Issue Identification

Identify and explain a potential ethical dilemma facing a real-world organization and discuss the current relevance of the issue.

Introduction

The word ethics usually evokes a strong emotional reaction or opinion from most people. Having a keen eye and observing reactions (yours as well as others’) in a nonjudgmental manner will serve you best as you pursue the objectives of this course.

Business ethics can be a gray area. As conditions and environments change, people’s behaviors change. The regulations intended to create fair standards in the world of business also subsequently change. Examining the hard-to-define parameters of ethics should help us to develop our perceptiveness and skills in analyzing the best solutions to ethical dilemmas.

There are a range of models for ethical decision making and analysis of ethical dilemmas. Different prevailing theories underlay the reasoning approaches to ethical issues and challenges. No one approach is considered best for all situations. However, by knowing these approaches, and applying them to different ethical problems, you can become a valuable participant in creating ethical solutions.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Evaluate the parameters for ethical decision making in 21st century multicultural business environments.
  • Describe an ethical issue that can be resolved by an organizational policy.
  • Evaluate why an organizational policy would be needed to resolve an ethical issue.
  • Examine the current relevance of an ethical issue.
  • Evaluate the importance of resolving an ethical issue.

Instructions

A person cannot evaluate the ethicality of organizational policies until he or she identifies the issues that those policies are intended to address. In this assessment, you will do just that.

Complete the following:

• Identify a potential ethical dilemma from a real-world organization. As an example of an ethical dilemma, consider the following scenario: an organization may choose to videotape the office and read employee e-mails. The conflict here may be that employees feel these practices are a violation of their privacy, and that they have a right to a certain level of privacy. However, organizational stakeholders defend these practices because their concern is whether the employees are getting their work done.
  • Choose any organization about which you can find sufficient information to complete the assessment. For example, you might use the organization for which you currently work, where you used to work, or where an associate of yours works.
  • If there is any concern with disclosing confidential information, substitute a made-up name for the organization’s name and indicate you are doing so.
  • The ethical issue or problem selected must affect the organization, potentially affect the organization, or involve the organization.
• Explain the issues involved, including the following:
  • Identify the stakeholders.
  • Identify the concerns of the stakeholders.
• Explain why you chose this particular issue and why the issue is important.
• Examine the current relevance of the issue.
  • Is the issue currently in the media spotlight?
  • Are there any recent incidents or reasons why this issue has come to the public’s attention?

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Evaluate the parameters for ethical decision making in 21st century multicultural business environments.
  • Describe an ethical issue that can be resolved by an organizational policy and provides examples of the ethical issue.
  • Evaluate why an organizational policy would be needed to resolve an ethical issue and explains the repercussions of the issue occurring
  • Examine the current relevance of an ethical issue and provides examples of the relevancy.
  • Evaluate the importance of resolving an ethical issue ,and provides examples of how to resolve it.