Overview of Research

Overview of Research

Overview of Research Project

Read and watch the news until you find a business that is currently facing an ethical issue – one that has not yet been resolved. You must choose a United States owned, for-profit business, either facing an ethical dilemma or in the midst of a crisis related to an ethical issue. You can write the paper from the perspective of the business actually facing the current issue or crisis or another business within the industry that could potentially be faced with a similar situation now or in the near future. Make sure the issue hasn’t been resolved yet, and public decisions have not been made.

The issue must be related to a topic covered in the textbook (look at the table of contents for ideas). You will then write your assignment from the perspective of the General Manager or CEO as he/she reviews the issues and determine a course of action for the company. You will research the issue and the company so you can provide data and logical rationale for the course of action you plan to take. You’ll need to follow your issue in the news as the term progresses and take into consideration any progress that company has made along the way to resolve the issue. Choose a topic that is of interest to you so it’s interesting to research.

I am more interested in the quality and comprehensiveness than the actual length of these assignments. Essentially you will be writing a research paper that is broken up into four sections. The paper should be approximately 12-15 pages in length, double-spaced, 12 font, not including your stakeholder table and bibliography, and will be graded using the sustainability rubric attached in D2L.

Note: You will need to cite the sources used in your research efforts. Helpful information on how to research, cite sources, as well as links to business news and articles, can be found on the library resource webpage link, which is located on the d2l course home page.

Assignment #1: Issue Identification and Stance (~2 pages)

Make sure your issue is one that can be adequately reported on given the time and scope of this paper. Present the issue as a question(s) that you will then be answering in the final section of this research project.

Identify and Frame your ethical issue: What is the ethical issue you have chosen? Here are a couple of examples of issues stated as questions. “Is the use of euthanasia an ethical choice considering we are an organization supporting animal rights?” “What obligations do we have to consumer stakeholders in light of recent injuries associated with product x?” You will notice that I used “we” in the previous examples. Since you are putting yourself in the shoes of the CEO (or other primary decision maker), you can write in first person.

Brief description of the company- Each industry provides a different context for understanding and acting on the issues. You will prepare the report from the standpoint of a company within the industry selected. Briefly identify the scope of activity, number and types of products, domain, and location.

Identify the “triggering event:” This is a recent occurrence that brought the issue to the public’s attention, putting the company in the spotlight and forcing them to reevaluate their current business practices. Some examples of triggers are: injury or death of a stakeholder, a lawsuit, or a news report. If your triggering event is not recent, we can assume that the company has already decided how they plan to proceed. Relevance and importance of the issue to the company must be clearly established.

Tell me whose perspective you will be taking: Now consider who is in a position to make decisions for the company in response to the ethical issue. I’ll need to know the name and title of the person(s) whose perspective you’ll be taking as you write the paper. This is usually the CEO, another executive manager, the board of directors or even could be a consulting firm.

Assignment #2: Stakeholder Identification and Prioritization Matrix (~2 pages)

Please restate and briefly summarize your ethical issue as described in assignment #1.

Identify stakeholders and their stakes: The first step toward effectively resolving an ethical issue is stakeholder identification. Identify 20 or more of your company’s most relevant stakeholders, and be sure to identify at least one stakeholder from each of the five basic stakeholder groups. Be as specific as possible when you describe the stakeholders; specific names and titles are best. Next, you need to identify your stakeholders’ stakes. Clearly state what each stakeholder has to gain or lose by your company’s decisions. Put your stakeholders into a table like the one below.

Stakeholder

Stake Priority

1.

2.

3.

…

18.

19.

20.

Prioritize your stakeholders: Determine which stakeholders (top 2 or 3) are the most legitimate, which stakeholders (top 2-3) are the most urgent, and which stakeholders (top 2-3) are the most powerful. You can easily color-code them in your table by shading the box or by using different colors or style fonts. Then you’ll need to provide an explanation as to why you categorized them the way you did.

Identifying and prioritizing the stakeholders will help you think about how big of an impact this issue is (or potentially could be) if not addressed, which will help you in the Issue Significance section of the paper and be important when you considering the impact of your decisions in your final recommendations.

Topics for task 1

the business and society relationship

business and society

society as the macroenviorment

a pluaristic enviorment

a special interest society

business criticism and corporate response

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