Task You work in the Ethics Department for ABC Company (ABC). Your department is dedicated to advising its employees about their ethical obligations in the corporate setting. You are

Assignment 1

Suggested Length: 750 to 1000 words

Ethical Theories to Apply: Utilitarianism and Universal Ethics

1. Task

You work in the Ethics Department for ABC Company (ABC). Your department is dedicated to advising its employees about their ethical obligations in the corporate setting. You are an internal consultant who provides advice and most importantly, recommendations for action to employees of the firm. All communications you receive in this capacity are confidential.

Luke, an employee of ABC, comes to you with the following scenario and asks for your advice. He wants to fully consider the situation. Your task is to advise and recommend a course of action based on the specified ethical lenses and facts as given.

You must choose one of the theories on which to base your recommendation.

Below are the facts that Luke provides to you.

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Luke has been asked to work on a project that involves developing land recently purchased by ABC to build an adult entertainment retail store. According to the plan, the land is located on the corner of the neighborhood where Owen, Luke’s brother, lives.

Luke knows that as soon as the plans for the store are made public, property values for the surrounding neighborhood will decrease significantly. ABC plans to publicly announce the project one month from today.

Luke is concerned about his obligations of confidentiality to his company. However, Luke is also very close to Owen, who recently told Luke that he received an offer to sell his house at an “okay” price given the current real estate market. Owen is considering selling but hasn’t made any final decision yet. He wonders if he might get a better offer a few years from now when the real estate market improves.

What is the ethical issue, why is this an issue, and what should Luke do about it?

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For assignment 1, prepare a memo, setting out your analysis and recommendations, that considers ONLY the following two theories: Utilitarianism and Universal Ethics (i.e., Kant’s categorical imperative). Choose one theory only on which you base your recommendation.

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Revised August 2022

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General (Turnitin) Written Assignment Instructions

Revised Fall 2022

1. Format

a. You may use the format demonstrated in the sample paper called “Excerpts from A papers ..” that can be found in this folder: Online Lectures, Presentations and Writing Resources.

b. This format incorporates the use of headers that distinguish the different areas of thought within the memo.

c. Where using headers in any assignment, you will get better results if you include these:

1. Facts: a brief restatement of the important facts, in your own words;

2. Issue: what must the protagonist decide? What action should he take?

3. Lens: describe the ethical theories being applied including the pros and cons of each;

4. Analysis: apply each ethical theory to the facts and discuss the logical conclusion of that process for each;

5. Recommendation / Conclusion: choose the ethical theory that is superior to the other and explain your rationale, briefly. You must choose one theory on which to base your recommendation – no waffling between theories will be allowed. Answer the question posed in your framing of the issue.

d. Suggested Paper Length – these are ranges, not absolutes

1. Assignment 1 and 2 should be between 750 and 1000 words; Assignment 3

should be between 1400 and 2000 words.

e. The purpose of the guide is to help you understand whether you have thought deeply enough about the topic. Your grade does not depend on the number of words written. However, your grade will be affected by whether or not you have fully analyzed the issue and fully supported your conclusion/decision. If you find that you are significantly over this range of words, you should edit your paper so that your ideas and words are conveyed in the most concise manner. This does not mean eliminating key arguments. It just means editing your wording so that it is more concisely written.

f. Inside your document – DO NOT include any personal information inside your document (such as name, CougarNet ID, etc). We will not remove this information before submitting it for assessment.

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2. Submitting your assignment into the link in BB

a. Upload your Word document into the Turnitin link provided in Blackboard.

b. You will be asked to provide a name for your document. You can use any name, but it may be a good idea to use the same assignment title as your Word file name so you don’t get confused. This is not critical and no points will be deducted for using some other name here.

All assignments must be submitted using the assigned link in Blackboard. We will not accept papers sent via email or delivered by hand.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your paper has been submitted properly AND on time. When you properly submit your paper, you will receive an email confirmation from Turnitin confirming your submission. If you don’t get this you haven’t completed the submission process and you will not receive credit for your work.

3. Feedback and grades

All grades are issued by Daniel Currie, your professor though the papers are graded with the help of TA’s. You may access your feedback via Blackboard 10-12 days after the due date. Your grade will be posted into the grade book thereafter. Your grade on your paper and in the grade book may differ.

You should check both. Your paper with feedback will be returned to you in the same Weekly Folder where you submitted your paper.

4. Academic honesty (discussing the papers, cheating, and plagiarism)

All assignments, including this one, are individual assignments. This means that you are prohibited from discussing any part of the assignment with other people. Your analysis and work must be original. This means that you must use proper citations (and quotations, where necessary) throughout your paper and may not submit a paper that you used in a prior class.

We will analyze your papers using www.turnitin.com. This website checks your paper to determine the similarity of your paper to other students’ papers, internet or book resources, and papers found commercially on the internet. If your paper is sufficiently similar to another student's paper or other resource, you will be reported for violating the academic honesty code. This may result in earning an F in the class or expulsion from the university.

Citations MUST BE provided for any information used or relied upon that is not your original idea. There are plagiarism presentations posted on the course website. It is your responsibility to review this to be sure you fully understand what constitutes plagiarism, how to properly paraphrase and cite, and when to use quotations. If this information is not sufficient for you to understand how to provide a proper citation, you may want to visit the following website: http://www.uh.edu/writecen/Resources/GrammarAndDocumentation.php.

You may use MLA or APA or any other format as long as (1) you clearly identify that the work is attributable to another source, AND (2) we can easily locate the original source.

5. Grading rubric/chart

Assignments are worth either 50 (Assignment 1 and 2) or 100 points (Assignment 3.) Please review each assignment’s grading rubric as each assignment may be different.

Written communication 50%

Critical thinking and knowledge application 50%

A	B	C	D	F
Written communication	Written communication	Written communication	Written communication	Written communication
Clearly arranged and organized;	For the most part…	In many places…	In most places…	Wholly ignores assignment instructions;
Professional tone ( i.e., appropriate choice of words for business writing);	Clearly arranged and organized; Professional tone;	Confusing due to unclear sentences or paragraphs, and/or lack of organization;	Confusing due to unclear sentences or paragraphs, and/or lack of organization;	Sentences are incoherent or nonsensical; AND/OR
Sentences are easily understood, concise, direct, and effective;	Sentences are functional; AND/OR Very few editing errors.	Many sentences are overly simple or needlessly complicated; AND/OR	Most sentences are overly simple or needlessly complicated; AND/OR	Paper is difficult to read, careless, irresponsible.
No noticeable editing errors; AND		Several editing errors.	So many editing errors that paper is difficult to
			read.
Paper follows required format.
Critical thinking and knowledge application	Critical thinking and knowledge application	Critical thinking and knowledge application	Critical thinking and knowledge application	Critical thinking and knowledge application

		In many places…
Event discussed represents most pressing ethical issue; Full understanding of the ethical theories discussed (including appropriate discussion of criticisms or disadvantages of each ethical lens applied); Full consideration of the issues and application of the facts to the theories; Arguments and sentences are wellsupported and rational; Logical flow of	For the most part… Full understanding of the ethical theories discussed; Full consideration of the issues; Demonstrates a full understanding of the ethical theories applied; Arguments and sentences are wellsupported and rational; Logical flow of arguments; Conclusion follows rationally from the	Lacks full understanding of the ethical theories discussed; Lacks full consideration of the issues; Arguments and sentences are not rational or well-supported; Arguments may not be presented in a logical order; Conclusion may not follow rationally from the arguments presented; AND/OR Paper has little original thought because most of	In most places… Lacks full understanding of the ethical theories discussed; Lacks full consideration of the issues; Arguments or sentences are not rational or wellsupported; Arguments may not be presented in a logical order; Conclusion may not follow rationally from the arguments	Most of the paper remains unfinished; Rambles incoherently; AND/OR; Paper has very little original thought because most of the analysis is from quoted sources.
arguments;	arguments presented;	the analysis is from quoted sources.	presented; AND/OR
Conclusion follows rationally from the arguments presented; AND	Paper presents mostly original thought (with use of occasional quotes, if appropriate).		Paper has very little original thought because most of the analysis is from quoted sources.
Paper presents mostly original thought (with use of occasional quotes, if appropriate).

8. Rubric interpretation

a. Most pressing ethical issue – You must describe the issue in 1-2 succinct sentences, and then explain what makes the issue an ethical one. In other words, what makes the issue an ethical one (as opposed to just a regular business decision)? Considering this will help you determine the most pressing ethical issue to be discussed (and provide a context for your arguments).

b. Arguments are well-supported and rational – You should fully define the ethical lens/theory used, discuss it, tell how it will apply in the case, then apply the facts to the

lens/theory. Definition and introductory discussion of the theories should be brief (approximately ¼ of your paper).

1. Application of the facts to the theories – This is the most critical part of your paper and should consist of approximately ¾ of your paper. You must consider criticisms to applying the theories. For example, what is a disadvantage to using theory “x”? This is where making an outline can really help to organize your thoughts and ensure you cover all of the topics necessary.

2. You should include a brief conclusion after each lens/theory analysis. This will provide the reader closure on your analysis for each lens.

c. Writing directly and concisely – If you feel that you are well over the suggested number of words, eliminate what is not necessary to argue your points. Most papers can cut out at least 100 words by eliminating unnecessary words/phrases/sentence and still retain all of the arguments required to support your conclusion.

d. Conclusion – This should directly answer the question you asked AND make sense given your analysis. You should not restate any arguments here. This is where you tell us your final conclusion, after considering the different lenses.

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