Business Ethics

BUS201 Business Ethics Page 1

CHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITY

College of Business and Law

Assignment 2: Essay

Due Date: Week 8, Sunday midnight (Darwin time)

Value % 40%

Length: 2,500 – 3,000 words (excluding title page and reference list)

Learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4

Preparation:  Participate in lectures and tutorial in week 1 to week 7.

 Engage with the learning activities on Learnline.

 Start researching and working on your assignment early in the semester and clarify any question you may have with your lecturer.

 Research relevant information and sources to address the assignment task.

Presentation:  Essay-style written assignment that should be presented in a professional way.

 Add a title page with your student information (name, student number, study location) and the unit information (unit code and name, lecturer

name, assignment number and title).

 Formatting suggestion: font style Calibri or Arial, font size 12, 1.5 line spacing, justified text, margins 2.5cm each, no indents, subheadings are

permitted but should not be numbered, add page numbers.

Task Details

Task The global fashion industry has been the focus of ethics and corporate social

responsibility (CSR) discussions as capitalism and globalisation have driven

production to developing countries, where social, economic and

environmental standards are generally lower compared to higher standards

existing in developed economies.

 The key question is, can fashion corporations be moral agents?

As part of your discussion, address the following points:

 Identify and discuss briefly some of the key ethical issues within the fashion industry.

BUS201 Business Ethics Page 2

 Critically discuss the broad and narrow view of CSR in the context of the fashion industry.

 Assess these views of CSR using ethical theory to determine whether each perspective can be morally justified.

 Identify a global fashion company that provides CSR information on their website and discuss how this company addresses CSR.

 How do you feel about the fashion industry as a consumer? Add a personal reflection on CSR and ethics with regards to the

fashion industry.

In this assessment, you have the opportunity to explore a specific CSR issue

(fashion industry) and learn more about ethical perspectives as part of CSR.

Within your essay, please address the above points. You should start your

discussion with a brief conversation of some of the main CSR and ethics

issues that the fashion industry faces; critically discuss the broad and

narrow views of CSR and assess them using ethical theory; overall, address

the key question on fashion corporations as moral agents; use a global

fashion company as an example to discuss how they address CSR by using

information available via their website; and finally, add a personal (/your

own) reflection from a consumer perspective.

Important specifics on essay writing

As this is an academic essay, you are required to research and use

appropriate academic journal articles (at least 8) for your discussion and

support your text with in-text citations and a reference list. You can use

additional credible non-academic sources (e.g. government websites, CSR

reports, credible news articles) to support your discussion. Furthermore, the

textbook and other academic sources can be used as a reference, however,

your research and focus of discussion should be based on academic journal

articles.

Make sure all sources are relevant and current (preferably within the last

five years; however, seminal work can be older). The general structure of an

essay includes an introduction (what is the essay about; what can the

reader expect), the main body (your discussion of the essay task), and a

conclusion (what did the essay try to discuss; what were the main

aspects/findings). The reference list should follow on a new page, formatted

in the CDU Harvard Referencing style.

Please note, in addition to following the CDU Harvard Referencing style, you

are required to add page numbers to all the in-text citations (where

available in the source), as well as a working link to the online source in the

reference list. If you use paper-based only sources, you may be asked to

provide scanned copies of the pages used.

BUS201 Business Ethics Page 3

Assessment criteria Main ethical issues (10%)

Identified and discussed the main ethical issues that exist in the fashion

industry based on relevant academic literature and suitable additional

credible non-academic resources.

Fashion corporations as moral agents (20%)

Overall critical discussion of fashion corporations as moral agents that

demonstrates research skills and understanding of the key aspects.

Demonstrates an ability to interpret, evaluate and formulate arguments and

a logical conclusion. Discussion is supported with relevant academic

literature and suitable additional credible non-academic resources.

CSR views and ethical theory (30%)

Critically discussed the broad and narrow view of CSR in the context of the

fashion industry. Includes an assessment of these views using ethical theory

and discussion of a moral justification. Discussion is based on relevant

academic literature and suitable additional credible non-academic

resources.

Company example (10%)

Researched an existing global fashion company and discussed their CSR

approaches based on information available on the company’s website.

Discussion has been linked back to the general CSR and ethics discussion.

Personal reflection (10%)

Provided an overall personal reflection on CSR and ethics with regards to

the fashion industry from a consumer perspective.

Written essay (10%)

Written and presented in a professional way with correct spelling and

grammar. Structure and flow supports the discussion and readability.

Referencing (10%)

Used appropriate academic journal articles, and other credible academic

and non-academic resources, and referenced correctly in-text and in the

reference list (CDU Harvard Referencing style + page number and link).

Penalties Late Submission

Late assignments will lose 5% of the available marks each day (or part

thereof).

Plagiarism

You are to identify the sources of any ideas and words in your assignment

that are not yours. Unattributed materials may not be included in the

consideration of your assignment and serious cases of academic misconduct

will be handled in accordance with the Student Complaints Management

Process.