PHI445 Personal & Organization Ethics Discussion 1 & 2

Readings and Multimedia

1. To successfully complete this week’s assignments, read the following chapters from the text, Introduction to Business Ethics:
   • Chapter 1 – Ethical Principles and Business Decisions
   • Chapter 2 – Capitalism
   • Chapter 3 – Corporations
2. To successfully complete this week’s discussion, Psychological Egoism, view the following video:
   • INTELECOM. (1998). Virtue Ethics . Retrieved from http://searchcenter.intelecomonline.net/playClipDirect.aspx?id=E22DB555B562B4638A54BC9BF14726026C7F55437C223734D2FDBAC43E52351AD45AE50FBD9243C54837642F6A485C5CB8C2791A86619A57
     (This video provides foundational perspectives on ethics and cultural underpinnings which drive business operations and practices.)
      

Recommended Readings and Multimedia

1. To successfully complete this week’s assignments, it is recommended that you read the following articles found in the ProQuest database in the Ashford Online Library:
   • Brigley, S. (1995). Business ethics in context: Researching with case studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 14(3), 219.
     (It is argued that the case-study approach is more appropriate to inquiries into the complex, diverse contents and contexts of business ethics.)
   • Dillard, J., Rogers, R., & Yuthas, K. (2011). Organizational change: In search of the golden mean. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 7(1), 5-32.
     (The purpose of this paper is to consider an archetypal illustration of change possibilities manifested in a corporation, Enron Corp., operating within the context of global market capitalism.)
   • Gerde, V., Goldsby, M., & Shepard, J. (20077). Moral cover for capitalism: The harmony-of-interest doctrine. Journal of Management History, 13(1), 7-20.
     (The purpose of this paper is to contend a transition from religious to secular moral cover for business ethics was aided by the harmony-of-interests doctrine, which provided moral, but secular, cover for the pursuit of self-interest and personal wealth with an implicit, secular rationalization of promoting the public good.)
   • Schrempf, J. (2011 September). Nokia Siemens networks: Just doing business – or supporting an oppressive regime? Journal of Business Ethics, 103(1), 95-110. doi: 10.1007/s10551-011-0844-7.
     (This case study examines the relevance of taking social and political factors into consideration when a corporation is making a key business decision.)
   • Verreault, D., Yang, S., & Angel, J. (2004). Sprint Corporation: Ethical decisions and tax avoidance. Issues in Accounting Education, 19(1), 119-143.
     (The case focuses on events surrounding Ernst & Young’s tax shelter advice to senior executives of Sprint.)
2. To successfully complete this week’s assignments, it is recommended that you read the following articles found in the EBSCO Host database in the Ashford Online Library:
   • Grace Neville, M. (2008). Positive deviance on the ethical continuum: Green Mountain Coffee as a case study in conscientious capitalism. Business & Society Review (00453609), 113(4), 555-576. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8594.2008.00332.x.
     (This paper presents a case study of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, the leading ethical company in the United States as rated by Forbes magazine, exploring the company culture and operating philosophy from a perspective of conscientious capitalism.)
   • Gump, S. (2006 May). Who gets the job? Recruitment and selection at a ‘second-generation’ Japanese automotive components transplant in the US. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(5), 842-859.
     (In this paper, a case study of one second-tier components supplier for a major Japanese automotive assembler in the Midwestern United States provides the opinions of senior managers and human resource associates regarding recruitment and selection practices.)
   • Ingenbleek, P, & Immink, V. (2010). Managing conflicting stakeholder interests: An exploratory case analysis of the formulation of corporate social responsibility standards in the Netherlands. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 29(1), 52-65.
     (Drawing on the power and urgency dimensions of stakeholder identification theory and decision process analysis, this study examines four case studies pertaining to animal welfare issues in food marketing.)
   • Kaciuba, G., & Siegel, G. (2009 November). Activity-based management in a medical practice: A case study emphasizing the AICPA’s core competencies. Issues in Accounting Education, 24(4), 553-577.
     (Activity-based management uses information from an activity-based costing (ABC) system for both recurring and nonrecurring management decisions. In this case study, an ABC system that assigned only indirect costs to the final cost objects has already been created and students must expand this ABC system to include the assignment of direct costs to the cost objects, and then compare these total unit costs to the revenue collected for each cost object.)
3. To successfully complete this week’s assignments, it is recommended that you watch the following videos available at the Films on Demand database in the Ashford Online Library:
   • CBS News (Producer). (1994). Ethics in the marketplace: A business challenge [Video].
     (Companies, big and small, are challenged to help change the world, act responsibly to employees and customers, help solve social problems here and abroad, and preserve the environment.)
   • RDF Media Group (Producer). (2006). No rest for the wicked: Protestantism and economics [Video].
     (Secular Capitalism is powered by the spiritual passion of Protestantism. The Protestant Revolution transformed society.)

Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week’s Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Psychological Egoism
    
   After reviewing Chapter 1 in your textbook and watching “Virtue Ethics,” find a contemporary article showing how the theory of psychological egoism in a corporation resulted in an ethical dilemma.
   • Is there a way that the decision-making process within a large corporation can overcome this fact of human selfishness?
   • What would be a solution in this scenario?
   • How does the theory of psychological egoism fit within your personal body of ethics and values?
   • How does the theory of psychological egoism fit within the ethical structure of the company or organization you work for now or have worked for in the past?

   Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

2. Self-Interest or Community Interest
    
   As read in Chapter 2 of the course text, Adam Smith argued that self-interest is a critical element in a society’s economic development. Karl Marx, by contrast, argued that society functions better when each of us is more community oriented.

   Pretend you are either Adam Smith or Karl Marx, and explain economic recession from these perspectives.

   • Discuss when greed and selfishness in businesses go too far and become a hazard to society.
   • Stepping back into your shoes again, contrast your system of values and ethics concerning greed and self-interest with the system of values of Smith or Marx.
   • Discuss if the ethical perspective of a particular group to which you currently belong, or previously belonged resembles the perspective of Adam Smith or Karl Marx?

   Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.