Business Ethics
Your course materials include this course experience and a textbook, Business Ethics: Decision Making for Personal Integrity and Social Responsibility, by Laura Hartman, Joseph DesJardins, and Chris MacDonald. You\\\’ll find it easiest to study this course by following these steps:
Graded Project
Instructions
Example Selection
You should select a business ethics issue that either has occurred or might occur in a veterinary practice and write an analysis of the issue and potential decisions/solutions, using the concepts introduced in your textbook. You might pick one of the following:
- A situation currently in the news
- An ethics dilemma witnessed in a veterinary practice either as an employee or a client
- A high quality hypothetical business ethics issue in a veterinary practice (either one you’ve seen in books or film, or one you create)
Be sure to choose an example for analysis that seems interesting, difficult, or complicated.
Project Process
Step 1: Select an example for your analysis as outlined above.
Step 2: Perform your analysis. Apply the recommended high quality, ethical decisionmaking process described in your course book. You’ll want to consider the facts of the situation, the ethical lenses, legal, regulatory, and any other more specific lenses that might be applicable. Describe how the key concepts apply, and explain why the decision is difficult or complicated. Recommend the course of action you believe is ‘best’ taking all the relevant considerations into account.
Your textbook should be your primary reference. Your paper may also include independent and reliable sources (many of which you might access from your textbook’s chapter notes). You should feel free to consult sources on the Internet. However, always make sure your work is original and well-documented. Notes from a website should include the source of the site. This is done to establish that the site is authoritative and not merely idle opinion.
Use APA style for citations and the Works Cited page. For information on APA style format see the Library.
Step 3: Write a first draft of your essay. Your paper should be written using a word-processing program, such as Microsoft Word or a Word-compatible program. Your analysis should be five to eight written pages. The essay should include a brief introduction, several paragraphs examining the key issues, your recommended course of action, and a conclusion that acknowledges arguments for and against your recommended decision. (Recommendation: Finish your first draft several days before you plan to finalize your paper. It’s best to set it aside for a couple of days before moving on to the completion.)
Step 4: Complete your final draft. Carefully review your written essay, correct any errors, and submit your final draft to your instructor. (Recommendation: Read your essay out loud to yourself. Doing this will help make you aware of gaps, redundancies, and areas where the writing should be improved.) Include a title page and a bibliography of sources. The last page after the main body of the essay should provide a list of your reference sources.
Grading Criteria
The following rubric will be used to grade your project.
| Skill/Grading Criteria | Exemplary (100–90) | Proficient (89–80) | Fair (79–70) | Poor (69–60) | Not Evident (59–0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selection of example situation for analysis | Example situation selected involves several different kinds of issues and provides plenty of complexity for the analysis (Remember, the way a situation is described enables the reader to see the complexity!) 10–9 points | Example situation selected involves several different kinds of issues 8–7 points | Example situation selected involves a few different kinds of issues 6–5 points | Example situation selected doesn’t seem to require much, if any, weighing of issues 4 points | Example situation selected is presented as a simple decision 3–0 points |
| Identification of relevant issues | Describes the example situation Explains the facts Identifies all relevant ‘lenses’ (ethical, legal, regulatory, and so on) Shows completeness in thought process applied to identifying relevant lenses 15–14 points | Describes the example situation with adequate description of facts Explains the facts Identifies most relevant ‘lenses’ (for example, ethical, legal, regulatory) Shows thought process applied to identifying relevant lenses 13–12 points | Statement of the example situation with few details or facts Identifies some relevant ‘lenses’ (for example, ethical, legal, regulatory) Shows limited thought process applied to identifying relevant lenses 11–10 points | Simple statement of the example situation and facts Identifies 2–3 relevant ‘lenses’ (for example, ethical, legal, regulatory) Thought process used in analysis not well communicated in essay 9 points | Appropriate connection to Business Ethics course concepts are not in evidence in the introduction to the chosen example/ situation and identification of relevant issues 8–0 points |
| Assessment of relevant issues | Explains how the lenses apply (what would a utili tarian assessment say, what would a Kantian evaluation say?) Explains legal and regulatory views (perhaps corporate culture) of the issues at stake Takes stakeholders into account Indicates which values, legal obligations, ethical perspectives seem most compelling and why 30–29 points | Explains how the lenses apply (what would a utili tarian assessment say, what would a Kantian evaluation say?) Explains some legal and regulatory views (perhaps corporate culture) of the issues at stake Takes some stakeholders into account Indicates which perspectives seem most compelling 28–27 points | Explains how the lenses apply (what would a utili tarian assessment say, what would a Kantian evaluation say?) Explains few legal and regulatory views (perhaps corporate culture) of the issues at stake Takes few stakeholders into account Simple statement of which perspectives seem most compelling, without discussion 26–25 points | Explains how the lenses apply (what would a utili tarian assessment say, what would a Kantian evaluation say?) Explains 1 legal or regulatory view Takes few stakeholders into account Simple statement of what’s right, without discussion 24 points | Explains how few or some lenses apply to the situation Missing significant legal and regulatory issues No discussion of impact on stakeholders 23–0 points |
| Recommended decision and supporting arguments | Recommends a resolution to the situation (for example, Sally should do x, y and z) Explains reasons for this decision, in spite of the reasons against this decision (acknowledges both sides) 30–29 points | Recommends a resolution to the situation (for example, Sally should do x, y and z) Explains reasons for this decision but struggles with discussing ambiguity / reasons against 28–27 points | Recommends a decision Doesn’t explain this decision in terms of business ethics concepts 26–25 points | Recommends a decision Doesn’t provide arguments for and against 24 points | Doesn’t recommend a decision 23–0 points |
| Written communication | Is clearly written and articulate Use of language reflects nuances in the complex situation 10–9 points | Is clearly written and articulate Use of language reflects nuances in the complex situation 8–7 points | Is written in plain and clear language, but complexity may not be included Shows limited grasp of subtleties involved in making hard business ethics decisions 6 points | Is written in simple language that conveys basic points Doesn’t show grasp of subtleties involved in making hard business ethics decisions 5 points | Mentions important concepts but doesn’t connect the dots to explain the way they apply to the example/ situation being analyzed 4–0 points |
| Format | Follows all formatting instructions completely 5 points | Follows most formatting instructions 4 points | Follows some formatting instructions 3 points | Follows few formatting instructions 2 points | No effort put into formatting 1–0 points |
Requirements: 5-8 pages
Answer preview to Business Ethics
APA
1500 WORDS
