Outline of Final Paper

The paper must be one to two pages, excluding the title page and references page(s), and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center

Address all of the following parts of this assignment:

1. The outline must contain the following major sections that will exist in the Final Paper:
2. Prepare a one- to two-page double-spaced outline of your Final Paper.

• A description of a business situation that presents a legal and ethical issue.
• A description of at least two ethical theories under which the situation will be analyzed.
• An explanation of the specific areas of law under which the situation will be analyzed.

1. The outline must be accompanied by a reference page that includes at least 10 scholarly sources that will be used in your Final Paper.

Submit a one- to two-page paper (not including title and reference pages). Your paper must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the approved APA style guide and must cite at least 10 scholarly sources in addition to the textbook

Final Paper

Prepare an 11- to 15-page paper (not including the title and reference pages) that assesses a legal/ethical issue or situation relating to a current, previous, or potential future work environment. Use at least 10 scholarly sources that are suitable for research in a graduate-level course.

Your paper must include the following:

• A description of a business situation that presents a legal and ethical issue. The business situation must be from prior, current, or anticipated future employment experiences or from a current event. The description of the business situation must not exceed two pages.
• An analysis of the ethical concerns raised by the situation.
  • Apply at least two different ethical theories to the situation to support at least two different outcomes.
  • The paper must determine which ethical outlook as applied to this particular situation will result in the best legal outcome for the business.
• An explanation of at least three of the relevant areas of law that have been addressed in this course (e.g., constitutional law, contracts, anti-trust law, securities regulations, employment law, environmental law, crimes, or torts) and an assessment of the each area of law as it applies to the business situation identified.
• A recommendation to reduce liability exposure and improve the ethical climate or the overall ethics of the situation. Your recommendation must be supported by specific legal, ethical, and business principles.

Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:

• Must be 11 to 15 double-spaced pages in length (not including the title and reference pages), and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement which identifies the focus of the paper.
• Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
• Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
• Must use at least 10 scholarly sources.
• Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Must include a separate references page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center

TEACHERS NOTE

As you get ready to write and organize your Outline for the Final Paper, I wanted to point out a couple of things about the required components for the outline.

You need to provide a:

• A description of a business situation that presents a legal and ethical issue.
• A description of at least two ethical theories under which the situation will be analyzed. Ethical theories: see Chapter 4.1. These are established, academic theories on ethics that need to be discussed (not ones you have created – I say this because I have had students do this.)
• An explanation of the three specific areas of law under which the situation will be analyzed.

Descriptions and explanations are not just listing theories, laws and even a business topic. A description and/or explanation will need to be more than just lists. Keep this in mind!

If you just list but don’t provide a brief description/explanation on the topics that you will be discussing, it will affect your grade. The description/explanation lets me know where you are in your research and preparation for your Final Paper, and will demonstrate that you understand the information and are applying it to the chosen Final Paper business topic.

Also, you are required to have “a reference page that includes at least 10 scholarly sources” – these need to be cited correctly. Review any feedback you have received in your Week 1 – Week 3 papers for assistance, along with one of my first announcements in the class (Helpful Hints) and the Writing Center. This is a significant portion of your grade for the Outline.

I know many of you, and hopefully all of you, are thinking about and/or working on the Outline for your Final Paper. Excuse the wordiness of this email/message, but I want to give you some guidance on your topic!
Topic

When considering a topic, please keep in mind that you need to write an in-depth paper on a legal/ethical issue that can or has occurred in a past, present or future work environment or a current event that affects a work environment. I suggest that you pick a topic that interests you and one that you can find enough research to support information.

This could be any number of topics ranging from environmental pollution from a business, discrimination (age, racial, sex, national origin or any other type of discrimination), issues with Family and Medical Leave Act, whistleblowing, specific situations that have occurred in a work place, LGBT rights in the military, HIPAA, preventing medical malpractice within a health care facility, workplace privacy, the requirement of drug screening in the workplace, and workplace diversity; these are topics that can be appropriate, to name just a few.

Some students like to look at educational issues, which could involve issues with a college accepting students who will be unable to pay for student loans, affirmative action, union negotiations, the requirement for teachers to belong in unions, college recruitment of students that may border on unethical actions (to maintain recruitment quotas), or standardized testing in elementary schools (and how it affects the business end of running a school).

There is obviously a wide range of legal issues that affect the business world. Review the textbook and the Instructor Guidance pages as those can all lead to a solid topic.

Just make sure your subject is about an issue that affects a work environment. I had someone right about the First Amendment in a church, but never connected it to a work environment – it did not meet the requirements. I also had someone write about child obesity – but once again, it was not about a work environment.

Avoid doing this: Students have tried to write about all work place discrimination that can occur, in one paper, and that was not an in-depth paper but rather a cursory discussion on all of the types of discrimination. Pick ONE type of discrimination and focus on that – do not try to do all or even several types of discrimination.

If you choose to address a current event, make it a current event. This should be something that has occurred in the past one to two years. I have had students provide a discussion on the history of the tobacco industry, the Enron scandal (2001), Martha Stewart’s arrest (in 2004) and yes, even the liability of the owners of the Titanic (really not current). These were not successful current event topics.

Do not write a general paper on general ethics, or how business ethics are good, or a paper trying to cover different ethical examples in business, government and society, without a main topic. This will not be specific or in-depth enough.

Keeping the following components in mind, make sure you can satisfy these requirements on your Final Paper within your chosen topic.

Final Paper Components
Within your topic, you will need to provide:
1. A description of the business situation
2. The identification and discussion of three (3) applicable laws, areas of law, and/or sections of the U.S. Constitution that apply to the business situation
3. A discussion on at least two (2) different ethical theories that will support at least two different outcomes
4. The identification and discussion as to which ethical theory provides the best outcome for your chosen business situation, and why
5. Recommendation to reduce liability exposure and improve ethical climate or the overall ethics of the situation

Will your topic be able to support a Final Paper that is 11-15 pages in length (excluding title and Reference pages) and will have at least 10 scholarly sources to support the topic (scholarly references, not encyclopedias, dictionaries or Wikipedia)?

Keep these requirements in mind, too, when choosing your topic.

Your Outline for your Final Paper is due by midnight, Monday, March 12, 2018.
Your Final Paper is due Monday, March 26, 2018, by midnight.

Make sure you follow the Grading Rubric for both assignments and the assignment descriptions (Week 4 outline and Week 6’s Final Paper) as these are very specific as to requirements and point values.