The case study that you’ll discuss is “Hacking into Harvard.” This is case study 2.1 in the ninth edition of Shaw’s Business Ethics that is provided in the dropped file. Do not use outside materials. You should write as if you’re teaching the course material to someone who is not in this course. Do not assume the reader has the textbook, knows the prompts/questions, or has already read the case study. This is your opportunity to clearly express your comprehension of the course material. QUOTES ONLY FROM THE BOOK BUSINESS ETHICS BY WILLIAM SHAW FROM CHAPTERS 1-2 PROVIDED IN THE DROPPED FILE.
What is the structure of the paper? After you have read the case study, you’ll write a paper that synthesizes your answers to some of the discussion questions that follow the case study. You’ll want to use transition paragraphs so that the paper is coherent. In other words, you must avoid having the paper seem as if it’s five disjointed papers; do not itemize the answers. Make your paper flow from one topic to another.
The result should be one paper of 1,600 – 1,800 words (excluding quotes). The formatting should follow these guidelines: 12pt, Times New Roman, 1in margins, and double-spaced. At the top of your paper, write a creative title and state the word count twice (1: the count of your words only; 2: the count of your words and the quotes).
This paper must be typed and submitted electronically in .docx or .pdf format. The file must be named in the following format: Lastname_Paper1. The following outline should be used in terms of the flow of the paper. The word count for each section, however, is flexible. You should note that your response to Question 2 is the centerpiece of the essay and should not be cut short. Spend most of your energy focused on thoroughly providing a detailed answer to Question 2.
Introduction: 150 – 200 words Question 4: 150 – 200 words Question 1: 150 – 200 words Question 2: 550 – 600 words Question 3: 150 – 200 words Question 5: 250 – 300 words Conclusion: 100 – 200 words Total: 1500 – 1900 words (n.b.: 1,600 – 1,800, excluding quotes, are required)
The introduction should describe the case study and emphasize the moral dilemma(s) it introduces. This is your opportunity to identify the stakes. Each discussion question should be fully answered. The conclusion should stress the importance of having one normative theory in one’s intellectual toolbox so that one can carefully assess moral dilemmas.
Should you use quotes? Yes, this only makes your essay stronger. Using quotes shows evidence or support for claims that you’re making. Be sure that you only use quotes from material assigned for this course. You should not use outside sources. Quotes should be taken from both the case study and the first two chapters of Business Ethics.
Whenever you provide quotes, you should first introduce the quote. This means telling the reader who is speaking and why the speaker is important to your essay. For example, you might write something akin to the following: [According to Charles Mills, a leading political philosopher, “Kant held that xxxx” (p?)]
Another way of using quotes is to embed them within a sentence of your own. For example, you might write something like the following: [Although Thomas Hobbes argued that our natural condition is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” many contemporary anthropologists, social psychologists, and cognitive scientists have pushed back against the idea that humanity is naturally amoral (p??).]
Once you’ve written the quote, be sure to unpack the ideas. Write a few sentences explaining what the quote means. Remember, your task is to teach the material. A good tip for doing this well is to read your paper and skip the quotes. Yes, it will sound funny. But the point is to ascertain whether the main ideas are still being explained with the quotes missing. If something necessary to your argument gets left out, then that means you’ve relied too much on a quote. Go back and write a few more sentences in your own voice.
I recommend using two or three quotes for every 400 words of your voice. However, I strongly discourage using block quotes, that is, quotes that take up more than four lines of text. Remember, the word count applies to your own voice—quotes don’t factor in the word count. Is there a citation format that I need to follow for the bibliography? You can simply put the page numbers in parentheses at the end of a quote. You do not need to include a title page or bibliography for this assignment.
“Hacking Into Harvard” Case Study Questions
1.Suppose that you had been one of the MBA applicants who stumbled across an opportunity to learn your results early. What would you have done, and why? Would you have considered it a moral decision? If so, on what basis would you have made it?
2. Assess the morality of what the curious applicants did from the point of view of egoism, utilitarianism, Kant’s ethics, Ross’s pluralism, and rule utilitarianism.
3. In your view, was it wrong for the MBA applicants to take an unauthorized peek at their application files? Explain why you consider what they did morally permissible or impermissible. What obligations, ideals, and effects should the applicants have considered? Do you think, as some have suggested, that there is a generation gap on this issue?
4. Did Harvard and MIT overreact, or was it necessary for them to respond as they did in order to send a strong message about the importance of ethics? If you were a business-school admissions official, how would you have handled this situation?
5. Assess the argument that the applicants who snooped were just engaging in the type of bold and aggressive behavior that makes for business success. In your view, are these applicants likely to make good business leaders? What about the argument that it’s really the fault of the universities for not having more secure procedures and not the fault of the applicants who took advantage of that fact?
6. One of the applicants admits that he used poor judgment but believes that his ethics should not be questioned. What do you think he means? If he exercised poor judgment on a question of right and wrong, isn’t that a matter of his ethics? Stanford’s Derrick Bolton distinguishes between a lapse of judgment and a lack of integrity. What do you see as the difference? Based on this episode, what, if anything, can we say about the ethics and the character of the curious applicants?