Assigned Readings:

Chapter 7. Business Ethics Essentials

Chapter 8. Managerial and Organizational Ethics

Chapter 9. Business Ethics and Technology

Chapter 10. Ethical Issues in the Global Arena

Overview:

Chapter 7 introduces concepts and background that are essential to understanding business ethics.  The authors explore a wide range of topics that combine to form a network within which business decisions are made, how they are made, and how managers develop their abilities to make them. Chapter 8 has two primary purposes: to explore some of the various ways to make judgments about ethical dilemmas.  The authors present two approaches to making moral judgments, the principles approach and the ethical tests approach.  The second purpose is to discuss how managers can improve their organizations’ moral culture and behavior. Chapter 9 explores the subject of technology and business ethics.  Technology is such an integral aspect of our work lives and consumer lives that special treatment of these topics is warranted.  The authors first consider what technology means and some of its benefits and challenges.  Then, they discuss the subject of ethics and technology and finish the chapter by exploring ethical issues connected with two major components of technology—information technology and biotechnology. Chapter 10 serves a dual purpose.  First, it introduces the students to ethical issues in the global marketplace, including two infamous examples that demonstrate some of the difficulties encountered by operating in multiple nations.  Second, it offers several takes to improve ethical performance in the global economy, using four different popular strategies.

Learning Objectives:

Chapter 7. Business Ethics Essentials

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Describe the public’s opinion of business ethics.

Define business ethics, explain the conventional approach to business ethics and identify the sources of ethical norms in individuals.

Analyze economic, legal, and ethical aspects of a decision by using a Venn model.

Identify, explain, and illustrate three models of management ethics.

In terms of making moral management actionable, describe and discuss Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development and Gilligan’s ethics of care.

Identify and discuss six major elements of moral judgment.

Chapter 8. Managerial and Organizational Ethics

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Identify and explain the different levels at which business ethics may be addressed.

Enumerate and discuss the principles of managerial ethics and ethical tests for guiding ethical decisions.

In terms of managing organizational ethics, identify the factors affecting an organization’s ethical culture and provide examples of these factors at work.

Describe the best practices that management may adopt to improve an organization’s ethical culture.

Identify and explain concepts from “behavioral ethics” that affect ethical decision-making and behavior in organizations.

Explain the cascading effect of moral decisions, moral managers, and moral organizations.

Chapter 9. Business Ethics and Technology

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Identify and describe what the new world of Big Data is all about and the implications it holds for business.

Explain how social media have changed the world of business and technology.

Discuss how surveillance is a new dimension to being a consumer and an employee and what its implications are for stakeholders.

Articulate an understanding of technology and the technological environment.

Identify the characteristics of technology to include their benefits, side effects, and challenges in business.

Comment on the relationship between technology and ethics.

Define information technology and discuss the issues relating to e-commerce in business.

Define biotechnology. Identify the ethical issues involved in genetic engineering and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Chapter 10. Ethical Issues in the Global Arena

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Describe the ethical and social challenges faced by multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the global environment.

Summarize the key implications for managers of the following ethical issues: infant formula controversy, Bhopal tragedy, factory collapses, sweatshops, and human rights abuses.

Define corruption and differentiate between bribes and grease payments, and outline the major features of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 

Identify and discuss strategies companies may employ for improving global business ethics.

Assignments.Read and reflect on the assigned readings for the week. Then post what you thought was the most important concept(s), method(s), term(s), and/or any other thing that you felt was worthy of your understanding in each assigned textbook chapter.Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook should be a source listed in your reference section and cited within the body of the text. Other sources are not required but feel free to use them if they aid in your discussion.

Also, provide a graduate-level response to each of the following questions:

Describe an ethical dilemma that you faced in the workplace. Analyze how you would resolve the dilemma using (1) utilitarianism, (2) the principle of rights, (3) the principle of justice, (4) virtue ethics and (5) the Golden Rule.  Based on your analysis of these principles, what course of action would result in the most ethical outcome?   Determine what ethical principle(s) or tests(s), if any, were employed by senior management or required by the company’s code of conduct.  Finally, describe the course of action that you took in the situation and ascertain whether you would choose the same course of action again or if you would act differently based on your analysis of the ethical principles, management’s behavior and the requirements (if any) of the company’s code of conduct.

Purpose?

This assignment is intended to give you an opportunity to strengthen your skills in gathering and analyzing business-related information. It provides a deeper understanding of how companies can look at globalization as part of their strategic and operational plans. The assignment has two parts: one focused on information research and analysis, and the other is on applied analytics.

Resources:?

• Microsoft® Excel®
• “How Netflix Expanded to 190 Countries in 7 Years” from Harvard Business Review
• Call Center Waiting Time

Part 1: Globalization and Information Research

Context:?Companies that perform well in their country of origin usually consider expanding operations in new international markets. Deciding where, how, and when to expand is not an easy task, though.

Many issues need to be considered before crafting an expansion strategy and investing significant resources to this end, including:

• the level of demand to be expected for the company’s products/services
• presence of local competitors
• the regulatory, economic, demographic, and political environments

Carefully researching and analyzing these and other factors can help mitigate the inherent risk associated with an overseas expansion strategy, thus increasing the likelihood of success.

As a data analyst in your company’s business development department, you’ve been tasked with the responsibility of recommending countries for international expansion. You’ll write a report to the company’s executive team with your research, analysis, and recommendations.

Instructions:

Part-1: Write a 525-word summary, In a Word document, covering the following items:

According to the article listed above, what were the most important strategic moves that propelled Netflix’s successful international expansion?

1. The article mentions investments in big data and analytics as one of the elements accompanying the second phase of overseas expansion. Why was this investment important? What type of information did Netflix derive from the data collected?
2. According to the article, what is exponential globalization?
3. Not all international expansion strategies are a resounding success, however. Research an article or video that discusses an instance in which an American company’s expansion efforts in another country failed. According to the article/video you selected, what were the main reasons for this failure? Do you agree with this assessment?
4. Explain some of the reasons why certain companies’ expansion plans have failed in the past.

Part 2: Hypothesis testing

Context:?Your organization is evaluating the quality of its call center operations. One of the most important metrics in a call center is Time in Queue (TiQ), which is the time a customer has to wait before he/she is serviced by a Customer Service Representative (CSR). If a customer has to wait for too long, he/she is more likely to get discouraged and hang up. Furthermore, customers who have to wait too long in the queue typically report a negative overall experience with the call. You’ve conducted an exhaustive literature review and found that the average TiQ in your industry is 2.5 minutes (150 seconds).

Another important metric is Service Time (ST), also known as Handle Time, which is the time a CSR spends servicing the customer. CSR’s with more experience and deeper knowledge tend to resolve customer calls faster. Companies can improve average ST by providing more training to their CSR’s or even by channeling calls according to the area of expertise. Last month your company had an average ST of approximately 3.5 minutes (210 seconds). In an effort to improve this metric, the company has implemented a new protocol that channels call to CSR’s based on the area of expertise. The new protocol (PE) is being tested side-by-side with the traditional (PT) protocol.

Instructions-Steps:

Access the Call Center Waiting Time file. Each row in the database corresponds to a different call. In a Word document, a 175-word summary of your conclusions along with the 5-step test of hypothesis and your conclusion. You must not submit the Excel document; part-1 and part-2 should be a single Word document.

The column variables for waiting time are as follows:

• ProtocolType: indicates protocol type, either PT or PE
• QueueTime: Time in Queue, in seconds
• ServiceTime: Service Time, in seconds

Perform a test of hypothesis to determine whether the average TiQ is lower than the industry standard of 2.5 minutes (150 seconds). Use a significance level of ?=0.05. Evaluate if the company should allocate more resources to improve its average TiQ. Perform a 5-step test of hypothesis to determine whether the average ST with service protocol PE is lower than with the PT protocol. Use a significance level of ?=0.05. Write your conclusion. (Hint: this should be a test of means for 2 independent groups.) Please follow the further detailed guidance so that you can earn 100% points on this assignment.

Assignment 1

,MARKETING PLAN PAPER: OUTLINE ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
The purpose of the outline is to provide the layout for the Marketing Plan Paper: Final
Assignment. The professor will use the outline to determine the validity of the proposed
product/service introduction and if the proper level of detail is provided. Comments and
recommendations will be provided to the student to support the final paper.
INSTRUCTIONS
The outline must include the three major bolded headings listed below as the first level, points
for each of the required areas, and sub points supporting each of these major points. The outline
should be in APA indented format.
The outline will include country and product/service specific points gathered from preliminary
research.
Include a paragraph describing the product and/or service you plan to introduce in the chosen
country.
Outline Headings
A. Description of the Organization and product selected
Provide a brief description of your company—its products/services, customers,
core competencies, strengths, and weaknesses.
B. Description of the country
i. Describe the local environment in which you will operate and the critical
operational factors that you must consider, and how they will affect your
company. Consider economic, political, legal, geographic,
social/demographic, and industry factors. Provide a cultural profile of the
local area in which you will be operating.
ii. What are the customers going to be like?
iii. What kind of reception do you anticipate from local governments, competitors,
suppliers, distributors, and so forth?
iv. Why will customers buy your product?
C. Recommended Action Plan
i. What is your recommended entry strategy? Provide reasons for this strategy.
ii. Decide on the marketing approach you will use for the product.
iii. Discuss the action plan timeline.
iv. Discuss pricing and anticipated profit levels.
v. Describe the target market and the distribution channel(s) you will use and
why.
vi. Explain any special control issues that concern you. How do you plan to deal
with them?

Assignment 2

MARKETING PLAN PAPER: FINAL ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
You will complete a 16-page, typed, double-spaced (not including title page, abstract and
references) international marketing plan paper that describes how a new product or service will
be introduced into a foreign country. Provide at least 8 scholarly references (see the Jerry Falwell
Library for a description of scholarly articles) in support of your research. The paper must be in
current APA format.
INSTRUCTIONS
Imagine the board of directors of a firm of your choosing has asked you to investigate the
possibility of expanding the company’s business into a new country (the choice of specific
country is on a first-come, first-served basis). The purpose of this assignment is to develop a
marketing plan for this new business, addressing various issues and incorporating many concepts
and applications discussed in this course. The product/service chosen can either be existing or
new. The paper must contain the following (all bulleted areas must be addressed):
A. Description of the Organization and product selected
Provide a brief description of your company—its products/services, customers,
core competencies, strengths, and weaknesses.
B. Description of the country
i. Describe the local environment in which you will operate and the critical
operational factors that you must consider, and how they will affect your
company. Consider economic, political, legal, geographic,
social/demographic, and industry factors. Provide a cultural profile of the
local area in which you will be operating.
ii. What are the customers going to be like?
iii. What kind of reception do you anticipate from local governments, competitors,
suppliers, distributors, and so forth?
iv. Why will customers buy your product?
C. Recommended Action Plan
i. What is your recommended entry strategy? Provide reasons for this strategy.
ii. Decide on the marketing approach you will use for the product.
iii. Discuss the action plan timeline.
iv. Discuss pricing and anticipated profit levels.
v. Describe the target market and the distribution channel(s) you will use and
why.
vi. Explain any special control issues that concern you. How do you plan to deal
with them?
vii. Identify concerns with the host country regarding your operations, as best you
can comprehend. What plans do you have to deal with these concerns and to
ensure a long-term cooperative relationship?
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.

Objective: You are going to understand how employees respond to ethical dilemmas in the workplace. You will consider how their work environment shapes the way they approach ethical dilemmas.

Directions: Give the following scenario to 3employees who work full-time (preferably) or part-time and then ask them the assigned questions (You can find the interview questions at Canvas under “Interview Questions and Scenario”). The employee’s position within the firm does not matter but ideally, you interview people that work for different firms.

SCENARIO

Alex just completed a sales training course with one of the firm’s most productive sales representatives, Taylor. At the end of the week, Alex and Taylor sat in a motel room to fill out their expense vouchers. Alex casually said to Taylor that the training course stressed the importance of accurately filling out expense vouchers.

Taylor replied, “The company expense vouchers don’t list all the categories we need. I tried many times to explain to the accountants that there are more expenses than they have boxes for. The biggest complaint the salespeople have is that there is no place to enter expenses for tipping. After the last year’s training, I went to the accounting department and told them they needed to change the forms. They wouldn’t. So, I went directly to their managers. He told me that this is the way it has always been done, and it would stay that way. He also told me if I tried to go above him on this, I’d be looking for another job.”

“So, what did you do?” inquired Alex.

“I do what my supervisor told me years ago. I pad my account each week. I usually tip 20 percent, so I make sure I write down the after-tip amount to my expense reports.”

“But that goes against company policy. Besides, how do you do it?” asked Alex.

“It’s easy. I request blank receipts and usually put the added expenses there. We all do it,” said Taylor. “As long as everyone cooperates, the vice president of sales doesn’t question the expense vouchers.”

“What if people don’t go along with this arrangement?” asked Alex.

“In the past, we have had some workers who filed the voucher as corporate wants us to. I remember there was a person who didn’t report the same amounts as the coworkers traveling with her. After a month, accountants came in, and that person and all the salespeople traveled together were investigated. Couple of months later, the one who ratted out the others was fired or quit. I know that person couldn’t find a job in our industry again. It’s a small world for good salespeople.”

“What happened to the other salespeople who were investigated?” Alex asked.

“There were a lot of memos and a 30-minute training video to show the proper way to file expenses. All of them had conversations with the vice president, but no one was fired.”

This was Alex’s first real job out of school and Taylor was her mentor.

After reading the scenario, ask the employee to answer the following questions. Do NOT record the employee’s name or the employer’s name. You can use pseudonyms or assign them numbers (e.g., Employee 1, Employee 2, Employee 3).

1. What should Alex report on her/his expense report? Why? [Please provide 3-4 sentences explaining your position.]
2. Should Alex report the work practice (sales employees padding their expense accounts) to Human Resources? Why or why not? [Please provide 3-4 sentences explaining your position.]
3. Does your employer have a values statement? If so, do you remember any of the values?
4. Does your employer have clearly stated rules? If so, do they also explain the penalties or consequences associated with violating the rules?
5. Does your employer expect employees to comply with the law and professional standards over and above other considerations?
6. Does your employer expect employees to do anything and everything possible to further the firm’s interests?
7. Does your employer offer ethics training? If so, is the training face-to-face or on the computer? How long does the training last?

You can use the attached interview questions template.

ANALYSES. In 5-7 double-spaced pages (12-font), analyze the data collected from the 3 employees.

Do the employees agree or disagree? Can you identify any patterns across the employee responses?

1. Which normative theories appear to underlie the employees’ response to Questions 1 and 2?
2. Which stages of cognitive moral development are displayed in the answer to Questions 1 and 2?
3. Do the employees’ work environments differ? Do any patterns exist between the employee’s work environment and their response to Questions 1 and 2? How would you describe their organizational work cultures?
4. What are your recommendations for firms (in general) based upon these employees’ responses?

Critical Thinking: Corporate Strategy and Diversification

Corporate diversification strategies raise a wide range of strategic management issues. For this week’s critical thinking assignment, read the case study found in your textbook: Case 16: Manchester City: Building a Multinational Soccer Enterprise, p.554 (in the textbook).

Remember, a case study is a puzzle to be solved, so before reading and answering the specific case and study questions, develop your proposed solution by following these five steps:

1. Read the case study to identify the key issues and underlying issues. These issues are the principles and concepts of the course module, which apply to the situation described in the case study.
2. Record the facts from the case study which are relevant to the principles and concepts of the module. The case may have extraneous information not relevant to the current module. Your ability to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information is an important aspect of case analysis, as it will inform the focus of your answers.
3. Describe in some detail the actions that would address or correct the situation.
4. Consider how you would support your solution with examples from experience or current real-life examples or cases from textbooks.
5. Complete this initial analysis and then read the discussion questions. Typically, you will already have the answers to the questions but with a broader consideration. At this point, you can add the details and/or analytical tools required to solve the case.

Case Study Questions:

1. Under what circumstances can a company extend its competitive advantage from its home market to an overseas market? Issues concerning the transferability and replicability of the firm’s competitive advantage are critical here.
2. What are the distinctive features of City Football’s strategy? What mode of foreign market entry should City Football adopt? Why? Again, issues of resources and capabilities and the need for local market knowledge, distribution, and political and business connections become critical here.
3. What criteria can companies apply in deciding what new diversification to pursue and which should City Football apply in deciding?
4. What changes in the financial structure, organizational structure and management systems would you recommend?

Your well-written paper should meet the following requirements:

• Be 6-7 pages in length, which does not include the title page or required reference page, which are never a part of the content minimum requirements.
• Use Saudi Electronic University academic writing standards and APA style guidelines.
• Support your submission with course material concepts, principles, and theories from the textbook and at least two scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles unless the assignment calls for more.
• It is strongly encouraged that you submit all assignments into the Turnitin Originality Check before submitting it to your instructor for grading. If you are unsure how to submit an assignment into the Originality Check tool, review the Turnitin Originality Check—Student Guide for step-by-step instructions.
• Review the grading rubric to see how you will be graded for this assignment.
• For Your SuccessThis week’s module focuses on the role of diversification in corporate strategy. Critical thinking related to diversification and successfully managing strategy can be invigorating because it is both complex and challenging. Diversification strategies raise a wide range of strategic management issues. For this assignment, you will explore facets of diversification, including motives, competitive advantage, and strategic planning.Your Critical Thinking Assignment is due this week. Review the assignment early in the week and contact your instructor if you have any questions or concerns. Please note that your instructor will be hosting a required Live Session this week.Learning Outcomes
  1. Understand the relationship between diversification decisions and a company’s resources and capabilities.
  2. Assess a company’s potential to establish competitive advantage through deploying the concepts of economies of scope, transaction costs, costs of entry, and relatedness.
  3. Compare circumstances where diversification does and does not create value.
  4. Understand the relationship between diversification decisions and a company’s resources and capabilities.

  Readings

  • Chapter 12 in Contemporary Strategy Analysis
  • Chapter 12 PowerPoint slides Chapter 12 PowerPoint slides – Alternative Formats in Contemporary Strategy Analysis
  • Srinivasan, S., Thenmozhi, M., & Vijayaraghavan, P. (2020). Performance Implications of Diversification Strategies during Institutional Transformations: An Emerging Market Study. Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Journal, 15(3), 1.

  Recommended:

  • Khan, S. U., & Rizwan, M. F. (2020). Ownership Concentration, Owner Identity and Technological Innovation Propensity: Moderating Role of Corporate Diversification. Pakistan Journal of Commerce & Social Sciences, 14(4), 913–961.