Virtue Ethics and the Global Manufacturing Process

Essay Instructions:

Module 3 - Case

Business Ethics and Virtue Ethics

Background

In the Module 3 Case, you will apply virtue ethics to an organizational problem. Please be sure that you have completed the Module 3 SLP before you complete the Module 3 Case.

Required Reading

Find and read the following journal article in the Library:

Sethi, S., Veral, E., Shapiro, H., & Emelianova, O. (2011). Mattel, Inc.: Global manufacturing principles (GMP) - A life-cycle analysis of a company-based code of conduct in the toy industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(4), 483-517. Retrieved November 19, 2012 from ProQuest.

While the Sethi et al. article is certainly a quite interesting case study, it is a very lengthy and fairly complex one as well. To this extent, I don’t want you to simply recount the storyline of the article in your response to the requirements. Rather, I want you to locate and evaluate the most salient business ethics issue, critically analyzing them within the context of virtue ethics - and the questions that I have posed for you below.

Assignment

In a 5-6 page paper (not including your cover page and references), please address the following:

Choose three virtues, and then discuss how the three virtues you have selected may have appropriately guided the actions and behaviors of Mattel, Inc.

Keys to the Assignment

Choose three "virtues," and provide a clear definition of each (for example, you might choose such virtues as temperance, justice, honesty, or fairness);
Apply each of the three virtues you have chosen to the Mattel case, describing how the virtue you have selected might have been used to more appropriately guide the actions, behaviors, and/or policies of the company (e.g., you may choose to discuss the company's working conditions, worker safety, company fairness, or Mattel’s attitudes towards the environment).
Considering the normative ethical theories we've studied in the first three modules (deontological, utilitarian, and virtue ethics), which do you believe is most useful in evaluating the Mattel case? Why?

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated on the following seven criteria:

Precision - Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?
Breadth - Is the full breadth of the subject (i.e., the Keys to the Assignment) addressed?
Depth - Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the background reading and other background resources as references?
Critical thinking - Is the subject thought about critically (i.e., accurately, logically, relevantly, and precisely)?
Clarity - Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of quotations?
Organization - Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings included in all papers longer than two pages?
Referencing (citations and references) - Does the paper include citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the background reading and assignment present and properly cited? Are all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to via citation?

Tips and Suggestions

Be sure that you clearly define each of the virtues you've chosen. Use the SLP information to guide you in finding a quality and objective source to do so (as we have discussed in the SLP, Wikipedia should not be used as a graduate-level source).
Be sure to integrate the theory from the journal articles you read in the Background Information section of this module (i.e., Hartman; Duchon & Drake) into your paper.
Perform some additional research in the Library (include at least three additional references).
Be sure that you include appropriate in-text citations throughout your paper, and include your sources in your end-of-paper Reference Section. Your references should be derived from at at least two peer-reviewed journals and at least one book that you have found in the TUI library. Your references may relate to business ethics, to virtue ethics, to the toy industry, or to any other relevant source. Of course, you are at liberty to include those references that you believe are most relevant and meaningful to your paper.
Remember to follow the Well-Written Paper guidelines.
The following link (the Character/Virtue Test) may be helpful to you in your evaluation of this Case: http://ethicsops(dot)com/CharacterVirtue.php

Essay Sample Content Preview:

VIRTUE ETHICS AND THE GLOBAL MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Name
Institution Affiliation
Course
Date of Submission
Virtue Ethics and the Global Manufacturing Process
Virtual ethics focuses on doing something because it is the right thing to do on the basis of established virtue, unlike utilitarianism t hat focuses on the consequences of an action, and deontological ethics which focuses on moral rules. There are several virtual and vices as listed by Aristotle that corresponds to different action or feeling. Every virtue has two vises that correspond to it, where one of the vices occurs when there is an excess of virtue, and the other occur when there is a deficient of virtue. Shame is the feeling t hat is associated with modesty, and if there is much shame, it would be shyness; nonetheless not enough shame would shameless. The choices that an individual makes is focused by virtual ethics on the basis of morals t hat hold true regardless of law and customs of an individual’s specific culture. It is essential that everyone must be held accountable to same virtual even if local laws and customs permits that behavior. Virtual ethics needs to be applied to both personal and professional lives.
There were major concerns that were exposed in the 1990s regarding the manufacturing community with respect to working conditions factories located in third world economies (Sethi, Veral, Shapiro, & Emelianova, 2011). This led to immense pressure on major manufacturing companies in an attempt to force them change their practice and improve working conditions in the factories. No company should pursue its goal of increased profits at the expense of another person or culture. Mattel is such company that undertook measures to change the manner in which they were doing business so as to improve the lives of its employees working in third world factories. Mattel is a company that specialized in selling children toys and it was their best interest to ensure that no children worked in their factories. The company created a global manufacturing principle, which all their manufacturers were required to follow to ensure there factories have a conducive working environment. Therefore, Mattel decision was conscious in ensuring that they lived up to the values society set forth.
Honesty is a very significant virtue in business as it ensures stakeholders to trust a company’s culture because if a company is dishonest, the re can be major impact on the company’s financial well being. Honesty refers to fairness and frankness of a fact and the adherence to the facts. Honesty is a virtue that does not only mean telling the truth but a virtue for being honest for the right reason, which results in an individual’s happiness. An honest individual may be forced to be dishonest at certain circumstances but has to have justifications that support their dishonesty.
Virtue in not something that an individual can decide to follow on a whim, but it is part of an individual’s character (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, & Meyer, 1988). Honesty does not mean that an individual can decide to be honest overnight, but only can decide to start being honest, and one is considered honest through acting honestly over period of time. A company that is dishonest therefore, has to take a considerable time to demonstrate that they are conducting their business honestly. The situation at hand is the one that dictates the amount of time a company has to take. This is because if a company was dishonest in reporting their profit and was discovered, it takes years to build the trust of the company back. There are possibilities that the trust of the company can be entirely eroded implying that the companies can not recover. It is very important for a company to be honest since the public is qui...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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