Discussion Question: William Ford Jr., Chairman of Ford Motor Co. said, "A good company delivers excellent products and services, and a great company does all that and strives to make the world a better place." Supported by evidence from your textbook, the Starbucks case study, and other research, describes two forces that you believe shape the relationship between business and society. Provide two examples, one for each force you select. Be specific in your answer and discuss strengths and weaknesses via examples and applications. Be certain to cite in APA format all sources used. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ discussion posts. MBA 525 - Module 4 AVP - Decision Making and Ethics Slide 1 Title slide Slide content: MBA 525 Module 4 Slide 2 Slide title: Decision Making and Ethics Narrator: In this presentation, we will discuss the decision making process and how it is informed by ethics. We will highlight common errors in decision making, rationality, and ethical decision making. Slide 3 Slide title: Decision-Making Steps Slide content: • Define the task • Delegate tasks • Seek out information and determine its accuracy • Establish criteria for evaluating specific courses of action • Discover and evaluate alternative options • Prepare and present the group’s choice persuasively to the target audience Narrator: There are six steps in the decision making process. First, define the task. Second, delegate tasks. Third, seek out information and determine its accuracy. Fourth, establish criteria for evaluating specific courses of action. Fifth, discover and evaluate alternative options. And lastly, prepare and present the group’s choice persuasively to the target audience. Slide 4 Slide title: Errors of Poor Decision Making Slide content: • Improper assessment of the situation • The establishment of inappropriate goals and objectives • Improper assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of various alternatives • The establishment of a flawed information base Narrator: The most common errors in this process include: Improper assessment of the situation, The establishment of inappropriate goals and objectives, Improper assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of various alternatives, and, The establishment of a flawed information base. Consider the last decision you made that was faulty. Reflect on which error in decision making was present. We are all guilty of making the “wrong” decision at some point due to errors in judgment. Slide 5 Slide title: Steps of Rational Decision Making Slide content: • Recognize the problem • Discuss the problem with all relevant persons • Decide on alternative courses of action • Choose an optimal solution and implement it • Monitor the impact of the solution Narrator: The steps to rational decision making vary a bit from the general model. There are only five, not six steps. First, recognize the problem. This is a different starting point. It is important to first understand the problem. Next, disc.

1. Discussion Question:
William Ford Jr., Chairman of Ford Motor Co. said, "A good
company delivers excellent products and services, and a great
company does all that and strives to make the world a better
place."
Supported by evidence from your textbook, the Starbucks case
study, and other research, describes two forces that you believe
shape the relationship between business and society. Provide
two examples, one for each force you select. Be specific in your
answer and discuss strengths and weaknesses via examples and
applications. Be certain to cite in APA format all sources used.
Respond to at least two of your classmates’ discussion posts.
MBA 525 - Module 4 AVP - Decision Making and Ethics
Slide 1
Title slide
Slide content:
MBA 525 Module 4
Slide 2
Slide title:
Decision Making and Ethics
Narrator:
In this presentation, we will discuss the decision making
process and how it is informed by ethics. We will
highlight common errors in decision making, rationality, and
ethical decision making.
Slide 3
Slide title:
Decision-Making Steps
Slide content:

2. • Define the task
• Delegate tasks
• Seek out information and determine its accuracy
• Establish criteria for evaluating specific courses of action
• Discover and evaluate alternative options
• Prepare and present the group’s choice persuasively to the
target audience
Narrator:
There are six steps in the decision making process.
First, define the task.
Second, delegate tasks.
Third, seek out information and determine its accuracy.
Fourth, establish criteria for evaluating specific courses of
action.
Fifth, discover and evaluate alternative options.
And lastly, prepare and present the group’s choice persuasively
to the target audience.
Slide 4
Slide title:
Errors of Poor Decision Making
Slide content:
• Improper assessment of the situation
• The establishment of inappropriate goals and objectives
• Improper assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of
various alternatives
• The establishment of a flawed information base
Narrator:
The most common errors in this process include:
Improper assessment of the situation,
The establishment of inappropriate goals and objectives,
Improper assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of various
alternatives, and,
The establishment of a flawed information base.
Consider the last decision you made that was faulty. Reflect on
which error in decision making was
present. We are all guilty of making the “wrong” decision at

3. some point due to errors in judgment.
Slide 5
Slide title:
Steps of Rational Decision Making
Slide content:
• Recognize the problem
• Discuss the problem with all relevant persons
• Decide on alternative courses of action
• Choose an optimal solution and implement it
• Monitor the impact of the solution
Narrator:
The steps to rational decision making vary a bit from the
general model. There are only five, not six steps.
First, recognize the problem. This is a different starting point. It
is important to first understand the
problem.
Next, discuss the problem with all relevant persons. Another
great point of divergence is communicating
with key stakeholders. It is important to speak with vital players
so that you understand the problem better
as well as limitations to possible solutions.
Third, decide on alternative courses of action.
Fourth, choose an optimal solution and implement it.
Lastly, monitor the impact of the solution. It is important to
realize that once implementation takes place,
the process is not over. It is key to continue to monitor the
situation.
Slide 6
Slide title:
Ethical Decision Making
Slide content:
• Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or to
some group?
• Does this decision involve a choice between a good and bad
alternative, or perhaps between two
“goods” or between two “bads”?

4. Narrator:
The hallmark of ethical decision making is questioning the
values associated with the alternatives. It is
necessary to ask questions, such as:
Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or to
some group?
Does this decision involve a choice between a good and bad
alternative, or perhaps between two “goods”
or even two “bads”?
Slide 7
Slide title:
Ethical Decision Making
Slide content:
• Is this issue about more than what is legal or what is most
efficient? If so, how?
Narrator:
At times, the problem has a legal aspect which may make it
easier to discern the ethical decision;
however, sometimes the law or workplace policies do not tell
the entire story. Is this issue about more
than what is legal or what is most efficient? If so, how?
Slide 8
Slide title:
Ethical Decision Making
Slide content:
• What are the relevant facts of the case?
• What facts are not known?
• Can I learn more about the situation?
• Do I know enough to make a decision?
Narrator:
It is important to know the facts and understand that you may
not know all the facts. Try to discern what is
known and what is not. What are the relevant facts of the case?
What facts are not known? Can I learn
more about the situation? Do I know enough to make a
decision?

5. Slide 9
Slide title:
Ethical Decision Making
Slide content:
• What individuals and groups have an important stake in the
outcome?
• Are some concerns more important? Why?
Narrator:
It is important to understand who is affected by the decision.
What individuals and groups have an
important stake in the outcome? Are some concerns more
important? Why?
Slide 10
Slide title:
Ethical Decision Making
Slide content:
• Utilitarian approach
• Rights approach
• Justice approach
• Common good approach
Narrator:
Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:
Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm?
We call this the utilitarian approach.
Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake?
This is the rights approach.
Which option treats people equally or proportionately? This is
the justice approach.
Lastly, which option best serves the entire community and not
just some members? This is known as the
common good approach.
Slide 11
Slide title:
Ethical Decision Making
Slide content:
The “smell test”

6. [Young girl with a plate of food in front of her, pinching her
nose closed]
Narrator:
At the end of the day, your decision must pass the “smell test!”
You must be able to live with the decisions
you make. Reflect on the material presented in the beginning of
this module on personal ethics.
Slide 12
End of presentation
Ethics: Lessons Learned and Best Practices
What is your personal philosophical approach to help you
answer and deal with ethical questions? Do you notice co-
workers behaving in ways you would never? How is it that in a
professional environment in which everyone goes through a
hiring process and a screening process, they behave so
differently? Every person has a moral compass that guides his
or her behavior
and ultimately shapes his or her personal code of ethics. The
code of ethics will help
a person to recognize a problem and make decisions regarding
the appropriate course of action.
How can you devise or define your own personal ethical
statement of values and principles?
There are three primary ethical philosophies, each answering
the fundamental question, “Do the ends justify the means?”
If you answered NO, then you are an absolutist (or legalist) and
subscribe to deontological ethics (the ethics of duty). The ends
never justify the means. One should discover the rules and
follow them
If you answered YES, you are a relativist and subscribe to
teleological ethics. This is the ethics of the finals ends, or of
the consequences of the act. The end can and often does justify
the means. Intention is critical.
If you answered MAYBE or SOMETIMES, then you subscribe

7. to situational ethics. This is the ethics of specific acts. Does the
end justify the means? It all depends. There are several thoughts
of situational ethics. Below are just a few.
Antinominanism espouses that there are no moral absolutes.
Every person and situation is unique. The one absolute is the
Golden Rule: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Always
place people first; do what is best for people.
Deontelics, as put forth by philosopher John Merrill, holds that
some acts, by their very nature, are unethical in most cases. The
truth is paramount. Lying is unethical in most cases, but there
are rare exceptions for good purposes
Utilitarianism believes that the best course of action is that
which brings the most happiness to the greatest number of
people. This is a philosophy of the greatest good (rather than
the greatest happiness) over a long period of time.
Situational ethics reflected in Aristotle’s (384-322 B.C.) Golden
Mean is a rational and moral position that is somewhere in
between (though not necessarily in the middle). When found in
an ethical dilemma, the following steps of principled reasoning
are employed.
•Appraise the situation
•Identify your personal values
•Appeal to those ethical principles without abandoning your
personal values
•Consider your loyalties
How would you describe yourself as a worker?
If you’ve never thought about this, theOccupational Work Ethic
Inventory (OWEI)
will help you learn more about the type of worker you are.

8. Take some time to complete the inventory. What did you learn
about yourself that you
Social Responsibility, continued
Historically, social responsibility was left to the non-profits
and not necessarily the business of the corporations looking
to make profits. After all, wasn’t the driving thought behind
good business “the ends justify the means” or “it’s just
business”? Yet, prior to the mid-1970s most people felt that
companies were responsible in their actions. Today, there is
much more mistrust. By contemporary standards many would
judge business practices of yesteryear as reckless.
As pointed out in Chapter 5 of the Argenti text (2013), social
opinion started to change in the 1980s and with this change
came a change in organizations (pp. 109-110).
Consumers need to see information about a company multiple
times, sometimes as much as five times, before believing
it,often requiring collaboration to verify information (Argenti,
2013)
Social Responsibility, continued
In April of 2013, Forbes Magazine published the ratings of the
top ten best corporate citizens based on seven categories:
environment, climate change, employee relations, human rights,
governance, finance, and philanthropy. Below were the top 10
corporate citizens for 2013.
AT&T
Mattel, Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

9. Eaton Corp.
Intel Corp.
You are encouraged to visit each company’s website and
research more about their efforts in regard to social
responsibility.
To view Corporate Responsibility magazine’s list of the top 100
companies for 2013, click here.