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.

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Assignment 3

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. 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 him on all perspectives on the situation. 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 3, prepare a memo to the Ethics Department file that considers the following four theories that are discussed in the ethics videos provided in Blackboard – Utilitarianism, Universal Ethics (i.e., Kant’s categorical imperative), The Golden Rule and Virtue Ethics.

You may consider any of the resources provided in Blackboard. However, it is advised that you DO NOT consult the internet. Your papers will be graded based on the required resources for BUSI 4350. Additionally, most of the accidental plagiarism cases have arisen from students using internet sources and failing to properly cite the work used.

Finally, remember that Assignments 1 and 2 are considered “drafts” for Assignment 3. So you will combine your writings in Assignments 1 and 2 to create Assignment 3.

General Assignment Instructions

1. Format

a. Use Microsoft Word, 12 point font, times new roman, single spacing.

b. Use the format demonstrated in the sample paper called “Excerpts from A

papers ..” provided under Writing Resources in Blackboard for Assignments 1 through 3. This format incorporates the use of headers that distinguish the different areas of thought within the memo.

c. Where using headers in Assignments 1 through 3, you must include these:

1. Facts 2. Issue

3. Analysis (note- this is where you may want to use additional headers to further organize your thoughts)

4. Recommendation

d. Assignments 1 and 2 should be between 750 and 1000 words. Lastly assignment 3 should amount to 1400 – 2000 words. This is merely a guide. 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.

e. 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.

f. Naming your document as follows: "Assignment [number]_last name_first name"

2. Submitting your assignment into the link in BB

a. Be sure your Word document is properly named first.

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

c. You will be asked to provide a name for your document. Use the same assignment title as your Word file name.

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

Feedback is provided with help from RichFeedback (as discussed in the syllabus.) You may access your feedback via Blackboard 10-12 days after the due date (give or take a day or so). Your grade will be posted into the grade book thereafter. 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.

Papers will be analyzed 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 receiving a "0" grade for the assignment, points being deducted from your final points calculation, and/or 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) the original source can be easily located.

5. Grading rubric/chart

Assignments are worth either 50 (Assignments 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 E

Written communication Written communication Written communication Written communication Written communication

Clearly arranged and organized;

Professional tone (i.e., appropriate choice of words for business writing);

Sentences are easily understood, concise, direct, and effective;

No noticeable editing errors; AND Paper follows required format.

For the most part…

Clearly arranged and organized;

Professional tone;

Sentences are functional;

AND/OR

Very few editing errors.

In many places…

Confusing due to unclear sentences or paragraphs, and/or lack of organization;

Many sentences are overly simple or needlessly complicated;

AND/OR

Several editing errors.

In most places…

Confusing due to unclear sentences or paragraphs, and/or lack of organization;

Most sentences are overly simple or needlessly complicated;

AND/OR

So many editing errors that paper is difficult to read.

Wholly ignores assignment instructions;

Sentences are incoherent or nonsensical;

AND/OR

Paper is difficult to read, careless, irresponsible.

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

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 well supported and rational;

Logical flow of arguments;

Conclusion follows rationally from the arguments presented;

AND

Paper presents mostly original thought (with use of occasional quotes, if appropriate).

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 well supported and rational;

Logical flow of arguments;

Conclusion follows rationally from the arguments presented;

Paper presents mostly original thought (with use of occasional quotes, if appropriate).

In many places…

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 the analysis is from quoted sources.

In most places…

Lacks full understanding of the ethical theories discussed;

Lacks full consideration of the issues;

Arguments or 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 very little original thought because most of the analysis is from quoted sources.

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.

6. 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.