The case study papers give you a chance to apply what you learn in the course to concrete issues arising in the world of business ethics.
For each case study paper, you will be given a group of theories to work with. You will then pick from the case studies at the end of select chapters (some exclusions might apply). You will describe the case, apply the theories to the case, and then argue one application over the other.
Please pay attention to the theories you have to choose from for each individual paper. These will be listed on the specific assignment. The same goes for the case studies themselves. For the most part, you will be able to pick any of the cases from the indicated chapters. But some exclusions will apply. Again, you will need to look carefully at the instructions for each individual paper.
Furthermore, please note that I am looking for moral analysis here – not necessarily what factually happened. Some of these cases have been resolved for many years. But what we are trying to do is to see what the moral resolution should be (or should have been) – not what actually happened or could happen.
Finally, I am looking for a rational argument among given alternatives. A believable argument is one that uses believable premises to logically support its conclusion. This means that a person can believe the premise without changing their religious or cultural affiliations. It doesn’t mean they necessarily will believe it. It just means they could. Arguments should be as free as possible of ordinary logical fallacies, etc. And the argument is to support one analysis over another – not to introduce a third set of analyses. However, this needs to be done with the introduction of your own premises. Just repeating analysis and facts from the case and attaching agreement is not the same as arguing for a position.
