Reference no: EM132172225

ANSWER EACH WK IN 200 WORDS

W1

For this discussion please respond to BOTH of the following questions:

Question A

Tell us about yourself so you can meet and greet other fellow Grantham University students within your course. Include what you believe to be your current knowledge level of this course topic and what you hope to learn before the course is over.

Question B

Every year, Ethisphere Magazine publishes a list of the world's most ethical companies. Go to their website; find and evaluate their rating methodology and criteria; and engage in an online discussion with your classmates on your assessment (i.e. provide suggestions for any modifications you might make or a more or less comprehensive list, and so on). Be sure to include theory from this week's learning.

W2

Read the Decision Point: Who is to Say What is Right and Wrong?

Discuss the following questions related to this scenario:

• Would you accept this explanation and be content with your failing grade? If not, how would you defend your own, opposing view?

• Are there any relevant facts on which you would rely on to support your claim?

• What values are involved in this dispute?

• What alternatives are available to you?

• Besides you and your teacher, are there any other people who are or should be involved in this situation, any other stakeholders?

• What reasons would you offer to the dean in an appeal to have the grade changed?

• What consequences would this professor's practice have on education?

• If reasoning and logical persuasion do not work, how else could this dispute be resolved?

• Other than reasoning and logical persuasion, what is the major alternative for resolving conflicts? Of course, the most common alternatives have been force and violence.

W3

What kind of organization would you like to work for? What would be the best? What would be the most realistic?

Think about and Discuss its structure, physical environment, lines of communication, treatment of employees, recruitment and promotion practices, policies towards the community and so on.

Consider also what you lose because of some of these benefits (for example if the company contributes in the community or offers more benefits for employees there might be less money for raises.)

Discuss trade-offs. Link the costs and benefits (utilitarianism) to the value of what the firm is doing (universalism).

W4

Read "Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business: A Reason to Debate" featuring Milton Friedman, Whole Food's John Mackey, and Cypress Semicondutor's T. J. Rodgers.

Discuss the concept that corporations add far more to society by maximizing "long-term shareholder value" than they do by donating time and money to charity.

How important is this concept to business, society, and to you? Which position do you believe is more accurate...Rodgers or Mackey?

W5

Read Decision Point: Inquiring Employers Want to Know.

The following information is sometimes requested on standard employment applications, though job candidates might consider some of it to be private or personal.

Which of the following items about an employee might an employer have a legitimate claim to know, and why?

• A job applicant's social security number

• An applicant's arrest record

• An employee's medical records

• An employee's marital status

• Whether a job applicant smokes

• An employee's political affiliation

• An employee's sexual orientation

• An employee's credit rating

Consider the following questions in the assessment of this scenario:

• What facts are relevant to your decisions?

• What would the consequences be of refusing to answer any questions on an employment application?

• Are you basing your decision on particular rights of the employee or the employer?

• Are there people other than the employer and employee who might have a stake in what information is released to employers?

W6

Are some products too dangerous to be marketed in any circumstance? What regulations, if any, would you place on marketing cigarettes? Handguns? Prescription drugs?

As a starting point, refer to The American Marketing Association's Statement of Ethics, which provides guidelines for marketing products.

This code of ethics can be used to locate other codes and regulations that may address this issue.

W7

Do you believe that business has any direct ethical duties to living beings other than humans? Do animals, plants, or ecosystems have rights?

What criteria have you used in answering such questions? What is your own standard for determining what objects count, from a moral point of view?

W8

Review and reflect on what you learned in the past 8 weeks. What is the most practical and easily applied lesson you learned?

What was the hardest to grasp? What would you recommend to someone beginning this class to do in order to be a successful learner? Why?