Excerpts from A papers (assignment 4) Includes excerpts from different papers (all earning As on the assignment) Pat is the plant manager in one of ABC Company’s five plants. Her boss informed her in complete confidence that the company will have to lay off 200 workers. Luckily, her job is not at risk. However, a rumor is circulating in the plant, and one of her workers (who also happens to be an old friend) asks her, “Well, Pat, what’s the word? Is the plant closing? Am I going to lose my job? The closing on our new house is scheduled for next week. I need to know!” (citation removed) FACTS [This is a good statement of the facts because it is clearly, concisely, and directly worded.] Should Pat disclose the information to her worker or should she keep it confidential? In this particular case an ethical issue arises immediately from the conflict between a set of good values: honesty and loyalty. Pat has to choose between being truthful to her friend or loyal to her company… ISSUE [This is a good statement of the issue because it describes WHAT the issue is and WHY it is an issue. The sentences are also clearly, concisely, and directly worded. Note that the paper went on to discuss in a bit more detail the difficulties presented by the conflict in values.] [Note the use of additional headers. This is a good practice because there are multiple theories applied. This helps the reader better understand when you are finished applying each theory. It also helps you, as a writer, better organize your paper.] ANALYSIS – APPLICATION OF ETHICAL LENSES/THEORIES One method Pat can use to make her decision is the teleological, or utilitarian approach. The Utilitarian approach requires one to evaluate the consequences to each stakeholder, and decide which choice will produce the net greatest good for the largest number of stakeholders. In this case, Pat must make her decision after considering the relative benefits and harms of each choice for all stakeholders. (citation removed) Utilitarianism …Divulging confidential information to her friend will certainly affect her standing in the company, or even cost Pat her job. However, Pat must consider what impact her decision will make not only on her own or her friend’s job, but the continued prosperity of the many other stakeholders. For example, if Pat chooses to tell her friend about the layoffs, then her boss might suffer negative consequences, such as lost productivity due to time spent discussing the issue with other employees. Also, the company could be harmed by negative publicity or the productivity of the employees could suffer. The company could then be forced to close, and as a result, even more employees will lose their jobs. A greater number of unemployed people will have an even more negative impact on the community by affecting its entire economy. Alternatively, if Pat chooses to lie to her friend, even through omission, then her friend’ ...

1. Excerpts from A papers (assignment 4)
Includes excerpts from different papers (all earning As on the
assignment)
Pat is the plant manager in one of ABC Company’s five plants.
Her boss informed her in complete
confidence that the company will have to lay off 200 workers.
Luckily, her job is not at risk. However,
a rumor is circulating in the plant, and one of her workers (who
also happens to be an old friend) asks
her, “Well, Pat, what’s the word? Is the plant closing? Am I
going to lose my job? The closing on our
new house is scheduled for next week. I need to know!”
(citation removed)
FACTS
[This is a good statement of the facts because it is clearly,
concisely, and directly worded.]
Should Pat disclose the information to her worker or should she
keep it confidential? In this particular
case an ethical issue arises immediately from the conflict
between a set of good values: honesty and
loyalty. Pat has to choose between being truthful to her friend
or loyal to her company…
ISSUE
[This is a good statement of the issue because it describes
WHAT the issue is and WHY it is an issue.

2. The sentences are also clearly, concisely, and directly worded.
Note that the paper went on to discuss
in a bit more detail the difficulties presented by the conflict in
values.]
[Note the use of additional headers. This is a good practice
because there are multiple theories applied.
This helps the reader better understand when you are finished
applying each theory. It also helps you,
as a writer, better organize your paper.]
ANALYSIS – APPLICATION OF ETHICAL
LENSES/THEORIES
One method Pat can use to make her decision is the teleological,
or utilitarian approach. The
Utilitarian approach requires one to evaluate the consequences
to each stakeholder, and decide which
choice will produce the net greatest good for the largest number
of stakeholders. In this case, Pat must
make her decision after considering the relative benefits and
harms of each choice for all stakeholders.
(citation removed)
Utilitarianism
…Divulging confidential information to her friend will certainly
affect her standing in the company, or
even cost Pat her job. However, Pat must consider what impact
her decision will make not only on her
own or her friend’s job, but the continued prosperity of the
many other stakeholders. For example, if
Pat chooses to tell her friend about the layoffs, then her boss
might suffer negative consequences, such
as lost productivity due to time spent discussing the issue with
other employees. Also, the company

3. could be harmed by negative publicity or the productivity of the
employees could suffer. The company
could then be forced to close, and as a result, even more
employees will lose their jobs. A greater
number of unemployed people will have an even more negative
impact on the community by affecting
its entire economy.
Alternatively, if Pat chooses to lie to her friend, even through
omission, then her friend’s well-being
will be adversely affected, as well as that of all the other
workers who lose their jobs suddenly. Also, if
it became known that Pat had advance warning about the layoffs
and chose not to divulge that
knowledge, the remaining workers will lose trust in Pat as a
manager and become less productive. A
poor morale will also have far-reaching negative effects on the
company because workers will become
less productive.
However, the problem with making a decision using
utilitarianism is that …
[This is a good discussion of the theory because it defines the
theory and discusses how it will apply in
the case, applies it considering all stakeholders, and discusses
the criticisms of the theory in this
context. The paper provided much deeper analysis of the theory
and application of the facts to the
theory as well.
The section was also clearly, concisely, and directly written.
Citations were also provided but I’ve

4. removed those.]
……
The Golden Rule
The Virtue Ethics approach focuses on the integrity of the moral
actor rather than on the rules or
consequences of the act itself (Treviño & Nelson, 101-102).
Even though the virtue ethics perspective
considers the actor’s character, it is important to consider that
character and moral motivations are very
much influenced by one’s community. In this case Pat can
identify herself with two distinct
communities: her professional community (her boss and the
company) or the broader community (her
friend, the other workers, and the other members of society as a
whole). … [Note how the writer
conveys the ideas clearly with language that is direct and
concise. The paragraph is easy to read and
understand.]
Virtue Ethics
[I eliminated much of this section. What is left is here to
demonstrate clear and concise writing style.
Also, note that this is the extent to which you should define or
discuss the theories being applied. Your
definition of the theory should represent ¼ of your analysis of
the subject, while your application of
the facts to the theory should represent ¾ of your analysis.]
Categorical Imperative

5. CONCLUSION
[Your conclusion must weigh the evidence you presented above
in your arguments and provide a
logical recommendation. Remember that this section is not the
place to repeat your arguments but
explain why you rely on one theory or another (or all four, etc).
This is why it is important to consider
the criticisms for each of the theories].
Page 1 of 2
Assignment 4
Suggested Length: 1400 to 2000 words
Ethical Theories to Apply: Utilitarianism, Universal Ethics,
Golden Rule, Virtue Ethics
Task
You work in the Ethics Department for ABC Company (ABC).
Your department is dedicated
to advising its employees about their ethical obligations in the
corporate setting. You are an
internal consultant who provides advice and most importantly,
recommendations for action to
employees of the firm. All communications you receive in this
capacity are confidential.

6. Luke, an employee of ABC, comes to you with the following
scenario and asks for your advice.
He wants to fully consider the situation. Your task is to advise
and recommend a course of
action based on the specified ethical lenses and facts as given.
Below are the facts that
Luke provides to you.
*****
Luke has been asked to work on a project that involves
developing land recently purchased by
ABC to build an adult entertainment retail store. According to
the plan, the land is located on
the corner of the neighborhood where Owen, Luke’s brother,
lives.
Luke knows that as soon as the plans for the store are made
public, property values for the
surrounding neighborhood will decrease significantly. ABC
plans to publicly announce the
project one month from today.
Luke is concerned about his obligations of confidentiality to his
company. However, Luke is
also very close to Owen, who recently told Luke that he
received an offer to sell his house at an
“okay” price given the current real estate market. Owen is
considering selling but hasn’t made
any final decision yet. He wonders if he might get a better offer
a few years from now when
the real estate market improves.
What is the ethical issue, why is this an issue, and what should
Luke do about it?

7. *****
For assignment 4, prepare a memo, setting out your analysis and
recommendations, that
considers ONLY the following ethical lenses: Utilitarianism,
Universal Ethics (i.e., Kant’s
categorical imperative), The Golden Rule and Virtue Ethics.
Remember that Assignments 2 and 3 are considered “drafts” for
Assignment 4. In other
words, you may revise and reuse parts of Assignments 2 and 3
(facts, issues, description of
the ethical lenses) for Assignment 4, but please make sure that
you make improvements
where indicated.
Page 2 of 2
Your analysis for Assignment 4 will be different since you’re
incorporating all four theories
into your analysis. But you may reuse other elements of
assignments 2 and 3 (facts, issues,
description of the ethical lenses) if they are written as well as
you can write them.