Essay Assignment for Dr. Fogliasso’s Sections
Legal and Social Environment of Business
Fall 2016
Write an essay regarding the “Factual Scenario” given at this end of this document. You are to use the following guidelines:
Purposes To represent Pam’s options in a way that shows the ethical implications of each choice, thereby demonstrating your understanding of various approaches to ethical decision-making.
To demonstrate your understanding of the material covered in Legal and Social Environment of Business.
To demonstrate your ability to make use of appropriate supporting material from outside sources, to effectively incorporate ideas from your outside sources into your own explanation, to put ideas from sources in your own words, and to cite them appropriately in APA citation style.
AudienceAny educated reader with a business background
Voice Professional: do not use “I” or “you”; avoid excessively informal word choice and sentence structure
EmphasisExplain the ethical dilemmas Pam faces, outline Pam’s options, and explain (specifically–with reference to each of the various ethical frameworks covered in the course) the ethical implications of each choice. Also address the various questions that are presented in the last paragraph of the factual scenario.
SupportBe sure to provide authority for your conclusions and analysis using at least three sources as reference materials. You may use your textbook for one reference but you must research ethical principles and provide at least two additional, outside sources. Ideas from your outside source must be put in your own words, and must be cited appropriately. Information from your two non-textbook sources must make a meaningful contribution to your paper.
Organization
• BRIEFLY summarize the facts of the case in your own words.
• State your main point (thesis).
• Identify all the ethical dilemmas or conflicts that are contained in the facts.
• Identify the ethical principles that could be applied.
• Compare and contrast the appropriate ethical principles.
• Solve or recommend a solution for the dilemma(s) by the application of ethical principles.
• Conclude with a brief restatement of your recommendation and the most important justifications.
Format
• Your essay is to be word-processed using 12 point Times New Roman font with line spacing at 1.5. Margins should be no greater than 1.5 inches.
• Your essay is to be free of typographical, punctuation, spelling, grammar and capitalization errors.
• Your body of your essay MUST be at least three full pages long and no longer than five full pages, PLUS an additional, separate page containing the works-cited list.
• Attach (staple) the works cited list to your main document. Do not submit it as a separate document.
A “HARD COPY/PAPER COPY” of your essay must be delivered to Dr. Fogliasso’s mailbox in the Department of Management (Office 110 Kelce) during regular business hours (8 am-4:30 pm) no later than 4:30 pm on WEDNESDAY, October 19, 2016. Be SURE SURE SURE to follow those directions. Do NOT deliver your essay to Dr. Fogliasso nor to her office, do NOT send your essay via e-mail, and do NOT attempt to submit your essay after the due day/time. Remember: your (“hard copy/paper copy”) essay must be delivered to Dr. Fogliasso’s mailbox in THE DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING, OFFICE 110 KELCE), no later than 4:30 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2016.
The essay is worth a maximum of 50 points. Any plagiarism will result in zero points earned.
Your paper will be evaluated for its thoroughness in addressing and explaining the ethical dilemmas involved, its accuracy and effectiveness in applying various ethical principles, the thoroughness in discussing the various alternatives available to Pam, the persuasiveness of your argument for what the Pam should do, the integration of your sources, and the overall effectiveness of the writing.
Factual Scenario:
Pam is a researcher in a marketing firm. A few weeks ago, Al had called Pam to ask for some demographic analysis of a particular market segment, and she happily complied. Al was a longtime customer in a large corporation. She had done similar work for him for a number of years, always to the satisfaction of both sides. It seemed a routine assignment. She completed it quickly, then sat down with Al to explain her findings and conclusions. The results, she explained, were subject to varying interpretations; but she felt from the discussion with her own superiors that she had provided the most reasonable analysis.
A week later, Al invited her to observe the presentation he was making to his own senior management, which presentation would be based on the results Pam had provided. Knowing she had no role to play beyond listening to Al’s presentation, she went. Ten minutes into his presentation, however, she knew something was amiss. Alex was using her research in a subtly selective way—and was driving toward a conclusion that was the opposite of hers. What’s more, she could see the senior management warming to his presentation. His analysis squared with the preconceptions and seemed to confirm them in a direction they wanted to go. In another ten minutes, Al would be finished with his presentation. Shortly afterward, his management would vote, and the corporation could be launched down a path that, she felt, might cause them to spend millions on a market that was nowhere near as robust as he had led them to believe. Should she interrupt and correct his presentation?
To do so would embarrass him in front of his peers and supervisors. It could do lasting damage to their friendship, and perhaps limit future contracts between her firm and his corporation. It could, in fact, put her own job in jeopardy: Some months ago, she had taken issue with a line of reasoning of one of her superiors based on her own research, and had been politely but firmly told that many valid conclusions were possible other than her own. She did not want a reputation as a troublemaker. Besides, as a single mother, she very much needed her job to support her daughter and felt herself fortunate to be working in a position that exactly fitted her skills and interests.
But she could see the dangers ahead. The corporation’s long-term reputation in this market niche could well be affected by this afternoon’s decision. If, in two years, the product line had failed, would the collapse be traced back to Al? To her firm? To her? Would his job be on the line? Would the long, carefully cultivated relationship between these two organizations be endangered? And would her own reputation for accurate analysis be impugned—making it harder, in the future, or her to develop in this job or to find other work in her profession? Would she be faulted for failing to speak out when a warning was most needed?