Ethical Case Study

 

Ethical Case Study Project Guidelines

Overview

You write a case study based on your own experience related to an ethical issue within an organization; or you may choose to write about an emerging ethical issue within your current or planned industry. The case study can be fully anonymous to protect those within your organization, and you may choose to identify your role in the case study or not. Your case study will be submitted for a grade in parts throughout the term with the entire final document as the last deliverable. Please review these general tips and guidelines. How to approach writing your case:

• Assume you are one of the leaders in the organization. Write with clarity and confidence on the topic based on what you have learned prior to and during this course.

• Pretend that the audience reading this case study knows nothing about the situation or ethical philosophy, decision-making, etc. Provide enough detail to give readers enough information to draw conclusions, but remain succinct.

• Explain, as needed, the context, evaluate the evidence, and make a decision concerning the appropriate course of action, and support your conclusion through arguments and counter-arguments.

• Take a clear and decisive position – What would you do in this case? What ethical decision-making framework did you use? What most influenced your decision?

Formatting Requirements

The formatting of this document should be as follows:

• Use consistent formatting throughout (12 pt font, Times New Roman, single-spaced).

• Do review your paper thoroughly for grammatical issues and typographical errors!

• Use cover page and references

• Cite your sources (do not use Wikipedia or Blog, etc.) and list them in a reference page per APA style.

• At minimum 5 resources that are published no more than five years ago. Choose scholarly resources (i.e., peer-reviewed journal, sources from your industry/organization, and (sparingly) the textbook.

• 9-12 body pages (single-spaced, not including cover page and references).

Project Timeline

• Week 3: Choose an ethical issue and a topic. See the assignment for details.

• Week 4: Part 1 and Outline of Case

• Week 5: Part 2

• Week 6: Part 3

• Week 7: Final Document

• Week 8: Final Presentation

Ethical Case Outline

Part 1: Describe the case (3-4 pages):

• Identify the parties involved, their rights, their responsibilities

• Identify the salient ethical and/or legal issues of the case

• Identify the relevant factual issues, conceptual issues, social constraints, and any additional information necessary for an accurate understanding of the case.

• If needed, conduct research about the issue from multiple perspectives and include relevant ethical theory, legal requirements, and technical details about the case to ensure that the case can be solved.

• See OWL Sample Outlines for formatting information.

Part 2: Critically analyze the case (3-4 pages):

• Identify the primary “ethical dilemma (or question)” in the case.

• Formulate possible courses of action.

• Discuss any role that information technology or context played in creating the special circumstances of the case.

• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of those actions.

• Analyze different courses of action, are they based on a consequential or non-consequential approach? Are these courses of action ethical?

• Weigh the pros and cons of each action.

Part 3: Solve the case (3-4 pages):

• Indicate which course of action you would choose, and why. If you were personally involved in the scenario, you can detail what you DID do compared to what you WOULD do given what you have learned in this course.

• Provide your own opinions: do not rephrase the opinions of others, create your own, unique viewpoint based on your ethical philosophy, ethical decision-making framework, and the context and scenario of the case.

• Clearly demonstrate and explain how the pros of your solution outweigh the cons.

• Use the facts of the case and supporting resources to convince your readers of the soundness of your ethical point of view

Final Document

• All parts due as one cohesive document.

• Be sure to have addressed any issues or concerns that were brought to your attention from each individual part.

Final Presentation

• Create a 8-10 minute narrated presentation that is limited to 10 slides