Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS 1 BUSINESS ETHICS 7 Business ethics Name Institution Business Ethics Question 1: What is the moral point of view and why is it important? Does it make sense to say that business people must operate from the perspective of the moral point of view? Why, or why not? Answer: Business ethics refers to the study of proper business policies and practices, with regards to the potential controversial issues such as corporate governance, discrimination, bribery among others (Madsen & Shafritz 1990). Business ethics are often guided by law and at times they provide a basic framework that businesses can choose to follow in a bid to acquire public acceptance. They are implemented so as to ensure that a particular required level of trust is in existence between consumers and the different types of market participants with the business entities. For instance, a portfolio manager has an obligation to give a similar consideration to the portfolios of family members and small individual investors. Such acts ensure public equality. A moral point of view refers to approaching a problem or issue from the perspective of its being morally wrong or right or rather, morally excellent. As opposed to the Economic or Legal point of view, the moral point of view comprises of two main features. The first, is the commitment or willingness to search for reasons and act on them. The best action is that which is supported by the best possible reasons, as opposed to acting upon emotion, some already existing morality or without deliberation. The second feature is commitment to impartiality. This involves putting into consideration the interests of all in equal measure, rather than being self-interested. It is essential for business people to operate from the perspective of a moral viewpoint since, by so doing, they will be able to serve their customers well because it involves being careful about their interests. It is, therefore, sensible to state that business people must operate from this perspective (Madsen & Shafritz 1990). Question 2: There are rather clear utility exchanges that are made between policies of due process and EAW. What are some ways that you can imagine that the utility losses required by a policy of due process may be minimized (or inherent inefficiencies you potentially see in EAW policies)? Answer: Utility loss refers to the decline in the usefulness and, consequently, the value of a given asset. Loss of utility means the reason to write down the asset (National Consumer Law Center & United States 1994). One way of reducing utility losses required by a policy of due process is sufficient liquidity. With this, business persons can converge to a consensus price that reflects their collective information about the value of secur ...

1. Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS
1
BUSINESS ETHICS
7
Business ethics
Name
Institution
Business Ethics
Question 1: What is the moral point of view and why is it
important? Does it make sense to say that business people must
operate from the perspective of the moral point of view? Why,
or why not?
Answer: Business ethics refers to the study of proper business
policies and practices, with regards to the potential
controversial issues such as corporate governance,
discrimination, bribery among others (Madsen & Shafritz 1990).
Business ethics are often guided by law and at times they
provide a basic framework that businesses can choose to follow
in a bid to acquire public acceptance. They are implemented so
as to ensure that a particular required level of trust is in
existence between consumers and the different types of market
participants with the business entities. For instance, a portfolio
manager has an obligation to give a similar consideration to the
portfolios of family members and small individual investors.
Such acts ensure public equality.
A moral point of view refers to approaching a problem or issue
from the perspective of its being morally wrong or right or
rather, morally excellent. As opposed to the Economic or Legal

2. point of view, the moral point of view comprises of two main
features. The first, is the commitment or willingness to search
for reasons and act on them. The best action is that which is
supported by the best possible reasons, as opposed to acting
upon emotion, some already existing morality or without
deliberation. The second feature is commitment to impartiality.
This involves putting into consideration the interests of all in
equal measure, rather than being self-interested. It is essential
for business people to operate from the perspective of a moral
viewpoint since, by so doing, they will be able to serve their
customers well because it involves being careful about their
interests. It is, therefore, sensible to state that business people
must operate from this perspective (Madsen & Shafritz 1990).
Question 2: There are rather clear utility exchanges that are
made between policies of due process and EAW. What are some
ways that you can imagine that the utility losses required by a
policy of due process may be minimized (or inherent
inefficiencies you potentially see in EAW policies)?
Answer: Utility loss refers to the decline in the usefulness and,
consequently, the value of a given asset. Loss of utility means
the reason to write down the asset (National Consumer Law
Center & United States 1994). One way of reducing utility
losses required by a policy of due process is sufficient liquidity.
With this, business persons can converge to a consensus price
that reflects their collective information about the value of
securities. This then corresponds to the probability of the
outbreak of loss that the market estimated. Another way is
having sufficient traders. If a market fails to achieve this, it will
eventually break down. The situation is even worse in
prediction markets since it is not the primary design goal of the
market to meet trader demands. Market makers each have their
own utility function for money. They seek to keep their
expected utility constant all the time, rather than maximize it, to
ensure that it never decreases. They also trade in orders that are
within their risk-neutral probability.

3. Question 3: Explain John Boatright’s main arguments in
“What's Wrong -- and What's Right -- with Stakeholder
Management.” Provide two objections to his thesis. Do you
agree or disagree with his position.
Answer: The concept of the stakeholder is a significant
contributor to business ethics. It has been commonly expressed
in the moral view that managers have an obligation to consider
the interest of every stakeholder when making decisions. John
Boatright (1994) argues that the stakeholder management serves
the interest of all stakeholder groups but fail to recognize that a
business entity in which the managers act in the best interest of
shareholders could also be advantageous to stakeholder groups.
This failure is brought about by an error on the part of those
advocating for stakeholder management.
Boatright continues to argue that one way in which stakeholder
management goes wrong is by failing to acknowledge the extent
to which the existing system of corporate governance, signified
by shareholder supremacy, serves the interests of all
stakeholders. The other is by making the assumption that all the
interests of stakeholders are best served by assigning this task
to the management, as opposed to using other means. This thesis
has, however, faced some objections. Firstly, it is not inclusive
of a system of corporate governance. Secondly, it contends that
in the making of crucial decisions, managers must put into
consideration the interests of both shareholders and non-
shareholders and balance them both in a similar manner. I,
somewhat, fail to agree with Boatright’s position for the reason
that the interests of stakeholders should be centralized to the
corporation’s operations just as shareholder interests are
dominant in the conventional firm they control.
Question 4: Epstein claims that the positions of both employers
and employees are essentially even with regard to EAW. Do you
find this line of argument convincing? Why or why not?
Answer: According to Epstein (1992), the position of employers
and employees is even. His argument for this is based on
employment at will. If a controlling contract does not exist,

4. employment can be terminated at the will of either of the
parties. In this case, there will be no cause of action to be taken
against the employer for the case of wrongful termination. Some
exceptions do occur. For instance, in public policy, it would be
wrong to fire an employee for failure to break the law. He
justifies employment-at-will with the argument that the
employer’s proprietary rights guarantee that they may hire or
fire whomever they wish and whenever. Also, the European
Arrest Warrant (EAW) equally protects the rights of both the
employer and the employee. His argument is, however,
unconvincing because he tends to focus on the suggested
fairness of symmetry, where either party can end the
relationship. Epstein also claims that the reputational effects do
not favor the employer.
Question 5: Central to Duska’s discussion is his conception of
loyalty. Do you find his account of loyalty convincing? What
elements of it might you disagree with? What implications
might an altered conception of loyalty have on his contention
that whistle-blowing does not require moral justification?
Answer: Duska (2003) gives an outline of three philosophical
positions concerning loyalty. The first is on idealists, which is
given as a dedication to bring abstractions to an entity.
Secondly are social atomists. It is only people who are capable
of being objects of loyalty and loyalty can be reduced to other
relationships. The last is on moderate position. Loyalty is a true
relation among people as well as groups. Duska’s account of
loyalty is unconvincing because his theory does not recognize
that whistleblowers are successful beyond the moral minimum.
Also, in many a case, harm has already occurred and, therefore,
prevention cannot be an objective. An implication of an altered
conception of loyalty on Duska’s contention that
whistleblowing does not need moral justification is that people
may ignore the legal perspective of loyalty. Duska’s view is
based on morality, which is a bit different from the legal view.
Loyalty covers a set of particular duties and cannot be easily

5. expressed in advance.
References
Top of Form
Madsen, P., & Shafritz, J. M. (1990). Essentials of business
ethics. New York, N.Y., U.S.A:
Meridian.
Bottom of Form
Top of Form
National Consumer Law Center & United States. (1994).
preventing loss of utility service: An
overview. Boston, Mass.: National Consumer Law Center.
Bottom of Form
Top of Form
Boatright, J. R., & Boatright, J. R. (1994). Cases in ethics and
the conduct of business.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Bottom of Form
Top of Form
Epstein, R. A. (1992). Forbidden grounds: The case against
employment discrimination laws.
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Bottom of Form
Top of Form

6. Duska, R. F., & Duska, B. S. (2003). Accounting ethics.
Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Bottom of Form
OVERVIEW:
This first assignment—like all the other assignments in this
course—utilizes you topic of interest in the selection of material
for research. Locate a scholarly research journal article in the
APUS online library that is related to the topic you selected,
and then prepare a paper that answers some basic questions
related to your article. Be sure to consult the rubric associated
with weekly assignments to see the grading criteria.
DETAILS:
1. Make sure to utilize your topic of interest for the course. My
topic of interest is motivation. What this means is that this
paper has to reference motivation at some point in the paper.
2. Find a journal article that presents scholarly research
associated with the topic. At this early point in the course you
are asked to “jump right in” and utilize the online library to
locate an appropriate scholarly journal article that presents
research concerning your topic. Note that you may access the
APUS online library and get help with scholarly research from
the school. You may also watch a 5-minute video produced by
Dr. Rhonda Bell that walks you through the process. (If you
watch Dr. Bell’s video keep in mind that it is slightly dated in
terms of the online site setup. However, the essential content
and approach are correct.) Here is the link to Dr. Bell’s video:
http://www.screencast.com/t/nIMKTHnWT

7. Keep in mind that scholarly research involves solving problems.
If your article does not contain qualitative, quantitative, or
mixed methods research then you do not have an appropriate
research article. For the purposes of this assignment you want to
intentionally find a research article that contains one of the
three methods of research: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed
methods. The Creswell textbook will help you differentiate
these three methods of research.
Save the article to your computer to have as a reference and
also to attach to the professor when your paper is completed
(see step 5 below).
3. Write a short paper (450-600 words) that demonstrates a brief
analysis of the scholarly research article you selected. You are
to write your paper in such a way as to answer the
questions/issues below. However, do not include the list on your
paper. Instead, let the items guide the content expressed in your
paper, which should be in typical paragraph form. Because of
the shortness of the assignment, several of the items may be
contained in a given paragraph. Be precise and you will be
concise.
· After a brief introductory sentence. Tell whether the title is
appropriate to the focus of the study.
· State the problem. Is the problem clearly stated? Does the
problem have a theoretical rational? How significant is the
problem studied in the research?
· Is there a review of the literature? If so, is the literature
relevant? Summarize (in a couple of sentences) the review of
the literature.
· Fully and completely describe the research method that was
used to attack and answer the problem. Was the research method

8. used to solve the problem qualitative or quantitative, or both?
What instruments were used to answer the problem? Was there a
sample used? If so, how was the sample selected?
· State the hypothesis/questions or objectives. Were they stated
clearly?
· Are there any probable sources of error that might influence
the results of the study? If so, have they been controlled?
· What were the statistical techniques used to analyze the data?
If so, were they appropriate?
· Summarize the results. How clearly were the results
presented?
· What are the limitations of the study? Are they stated?
· Summarize the conclusion(s). Are the conclusions presented
clearly? Does the data support the conclusions? Does the
researcher over generalize the findings?
· How can the results and conclusions presented in this study be
applied in your particular field of study or work environment?
4. Utilize the APA Helps as necessary in the Resources area to
help you present your brief paper in APA format, which means
that you need to write a Title Page and References Page
separate from the body of the text of the paper (no abstract or
author note are needed). On this assignment you should write
the publication information about your article on the References
Page (only one reference needed . . . the article you are
analyzing) and then also cite the source in the body of the paper
whenever you are stating facts rom the article. Avoid
unsupported statements whenever possible. In many cases you
will write a paragraph of text and insert a citation only once.

9. When you direct quote, include the page number of the source,
too. Some may ask why APA is so important. APA is the mode
of communication of the written word in the management field.
It is the due diligence of graduate management students to excel
at APA.
5. Upload your paper along with the article you reviewed in the
assignment section for grading. Note the Submissions
Guidelines as listed in the Syllabus: The various assignments
for this course should be submitted as Word.doc attachments in
the Assignment section of our virtual classroom. Each file
should be named in the following manner: Last name–truncated
Week Number-Assignment name (abbreviated if necessary)
For example: Smith-Wk01-Article Analysis
Please note that you should upload two items into the same
assignment area: your paper and the article (.pdf) upon which
your paper is based.
BEFORE YOU WRITE/SUBMIT YOUR PAPER . . . I highly
suggest that you view the following YouTube video (if you have
not already done so). It will show you how to get off on the
right foot in APA formatting of your written
assignments:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pbUoNa5tyY&f
eature=related
Another must-see video has to do with plagiarism (from the
lecture). Note that it was developed using MLA format instead
of APA. However, the essential message is applicable to the
work in this course:

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnTPv9PtOoo&feature