Assignment: Workplace Ethics

Overview

This assignment will give you the opportunity to choose a case study, and then write about the ethical implications and the impact of the events that are described. Each case study includes a set of questions that you should answer. You can choose either Case Study 9.1: Unprofessional Conduct, or Case Study 8.4: Have Gun Will Travel.

You will be graded on the following criteria:

Write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze the questions associated with your chosen case study and discuss them using concepts you learned in this course.

2. Explain your rationale for each of your answers to your chosen case study.

3. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
a. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
b. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
c. Cite your textbook as a reference.
d. Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Determine the considerations for and process of ethical business decision making to balance corporate and social responsibilities and address moral, economic, and legal concerns.
• Analyze selected business situations using the predominant ethical theories, such as utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics to guide ethical business decision making.
• Determine the implications and impact of various civil liberty laws in the workplace, such as hiring, promotion, discipline, discharge, and wage discrimination.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in business ethics.
• Write clearly and concisely about business ethics using proper writing mechanics.

Choose one (1) of the following case studies for Assignment 2:

Case: Unprofessional Conduct?

Located on page 342 of your textbook

1. Do you believe the Board of Education violated her right to privacy? Were they justified in firing her? Explain two to three (2-3) major reasons why or why not.

2. Was Pettit's behavior unprofessional or immoral? Do you believe she was unfit to teach? Provide a rationale for your position.

3. If teachers have good performance inside the classroom, should they also be held to a higher moral standard outside the classroom? Explain why or why not.

4. Analyze five (5) behaviors you believe would show unprofessional or immoral conduct for a teacher.

Case: Have Gun, Will Travel...to Work

1. Do you have not only a legal, but a moral right to own a gun? Do you believe that you have either a moral or a legal right to park a car with a loaded gun in a privately owned parking lot, regardless of what the lot's owner wants?

2. In your view, do employees have either a moral or a legal right to park cars with guns in them in the company parking lot? What do you believe should be the property rights and safety concerns of employers?

3. Do you think state legislatures are right to get involved, or should the matter be left to companies and employees to settle?

4. Because the workplace is the company's private property, the company could choose to allow employees to bring guns not only into the parking lot, but also into the workplace itself. Are there ever circumstances in which doing so might be reasonable? Or would the presence of guns automatically violate the rights of other employees to be guaranteed a safe working environment?