Ethics in the News Assignment
Ethics in the News Assignment
Description: This analytical, individual assignment is worth 20% of your final grade.
You must submit two analyses of news articles of approximately two double-spaced
pages each, and you may submit an optional third to replace a lower grade on one of the
first two.
Please find a news article about a contemporary ethical dilemma. This may be either a
specific dilemma a company is facing or an ethical scandal we have not discussed in
class. The article may describe a specific incident or the norms su
ounding a particula
workplace behavior more generally.
Submission: These assignments may be submitted throughout the semester by email
or through Blackboard, and they will be returned within one week of submission with
comments. In case you do not hear back within one week of submission, contact me
immediately. The last possible date to submit these is the last teaching day of the
semester (not the date of the final exam). I recommend submitting significantly earlier,
however, to ensure adequate time to find an appropriate article and write the analyses.
Grading Criteria: This is an opportunity to use the knowledge you acquired in class in
order to analyze contemporary issues in business ethics. Please be concise and focused
in your analysis of the ethical issue or dilemma elaborated in an article you find.
In your analysis, focus on the following key points:
1) What is the issue being discussed in the article? Provide a
ief summary and
analysis of the ethical dilemma(s) or issue involved.
2) Provide an analysis of arguments that could be made for two or more ways the
ethical dilemma in question might be decided. Alternatively, you may analyze an
ethical scandal (one we have not discussed in class). What makes the situation
described in the article unethical? For either approach, please make use of some
of the theory or ethical frameworks in your textbook or discussed in class.
3) Finally, how would you personally resolve or approach the ethical dilemma in
question? Please provide arguments grounded in theory as part of you
justification.
Grading will be based primarily on addressing these points. The depth, precision and
originality of your response is also a key factor.