Readings

1. To successfully complete this week’s assignments, read the following chapters from the text, Introduction to Business Ethics:
   • Chapter 7 – Financial Ethics
   • Chapter 8 – International Ethics and Multinationals

Recommended Readings

1. To successfully complete this week’s assignments, it is recommended that you read the following articles found in the EBSCO Host database in the Ashford Online Library:
   • Ernult, J., & Ashta, J. (2008 February). How to measure global sustainable performance in a service enterprise? A case study of credibility of Vigeo’s rating of Caisse d’Epargne. Journal of Services Research, 8, 101-123.
     (For a rating agency to be credible, it has to be independent, objective, transparent and base its evaluation on a theoretically sound model. This paper looks into the complexity of such a model and questions whether any single global performance measure is possible. It studies a French rating agency, Vigeo, and its evaluation of one French bank, Caisse d’Epargne, to determine if the Vigeo model respects these criteria of credibility.)
   • Tindana, P, et al. (2011 October). Aligning community engagement with traditional authority structures in global health research: A case study from northern Ghana. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300203
     (Despite the recognition of its importance, guidance on community engagement practices for researchers remains underdeveloped, and there is little empirical evidence of what makes community engagement effective in biomedical research. The Navrongo Health Research Centre in northern Ghana was chosen because of its well-established community engagement practices and because of the opportunity it afforded to examine community engagement in a traditional African setting.)
2. To successfully complete this week’s assignments, it is recommended that you read the following articles found in the ProQuest database in the Ashford Online Library:
   • Bolton, S., Kim, R., & O’gorman, K. (2011). Corporate social responsibility as a dynamic internal organizational process: A case study. Journal of Business Ethics, 10(1), 61-74. doi: 10.1007/s10551-010-0709-5
     (This article tracks Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as an emergent organizational process that places the employee at its center.)
   • Cagle, J., & Baucus, M. (2006, March). Case studies of ethical scandals: Effects on ethical perceptions of finance students. Journal of Business Ethics, 64(3), 213-229. doi: 10.1007/s10551-005-8503-5
     (A pre- and post-test methodology to assess the effect of using cases to teach ethics in a finance course. Results are somewhat surprising since studying ethics scandals positively impacts students’ ethical decision making and their perceptions of the ethics of businesspeople.)
   • Falkenberg, A., & Falkenberg, J. (2009). Ethics in international value chain networks: the case of Telnor in Bangladesh. Journal of Business Ethics: Supplement 3, 90, 355-369. doi: 10.1007/s10551-010-0429-x
     (The case of Telenor in Bangladesh is one of many examples of international value chain networks that span different jurisdictions. The case focuses on relevant issues in the value chain networks: the institutions in Norway and Bangladesh, the owners, suppliers, and customers.)
   • Newenham-Kahindi, A. (2011 March). A global mining corporation and local communities in the Lake Victoria zone: The case of Barrick Gold Multinational in Tanzania. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(2), 253-282. doi: 10.1007/s10551-010-0653-4
     (This case explores a Canadian mining corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick), and the way it engages with the local communities that surround its mining activities in the Lake Victoria Zone, Tanzania.)

Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week’s Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Managerial Incentives
    
   Henry Manne believed that companies cannot become too incompetent or corrupt, as eventually their share price would fall and they could be taken over by another firm that would get rid of incompetent management. Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means believed that company managers have an incentive to feather their own nests and to undermine shareholder wealth.

   Can elements or parts of these theoretical perspectives have governmental applications? If so, which theory do you think best describes the segment of American government known as the Congress and the Senate? Explain your answer.

   Which theory best fits your ethical perspective? Which theory best fits a particular group to which you currently belong, or previously belonged?

   Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.
    

2. Child Labor
    
   Child labor is endemic in the poorer countries of the world, and for many children it is seen as way of keeping their families out of poverty. Critics point out that if the governments were to invest more in educating children, they could be more productive and create more wealth for their nation when they are older. In the meantime, multinational enterprises often secure suppliers who use children.

   In your opinion, what is the best way to reduce child labor for multinational corporations? How is the phenomenon of child labor viewed from your ethical perspective? Given the ethical perspective of a particular group to which you currently belong, or previously belonged, how would child labor be viewed?

   Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

*** Please use the recommended readings for sources.  Additionally, avoid writing “I” statements, meaning all writing must be done in second or third person.