指导英国coursework

指导英国coursework

Instructions:
• Choose ONE of the following four cases
• Identify main (ethical) issues and key stakeholders in this case
• Evaluate the case using TWO ethical theories
• Explain how you would act in this situation, and why.

Your word limit must not exceed 1,600 words. Do not forget to include your word count in your essay.

The essay will be marked using the following criteria:
• Identification of issues and stakeholdersThe Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
• Outlining of main features of ethical theories and application of theories to case
• Style and Presentation (including authenticity and accurate referencing)

Submission deadline is Tuesday, 1 December, 2009. Failure to submit on time will result in a fail grade.
You are required to submit your coursework both electronically through TurnItIn (see instructions in module handbook), and as hard copy to the student office.

Case 1
You are a board director of StarAlphaMedicines, a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in the UK. The company’s Research & Development department are working on a novel breast cancer drug. The drug could provide breakthrough treatment for millions of women in the company’s core markets in Europe and the US, and is likely to be a source of high revenue for StarAlphaMedicines, which has recently seen a fall in profits and a resulting drop in share price.
To pass the approval process the company still needs to conduct further trials to test for the effectiveness and safety of the drug. However, in Europe these kinds of clinical trials are rather lengthy and very costly to conduct, due to the strict regulatory environment.
In a board meeting, the CEO of StarAlphaMedicines suggests carrying out a large part of the trials in country X, a developing country in Asia, whose government provides more favourable conditions for clinical trials. The government of country X regards international drug trials as a cheap way of providing treatment for poor people who cannot afford to buy drugs or other kinds of medical treatment. Also, in X a significant proportion of poor women suffer from breast cancer and therefore it will be relatively easy to recruit participants for the trial.
The company has no plans to make the drug available below market price in X after its approval. Also, at the current stage of the drug’s development the Research & Development department cannot yet rule out the occurrence of harmful side effects, even though they believe that the likelihood of this happening is very low.
Should you endorse the CEO’s suggestion? 

Case 2#p#分页标题#e#
Michael works as a manager in his family’s business, which makes metal components and employs about 50 people.
One of his employees, John, is an unskilled, but loyal, worker who started working for the company when Michael’s grandfather was still running the business. Michael has known John since he was a little boy. During the last year Michael has observed that John frequently showed up late for work, usually a little drunk, or sometimes not at all. Michael knows that John’s wife and only son died in a car crash a year ago and that, to cope with his loss, John has taken to drinking alcohol. Michael has repeatedly talked with John about this problem but this has not changed John’s behaviour.
 Michael’s company is currently facing some problems in the face of the current economic recession, and the resulting tendency of customers to search increasingly for cheaper products made overseas. The company survives because of its ability to deliver high-quality custom made products and a high standard of customer service, but there is always pressure to cut unnecessary costs. After some consideration Michael decides to keep John on.
Has he done the right thing?The Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org

Case 3
A UK high street store, TVs 4 U, sells television sets. A major percentage of sales is to customers with very low income. The company is able to sell expensive products to poor people by means of a credit system, i.e. a small amount of money is paid back each month. The interest rates charged are very high, particularly due to the high-risk nature of the debt. The credit is collected by an external credit agency. The company makes most of its profit from financial services, so pressure is exerted on the retail outlets to sell the most expensive goods on credit. The customers are generally happy with the quality of service and goods provided, and are pleased to find that they are deemed creditworthy. The salespeople are on commission.
Martin Kings is the manager of the TVs 4 U retail outlet in a North London neighbourhood. One autumn afternoon Martin sees one of his neighbours, Mrs Richards, about to make a purchase of a new big flat screen television on credit in the shop. His wife is friendly with Mrs Richards, who is 82 years old, and whose only living relative is one son who lives in Australia. Mrs Kings acts as a surrogate daughter, helping out with shopping and household chores.
Mrs Richards lives in a run-down old house and, according to Mrs Kings, cannot afford to heat the house properly in the winter, living in just one room until the weather gets warmer. Martin strongly suspects that Mrs Richards cannot really afford to purchase the television, even on credit.
What should he do?

Case 4
Dr Lisa Williams is a research chemist managing the New Products department of a firm specialising in textiles used for curtains, furniture upholstery etc. She becomes aware of a strand of the company’s research that tentatively suggests that a component of the firm’s top selling product line, accounting for 60% of the total, is highly carcinogenic*. #p#分页标题#e#
Dr Williams is very worried by the knowledge and brings it up at a meeting she is having with her manager, Mark Miller. Miller listens carefully and takes copious notes before advising her to re-read the research evidence and produce a confidential report for him. But in the meantime he asked her not to speak to anyone else about the issue. Satisfied that the matter was being taken seriously, Dr Williams returns to her work.
Just two days later Dr Williams receives a Private and Confidential letter from the company’s Chief Executive. He questions the research finding, points out the severe consequences for the company’s business and the jobs of its employees if rumours of the findings became public. He orders her to stop investigating the issues and threatens her with dismissal if she publicised her misgivings more widely.
What should Dr Williams do?
*(carcinogenic substance = cancer-producing substance)   The Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org

1. At least find 3 stakeholders in case ！！！！！！！！！！！
2. 不需要提供很多的reference 只需要从 这本书里面reference理论的定义
Crane, A. and Matten, D. (2007). Business Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2nd edition
Page 110-115 是这4个定义的解释。

3. 报告只需要通过选择一个case 然后结合两个定义分析（4个定义里选择两个即可）
4. 还有个定义我在PPT里，是孔夫子的定义也可以选择这个。只需要结合两个定义分析就可以了。
5. 结尾的时候要给出自己的观点
6. 这篇报告不需要过多的reference 主要是自己的观点，从自己角度分析如果是你，你会怎么做。

Ethical Theory – Part II

MGT 3110
Business and Society
19 October 2009

Lecture overview

Ethical theories as frameworks to evaluate ethical issues in business
Consequences/Utilitarianism
Ethics of duty/Deontology/Kantianism
Ethics of Rights and Justice
Virtue Ethics
Confucian Ethics
Discourse Ethics
Postmodern Ethics

How are we to use ethical theories in ethical decision-making in business?

The idea of moral imagination

Virtue ethicsThe Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org

Descends from classical Hellenistic tradition represented by Plato and Aristotle 
Focuses on character of decision-maker: morally correct actions are those undertaken by actors with virtuous characters
“What would a virtuous person do in this situation?”

 Being virtuous means having the right desires and  motivations (Beauchamp et al. 2009:35) #p#分页标题#e#
concept of the ‘mean’ (Fisher and Lovell 2009:104)
 Cardinal virtues (Plato): wisdom, justice, temperance (self-control), courage

Linked to the idea of human happiness or flourishing, the good life (“eudemonia”): a virtuous life is one that allows individuals to achieve true happiness – both for themselves and for their communities
Moral virtues are acquired in a particular community of practice
‘Modern’ virtues may include: honesty, courage, faithfulness, trustworthiness, integrity, fairness, generosity, patience, compassion …

What virtues do you value in your culture?
What virtues do you value in a business person in your culture?
Are your answers to the questions above identical – why/why not?

Virtue Ethics and Business

the virtuous organisation (Collier 1995, Solomon 2004)
economic success is just one part of the good business life, other aspects are important, too: a good product/service, employees fulfilling their human potential, harmonious relationships with all stakeholders
business organisations as moral communities: developing virtuous managers and employees

virtue approach reflected in mission statements
e.g. Merck (pharmaceutical company)
 http://www.merck.com/about/mission.html

Critique of Virtue ethicsThe Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
Which way of life exemplifies flourishing or true happiness?
Different communities have different ideals: accumulation of wealth vs valuing of excellence, social relationships etc.

Virtue ethics may not help us if we face serious ethical dilemmas

Confucian Ethics – an Eastern virtue ethic

Confucius (551-479 BCE)
a humanist, collectivist ethic
“The nature of a person’s self is defined and constituted by the bundles of his or her social relationships in the world” (Ip 2009)
de: virtue, character formation through personal cultivation of virtues (Junzi: moral person)
Harmony seen as the primary goal of personal and social life

Confucian Ethics
5 cardinal virtues of humanity (lived out and learned in social relationships)
ren: capacity of compassion or benevolence for fellow human beings, human-heartedness
zhong shu: the Confucian formulation of the Golden Rule (neg version)
positive act of moral engagement in others’ moral welfare and development
 yi: a sense of moral rightness
 li: conventional propriety; etiquettes, norms and protocols in both personal and institutional lives
e.g. xiao: filial piety
 zhi hui: wisdom
 xin ren: trustworthiness

Confucian Ethics in Business and its limitations
business an activity embedded in social matrix – effect of one’s action on social matrix should always be considered#p#分页标题#e#
value placed on trustworthiness
favour of long-term business relationships
guanxi: importance of good relationships/connections
employer-employee relationship (and other business relationships) may resemble familial relationship
(Koehn 1999, Ip 2009) 

But also: danger of authoritarianism, sacrifice of individual interests and rights in the name of ‘harmony’, nepotism, corruption, how are people treated who do not belong to one’s group/society?

Discourse EthicsThe Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
“…deals with the proper process of rational debate that are necessary to arrive at a resolution of ethical questions.” (Fisher and Lovell 2009:125)
ethical reflection starts from real life experiences
norms and solutions are generated through social interaction and open dialogue among all the different parties that are affected by the issue
ultimate goal of ethical issues in business should be the peaceful settlement of conflicts (Steinmann and Löhr, 1994)

Ideal speech situation – criteria include:
every participant has an equal chance to argue and to question - suspension of power differences
all participants can express their own authentic attitudes, desires and needs
non-persuasion
non-coercion; the only force allowed is that of the better argument
(Habermas 1990:89, Crane & Matten 2007:114, Fisher & Lovell 2009:pp. 126)

Practical Application: Stakeholder Dialogue
e.g. Proctor & Gamble: series of dialogues with a number of societal stakeholders around safety and environmental impact of products

Limitations of Discourse Ethics
practical time-limits
requires high-level cognitive abilities on the part of the participants
assumption that people behave rationally in discourses
power differences are not easily suspended
relies on the willingness of participants to follow the ‘non-coercive force of the best argumentation’
some stakeholders have no voice (e.g. future generations)

Postmodern Ethics / Levinas

“Postmodern Ethics … locates morality beyond the sphere of rationality in an emotional ‘moral impulse’ towards others.” (Crane & Matten 2007:115)

Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995)
morality is grounded in the encounter with the ‘other’ - ethics of proximity
encounter with the ‘other’ create infinite/unlimited responsibility for him/her
“I am not only for the Other but also for all the absent others who look at me in the eyes of the Other.”
(Soares 2008)
Gustafson (2000:21 cited in Crane & Matten 2007:pp. 115)
individuals should not divorce their professional lives from their personal lives
persons with certain moral qualities regarded as examples for moral practiceThe #p#分页标题#e#Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org

different situations might require different moral responses
ethical reasoning is a constant learning process

ethical learning enhanced through ‘real life’ encounters (development of moral impulse)
‘Blood Sweat and TShirts’ – a BBC documentary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/blood-sweat-tshirts/

Soares (2008)
The corporation has responsibility for each party which has a relationship to it
It is through responsibility that the corporation is able to discover its true aim and meaning

Critique:
A very demanding approach to ethics
Is unlimited responsibility to the ‘other’ realistic in a business context?

How do we use ethical theory?
“All theoretical approaches throw light on one and the same problem and thus work in a complementary rather than a mutually excluding fashion.” (Crane & Matten 2007:119)
Utilitarianism: social consequences
Ethics of Duty: duties to others
Ethics of Rights: entitlement of others based on idea of human dignity
Discourse Ethics: process of resolving conflicts
Virtue Ethics / Confucianism: moral character
Confucianism / Postmodern Ethics: relationships with others
Postmodern Ethics: moral impulse and emotions
see Crane & Matten 2007:121

And finally … moral imagination
concept introduced to business ethics by Patricia Werhane (1999)
is concerned with whether one has a “sense of the variety of possibilities and moral consequences of their decisions, the ability to imagine a wide range of possible issues, consequences and solutions”
allows us to see beyond the ‘rules of the game’ and standard responses
enables creative moral managerial decision-making
ExamplesThe Essay is provided by UK Assignment http://www.ukassignment.org
bank lending with aim of social and economic renewal of neighbourhood
environmental innovation
flexible work-schemes for employees faced with redundancy