Ethical Analysis Of News Issue

Assignment 1 Utilitarian ethical analysis

You must follow the 'Assignment Planning' activities in the SOC10236 Study Guide and all relevant online discussions concerning this assessment to perform well in this assignment.

You are required to select one of the five topics listed below and clearly define one focused and specific ethical question which you will analyse in parts a to f. 

The five topics are 

1. Information technology and/or social media;
2. Employment practices of multinational corporations; 
3. The taking of life: human or animal;
4. The (non) response of business to climate change;
5. Ethical issues relevant to friends and/or family.
   

Note: Save your assignment as a word document with the following file name:

Topic Number ? Your name.docx

Required tasks:

1. Select one of the five topics.
   Clearly and concisely define a specific ethical question in no more than one short sentence (1 mark).
   

Note: This is the most important stage of your assignment and it is not as easy as it seems. If you don't clearly define the ethical problem/question then you cannot perform a focused ethical analysis. It is strongly recommended that you follow the guidelines for forming ethical questions posted on the online discussion forum and engage in the online and class discussions setup for this purpose.

1. Explain why this specific ethical problem is important and in need of analysis? (2 marks)
2. Identify and fully reference facts relevant to the analysis of your ethical question. (2 marks)
3. Identify gaps in current understanding of this problem. What assumptions are required to fill these knowledge gaps? (1 mark)
4. Analyse the ethical act central to your ethical question using act utilitarianism by forecasting three important positive and three important negative consequences. (3 marks)
5. Provide an ethical conclusion which compares expected positive with negative consequences including an estimate as to whether net utility will rise or fall. (1 mark)

(1 marks)

To assist your understanding, interpretation and planning for this assignment a hypothetical example is provided on the online discussion forum.

Assignment 2 Ethical analysis of news issue

Submission: You must follow the same instructions as for assignment 1. Remember that an assignment which has a Turnitin Originality Report which shows a text match of more than 10% is not considered submitted and will not be accepted.

You are required to select an ethical issue which has been reported in the news media in the past 12 months. Collect one recent (2016 or 2017) news article which identifies the issue, and perform further research to collect relevant background information and facts, to enable you to answer each question listed below.

This ethical issue must be different from the issue which you analysed in Assignment 1.

You must provide a full reference for all sources of information you have used to inform your research. Provide separate answers to each of parts 'a to e' of this assessment under separate sections:

1. Clearly define the ethical question/problem and provide a brief explanation as to why it is important. (3 marks)
2. Identify facts and key assumptions which are relevant to your analysis of the ethical problem. (6 marks)
3. Analyse the ethical problem using act utilitarianism, identifying all relevant consequences. Compare negative versus positive consequences and assess whether net utility will rise or fall as a result of the ethical act being examined. (8 marks)
4. Apply Kant's categorical imperative by defining the rule that authorises the act central to the ethical problem you have chosen. Discuss whether this rule can be applied universally. (8 marks)
5. Provide a conclusion comparing results in parts c & d above identifying whether your ethical conclusion equates with your conscience with regards this problem. (5 marks)

You do not need to provide a copy of the news article but you must provide full references of all articles and other sources you have used to inform your ethical analysis.

Assignment 3 Ethics and sustainability analysis

Submission: You must follow the same instructions as for assignment 1. Remember that an assignment which has a Turnitin Originality Report which shows a text match of more than 10% is not considered submitted and will not be accepted.

Assessment tasks

1. Select one important sustainability issue of global significance and express this issue in no more than one short sentence (2 marks).
   Note: you cannot select a 'climate change' related sustainability issue as this is the issue chosen for the demonstration example provided in the online discussion. 
2. Describe the main environmental elements of your chosen global sustainability issue (5 marks). 
3. Describe the critical social elements of this global sustainability issue
   (5 marks). 
4. Describe the key economic elements of this global sustainability issue 
   (5 marks). 
5. Identify two major ethical problems which are strongly connected with your chosen global sustainability issue (2 marks). 
6. Discuss the two ethical problems identified in part 5 drawing on relevant ethical theory (8 marks). 
7. Your chosen global sustainability issue presents both significant threats and opportunities for business. Discuss these major threats and opportunities.
   (5 marks). 
8. Your chosen global sustainability issue will contain multiple causes of unsustainability and will cause actions which are considered unethical. You are required to propose an ethical and sustainable solution to the problems which underpin this global sustainability issue. This proposed solution should address causes of unsustainability, as well as financial, technological and behavioural barriers to removing these causes of unsustainability 
   (8 marks).
   

Final examination

Exam period: to be advised

Weighting: 20%

The final examination is scheduled for the end of the study period. The exam will be 1.5 hours, consisting of 40 multi-choice questions. The exam will be closed book.

Note: Students are permitted to take a hard copy standard English translation dictionary into the examination. Electronic translation dictionaries are not permitted.

Given SOC10236 is a first year unit, students who achieve a total mark which is less than that required to pass this unit will be offered one replacement assessment if there is a realistic chance that the student could pass the unit. All offers are made by email to the SCU student email account prior to grades being released. Normally students will have 2 weeks to complete the replacement assessment.

Ethical question/problem and its importance

The most important ethical issue faced by business is associated with bribery. When organisations involve demonstrating an untiring commitment to ethical business deeds, a trustworthy relationship develops between firms and their people. If the companies fail to conduct their businesses ethically, it may harm the relationship with its stakeholders and the reputation as well (Ardichvili et al. 2012).

Two Australian companies, namely Sundance Resources and Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC), face such ethical issues for bribing presidents of Sri Lanka and Congo.

Sundance Resources Limited is a mining company of Australia, whose major properties are iron ore leases in Cameroon and the around the border of the Republic of Congo. The unethical deed carried out by the company put the firm into the scandal of bribing nephew and son of the President of Congo for acquiring a plot in that country illegally (ABC News 2016)

On the other hand, SMEC is an Australian company, which offers consultancy services to big infrastructural projects across the world is also alleged for bribe requests from the President of Sri Lanka when he was in the post of minister. These incidents raised ethical questions about the business activities of these two companies that are harmful to their brand images (ABC News 2016). These incidents may affect the brand image of the companies and harm their long-term profitability and competitiveness. 

Facts and assumptions related to the ethical problem identified

Business ethics refer to the modern organisational principles and standards set by the government. It is a set of norms and values that control the actions and behaviour of individuals in business organisations. Codes of business ethics clearly mention that bribery is highly unacceptable behaviour for businesses. Under the AFP (Australian Federal Police), it is a criminal offence to bribe an official of the foreign public (Afp.gov.au 2017).

In 2006-2007, Sundance Resources bribed a family of a most influential man in Congo to acquire a plot for its mining business (Banks 2012). Emails of SMEC revealed that it bribed the Maithripala Sirisena, a senior minister of Sri Lanka and his consultants for a donation of $1.82 million for the construction of a dam by the company (ABC News 2016). Therefore, in the context of Sundance Resources and SMEC, the Division 400 of Criminal Code Act 1995 states that the money offered as a bribe is regarded a tool of the offence associated to the commission or simplification of an offence (Rose-Ackerman 2010).

Usually, offenders exploit the same processes of money laundering in overseas bribery as they do profit laundering of other complicated criminal felonies. Often, money is transferred through shell firms in tax ports supposedly for products and services that are never supplied (Banks 2012).