Business ethics
Provide a brief description of your topic and the thesis you chose in the opening paragraph of your paper. This topic should be the thesis that you worked on in Week One and refined in Week Three. Remember that your first paragraph must contain a clear thesis statement as in the assignments from Weeks One and Three. In the body of your paper, examine the issue by discussing how three of the ethical theories presented in this course could be used to answer the particular question you have formulated. Use the core principles of each of these theories to support your discussion. Complete your paper by identifying which ethical theory you think provides the most satisfactory moral answer to your question, or the theory that provides the least satisfactory answer to your question. You should create a list of strengths and weaknesses for each of the theories as applied to your question to assist you with this task. However, you should not merely present the strengths and weaknesses of each theory but must argue that one theory is better or worse than the others in this case. Remember that each paragraph in your body must begin with a topic sentence that clearly identifies the main idea of the paragraph. Your paper should be 1500 to 2000 words (not including the words on the title and reference pages) in length. This means that you should devote approximately 300 words to each of the ethical theories, and 300 words to supporting your argument for which theory works best or worst.
Articles
1. Freeman, R. E. (1988). A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation. Perspectives in Business Ethics. Retrieved from http://academic.udayton.edu/lawrenceulrich/Stakeholder%20Theory.pdf
o Freeman holds a broader notion of social responsibility than Friedman insofar by arguing that managers not only have a fiduciary duty to the stockholders of the corporation but to all of its stakeholders, such as suppliers, customers, employees, the local community, including stockholders.
2. Friedman, M. (1970, Sep. 13). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073524697/910345/Appendices.pdf
o In this essay, Friedman presents the argument for his view that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. He does not deny that business must be conducted honestly, without deception or fraud, or extended outside the boundaries of the agreement or rules of the industry in which it participates. But, his view of social responsibility is more akin to Adam Smith’s notion of the invisible hand, in which business does promote the good for all by doing business well.
3. Larmer, R.A. (1992). Whistleblowing and employee loyalty. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(2), 125-128. Retrieved from the ProQuest database.
o In this article, Larmer analyzes the relationship between employee loyalty and whistleblowing. As you read this article, think about what duties employees have to their employers and to the public at large and think about how one might justify whistleblowing using deontological reasoning.
4. Lop, P. (2011, Feb. 24). Understanding De George’s Standard theory on whistleblowing. Inside Business 360. Retrieved from http://www.insidebusiness360.com/index.php/understanding-de-georges-standard-theory-on-whistleblowing-5824/
o This article is a synopsis of an argument that explains when it is ethically acceptable to whistleblow in a business context.
1. Locke, J. (1690). Of property. In Second treatise of government. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htm#CHAPTER_V
o In this portion of the work, Locke presents his ideas about private property, who should have the right to private property, and the actions that people take that turn public property into private property.
2. Marx, K. (1959). Estranged labour. In, Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 (M. Mulligan Trans.). Moscow: Progress Publishers. (Original work published 1932). Retrieved from http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm
o Society, according to Marx, divides between property owners and property-less workers. The workers not only suffer impoverishment but also estrangement or alienation from things that they cannot own as well as other men. This estrangement is the result of four things which our outlined in this reading.
3. Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers. Retrieved from http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/provisionalia/nozick.pdf
o In this classic philosophical work, Nozick outlines the movement that occurs when humans agree to engage in politics and the creation of states.
4. Smith, A. (n.d.). Of the division of labour. In An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300/3300-h/3300-h.htm#link2HCH0001
o Adam Smith was a Scottish philosopher of the 18th Century, whose book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (better known by the shortened title, The Wealth of Nations) became the cornerstone of modern economics. Smith proposed that the division of labor allows for specialized knowledge to emerge, which results in many benefits such as the optimal use of labor, faster production, the rise of innovation in production methods, and the increase in wealth of even the poorest members in a society.
Multimedia
1. bikram79. (2013, Feb. 11). Inglorious basterds first scene part 1 of 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsX1wYLxSZ4
o In the opening scene of Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, a French farmer is faced with the dilemma of lying to someone who is going to inflict harm on innocent people. Be sure to watch this scene before the media file from “Toni11207” below.
2. George Zotkin. (2010, Dec. 11). Joker’s social experiment [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4GAQtGtd_0
o In this scene from The Dark Knight, we see various forms of ethical reasoning in determining whether or not it is acceptable to inflict harm on others when they have the potential to harm us.
3. Toni112007. (2012, July 6). Inglroious basterds Hans Landa opening scene [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uldpQpoZQM
o In the opening scene of Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, a French farmer is faced with the dilemma of lying to someone who is going to inflict harm on innocent people. Be sure to watch this scene after the media file from “bikram79” above.
The paper must be 1500 to 2000 words (excluding title and reference pages) in length and formatted according to APA style. You must utilize at least two required readings or media, and two recommended readings or media from any week of the course to support your claims. Cite your sources within the text of your paper and on the reference page.
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