Provide an overview of a current business-related event that you came across in the news. For example, an organization accused of doing something unethical or socially irresponsible. Summarize the issue including the information about the organization in your own words (heading 1). The report should identify what the problem is that will be resolved in the subsequent sections. This section should be based on facts and in-formation gathered from reliable sources, not your personal opinion or recollection. The last sentence in this section should clearly state who the decision maker is and what his or her problem is. Your role is to advice the decision-maker in the case so that he/she can solve the problem. The decision maker can be the CEO, another manager or anyone you choose but it can only be one person (not a group of people).
You will use the following format to identify the problem, find alternative solutions, carefully evaluate each alternative and make a recommendation.
1. Problem statement
2. Identify the ethical issues
3. Identify the stakeholders
4. Identification and evaluation of alternatives
a. Alternative 1
i. 2 or more advantages
ii. 2 or more disadvantages
b. Alternative 2
i. 2 or more advantages
ii. 2 or more disadvantages
c. Alternative 3
i. 2 or more advantages
ii. 2 or more disadvantages
5. Conclusion and recommendations
Identify the ethical issues, and explain why you think they are ethical issues (heading 2). Identify all the stakeholders and how they are impacted by the ethical issues in the paper (heading 3).
Write alternative approaches to solve the problem using ethical frameworks (heading 4). There should be more than one way of solving a problem or improving the situation. I find that when students seek that third or fourth alternative, they make better recommendations. Your will lose points if you have fewer than three alternatives.
Evaluate each alternative approach in terms of its advantages and disadvantages. All alternatives should have both advantages and disadvantages. You will lose points if you have fewer than two of each per al-ternative. This is the most important section in the report. If a student rushes to choose a solution without carefully considering other alternatives and evaluating them carefully, a less than optimal recommendation is often chosen.
Choose one of the alternatives as a recommendation to the decision maker (heading 5).
How long will this paper take to write? When should I start working on it? What should I do to make sure I get a good grade? The paper will probably take 2 3 weeks to plan, write and proofread. Some students will take longer and some less time. Think carefully about the paper. Spend time writing, proofreading and re-writing the papers. Have someone proofread your assignments for clarity, and for grammar and spelling. If your friend does not understand what you are trying to say, neither will I.
How should I cite my sources? You are required to use citations and references in APA format. Please become familiar with its rules. Each time you use data or information that you read or heard, you need to cite where you read it or heard it. Unless it is your opinion or you collected the data yourself (did you count how many people were defrauded?), each sentence should have a citation. It does not need to be a direct quote to need an in-text citation. Please list all references at the end of the document.
Should we cite our textbook when using definition from it? Yes, absolutely. Not citing someone else’s definition is plagiarism. Do not take credit for the work that the book authors did. Some students seem to think that only direct quotes require a citation. This is wrong and will have consequences (see section on Academic Dishonesty).
What style of writing should I use? For any kind of writing, consider your audience. In business, you typically write for managers. A busy manager should be able to take a quick glance at your paper and get the major points. If he or she wants more details, it should be easy to get to them without spending too much time figuring out what the main point of your paper is. Second instruction: write something you didnt like about the syllabus. Your writing style should be direct, concise and precise. You do not need different ways of saying the same thing. In fact, it is much easier to read the same word again rather than trying to figure out if business, organization and company are all the same thing. Some students think using synonyms makes their writing more interesting; it does not. Vague writing is not helpful to a manager, so make your points clear and logical.
