Ethics Case Study

GROUP PROJECT NO. 1 – ETHICS CASE STUDY Spring, 2017

PA – 315

Prof McWeeney

The Ethics Group Project involves each group reviewing one situational case study of an ethical dilemma or an issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and preparing a consolidated response to 6 questions. The purpose of the project is for student to recognize "ethical moments" when they arise in the work environment, to understand the choices that are presented, and to become acquainted with the critically important consequences of abdicating ethical responsibilities in either business, government, or in our own academic environment.

CASE STUDIES

I have selected 10 video case studies and have assigned one to each group. Although they vary in length, they are typically between 30 and 60 minutes in length. Each of the videos is taken from a television news documentary that addressed a significant government or business scandal that that was affected by the decisions of a single person. The decision was heroic and prevented significant pain and suffering or was self-focused and caused significant distress to a large number of people. All of the case studies reflect either strong, ethics-based actions or the seeming lack of ethical awareness.

The videos I selected provide a good overview and backdrop of the issues. For some of the topics I had additional short videos, I listed them for the group. The group is encouraged to consult other sources and view other videos in responding to this assignment.

The Case Studies are as follows: (See Blackboard: Assignments > Proj #1 -Ethics Case Studies to find what case has been assigned to your group.)

1. Enron (Investment decisions that destroyed a major US Corporation and over 1.5 million people)

1. Flint Michigan Water (Decision to relax water control standards resulted in polluting the City’s water supply)

1. Enhance Interrogation Techniques (Decision to use torture on detainees in hopes that the practice would provide useful intelligence to the war effort)

1. The murder of Enrique Camera and DEA’s response. (Decision by DEA executive to kidnap a Mexican national in an effort to seek justice for this horrific crime)

1. Thomas Drake and Media Leaks (Decision by whistleblower to provide classified information to the media)

1. Virginia Governor Bob McDonald (Decision by a sitting g governor to provide special government access to a business associate)

1. King of Coal (Decision by a coal mining executive pertaining to the safety of underground coal mines)

1. Concussion Watch (Decisions by NFL executives how to address the problem of concussions and long term injury and disability of former players)

1. Scandal at the Veterans Administration (Decisions by VA executives to defer/delay action on serious problems associated with the treatment of war veterans)

1. Countrywide Mortgage (Decisions by company executives to pursue reckless investment strategies that seriously affected millions of homeowners.

ASSIGNMENT

Each member of the group should review the video (or videos) assigned to his/her group early in the week and be prepared to discus the project with your group. Please review the following carefully:

1. Where I have not received a volunteer, I have randomly designated an "interim leader" for each group in the class. I would like the interim group leader to convene a group discussion with his/her group and confirm their position or select a permanent group leader within 24 hrs. This is a MUST.

2. The group leader's responsibility is to simply facilitate communication, lead discussions about the project, and oversee the assembly of the final product and its submission. Group leaders will be recognized in the overall class participation grade.

3. I’d like the Group Leader to facilitate a discussion within the group in which all 6 questions are discussed.   Each member of the group should be assigned to answer ONE question by creating a power point slide that provides “taking points” for the specific question. Each slide submitted by the group member should contain the answer to the question in full sentences, and will be graded on the basis of both content and written presentation.

4. The individual slides will be consolidated into one group PowerPoint presentation and posted on the general class discussion board where indicated by Tuesday, 5/2. For week 4, each of you (individually) will select another group’s case study presentation to review and will be invited to comment on 3 questions posted for class Discussion #3. You will also be encouraged to engage with your peers regarding any comments made on your initial group project. The discussion will close at the end of week 5.

5. All of the presentations should be a combined "consolidated group response” reviewed and edited by the entire group before it’s posted as the groups collective response to the case study. The initial response should have each student submitting his/her slide to the group leader (or designee) so there is a group package. But once the package is assembled, the entire group should review it and collectively critique it so that the final product represents a collaborative group effort. NOTE: This project is not simply the collection of individual slides - but the result of a group discussion in which each member of the group weighs in on the quality of each slide in the presentation. A portion of the grade you receive will reflect on how well you collaborated.

6. Be sure that the name of the student who was assigned to work on the question and who provided the primary input slide is clearly noted for each question. Along with posting on the discussion board, your group must also submit the final power point to the assignment folder for grading. You may edit your final project prior to submission if you receive input during the discussion that encourages you to do so.

7. The grade will be based on both the quality of the work evident in the PowerPoint slide of the individual presentation, (remember to label) and the quality of the group interaction.  I suggest you use the “Group” functions to facilitate the review and edit of this project (Group discussion board, file exchange, etc) or that you set up another source for group chat, Google docs etc.

CONTENTS

Each group will post their PowerPoint on the class discussion board where designated. Each student will then get to review another group’s presentation to comment and answer questions for Discussion #3.

Below are the 6 questions to be answered by each group in their ethics presentation.

1. SITUATION: Briefly describe the situation that set up the ethical dilemma. List the stakeholders in the decision and the ethical considerations that require their equities to be taken into account.  Describe those equities.

1. ETHICAL MOMENT: Identify what you consider to be the primary "ethical moment" in the case study, in which an individual was faced with a difficult choice would have a major impact on other people and the overall situation. What were the choices available to the person facing the ethical dilemma?

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1. DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE: Does the case study involves circumstances in which it may be considered appropriate to violate procedures, mislead someone, look the other way, or lie?  In general, do you believe these actions are EVER appropriate? Can you justify the other side?

1. HOW DIFFICULT: On a scale of 1 to 5, how difficult does your group believe this choice is? Explain why you think it is an easy or difficult choice and explain why you think others may view differently. Describe what you believe the outcome would be I f a highly ethical decision was made versus an outcome if the ethics was somewhat compromised.

1. AWARENESS: A key issue about most ethical dilemmas is that people are challenged to make very difficult decisions that are NOT in their own best interests – personally, professionally, or financially. So it’s easy to understand why some people may “avoid” making them or choose to “look the other way”. What can an organization do, in your opinion, to make it easier for people to make the hard ethical decisions?

1. GROUP CHOICE: What choice would your group have made, if confronted with the same circumstances? Explain your reasoning. Does this project make it more likely that you will make well-reasoned moral/ethical decisions in your own career/life? How so?

SUMMARY

To summarize, the project will consist of the following:

1. Review and discuss in your group the assigned case study.

2. Assign one topic to each student, who will prepare one power point slide to summarize his/her position.

3. Have a group discussion on how the entire story comes together.

4. Develop a Group PowerPoint slide presentation describing the issue and all the answers, as well as the group’s recommendation.

5. Post for discussion by Tuesday 5/2, then review and comment on another group’s presentation in new discussion thread (Discussion #3) by the end of the week 5 (5/8).

6. Submit completed final PowerPoint of the assignment for grading. Must be submitted via the Group Assignment Folder for “Project #1-Ethics Case Study” by end of day 5/8.