Business Ethics

Ethical Considerations and Principles

In today's complex and multicultural business environment, professionals must maintain ethical ,integrity in all aspects of their work. The goal of this course is to introduce concepts that will guide you in ethical courses of action in business. As part of your evaluation, you will assume the role of a human resources (HR) director and analyze ethical and socially responsible courses of action for the given business scenario. Your task involves examining alignment between your company's practices, corporate policies, and ethical principles, and proposing courses of action to address the company's ethical responsibilities.

Scenario

TechFite, a high-tech British company renowned for its commitment to workplace collaboration, leadership development, and community engagement, recently opened its first U.S. factory in Dellberg to produce a new line of recreational equipment. The company's ethical principles strongly emphasize employee empowerment, environmental responsibility, and active community participation. To staff the new facility, TechFite has hired several local Dellberg residents, originally promising full-time roles with a 40-hour work week. However, due to budget constraints, funding for full-time benefits is limited and has led to the reclassification of many new employees to part time. This decision has created employee dissatisfaction, as the reduced hours prevent many workers from qualifying for full-time benefits. Recognizing the differences in labor laws and cultural expectations between the United States and the United Kingdom, TechFite's HR department is now tasked with reviewing its policies to address the ethical implications for employee well-being. As the HR director, you have noted a troubling trend. While employee hours and benefits are restricted, significant bonuses continue to be awarded to top executives, highlighting a disconnect between executive compensation and the company's stated values. During their initial presentations to the Dellberg City Council, TechFite committed to sponsoring local events, supporting youth leadership initiatives, and investing in Dellberg's infrastructure using environmentally conscious practices. To date, none of these commitments have been funded or acted on, which is beginning to damage TechFite's reputation in the community. Initial enthusiasm from Dellberg residents has waned, with complaints surfacing about limited hours, inadequate benefits, and the company's failure to engage in promised community and environmental initiatives. To regain the trust and support of Dellberg's residents, TechFite's leadership team recognizes the need for a clear, actionable plan that realigns the company's practices with its ethical values. This includes addressing community commitments, employee benefits, and environmentally sustainable practices to strengthen local relationships and fully integrate into Dellberg's community.

Requirements

Your submission must represent your original work and understanding of the course material. Most performance assessment submissions are automatically scanned through the WGU similarity checker. Students are strongly encouraged to wait for the similarity report to generate after uploading their work and then review it to ensure Academic Authenticity guidelines are met before submitting the file for evaluation. See  Understanding Similarity Reports  for more information. 

Grammarly Note: 

Professional Communication will be automatically assessed through Grammarly for Education in most performance assessments before a student submits work for evaluation. Students are strongly encouraged to review the Grammarly for Education feedback prior to submitting work for evaluation, as the overall submission will not pass without this aspect passing. See  Use Grammarly for Education Effectively  for more information.

Microsoft Files Note: 

Write your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) unless another Microsoft product, or pdf, is specified in the task directions. Tasks may not be submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc. All supporting documentation, such as screenshots and proof of experience, should be collected in a pdf file and submitted separately from the main file. For more information, please see  Computer System and Technology Requirements.   

A.  Analyze the alignment between TechFite's ethical principles and its current practices in Dellberg by doing the following:

1.  Provide a description of  one ethical theory from the following list, including at least  two key features or characteristics:

•  virtue ethics

•  utilitarianism

•  principle-based ethics

2.  Identify an ethical issue from the scenario.

a.  Explain why the issue identified in part A2 is an ethical issue.

b.  Identify  two relevant stakeholders who are impacted by the ethical issue from part A2.

Note: TechFite and TechFite's reputation are  not valid stakeholders.

c.  Describe how  both stakeholders identified in part A2b are impacted by the ethical issue identified in part A2 providing  one impact for  each stakeholder.

d.  Explain how the theory described in part A1 can help TechFite resolve the ethical issue identified in part A2 and realign its practices with its ethical principles.

3.  Identify a second ethical issue from the scenario.

Note: The ethical issue identified in part A3 must be different from the ethical issue identified in part A2.

a.  Explain why the issue identified in part A3 is an ethical issue.

b.  Identify  two relevant stakeholders who are impacted by the ethical issue from part A3.

Note: TechFite and TechFite's reputation are  not valid stakeholders.

c.  Describe how  both stakeholders identified in part A3b are impacted by the ethical issue from part A3 , providing  one impact for  each stakeholder.

d.  Explain how the theory described in part A1 can help TechFite resolve the ethical issue identified in part A3 and realign its practices with its ethical principles.

B.  Analyze the alignment between TechFite's ethical principles and its corporate policies by doing the following:

1.  Using the attached "TechFite Corporate Policies" supporting document, clearly identify  two corporate policies.

Note: Please ensure that each  corporate policy is clearly and accurately referenced by its official name.

2.  Analyze the  first corporate policy identified in part B1 by doing the following:

a.  Discuss  one way in which the  first corporate policy  aligns with TechFite's ethical principles.

b.  Discuss  one way in which the  first corporate policy  conflicts with TechFite's ethical principles.

3.  Analyze the  second corporate policy identified in part B1 by doing the following:

a.  Discuss  one way in which the  second corporate policy  aligns with TechFite's ethical principles.

b.  Discuss  one way in which the  second corporate policy  conflicts with TechFite's ethical principles.

C.  Help TechFite align its current practices with its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) by doing the following:

1.  Explain CSR, including  two key features or characteristics.

2.  Propose  one course of action that TechFite can implement to align its practices with its commitment to CSR focused on  employees.

a.  Discuss how the course of action focused on employees would promote TechFite's reputation as a socially responsible organization.

3.  Propose  one course of action that TechFite can implement to align its practices with its commitment to CSR focused on  community engagement.

a.  Discuss how the course of action focused on community engagement would promote TechFite's reputation as a socially responsible organization.

4.  Propose  one course of action that TechFite can implement to align its practices with its commitment to CSR focused on  environmental sustainability.

a.  Discuss how the course of action focused on environmental sustainability would promote TechFite's reputation as a socially responsible organization.

D.  Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

E.  Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.

File Restrictions

File name may contain only letters, numbers, spaces, and these symbols: ! - _ . * ' ( ) File size limit: 200 MB File types allowed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, odt, pdf, csv, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, flv, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z

Ethical Considerations and Principles

In today's complex and multicultural business environment, professionals must maintain ethical ,integrity in all aspects of their work. The goal of this course is to introduce concepts that will guide you in ethical courses of action in business. As part of your evaluation, you will assume the role of a human resources (HR) director and analyze ethical and socially responsible courses of action for the given business scenario. Your task involves examining alignment between your company's practices, corporate policies, and ethical principles, and proposing courses of action to address the company's ethical responsibilities.

Scenario

TechFite, a high-tech British company renowned for its commitment to workplace collaboration, leadership development, and community engagement, recently opened its first U.S. factory in Dellberg to produce a new line of recreational equipment. The company's ethical principles strongly emphasize employee empowerment, environmental responsibility, and active community participation. To staff the new facility, TechFite has hired several local Dellberg residents, originally promising full-time roles with a 40-hour work week. However, due to budget constraints, funding for full-time benefits is limited and has led to the reclassification of many new employees to part time. This decision has created employee dissatisfaction, as the reduced hours prevent many workers from qualifying for full-time benefits. Recognizing the differences in labor laws and cultural expectations between the United States and the United Kingdom, TechFite's HR department is now tasked with reviewing its policies to address the ethical implications for employee well-being. As the HR director, you have noted a troubling trend. While employee hours and benefits are restricted, significant bonuses continue to be awarded to top executives, highlighting a disconnect between executive compensation and the company's stated values. During their initial presentations to the Dellberg City Council, TechFite committed to sponsoring local events, supporting youth leadership initiatives, and investing in Dellberg's infrastructure using environmentally conscious practices. To date, none of these commitments have been funded or acted on, which is beginning to damage TechFite's reputation in the community. Initial enthusiasm from Dellberg residents has waned, with complaints surfacing about limited hours, inadequate benefits, and the company's failure to engage in promised community and environmental initiatives. To regain the trust and support of Dellberg's residents, TechFite's leadership team recognizes the need for a clear, actionable plan that realigns the company's practices with its ethical values. This includes addressing community commitments, employee benefits, and environmentally sustainable practices to strengthen local relationships and fully integrate into Dellberg's community.

Requirements

Your submission must represent your original work and understanding of the course material. Most performance assessment submissions are automatically scanned through the WGU similarity checker. Students are strongly encouraged to wait for the similarity report to generate after uploading their work and then review it to ensure Academic Authenticity guidelines are met before submitting the file for evaluation. See  Understanding Similarity Reports  for more information. 

Grammarly Note: 

Professional Communication will be automatically assessed through Grammarly for Education in most performance assessments before a student submits work for evaluation. Students are strongly encouraged to review the Grammarly for Education feedback prior to submitting work for evaluation, as the overall submission will not pass without this aspect passing. See  Use Grammarly for Education Effectively  for more information.

Microsoft Files Note: 

Write your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) unless another Microsoft product, or pdf, is specified in the task directions. Tasks may not be submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc. All supporting documentation, such as screenshots and proof of experience, should be collected in a pdf file and submitted separately from the main file. For more information, please see  Computer System and Technology Requirements.   

A.  Analyze the alignment between TechFite's ethical principles and its current practices in Dellberg by doing the following:

1.  Provide a description of  one ethical theory from the following list, including at least  two key features or characteristics:

•  virtue ethics

•  utilitarianism

•  principle-based ethics

2.  Identify an ethical issue from the scenario.

a.  Explain why the issue identified in part A2 is an ethical issue.

b.  Identify  two relevant stakeholders who are impacted by the ethical issue from part A2.

Note: TechFite and TechFite's reputation are  not valid stakeholders.

c.  Describe how  both stakeholders identified in part A2b are impacted by the ethical issue identified in part A2 providing  one impact for  each stakeholder.

d.  Explain how the theory described in part A1 can help TechFite resolve the ethical issue identified in part A2 and realign its practices with its ethical principles.

3.  Identify a second ethical issue from the scenario.

Note: The ethical issue identified in part A3 must be different from the ethical issue identified in part A2.

a.  Explain why the issue identified in part A3 is an ethical issue.

b.  Identify  two relevant stakeholders who are impacted by the ethical issue from part A3.

Note: TechFite and TechFite's reputation are  not valid stakeholders.

c.  Describe how  both stakeholders identified in part A3b are impacted by the ethical issue from part A3 , providing  one impact for  each stakeholder.

d.  Explain how the theory described in part A1 can help TechFite resolve the ethical issue identified in part A3 and realign its practices with its ethical principles.

B.  Analyze the alignment between TechFite's ethical principles and its corporate policies by doing the following:

1.  Using the attached "TechFite Corporate Policies" supporting document, clearly identify  two corporate policies.

Note: Please ensure that each  corporate policy is clearly and accurately referenced by its official name.

2.  Analyze the  first corporate policy identified in part B1 by doing the following:

a.  Discuss  one way in which the  first corporate policy  aligns with TechFite's ethical principles.

b.  Discuss  one way in which the  first corporate policy  conflicts with TechFite's ethical principles.

3.  Analyze the  second corporate policy identified in part B1 by doing the following:

a.  Discuss  one way in which the  second corporate policy  aligns with TechFite's ethical principles.

b.  Discuss  one way in which the  second corporate policy  conflicts with TechFite's ethical principles.

C.  Help TechFite align its current practices with its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) by doing the following:

1.  Explain CSR, including  two key features or characteristics.

2.  Propose  one course of action that TechFite can implement to align its practices with its commitment to CSR focused on  employees.

a.  Discuss how the course of action focused on employees would promote TechFite's reputation as a socially responsible organization.

3.  Propose  one course of action that TechFite can implement to align its practices with its commitment to CSR focused on  community engagement.

a.  Discuss how the course of action focused on community engagement would promote TechFite's reputation as a socially responsible organization.

4.  Propose  one course of action that TechFite can implement to align its practices with its commitment to CSR focused on  environmental sustainability.

a.  Discuss how the course of action focused on environmental sustainability would promote TechFite's reputation as a socially responsible organization.

D.  Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

E.  Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.

File Restrictions

File name may contain only letters, numbers, spaces, and these symbols: ! - _ . * ' ( ) File size limit: 200 MB File types allowed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, odt, pdf, csv, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, flv, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z