each student will have to decide alone once they begin their careers, on the basis of his or her own convictions. Now is the time to think about and understand those convictions, to aid in later decision making. Questions students should begin to ask themselves now include (1) what are my ethical criteria? (2) How would I apply those criteria in a particular situation? (3) How can I best adapt my standards to the kinds of ethical and social responsibility issues that I will face in the business world?
From and institutional perspective, an understanding of business ethics is important to the long-run viability of a business, the well being of its officers and directors, and the welfare of its employees. Most large corporations have codes of conduct that indicate the firm’s commitment to legal compliance and to the welfare of those who are affected by corporate decisions and practices. Components of a comprehensive corporate ethical-compliance program include an ethical code of conduct, an ethics committee, training programs, and internal audits to monitor compliance and confidential systems for employees to report suspected illegal or unethical financial practices – all of which must coincide with the company’s fiduciary duty to its shareholders.
Using at least five current and credible sources (e.g. articles in the WSJ, NYT or Washington Post, books, business journals, or law review articles) answer the following questions and support your answers with cited sources and examples. Your paper cannot exceed five pages in length, double spaced, and should utilize footnotes. The fatal error writing policy applies.
1. What is ethics?
2. How does a law come to be an expression of an ethical principle?
3. What are reasons for unethical business behavior?
4. When negotiating a business deal, is “strategic misrepresentation” permissible? Do you have to disclose everything?
5. Why would a corporation prefer to be seen as ethical?
6. Does a company have a duty to act in socially or politically beneficial ways?
7. How does a corporation’s investment in a political or social agenda affect its duty to its shareholders?
8. To whom might a corporation owe a duty?
9. What must a corporation do if it finds itself subject to conflicting duties?
10. Because business controls so much wealth and power, what duty does it arguably have to society?