...Douglas L. Kaye LS312: Ethics and the Legal Environment Unit 2 Prof. Craig July 16th, 2013 John Stuart Mill developed a systematic statement of utilitarian ethical theory, which is another ethical theory based on the consequences of actions. The application of this theory involves performing the action that produces the best results for the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism can be further reduced into two sub-categories, act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Followers of act utilitarianism think that in each ethical situation, an individual should perform the action that produces the best results for the majority of people. Rule utilitarianism requires people to construct and follow an established set of rules that should guarantee the best possible outcome for the majority of the people. Critics of both utilitarianism positions argue that it is extremely difficult to determine future consequences for other people. Another problem of utilitarianism is cost benefit analysis. Essentially, in the quest to please the majority, at what point do the minority’s interest become expendable? Assigning value to individuals in this manner, and using them as a means to an end may not always be considered moral behavior in some situations or circumstances (Kemerling, 2011). In the Palm Beach Post this week was a news article titled, "Royal Palm Beach woman charged with opening fake account, stealing $6,000 from bank" which was about a 50-year-old woman, Anna Papa...
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...Energy Cooperative Recommendation The Energy Cooperative is a non-profit organization that, in short, provides education to the public regarding new technology updates, monitoring viable new start-up energy companies and providing a public forum for complaints on its website. After meeting with the board of directors, I was asked to provide a recommendation on the ethical concerns with telling personal potential clients they are calling as director of the Energy Cooperative. The following is my recommendation. The ethical concerns I have are with the directors wanting to contact their personal potential clients for business gain and use their status with the non-profit to promote business for their personal gain versus the benefit of the co-op. According to Kant’s categorical imperative, an individual’s motives must be pure, if they are not, then the means cannot justify the end (Ziegler, 2011). In this case, the director’s motives to contact these potential clients can bring business connections to the co-op because of him acknowledging the group, but the director’s only goal is to profit from this for his own personal gain. Under Kant’s categorical imperative, the benefit that these potential clients can bring to the non-profit and all of its members are irrelevant because of the selfish act by the directors. It is my recommendation the directors do not use the status of their positions when contacting personal potential clients. I arrived at this conclusion mainly...
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...Final Project Part One Amanda Schneider Ethics in the Legal Environment LS312-03 February 17, 2014 Final Project Part One Immanuel Kant is the founder of the ethical theory untitled the categorical imperative. This theory is based on ethical decisions being universal to everyone in society. Being universal to society means that everyone in society would do the same thing. Kant goes further in his analysis by saying that someone’s motives must be pure. A motive is considered pure as long as it is not selfish. So to apply this theory you must test both the motive behind the action as well as the universality to the action (The Kaplan eGuide to Ethics and the Legal Environment, 2013). To examine the scenario given for this assignment you must first identify the action. In this case the action being examined is whether or not it is ethical for one board member to use their board member status when dealing with personal business contacts. The first part of Kant’s theory states that a person’s motives must be pure. In this case the board member’s motive are not pure. They want to use the board’s good name to further his personal business connections. This motive is selfish as it only produces a positive effect for the board member’s personal business. This board member is not acting with a pure motive and therefore fails the first part of Kant’s theory. Next you must apply this action universally. What would happen if every board member was allowed to...
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...Derrick Jones LS312: Ethics and the Legal Environment Unit-4 Assignment Amtrak Case Study July 26, 2012 First of all lets define the word, “stakeholder”. Stakeholder means people who have an interest in a particular thing. In an organization, for example a stakeholder will include the parties with interest such as employees, suppliers, customers, local communities, among other parties (Ask). In this case the stakeholders would be the crew members, the passengers, the community where this tragedy happened, the towns where Amtrak provides services are stakeholders. All these stakeholders have stakes that are directly or indirectly. The interest for all the stakeholders is to have a safe trip, but in this case the interest for the owners, and the crew members is to not have anything go wrong that may cost them financially. For the passengers, the interest was to travel in a less expensive, but comfortable manner. As for the community and cities where the train traveled, it brought customers too many businesses there. Amtrak’s corporate social responsibility legally was to have some kind of safeguards on the bridge to alert boats know there was a bridge there. We have safeguards that come down at railroad crossings way before the train gets there; so why not have the same kind of safety measures on bridges. The M/V Mauvilla should share some responsibility legally as well. They should have checked to see what the weather was like before they left to see if was safe to...
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...Compensation/Discrimination Sandeep Barot LS312 Ethics and Legal Enviroment Kaplan University Seth Eisenberg Introduction A stakeholder refers to any organization or individual who is affected as a result the business activities (Duddington, 2007, p. 103). In this case we have Brad who is the owner of the business, and his interest is in the capital growth of the capital invested and the dividends, whereas Eddie who is the general manager of the company, Jane who is the head of the Payroll Department and Greg the service technician will be interested in their pay, job security and prospects. Legal Analysis The discrimination labor or employment law from the e-guide applies to this case. Ordinarily employers enjoy very broad discretion in making employment decisions limited by state and federal statutes that prohibits employers from discriminating against their employees and applicant’s on the basis of race color, origin or ancestry (Duddington, 2007, p. 280). The general rule is that employers must treat similarly situated employees the same way. As a result consistency in treatment of employees is critical. One types of discrimination recognized by the non-discrimination law is ‘disparate treatment’. It occurs when an employer intentionally or with an expectation of a benefit treats an employer differently on the basis of illegal considerations. In our case Eddie shows discrimination by making the decision of promoting and giving Greg the easier work tickets so that...
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...Responsibility Shifts with Bridges Candy Olson LS312-02: Ethics and the Legal Environment Kaplan University Responsibility Shifts with Bridges The words “corporate social responsibility” can get a little hairy and foggy when accidents occur. According to eGuide to Ethics and the Legal Environment chapter 2 (2010), “CSR is a business practice that demands that business organizations look to the effect their decisions have on multiple stakeholders” (eGuide 2010 pg. 3). I would have to say after reading The Wreck of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, the question of “Who was at fault” remains a difficult quest to conquer. However, I will do my best to break this case study down into elements that will eventually present an idea as to who truly was at fault for the derailment, in my opinion. I will present to you all the stakeholders involved in this derailment, as well as their interests in cleaning up the mess this “normal accident” left in its wake. Next, I will explain the four areas of the corporation's social corporate responsibilities including the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic areas. Based on these four areas of corporate social responsibility, I will reveal my final synopsis of who was responsible for this derailment and provide my rationales and recommendations to each of the businesses at fault. To begin, I will present a brief history of the derailment of Sunset Limited and the “normal accident” that took place. A brief history of the “normal accident” ...
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...Ethical Dilemma – Samouel’s Greek Cuisine Joshua has spent several hours researching his portion of his team project. His job is to collect secondary data. The conflicting information that Joshua has found is still considered secondary data even though it is not from a reputable firm. Secondary business data can be very helpful in determining the correct business path for a company to go in. The data, though conflicting should still be incorporated and explained in his research findings to his group. The data is from a government -sponsored website and may be very valuable. Joshua should stay late and examine the quality of the data he has found on the conflicting website. He needs to look at the reliability and the validity of the data that is presented. Who is the information being provided through and how was it collected, and is it free from bias? What was the data in the study originally collected for and does that influence the outcome. The information is from a government sponsored website so there is some credibility in the source. I do not feel that Joshua should ignore this research in his findings. If Joshua feels that he does not want to include this data he should talk to his group and explain why he feels it is not relevant. It should not be hidden from the findings if it has a role to play in the research and can help the restaurant’s performance in the future. There is a value in secondary research and when it is used appropriately...
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...Enoch Olutayo Dr Kristin Rajan Engl 1102-222 6th September 2013 Courage is a virtue As a kid, I watched a lot of cartoons. Some were memorable and had an impact on my life, while some were not. One of the most memorable was a cartoon called ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’. You can probably see from the title that this cartoon was very interesting. It has had a big impact on my philosophy as I have learnt life facts from watching it. I believe that I wouldn’t be the same person that I am today if I never came across it. I think it’s safe to say that as a kid, I did not know and understand a lot of things. The world to me was in black and white. You were either the good guy or the bad guy and when I watched TV, I always liked the good guys. This was how I felt when watching ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’ but all that started to change as I grew up. This cartoon was about a dog named Courage that was adopted by a woman named Muriel. She found him abandoned on a trash can hungry and needing a diaper change. Her and her husband, Eustace, were on their way home when she saw him and immediately fell in love with him. Courage loved Muriel for being nice and loving, almost like a mother to him, so he always took care of her. As you can probably see from the title of the show, Courage’s name is a contradiction of his actual personality. He got frightened by almost anything and was always suspicious of people and activities that happened around him. They lived in the middle of nowhere, which...
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...Running Head: VIEWING ETHICS THROUGH MY EYES Viewing Ethics through My Eyes Business Ethics Heather Morgan Aiken Technical College Running Head: VIEWING ETHICS THROUGH MY EYES Abstract Ethical choices are made every second, rather knowing it or not, you make one every day. Versus being in a work environment, at a school activity, or being around friends and family. Every one's views are different when it comes to ethics and it all relates back to how you view situations and how you intend to follow through with the choices you make. Ethics relates back to how you were raised; rather through spiritual beliefs or in the home. Everyone's beliefs are different and that's what makes ethics it's own virtual way of views. Running Head: VIEWING ETHICS THROUGH MY EYES Viewing Ethics through My Eyes Business Ethics Ethics can be perceived in more than one form. I view it in the sense of virtue ethics, based on character traits people have that are good (Anne T. Lawrence, James F. Weber, 2011, p. 83). The method I would enforce would be the justice method (p. 83). Everything should be based off a fair and just form no matter the person, they should all be treated equal. I have an older brother and my parents raised us equally, even though we are four years apart in age. Anything he received, I received the same thing or something of the same value. I was raised to believe that...
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...In the article “Don’t Leave Your Hand in the Cookie Jar,” the author states that John Davies and Karl Schumaker have totally opposite opinions about how to make the year-end adjusting entries for 2009. John is an assistant controller. He has a master’s degree in accounting, is a CPA, and has three years of solid experience with a major accounting firm. Karl, John’s immediate boss, a controller, is 20 years older than John, and he has a B.S. in management and a general M.B.A. from a top graduate school. Moreover, he has over 25 years of corporate accounting and finance experience even though he has no public accounting experience. The adjusting entries in question consist of accounts receivable bad debt, product returns, and product warranties. The accounts receivable bad debt is the first accounting adjustment they have different opinion. Karl would to prefer to bring the bad debt up to 3% of sale this year from 2.75% last year because he thinks an economic slowdown is coming. Besides, Karl believes in conservative accounting, so he thinks that the accountants should use the least favorable amount. However, John thinks the bad debt should be keep as same as 2.5%. John said that he does not see the need to bump up the bad debt percentages, and he mentioned they can adjust it in future as needed. The second adjusting entry they hold the opinion differ from each other is product returns. Karl wants to keep the 1% on product returns, but John thinks the product returns should...
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...Whitney Summers Ms. Wert English 101 H December 3, 2012 Genetic Engineering Just imagine the scene: and newlywed wife and husband are sitting down with a catalog, browsing joyously, pointing and awing at all the different options, fantasizing about all the possibilities that could become of their future. Is this a catalog for new furniture? No. This catalog for all features, phenotype and genotype, for the child they are planning to have. It is basically a database for parents to pick and choose all aspects of their children, from the sex of the child, to looks, and even to personality traits. Parents since the beginning of time have “planned” to have children, but never have they been able to legitimately “plan” out their child. This scene does not seem typical for our time and age, but truthfully it is what is becoming of our world. Through substantial research and experimentation that is taking place, scientists, specifically biologists, are becoming keener to the field of engineering; Genetic engineering that is. When one thinks of “genetic engineering,” the first thought is probably a perfect child, or paradoxically some inconceivable creature, forged under the microscope in a scientific laboratory. Though both of these are genetic engineering, many people do not consider other things, such as genetic engineering of agriculture and medicine, both of which are extremely useful. Through the genetic altering of plants and crops, scientists have been able to manipulate...
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...1) The Booth Pharmaceutical Corporation has to face whether or not to continue selling the drug Vanatin. In participating in the activity, acting as a board member of the Booth Corporation, I along with my other group members were faced with an ethical dilemma. The dilemma was; should the company continue to sell Vanatin even though is has dangerous effects? The drug Vanatin is a major profit producing aspect of the Booth Corporation comprising 12% of its gross income in the United States. Additionally, the corporation makes about the same amount of money in foreign markets under a different name. Booth Pharmaceutical can continue to sell the product and with help from lobbyists get past the FDA. However, the drug is proven to have been the cause of 30-40 deaths per year. The ethical decision comes down to whether or not the lives of 30-40 people per year is worth the revenue generated for the Booth Corporation from Vanatin. 2) If the Booth Corporation decides not to produce the product, than that will be a major loss for their revenue per year. Through discussion, my group assumed that this would probably result in pay cuts and layoffs. The company has no substitute product for Vanatin so they would lose a tremendous amount of customers. If the drug was banned and the sale of Vanatin seized, the other party, the scientists, would have accomplished their goal. Additionally, innocent patients’ lives would be potentially saved. If the Booth Corporation continues...
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...me knocked-out most of the day. Please remember that I’m given extra time on assignments via the Kaplan University office of student disabilities. Abstract This term paper for unit two review three articles, Ethics Consultation in United States Hospitals This term paper also defines 8 financial terms. Keywords: Balance sheet, Shareholder Equity, EBITDA, EBITDAM, Financial Ethics, Financial Benchmarking, Financial Trend Analysis, and Ratio Analysis. Unit 2 Term Paper Business ethics is the appropriate business guidelines and customs regarding debatable issues, like the way a CEO runs his company, illegal stock trading, corruption, business social and monetary obligations. The government’s authorities frequently enforce business ethics, still there are times when businesses alone will use a straightforward structure that organizations can abide by so that they simply may benefit the public interest (investopedia.com, 2013). Article Review The first article chosen for this assignment, is Betsy Gallup’s article Ethics Are an Important Part of Running a Health-Care Facility, and she explains ethics as having three components: independence, integrity and objectivity (2009). The article continues by explaining ethics in the healthcare sector; as patients’ at a healthcare facility or hospital we expect to receive fair and ethical care from the facilities medical professionals attending to us. One expects the same ethical behavior...
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...Business Ethics across Cultures Article Review Clarissa R. Hoover XMGT/216 August 4th, 2012 Dr. Frank Czarny, Ph.D. Business Ethics across Cultures Article Review Business ethics and perspectives play a major role in how every business operates on a daily basis. This essay will examine two articles of foreign countries business ethics and perspectives. In addition, the essay will provide a brief summary of the articles. Also, the essay will demonstrate the primary ethical perspectives of the two countries. In addition, the essay will discuss the contributions to understanding global ethical perspectives. Furthermore, the essay will illustrate how the business ethics of a foreign country compares to that of The United States of America. Even though, some business ethics and perspectives differ from country to country generally they are the same. It is very important to uphold an elevated level of ethical behavior when conducting business in a foreign country. There are four main ethical perspectives that one should empathize with which are: character, obligation, results, and equity (Bullard, 2009). When examining ones character individuals should establish their thoughts on what shall be perceived as good versus what is good to accomplish. Furthermore, each individual should realize everyone has a different perspective on how businesses work in a global market. Another ethical perspective one should examine is obligation. Obligation can be described as doing...
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...Ethics Case One ethical lesson from this article, is when something is wrong, one should speak up and let their voice about the issue be heard. A second lesson from this case is that a lot of times middle management does not report all of the facts to top management in order for critical decisions to be made. Finally, a third ethical lesson from this case is to tell the truth about effects of decisions or information being presented, so that way it is true and unbiased. All three of the above listed lessons are relevant to someone who decides to enter into the accounting profession. This is because as accounts, one of our duties is to provide accurate and timely information in order for decisions by investors, creditors, and internal managers to be made. Most all of the ethical lessons that were discussed in the case were based on misleading information, or information that was inaccurate when trying to make a final decision. The decisions discussed in the case were not made in order to help make decisions; rather top managers were trying to save themselves and their reputations. The first ethical lesson pulled from the case was that when there is information that is misrepresented or wrongly described, one should not hesitate to speak up. Whether you are looking over information from peers on your own level or information from top-level management or anyone higher in a company than you, one should be able to speak up to misrepresented information. As someone going...
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