Case Study# 12—“Which option should Lars recommend to the board?”
You MUST have the book (Business Ethics: An Interactive Introduction by Andrew Kernohan) Page 207-227
Requirements
- Case Study Wroksheet
- Handout (The exact things I need to say, and make it essay to read.)
- Powerpoint (Please use some pictures)
(You do not need to do the video) Students will produce a video presentation approximately 7-10 minutes in length to be uploaded to the course Canvas site. The chapters in the Kernohan text all conclude with a case study that describes an ethical complicated scenario that concludes with a question to be answered: for example, “Should Faruq vote to hire Joan?” or, more generally, “What should Dan do?” and so forth. Students will be expected to answer the question posed at the end of the case study and to explain and defend their answers in their presentation.
To help students prepare their lecture, students will use a Case Analysis Worksheet. This worksheet will help students to appropriately respond to the case study. The completed worksheet should be emailed to me to complete the assignment; presentations will not be graded without the completed worksheet. A rubric can be found in the Case Study Presentation Assignment.
You will also be responsible for answering questions that your classmates pose. After you upload your presentation, be sure to check and see if there is a question that needs to be answered. (I will invite you with a new question, to responsible those questions)
- I was sign up to the Case Study #12—“Which option should Lars recommend to the board?”
Your task to complete this assignment is to do two things: 1) clearly answer the questionposed at the end of the case study, and 2) supply an argument in defense of your answer. Keep in mind that different students will answer the question differently, so you should be prepared to give me reasons for thinking that I should agree with your answer and not the answer that someone else might defend. Make sure that you are doing both of these tasks. It should be clear to me what your answer to the question is and why I am supposed to think that your answer is correct.
You should make ample use of the text in your presentation. You will should certainly use some of the terminology and concepts introduced in the Kernohan text in particular: there are any number of ethical theories that are discussed in that text that can be used in support of your answer. Using the worksheet should help with this. But the more by way of ethics that you can offer in support of your answer, the better your presentation will be. By contrast, the less by way of ethics that you offer in support of your answer, the worse your presentation will be.
Feel free to use video media in your presentation. Powerpoint slides can help to organize a presentation but they are also pretty boring. Keep in mind too: this is a presentation and you will be graded on style, organization, effectiveness, clarity, and other dimensions. I certainly don’t expect a product that looks like it was professionally done, but given that this is a Communication Intensive (CI) course, I will be assessing presentations given CI criteria. Your classmates will be viewing your presentation too, so make sure it’s effective.
I will provide a sample presentation on the course Canvas site. Look to my example for some guidance, as well as the presentations of your classmates. A grading rubric can be found below. I would also strongly recommend using the Case Study Questions for each case study available in the interactive materials for the Kernohan text, available here: http://sites.broadviewpress.com/businessethics/draft-case-studies/. (Case Study 12)
Two things:
- To complete the case presentation, should complete the Case Analysis Worksheet. This completed worksheet should be emailed to the instructor by the due date for the case study. Your presentation is not complete without this completed worksheet and will not be graded unless it is completed.
- Be sure to regularly return to your presentation to see if anyone has asked you a question. Be sure to answer those questions that your classmates ask! I will consider how well you respond to those questions when grading your presentation.
Rubric
Your presentation grade will be out of 100 points. You will be graded based on the following rubric.
- Content (40 points)
I will be looking to see how well you incorporate ethical theory into your presentation. You should make ample use of the various themes and principles and concepts from the Kernohan text in particular. Make sure that the ethical theory that you utilize really is relevant and be sure to explain why the ethical theory that you are discussing helps to show that your answer is plausible. You should also consider the details of the case study. The particulars probably matter and you should consider them.
- 40 points: Answer is well defended by appeal to multiple ethical theories; student has provided several ethical considerations in support of her position and those considerations really do support the answer. No obviously relevant ethical consideration is missed. Relevant factual details of the presentation are considered and addressed as relevant.
- 32 points: Student has supplied a modest amount of ethical theory in support of her answer, but not much more. Might be emphasizing one preferred ethical theory at the expense of other relevant considerations. Ethical considerations are relevant but not well focused. Answer needs some sophistication or nuance. There might be a pretty obvious objection to the student’s answer that is not addressed. Some facts relevant to the case study matter are ignored.
- 24 points: Relevant terminology is being used but incorrectly or inappropriately. Misunderstanding abounds. Obvious ethical considerations are not addressed. Much more work to do and the ethical reasoning that is provided is pretty poor.
- 20 points: Student has not really provided any ethical reasoning in support of her answer at all. Answer is merely the statement of purported fact or opinion.
- Argument (30 points)The cogency and soundness of your argument are assessed in this category. The more reasons you can offer in support of your answer, the better–at a minimum, you should offer at least three reasons in support of your answer. The more reasons you can offer in support of your answer, the more points; fewer reasons, fewer points. Organization matters here: a sloppy and disordered presentation will probably not have multiple clear lines of argument. Note: this is where I will consider your responses to your classmates’ questions. · 30 points: Multiple reasons offered in support of the favored position, all of which are consistent with one another and well-integrated, all of which are relevant to the case study. A thoroughly convincing presentation. · 24 points: Student has offered some reasons in support of her position, but some of those reasons aren’t really relevant or else the ethical theory invoked in defense of the answer doesn’t really support the student’s position. Some crucial part of an effective argument is missing or some crucial assumption is not really defended. There is some obvious objection or counter-example that the student has not considered. There is ethical reasoning offered in support of the answer, but more work to do. Possible that there is an inconsistency that is not explained. · 18 points: Student has offered only the beginnings of an argument. Obvious objections are not responded to or the argument includes some assumption that is far from obviously true. Student may be confused about the implications of ethical theory here or is relying too much on what strikes here as obviously true without argument. Presentation is sloppy and difficult to locate just what the argument is. Student contradicts herself or her position is inconsistent. · 15 points: Student has barely offered an argument at all. Either she is just asserting her opinion or is providing a purely factual discussion of the case study.
- Quality of Answer (20 points)
The plausibility of your answer will depend on several criteria. First, its relevance to the question posed at the end of the case study. Is your answer really responsive to the question? Does it answer the question completely? Second, how workable is your answer? Could it really be implemented? Is it a realistic response given the details of the case study? Third, is it consistent with the ethical theory that you appeal to in your presentation?
- 20 points: Answer is plausible on its face and responsive to the problem. Student has provided a nuanced and sophisticated response that avoids making the problem seem like it is simple or easily solved.
- 16 points: Answer is not obviously implausible but problematic for some reason. Some crucial matter is not addressed, or the answer isn’t really workable or likely to work, or is inconsistent with the ethical theory that the student has discussed. Answer could be more nuanced or sophisticated; things might be more complicated than the student appreciates.
- 12 points: Answer is not terribly plausible on its face. The proposed solution isn’t really workable or is at odds with the details in the case study or there is some pretty obvious ethical objection to the proposal. The answer is really brute or crude when things are pretty clearly more complicated.
- 10 points: A wildly inappropriate response that suggests the student has simply not appreciated the problem being addressed or hasn’t taken the problem seriously.
- Style Points (10 points)
This is a presentation so you will be graded on several criteria related to “style” including clarity, time allotted, use of visual material, elocution, enthusiasm, and so forth.
- 10 points: A clear and well-organized presentation. Excellent use of visual materials incorporated into the presentation. Student speaks and present clearly, convincingly, and with enthusiasm. No distractions. Good pacing and the presentation works within the time allotted.
- 8 points: Presentation is organized but there are problems. Too much time spent on some part of the presentation, not enough time on some other part. Student is dragging or rushing. Visual materials are used but are either distracting or not terribly effective. Problems with elocution or pronunciation or volume or some other stylistic element that makes it more difficult to follow along. Needs some energy or overly enthusiastic.
- 6 points: Presentation is poorly organized and student has failed to clearly deliver her presentation. Presentation runs over or under the allotted time. Problems with technical delivery. Ineffective use of visual materials. Difficult to even understand what is being said.
- 5 points: Something has gone pretty clearly wrong and the presentation is seriously disorganized and ineffective. Terribly difficult for an average observer to understand and follow along. Presentation runs seriously over or under the allotted time.