Real-life ethical dilemma managers have faced

3 essays
#1 About this Assignment
Whether they realize it or not, managers make many decisions every day that can directly or indirectly impact their customers, employees, stakeholders, shareholders, and the company’s reputation. When making these decisions, managers need to be aware of the legal and ethical implications their decisions may have on others. Some decisions have an obvious impact, such as bribing a government official to secure a contract or falsifying financial documents to make the company appear to be more profitable to shareholders. Other decisions are less obvious, such as hiring one person over another simply based on a ‘gut feeling’ or ignoring a problem on the team in the hopes that it will work itself out.
For this assignment, you will examine real-life ethical dilemma managers have faced in the past. Please write a 1,500 to 2,000-word paper that addresses one of the following dilemmas.
In 2012, Dan Cathy, the president and COO of fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, made public statements about his personal beliefs on marriage, which brought attention to the company’s support and funding of many groups that opposed same-sex marriage. Examine the chain of events kicked off by Cathy’s statement, the repercussions for Chick-fil-A, and their response to the controversy.
Since acquiring the rights to distribute the drug in 2007, pharmaceutical company Mylan has increased the price for EpiPens by approximately 400%. This has increased profits and performance for the company, but has also sparked immense backlash and accusations of price gouging. Examine Mylan’s decision to increase the price of the drug so drastically and the consequences of that decision.
For each situation, please address the following:
Discuss the decision-making process employed by management to address the ethical dilemma, if it was in fact addressed.
Show how management decisions impacted employees, leaders, stakeholders, and shareholders of the organization
Explain the public relations and media strategy the organization used to address the ethical dilemma.
Using Sources
You may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least three resources and cite them using APA format. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in APA format, including the lesson title and instructor’s name.
Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Management Ethics, the Journal of Management Studies, or the Harvard Business Review. You may use sources like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and EBSCO to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)
If you’re unsure about how to use APA format to cite your sources, please see the following lessons:
What is APA Format? Style & Definition
How To Format APA Citations
Grading Rubric
Your assignment will be graded on the following rubric:
Category Unacceptable (0-1) Needs Improvement (2-3) Good (4) Excellent (5) Total Possible Points
Structure (x2) Structure is illogical or significantly hinders understanding Management decisions are difficult to identify; ideas are disjointed Evidence is provided & is relevant to the thesis’ transitions and connections join ideas Management decisions are well integrated; ideas flow logically; main points are identifiable 10
Analysis (x2) No examples are used to support management decisions; paper fails to address the assigned requirements Few or weak examples are given to support main points Examples are given and analyzed to support each point All main points are supported with evidence and include original analysis 10
Mechanics (x1) Incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and use of standard English grammar hinders understanding Several instances of incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and usage of standard English grammar Few instances of incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and usage of standard English grammar No or very few instances of incorrect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and usage of standard English grammar 5
Formatting (x1) Paper is not submitted in APA format or is significantly less than the required page length Paper is presented in the general APA layout, but lacks appropriate citations and/ or in-text formatting Paper is fully formatted and cited, but has some errors Paper is fully formatted and cited with no errors 5
Before You Submit
When you complete your assignment, we suggest taking some time to check for any errors or to add any finishing touches. We also suggest that you use online plagiarism checkers such as PlagScan or DupliChecker to make sure that your assignment is not too similar to any existing materials. Plagiarized submissions will NOT be graded.
#2 About this Assignment
Whether they realize it or not, managers make many decisions every day that can directly or indirectly impact their customers, employees, stakeholders, shareholders, and the company’s reputation. When making these decisions, managers need to be aware of the legal and ethical implications their decisions may have on others. Some decisions have an obvious impact, such as bribing a government official to secure a contract or falsifying financial documents to make the company appear to be more profitable to shareholders. Other decisions are less obvious, such as hiring one person over another simply based on a ‘gut feeling’ or ignoring a problem on the team in the hopes that it will work itself out.
For this assignment, you will examine a real-life ethical dilemma managers have faced in the past. Please write a 1,500 to 2,000-word paper that addresses one of the following dilemmas.
In 2015, Volkswagen was caught in violation of United States’ emissions standards for vehicles. The automaker designed programming that would allow their vehicles to pass laboratory emissions tests, when in reality, their vehicles were emitting up to 40 times the legal emissions limits. Examine the company’s decision to engage in these practices and what the fallout for the company was after the practice was discovered.
In early 2017, the ride-sharing company Uber faced several scandals. A former employee posted a blog where she described her experience with gender bias and harassment while at the company, and their new self-driving car technology dangerously failed as it ran a red light while a passenger was crossing an intersection. Examine what decisions the company made that led to these issues, and analyze and evaluate how Uber responded to them.
For the situation, please address the following:
Discuss the decision-making process employed by management to address the ethical dilemma, if it was in fact addressed.
Show how management decisions impacted employees, leaders, stakeholders, and shareholders of the organization
Explain the public relations and media strategy the organization used to address the ethical dilemma.
Using Sources
You may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least three resources and cite them using APA format. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in APA format, including the lesson title and instructor’s name.
Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Management Ethics, the Journal of Management Studies, or the Harvard Business Review. You may use sources like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and EBSCO to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)
If you’re unsure about how to use APA format to cite your sources, please see the following lessons:
What is APA Format? Style & Definition
How To Format APA Citations
#3 About this Assignment
Whether they realize it or not, managers and workers make many decisions every day that can have a direct or indirect ethical impact. When making these decisions, all employees need to be aware of the legal and ethical implications their decisions may have on others. Many routine decisions do not present an obvious ethical dilemma, such as hiring one person over another simply based on a ‘gut feeling’ or giving preferential treatment to one customer over another because you like them; however, these decisions can come back to haunt you in the future. To overcome this possibility, most companies establish detailed policies and procedures that guide managers to make good ethical decisions.
For this assignment, you will assume the fictitious role of the Human Resource Director for Xtra Office Supplies and write seven ethics policies for your organization. Here are some parameters to help you with this assignment:
Your company has 30 employees, 7 of which are managers.
You will write 7 ethics policies that will guide both rank-and-file employees and their managers as they make business decisions.
Each policy should discuss a specific decision-making process, such as the external hiring process, the internal promotion process, employee discipline, approval of time-off, vendor relations, financial reporting process, accepting gifts, reporting expenses, customer returns and refunds, etc. These are just example, you may select any appropriate topics you wish for your policies.
Each policy should clearly state the decision-making process it covers, giving guidance on how managers and employees should address the situation. The policy should outline specific expectations, give advice on available resources, and state when a situation should be escalated to the next level of management. Ensure each policy details any consequences for breaking it, such as discipline or termination.
Keep in mind the scope of these policies. The company is rather small, so the management structure most likely consists of several department managers that oversee rank-and-file employees (you are one of those managers) and the company owner or president. Therefore, you can specifically state who to escalate certain problems to. For example, in the case of an allegation of workplace harassment, you may want to state that the reporting party goes directly to the Director of Human Resources.
Keep your policies practical. This is a small, local printing company, so chances are they will not have as many detailed policies as a Fortune 500 corporation. Remember, the policies are a guide for all employees and managers as they make day-to-day decisions, so select appropriate topics. For example, a fair time-off policy is very practical, as a small company cannot afford to have too many individuals taking vacation at the same time. However, this policy should comply with any legal requirements such as FMLA, employment contracts, or wage and hour laws.
While doing research, find a policy format that you like and use it for all 7 policies; this will help you focus your writing and make it easier for the reader to understand and apply. You can find many examples online, and there are templates available on government websites like the U.S. Small Business Administration. Make sure you give credit to these sources in your final paper.
Formatting & Sources
Please write your paper in the APA format. As part of your research, you may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least three credible, outside sources and cite them using APA format as well. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in APA (including the lesson title and instructor’s name).
Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Management. You may use like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and Social Science Research Network to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)
If you’re unsure about how to use APA format for your paper and sources, please see the following lessons:

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