- identify ethical issues that arise in domestic and global business environments using an understanding of ethical concepts and of legal and business principles
Case Scenario:
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic required Americans to shelter in place thus causing the U.S. economy to freeze-up, resulting in millions of lost jobs. The U.S. Congress passed legislation to try and limit the economic damage. Included in the legislation was a stimulus package that would give $1,200 to single tax filers making $75,000 or less and $2,400 to married couples making $150,000 or less. The purpose of the payment was to give people emergency funds and to stimulate the economy. Also included was the CARES Act that provided the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP was a program administered by the Small Business Administration that was targeted at small business. It provided for a government loan that was forgivable if used to pay employees’ salaries and benefits, mortgages, rent, and utilities. According to the SBA website, “[t]he Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll.”
USAA is a member-owned organization that provided insurance and financial services exclusively to current and former members of the military as well as their family members. USAA has an excellent reputation as a well-run organization and for giving its members good service. Many USAA members maintain checking accounts with it. Some of those members who have checking accounts had overdrawn their balances and had a negative balance in their accounts. When the $1,200 or $2,400 stimulus check were deposited, USAA used those amounts to offset the negative balances in some of its members’ accounts. Members were not informed in advance that this would be the case. This resulted in some USAA members not having any access to the stimulus money. The action USAA took in crediting the funds to existing account deficits was perfectly legal.
Shake Shack is a corporation that owns and licenses restaurants selling traditional American fare like hamburgers and milk shakes. It currently operates 124 locations in the U.S. and overseas. As of May 4, 2020, the company had a market capitalization of $2.06 billion. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2019, Shake Shack’s CEO received $2.3 million in compensation. Shake Shack applied for and received a loan of $10 million under PPP. The loan was permissible under a provision in PPP the allows restaurant chains to apply when each location has fewer than 500 employees. Shortly after Shake Shack received the loan, the PPP ran out of funds and many small businesses did not receive loans.
Small Business Administration. (2020) Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program
How to Set Up the Paper
Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is double-spaced, 12-point font. The final product will be between 5-7 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page. Write clearly and concisely.
Create a title page with a title, the course number and section, the instructor’s name and your name.
Instructions:
Course Material
For this project, you are required to use the case scenario facts and the course material. External sources are not permitted.Use references below You are not researching on the Internet or using resources from outside the course. You are expected to answer the requirements identified below showing the connection between the case scenario facts and the course material. Using course material goes beyond defining terms and are used to explain the ‘why and how’ of a situation. Avoid merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion by explaining how something happens or why something happens, which focuses on importance and impact. In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and rationally showing an understanding of the logical connections between the ideas presented in a case scenario, the course material and the question(s) being asked. Using one or two in-text citations from the course material throughout the entire paper will not earn many points on an assignment. The use of a variety of course material is expected consistently supporting what is presented. The support must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed. Points are not earned for mentioning a term or concept but by clearly and thoroughly explaining or discussing the question at hand.
NOTE: If external sources are used, what is presented will not count and a penalty for following instruction will apply.
University of Maryland Global Campus. (2020a). BMGT 496 3660 Business Ethics (2208), week 1: Oct. 21 – Oct. 27. Document posted in UMGC BMGT 496 3660 online classroom, archived at http://campus.umgc.edu
University of Maryland Global Campus. (2020b). Chapter 1: what is business ethics. Document posted in UMGC BMGT 496 3660 online classroom, archived at http://campus.umgc.edu
University of Maryland Global Campus. (2020c). Ethical issues, ethical dilemmas, & legal issues. Document posted in UMGC BMGT 496 3660 online classroom, archived at http://campus.umgc.edu
Ethical Issues Dilemmas Legal Issues. (n.d.). https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/536288/viewContent/19552257/View
What Is Business Ethics? (n.d.). Saylor Academy. https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/536288/fullscreen/19552268/View
BMGT 496 (2020) Defining “Ethical Dilemma” Retrieved from UMGC BMGT 496 Course materials. https://learn.umgc.edu/content/enforced/536288-001154-01-2208-US2-3660/Ethical%20Issues%20Dilemmas%20Legal%20Issues1.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=t2XBD21TebdCp48YerE8DMFZm
Saylor (2020) Chapter 1: What is Business Ethics? Retrieved from BMGT 496 Course materials. https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/536288/viewContent/19552268/View
Saylor. (2012). 1.1 What Is Business Ethics? In Saylor, The Business Ethics Workshop (pp. 4-11). Retrieved October 24, 2020, from https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_the-business-ethics-workshop/index.html
Saylor. (2012). 3.1 What Is Consequentialism? In Saylor, The Business Ethics Workshop (pp. 1-22). Retrieved from https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_the-business-ethics-workshop/index.html
Saylor. (2012). 4.4 Virtue Theory. In Saylor, The Business Ethics Workshop (pp. 18-23). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.saylordotorg.github.io/text_the-busine…
Brusseau, J. (2012). The Business Ethics Workshop. Washington, DC: The Saylor Foundation. Retrieved from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/536288/viewContent/19552268/View
3.2 Utilitarianism: The Greater Good. Chapter 3: Theories of Consequences Ethics: Traditional Tools for Making Business when the Ends Justify the Means. Retrieved 31 October 2020, from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/536288/viewContent/19552275/View.
Saylor Academy. (n.d.). Theories of Consequence Ethics: Traditional Tools for Making Decisions in Business when the Ends Justify the Means. Business Ethics Workshop. Retrieved from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/536288/viewContent/19552275/View
University of Maryland Global Campus. (2020b). Chapter 4: theories responding to the challenge of cultural relativism. 137-176. Document posted in UMGC BMGT 496 3660 online classroom, archived at http://campus.umgc.edu
Westacott, E. (2020, August 26). Moral philosophy according to Immanuel Kant: Kantian ethics in a nutshell. 1-13. https://www.thoughtco.com/kantian-ethics-moral-philosophy-immanuel-kant-4045398