least one broader social issue B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e
I. Goal of the Papers
The goal of these papers is to for you to take everything you’ve learned in this course and apply it to a real-life business scenario. All papers will cover the same business scenario. The first two will address different topics addressed in the textbook. The content of the final paper will cover all of the content in the first two plus the two bonus topics. This give you a chance to perfect the first two papers and add your own personal touch.
Here are the general instructions:
- For Papers 1 and 2, aim for 1000-1500 words. 1500 words is the maximum.
- For the Final Paper, aim for 2500-3000 words. 3000 words is the maximum.
- Revise in light of any comments you received on the first two papers and highlight those changes.
- Submit your paper on Canvas under Assignments.
- Please anonymize your project by removing your name from the file and the file name! (When possible, I try to grade anonymously to try to mitigate any implicit biases I may have.)
II. Picking the Business Scenario
You are free to pick almost any business scenario that interests you. It can be based on personal experiences, be a fictional scenario (perhaps borrowed from a book or movie), or pertain to a current event. Just make sure that you provide enough basic detail so that someone not familiar with the situation understands what’s going on.
Keep in mind when you pick your case, that you need to pick a case with enough complexity to fill out the required content. So, check out all of the content points for all three papers before picking your topic.
Lastly, there are some exceptions to the topics that you can pick. Here are the exceptions:
- You may not pick one of the case studies in the book (or any previous edition of the book).
- You may not pick one of the case studies from discussion.
III. Scoring
Points are allotted for each content letter. They are scored as follow:
- Full points: Followed instructions and demonstrated understanding of the scenario and relevant ethical considerations
- Partial points: Did not follow instructions or did not demonstrate understanding
- 0 points: Did not address a, b, etc.
IV. Pro tip!
Writing can be hard! If you encounter any difficulty, don’t hesitate to send me an email and we’ll work on your paper together.
Paper 2 Content
Include all of the following content in your paper. Points and length suggestions are included. 15 total points are possible.
- Question and Position (2 pts)
- Background Facts (1 pts)
- Discuss who the affected parties are and what their interests are. (1 pts)
- Narrow View of Corporate Responsibility (2 pts)
- Broad View of Corporate Responsibility (2 pts)
- External Checks (2 pts)
- Argument (3 pts)
- Objection (2 pts)
- Other (up to 1 pt subtracted for each)
- Clearly state the question that you are investigating. Also, clearly state your answer to the question.
- This should appear immediately at the beginning of the paper
- Suggested length: 2-3 sentences
- Summarize the relevant factual points in your scenario.
- If your scenario is drawn from a current event, include a citation or link to the story you’re working on.
- Suggested length: 1 paragraph
- There should be at least two affected parties.
- Suggested length: 1-2 paragraphs
- On the narrow view of corporate responsibility, what are the corporation’s responsibilities and to whom are they owed?
- Include a statement of what the narrow view is.
- Suggested length: 1 paragraph
- On the broad view of corporate responsibility, what are the corporation’s responsibilities and to whom are they owed?
- Include a statement of what the broad view is.
- Also include a discussion of at least one broader social issue that will be affected by corporate action or inaction on this issue.
- Suggested length: 2 paragraphs
- Given our current situation in this country and the world, what are the checks on corporate behavior that are external to the corporation?
- Given these checks, with what can the corporation realistically expect to get away?
- Suggested length: 1 paragraph
- Finally, and most importantly, give an argument for the answer to your question.
- Aim for a short, clear argument—it should be no more than three premises. (You can number them if you’d like.)
- Offer brief support for each premise.
- Remember, this is an exercise in moral reasoning where you arrive at a particular moral judgment (i.e., the answer to your question). Presumably, that means that some of your premises should involve general moral principles and some should involve factual claims.
- Also remember that the best arguments are valid, sound, and cogent! So try to make sure that your premises guarantee your conclusion, that your premises are true, and that they are likely to be accepted as true.
- Suggested length: 1-2 paragraphs
- What is the strongest objection to your argument?
- Hopefully, you’ve given a valid argument, so the objection presumably will attempt to show that one of the premises is false.
- Why is the objection ultimately unsuccessful?
- Organization
- Make sure that your paper is organized.
- You can use sections headings such as “Question” or “Background” if you’d like.
- Clarity
- Write so that all of your points are clear to the reader. If it helps, imagine that your reader is one of your classmates.
- Conciseness
- Don’t go over 1500 words
- Citations
- If you use any outside resources, cite them. You don’t have to worry about citation format, just include a footnote that says where you got the idea or information.
- If you use outside resources, include a bibliography at the end.
1000 word