Ethics in Finance Assignment
You've undoubtedly learned about ethics as well as corporate social responsibility in some of your other business coursework. Given the nature of this course and the focus on corporate finance, ethics is often a forgotten concept. After all, the goal of financial management is to maximize shareholder wealth. This overriding principle of financial management in corporate finance may often out shadow the need for any focus on ethics in the corporate financial environment. I feel strongly the case can be made that ethical companies operating in the best interest of both shareholders and stakeholders are going to be more profitable and successful in the long-run.
Nevertheless, recent history provides us with numerous ethical fiascos. Numerous movies have been made related to the financial crisis of 2008. The following list of movies/documentaries illustrates different points of the financial crisis and the great recession. Some are more entertaining than others; all do a fine job offering you an opportunity to explore ethics in finance.
• Too Big to Fail
• The Company Men
• Inside the Meltdown
• Margin Call
• The Big Short
• Inside Job
Your assignment is to watch one of the movies listed above. Inside the Meltdown was done by PBS and can be streamed online for free. The reset should be accessible on Netflix. And, write a well-written reaction paper after viewing the movie you choose.
Your reflection paper must be well-written, should be 2-4 pages in length and include the following:
• Major points of the movie - briefly (2-3 paragraphs) summarize the major points you found most interesting or intriguing in the movie.
• Perceptions - what bias do you perceive in the movie you viewed? Do you agree with the bias? Explain. Having viewed the movie, do you now see things, related to the financial industry and crisis, differently than you did before? Explain.
• Synthesis - Search for additional information related to the topics in the movie to provide you with a fuller understanding of the themes in the movie. Relate your reading (research) to what you saw in the movie. Do you have any personal experiences you can relate to the movie you viewed? Explain.
• Summary - end your paper with a good closing paragraph (summary).
• References - Be sure to properly cite the sources where appropriate. APA style is preferred.