07 Jul Business Ethics
M4 Original Assignment
Answer the following questions, drawing upon the assignedreadings and resources and using specific examples from those readings andresources to illustrate and explain your thoughts. In answering these questions, please followthis format:
–write out the question and then provide your response.
–when you reference (name) a theory, cite your source usingthe APA in–text citation style.
–you must cite sources and provide bibliographic referenceat the end of the assignment. For an example of how to format this correctly,go to the Course Information module, click on Syllabus and then Course Readingsand Materials and see the correct style for the textbook. The Shaw & Barry(2013) text is your primary resource in this course.
Assigned questions:
Current news and politics is full of concern about theenvironment, particularly as it is related to oil use and the auto industry.There are a number of ethical considerations that arise out of these issues. Pleasebe sure to answer ALL of the following questions:
Some propose that these concerns could be alleviated if ouruse of cars was limited by increased gasoline taxes–if gas is more expensive,we will use less of it and, as a beneficial by-product, improve theenvironment. What do you think of this proposal and what theory would supportyour position? Are there injustices built into such measures?
What about the possibility that the US auto industry,encouraged by its partial owner, the US government, will no longer producelarge gas guzzlers (think Hummer) or will subsidize hybrid or green cars? Is itethical for the government to essentially prevent a US company from producing alegal good or encourage a company to produce one good over another? Whatethical theory supports your position?
What are the possible ethical considerations of banning orrestricting the import of cars that do not meet certain emission standards?Volkswagen was recently embroiled in a major business disaster when it wasdiscovered that software engineers had inserted a “fix” in their carsthat was designed to fool emission tests. While illegal, was that unethical?
Finally, the world today is full of news about fracking, theprocess by which a high volume of liquid is pumped into the ground to fracturerock and extract natural gas. What are the ethical considerations of eitherpermitting or prohibiting property owners from using their property in thismanner?
REMEMBER, YOU MUST USE YOUR SELECTED THEORY TO SUPPORTYOUR POSITION AND SHOULD SPECIFICALLY USE FACTS AND INFORMATION FROM THEREADINGS AND RESOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR POSITION.
Make sure that you have adequately dealt with all thesubtleties of the particular theory. Theanswers to these questions can be found in the text but merely quoting from thetext or paraphrasing the text will earn minimal credit–the answers should bein your own words and should involve some explanation and discussion of whatthese concepts mean.
