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 information 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).
Sample Solution
You will use the following format to identify the problem, find alternative solutions, carefully evaluate each alternative and make a recommendation.
- Problem statement
- Identify the ethical issues
- Identify the stakeholders
- 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
- 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 bothadvantages and disadvantages. You will lose points if you have fewer than two of each per alternative. 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.