accounting ethics paper

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Death of Socrates

Paper #1 Current Events Video Project on Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Sustainability (See due date in Blackboard)

Introduction: So far this semester, we have learned how to record

the transactions of a business. As part of this course, we, as

instructors, are interested in you also learning about the social

and ethical responsibilities of businesses. I have taken an

assignment that I assembled for a business management class and

am scaling it down for your class (their paper was a midterm 100

point paper, yours is a 3 page 30 point paper).

This paper has several parts that cumulatively will give me insight as

to how you understand the material. I am putting significantly more resources here than what you

actually have to do. This is a “cafeteria plan” paper where you get to watch videos and /or read

articles based on what is of interest to you. I will make suggestions (highlighted items) as to what I

think you should watch but ultimately, you choose. Some of you are go getters and will watch most if

not all of the links. Some of you are at the other end of the spectrum. The effort that you put into this

will determine how much you learn. You are in charge of your education.

I would like you to write a 3 page paper with proper citations, double spaced, 12 point Calibri font. Do

the best you can with grammar but I would suggest making an outline first and putting the subheadings

in your paper. Three pages will go fast so focus on a couple of ideas, not a recap of what you have

watched. I AM SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FOR YOUR OPINION OF WHAT ETHICAL BEHAVIOR AND

CORPORATE RESPONSIBLIBITY ARE AND WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY. I DO

NOT WANT A SUMMARY OF WHAT YOU WATCHED. ONLY GIVE ME ENOUGH INFORMATION ABOUT

WHAT YOU WATCHED TO SET UP THE SCENE. A RULE OF THUMB IS THAT FOR EACH PARAGRAPH OF

SUMMARY OF THE VIDEOS YOU SHOULD WRITE 3-4 PARAGRAPHS OF WHAT YOU THINK (DEMONSTRATE

YOUR CRITICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS).

I would like you to use the discussion board for this assignment to put some blurbs about what you read

and think. Use it like a Facebook page. You don’t have

to be eloquent, just post what you think and let others

respond. More on this later.

Part 1:

Moral Reasoning

Http://JusticeHarvard.org is a website where a well-

known Harvard professor has taped his lectures in the

1000 seat auditorium of a real class and their

interaction of the ethical topic of justice.

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It is fascinating to watch so I would like you to watch Episode 1 and at least one other episode (episode

12 is very good but in truth, they all are really good). The episode can be chosen from the drop down

menu off the top bar titled “Watch Episodes” circled in the image in a green oval.

Sustainability Videos

From a Sustainability class that I took online, I assembled the following links.

 Ted talk shows how our corporate business and personal decisions are limiting our ability to sustain

us on the planet Earth. (1)

 The Story of Stuff videos are well done and easy to understand due to the simplicity that Annie

choose to use. Please watch the first one on the list of links and as many of the others that you have

interest in watching. I liked the story of electronics since it deals with something that I use every

day. (2)

 And finally, Ms. Carter is an activist that shows how terrible business decisions have affected her

neighborhood. She is dynamite! (3)

1. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/en//id/945 “We are living in a time where human demands far outstrip the resources available from our planet. In order for humans to continue a life that resembles or exceeds our current state, our systems will need to be transformed. This transformation has the potential to touch every area of our lives - food production, energy generation, transportation, settlement patterns, and resource allocation.” This video is about sustainability and is a subject we all need to consider more. (Note: Understanding the concept of sustainability and its connection to ethical behavior is the point of this midterm exam.)

2. http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/ (for all the movies) Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff has been shown in classrooms all over the country as a tool to help students connect with and understand environmental issues. (The main website is at http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.php). There are 8 movies to watch and I have included the individual links below. My hope is that you will watch them all since they are short but very interesting and provocative videos.

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-change/

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-broke/

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-citizens-united-v-fec/

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-electronics/

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-cosmetics/

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/

 http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-cap-trade/

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ-cZRmHfs4 “an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental justice in the South Bronx -- and shows how minority neighborhoods suffer most from flawed urban policy.”

Blind Justice

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Classical Ethical Theories

To win arguments, you have to justify your

reasoning. I put together a whole section of

ethical reasoning that may be of interest to

you. For example, you have all heard of “the

greatest good for the greatest number”

which is a Utilitarian argument. So, for

example, in Hollywood movies you will

constantly see that a few are sacrificed to

save the majority (the astronauts can collide

with the meteor sacrificing themselves so

everyone on earth will be saved). Kant,

Aristotle and others all had ways to think that

they used to justify their views. The videos are all 3 minutes long and cleverly put together by someone

who talks 90 miles an hours so you have to pay attention while you watch them. Remember that you

are just trying to learn the basics of what he is trying to say. They are on my Prezi for a Business 110

class, chapter 4 (see the screen capture). Watch as many as you would like. The web address to go to

is: http://prezi.com/f4kvleqnrvxo/business-110-at-hcc/

A PowerPoint Lecture online

To help you understand the basic moral

orientations that we all have (how we

decide what is right and wrong), there

is a power point by a really, really smart

guy (he’s a PhD). The second slide is

just a summary of the slides to come so

be sure to look at the rest of the slides

to get a bit more detail. You will see a

common phrase in quotes and the

name of the classical theory in green. I

think that if you would take a look at

this for 5 minutes, you would get a

sense that there are a multitude of

ways to justify how you think and what

you do.

http://www.slideshare.net/dborcoman/basic-moral-orientations

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Cultural (ethical) Relativism

I also want to add cultural relativism to this paper as it addresses the international, global, and diversity issues that are dispersed throughout the chapters. Here is an excerpt from one of the articles:

“What is ethical relativism? Relativism is the position that all points of view are equally valid and the individual determines what is true and relative for them. Relativism theorizes that truth is different for different people, not simply that different people believe different things to be true. While there are relativists in science and mathematics, ethical relativism is the most common variety of relativism. Almost everyone has heard a relativist slogan:

 What’s right for you may not be what’s right for me.  What’s right for my culture won’t necessarily be what’s right for your culture.  No moral principles are true for all people at all times and in all places.”

Part 2: Discussion Boards

Once you have watched as many videos as you have time for and you feel that you have a good

understanding of the various topics, please post to the discussion board your thoughts and feelings of

what you have learned. The more videos you watch and the more articles you read, the more

discussions you can contribute to. The point of the discussion boards is to discuss. As amazing as that

may seem, students oftentimes just post to “get the points” and miss the intellectual opportunity to

exchange ideas and thoughts. I want you to use the discussion boards to “explore” the concepts in the

videos. You will be using this step to help you write your paper (explained in the next section).

By taking this step seriously, you will develop your ideas and opinions and solidify your understanding

and learning of the material. Please remember that this is a college level course and your benefit from

this assignment is linked directly to your effort. You should know by this point in your educational

career that you are in charge of your learning.

Part 3: the Paper (see due date in Blackboard)

The paper is the culmination of the above two sections. My expectation is that you will take a topic of

your choice from what you have done in the above steps and develop a position paper honing in or

narrowing in on that topic. The structure of this assignment is that you will decide what your paper

topic is by doing the first 2 steps. The assignment is purposely vague so that you can develop and write

an opinion that is important to you and not “what does the teacher want to read?”. Use the discussion

boards to hammer out ideas!!

Your structure of the paper should clearly state the problem or situation which includes a thesis

statement, give pertinent details, then justify your position. I am looking for well-written, scholastic

reflection and the development of your position not a summary of the content from the above steps. Be

sure that you DO NOT just give me a summary paper as that will not give you very many points.

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The paper should be approximately 3 pages long but not to exceed 5, double spaced, 12 point Calibri

font. Use proper citations (APA or MLA) and include a work cited pages (which does not count towards

the minimum pages required).

Questions to Consider:

You may want to think of some of the answers to the following questions to help you identify your paper

topic:

1. Do businesses have a moral responsibility to engage in sustainability practices? 2. Do short-term fixes justify/supersede solving long-term problems because of today’s economic

world?

3. What will sustainability mean to this generation? To future generations? 4. Should government (politics) get involved in sustainability and if so, to what extent? 5. Why is cultural relativism important to today’s business? 6. Why are classical moral reasoning’s important to businesses today?

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I didn’t find a great video on Cultural and Ethical Relativism so here are some quick-read

snippets and articles if you would like to read them. These ideas are the basis for the movie

Lost in Translation that you may have seen.

Cultural diversity (defined using examples):

The U.S. - a lot of different cultures live in one country

Europe - different cultures live in a small place together (all countries are really small)

China - here, there are some postindustrial farmers, while there are also some really hyper-

modern companies and businesses (same for Russia)

Cultural relativism (defined using examples):

While in America, drinking is a really bad crime, in other countries it is tolerated even for the

youth. So if a 15-year-old drinks in Austria for instance, it's not such a bad crime.

For some cultures, competition is really bad because this way you only think for yourself and not

for others. For the Western world, however, competition is important for us because this way we

can fulfill our needs and wants. We think society can only work with competition.

Again, in the USA, pirating movies and other products from entertainment industry is a really

bad crime. In other countries, it is tolerated or even legal, like in Switzerland.

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Article 4: What is ethical relativism?

What is ethical relativism?

Relativism is the position that all points of view are equally valid and the individual determines

what is true and relative for them. Relativism theorizes that truth is different for different people,

not simply that different people believe different things to be true. While there are relativists in

science and mathematics, ethical relativism is the most common variety of relativism. Almost

everyone has heard a relativist slogan:

What’s right for you may not be what’s right for me.

What’s right for my culture won’t necessarily be what’s right for your culture.

No moral principles are true for all people at all times and in all places.

Ethical relativism represents the position that there are no moral absolutes, no moral right or

wrong. This position would assert that our morals evolve and change with social norms over a

period of time. This philosophy allows people to mutate ethically as the culture, knowledge, and

technology change in society. Slavery is a good example of ethical relativism. Repeatedly the

value of a human being is determined by a combination of social preferences and patterns,

experience, emotions, and “rules” that seemed to bring about the most benefit.

What is ethical relativism from a subjective view? Subjective ethical relativism supports the

view that the truth of moral principles is relative to individuals. Whatever you believe is right for

you personally is completely up to you to determine. Subjective relativism allows you to be

sovereign over the principles that dictate how you live your life.

Conventional ethical relativism supports the view that the truth of moral principles is relative to

cultures. Unlike the subjective view, what is right for you as an individual is dependant upon

what your particular culture believes is right for you. This view supports the concept that

whatever culture says is right for you really is right for you. The culture or society becomes the

highest authority about what is right for each individual within that society. Conventional

relativism places the individual’s will subordinate to the will of the cultural majority.

What is ethical relativism from an absolute view? The desire to have an absolute set of ethics

implies an Absolute Ethics Source which can easily be deduced as being God. This position

would be opposed to ethical relativism. Instead, the relativist excludes any religious system

based on absolute morals and would condemn absolute ethics. God has the power to convey

things to us that are absolute truthful and ethical. Those absolutes, however, may not be to our

liking or please our subjective tastes. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your

ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).

Relying on an individual’s or a society’s moral choices is analogous to using our sense of touch

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to determine the extent of a child's fever. When a child is sick, a more precise and consistent

measurement is imperative. Our mental growth and the health of our soul is also worthy of a

more accurate gauge than subjective human feelings. Conventional relativism implies that all

you have to do is convince a few of your close friends to engage in some activity that is viewed

as immoral by the rest of society. Suddenly you have now made the previously unacceptable

activity ethically and morally correct for you. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in

the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12). –

This section copied from: http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/ethical-relativism-

faq.htm#sthash.s16xWBDl.dpuf

Article 5: Examples of Cultural Relativism

Jul 6th, 2009

by Anthony Delgado (pastor of a church).

An ethical relativist will consider the moral practices of another culture to be acceptable to them,

even if their own culture considers it immoral. It is morality which is relative to the culture. As a

Christian, this raises a lot of issues, but even if we look at it through the eyes of a cultural

relativist, there are still some gray areas which require explaining. Consider the following

examples:

1) Dog Eating—In the US this tends to disgust most people.

In many Asian countries, people do, in fact, eat dog. A

cultural relativist would have no problem with this, even if

their own culture would consider this to be cruelty to animals

and therefore immoral. This is ethically relative because dog

eating in Asian countries has no impact on the person in the

US who believes it is immoral.

2) International Slavery—

Let’s say you live in an African village in the 1600’s. Your

tribe recognizes slavery as being an immoral practice.

Another nation does not consider slavery to be immoral, so

they come to your village and haul you off into slavery. This

issue is most certainly not ethically relative since there is a

negative impact on the African tribe from another society which does not consider the practice

immoral.

3) One more example--

The Inuit live in the northern arctic regions. These are extremely small tribes, consisting of about

one family. They live under such extreme conditions that they have difficulty sustaining life. It is

so extreme that any member of the family who cannot perform a life sustaining duty has to die.

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Specifically, many of these tribes will send the “Grandfathers” out of the house into the

wilderness to die when they are no longer strong enough to hunt. Similarly “Grandmothers” will

be sent out if there are young girls old enough to perform her duties in the kitchen. It seems harsh

to most westerners, but they believe it to be essential to their survival. An ethical relativist has no

choice but to acknowledge it as moral, where any Christian should know otherwise.

This section copied from: http://einquisitive.com/blog/examples-of-cultural-relativism/

Article 6: Can you give me some examples of cultural relativism?

Best Answer – (Chosen by Voters from an online question forum)

The treatment and place of women in areas of fundamental Islam. No vote, required to wear head

to foot robes and so on. This is considered the norm in those areas and accepted. Therefore that

treatment and position is relative to the society.

Female circumcision is another practice that's accepted by one culture but not by another. There

have been court cases in the US with the 9th circuit court ruling that they threat qualified women

for asylum.

The "limits" are whatever a culture accepts. Cultural relativism states "people should not judge

the behavior of others using the standards of their own culture, and that each culture must be

analyzed on its own terms"

http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_186168…

"In other words, “right” and “wrong” are culture-specific; what is considered moral in one

society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality

exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs."

In short the belief is that there is no right or wrong except as a culture defines it. There are no

universal rights and wrongs.

This section copied from:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080907154746AAgpnng