Business Ethics: Term Paper Instructions and Advice (CEL)

BASICS:  If you are handing in your paper personally, you must do so on the last class day (Saturday, July 12), UNLESS it is about advertising ethics or the environment. If it is about either of these topics, then you may take a little extra time; your paper is due on Monday (July 14) at 9:00 a.m. (if you wish to take advantage of this extra time you’ll need to send your paper by e-mail.). If you wish, you may submit your paper by email (please send it in either WordPerfect, MSWord, or ASCII ("dos text") format). If you submit your paper by email, you may take until noon on Sunday, July 13. Either way, remember that it is your responsibility to make sure that the paper is in my hand at the right time. I’ll be turning in grades on the 14^th or 15^th. It is also your responsibility to keep an extra copy of your paper at least until after I have turned in a grade for you.

Your paper must be at least 6 full pages long, and should not be longer than 8 pages long. (There is no penalty for going over the limit, but going under the limit will affect your grade.) A "page" means a double spaced page, with an 11 or 12 point font and one-inch margins; such a page should contain between 250 and 300 words. (I know the tricks about widening the margins, enlarging the fonts, leaving large spaces for titles and headings, and so on. Please don’t bother trying to make a short paper look longer; just write one of the proper length.)

TOPIC:  You have a great deal of freedom in selecting a topic. The main rule for selecting a topic is that the paper must deal both with ethics and with some aspect of business or the workplace (including non-profit organizations). I have suggested various topics on the syllabus, and I will continue to do so throughout the course. Some of the discussion questions that appear on the handouts are also suitable term paper topics. If you are in any doubt about whether a topic is suitable, it is your responsibility to check with me. You are not required to get my approval for your paper topic, but if you want to write about some topic that I have not suggested, then I recommend checking with me. Note that the fact that you are allowed to write about a given business ethics topic does not necessarily mean that you will be able to write a good paper about it.

KINDS OF ACCEPTABLE PAPERS:  The following kinds of paper are acceptable for term papers in my business ethics class:

1. A case study, including a study of a particular experience of your own,

2. An argumentative/persuasive paper (Some people call these "opinion paper," which is fine, so long as you keep in mind that the point is not simply to give your opinion, but to defend it with reasons, facts, and/or arguments.),

3. A traditional research paper in which you dig up various facts from various sources and use them to answer some question. The information used in this paper may come from traditional sources like books, articles, and the Internet, or it may be more "journalistic" in nature and come from interviews and your personal observations.

EXPECTATIONS–CONTENT:  The term paper is not meant to be mere busy work, and if you think of it that way, you are unlikely to write a good paper or to get a good grade. Ideally, you should put a lot into it and get a lot out of it. If you are not prepared to do that, then you should be prepared to get a less than stellar grade. A term paper that does not demonstrate significant original intellectual activity on your part will not receive a high grade. If you want a high grade on the paper, you’ll have to work for it.

To get a good grade, the paper must contain original, high-quality intellectual work that goes beyond what was covered in class. A book report, or a summary of some things you found out from surfing the Web one day, or an unsupported, rambling manifesto of your own thoughts are not examples of high-quality, original intellectual activity, and they will not earn a high grade as term papers for this course.

Here are two things that will help ensure that your paper contains high-quality work:

Ask and then answer an interesting, challenging question about your topic

Support what you say with appropriate facts, reasons, analysis, and arguments. Remember that we have covered material on moral principles. These principles are for use in building and assessing moral arguments. If your paper draws a moral conclusion, then you should support it by using widely recognized moral principles like the ones we discussed in class. If your paper criticizes someone else’s moral argument, then you should support your criticism, e.g., by explaining why the argument you are criticizing neglects relevant facts, mis-applies the moral principles it relies on, or ignores more important moral principles.

EXPECTATIONS–COMPOSITION:  This is an upper-level college course, and it is reasonable to expect that student writing will display college-level composition skills. Writing that is of substandard quality will have a negative effect on your paper grade. An excessive number of simple grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors is grounds for receiving a failing grade (normally a 50%) for the term paper. "Excessive number" is defined here as a number equal to two times the number of pages in your paper. Thus, if your paper is 8 pages long, then 16 simple errors counts as excessive and will result in a failing grade. "Simple errors" include things like comma splices, run-on sentences, inappropriate fragments, lack of subject-verb agreement, mistaking "there" for "their" or "it’s" for "its," mistakes involving the formation of the possessive, improper punctuation of compound sentences, failure to put a comma after long introductory dependent clauses, and so on. (These are all very basic rules, and there is no legitimate excuse for a college student not to know and follow them.) My website contains a detailed explanation of most of the common grammar and punctuation errors; you should consult it.

It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that my writing meets the standards for college-level composition before you submit the paper for a grade. If you’re not used to proofreading your written work, then you should get used to it. Substandard writing will make a very bad impression on your employers, supervisors, clients, customers, and subordinates. Remember that most employers are looking for good communication skills, and that this includes good written communication skills.

GENERAL ADVICE: ASK AND ANSWER A GOOD QUESTION:  A good paper normally asks and answers a good question. What makes a question good? A challenging question is better than one with an obvious answer. For example, "Did Enron do something wrong?" is not a particularly challenging question. "What caused the moral breakdown that led to the Enron disaster?" or "What changes to the accounting rules would prevent future Enron-type disasters?" or "What lessons can we derive from Enron about how to prevent ethical lapses in our own company?" would all be much better questions.

A good question will have most if not all of these features:

It is challenging.

It does not have an obvious or uncontroversial answer.

It is interesting.

It has important implications.

SPECIFIC ADVICE FOR THE SPECIFIC KINDS OF PAPERS:  Here is some specific advice that applies to the three kinds of acceptable papers.

1. CASE STUDIES:  Remember that the point of the paper assignment is for you to do some thinking. It is not meant to be a mere "report" in the sense of a simple description of some event or situation. In other words, a case study is not just a description of a case, but rather a STUDY of it. If you write a case study paper, then make sure that you ask and answer an interesting question about the case that you discuss. (Of course, you will have to describe the facts and/or chronology of the case, but if that is all you do, then you have not done the kind of thinking that will earn you a good grade.)

One kind of acceptable case study paper is a paper that describes a situation faced by the paper’s own author. In fact, some of the best papers I have seen in PHL 318 have been studies of moral dilemmas that have arisen in the personal experience of the papers’ authors. However, some of the worst papers I have seen in PHL 318 have also been of this sort. The trick is not just to tell a good story, but to go on and analyze it–to ask and answer some good question(s) about it. For example, you might ask why the other person(s) acted the way they did, what kinds of policies might have prevented the situation, what alternatives there might have been to handle the situation, and so on. If the situation was morally ambiguous, you might try to determine what the best approach would have been to resolving it. The point is not simply to recount some horror story of an unethical behavior that one has been witness (or victim) to, but to do some critical thinking about those events. Sometimes this kind of activity can be therapeutic, and if it is, then that is an added bonus. However, the goal of the assignment is not to provide you the opportunity to rant about something you did not like that happened to you. If the situation leaves you with nothing to analyze, or if you are too close to it to be able to analyze it objectively, then you will probably be better off finding a different topic for this paper.

If your paper is about a situation that you have been involved in, you may wish to change the names of the people involved in order to protect their identities.

2. ARGUMENTATIVE/PERSUASIVE PAPERS:  I sometimes call this the "traditional philosophy paper" not because it is only written in philosophy classes, but because it is the most common kind of paper written in most philosophy classes. Some people call these "opinion papers." That’s a fine thing to call it, so long as you keep in mind that the point is not simply to give your opinion, but to support or defend it with reasons, facts, and/or arguments. In some ways, this is the most difficult kind of paper to write. On the other hand, a good argumentative/persuasive paper has the potential to be more impressive than a good case study or research paper.

Remember that a paper like this needs to do more than just give your opinion. Anyone can have an opinion, and simply stating it is no great intellectual feat. The point is to support and defend your opinion. Such a paper also must do more than merely use or summarize arguments that come from some other source (like class, the text, or an outside source). A good argumentative paper needs to display some original thinking on your part. You may start with ideas or arguments or other material from class or the text, but you should think of them as a starting point for your paper rather than the endpoint.

There are three common approaches to writing an argumentative paper:

1. Offer an additional argument for your position, an argument that did not come from someone else.  In some cases this new argument might be an improved version or fuller development of someone else's, but it must really be new and improved, and not simply paraphrased.

2. Devise an original objection to some argument that we discussed in class.  In some ways, this is the easiest kind of original thinking for most students.  You can begin to write a paper of this sort simply by asking yourself why some particular argument did not convince you.  If you can find a good reason for not being convinced by some argument, then you are well on your way to formulating an objection to that argument.

3. Give an original reply to some possible objection(s) to your position or your argument.  That objection might be one we discussed in class, or it might be one that you came up with on your own.

If you are having trouble getting started writing this kind of paper, you might try the following process:

1. Ask yourself what you believe about the topic at hand.

2. Ask yourself why you believe what you do. Pretend that someone has asked you why you believe what you do; what reasons could you give for your view?

3. Examine these reasons. Throw out any that are based on faulty logic or a misunderstanding of the facts. If your position draws a moral conclusion, then determine what moral principles it relies on, and then make sure that these principles have been applied properly. Check to see whether other moral principles might lead to a different conclusion, and if so, use the rules about estimating a principle’s strength to determine which principle should take precedence.

4. Ask yourself: What would my opponent say to this? See whether there are any obvious objections to your position or to your reasons or arguments.  Some objections may have been discussed in class and/or the other readings. If so, then you MUST reply to them (that is, you must explain why they do not change your mind).  You cannot claim to have defended a position if you have not responded to objections that were discussed in class or which appear in the readings.  Even if no objections to your argument or position were discussed in class or the readings, you should still spend some time thinking about whether a reasonably intelligent reader (like your professor) might find some problem with or objection to your position or the arguments you use to back it up. When thinking about an objection, as yourself, "Why doesn't this objection make me change my mind?" (Of course, if you can't give a good reason for not changing your mind, that may be a sign that you SHOULD change your mind!) In some cases, a paper may have such a strong argument that there are no obvious objections.  If the main argument is strong enough and if it is free from any obvious objections, then you may not need to discuss any objections in your paper.

3. RESEARCH PAPERS:  A good research paper does more than simply list a collection of facts. It uses those facts to draw some conclusion, support some analysis, or provide examples for some generalization. In short, the POINT of doing the research is to answer a question. The better the question, the better the paper.

There is no set number of kind of sources required for this kind of paper. The optimal number and type of sources will vary according to the subject matter and the questions you are asking about it. Generally speaking, however, it is usually better to have more sources than fewer, and it is desirable to have multiple sources for information that is particularly surprising or controversial.

These days, most students use the Internet when writing such papers. That is fine, so long as you keep in mind two important things: First, be sure that you do not accidentally plagiarize. It is best to avoid using the "drag and drop" function when doing Internet research. It is better either to print out the sites you want to use and then use standard research methods (careful note-taking in which you carefully note the source and then either summarize the material in your own words or carefully note that you have used exact words so that you remember to put them into quotation marks if you use them in your paper), or to use those same research methods while the site is on the screen. Second, it is important to keep in mind that there is no quality control on the Internet. Any nut or idiot with a modem can post anything s/he wants on the Web. This means that you have to be careful in determining which sites provide reliable information. A general rule is that web sites that are connected with regular media publications (newspapers or major news networks) generally contain accurate information, as do sites maintained by recognized academic entities (scholars, professors, scientists affiliated with recognized universities or research organizations) and government agencies. Note that web sites maintained by individuals or groups that are pushing a certain point of view on a controversial issue are likely to selectively report and "spin" the facts to their own advantage. If you look at "partisan" sources (like the American Enterprise Institute or the Socialist Workers Party) for information, be sure to look at sources on the other side of the issue to make sure you are getting a full picture of the facts.

CITING SOURCES AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM:  Keep in mind that if you use in any ideas, findings, arguments, or information from any author that are not common knowledge, then you must cite the source of that material in the text of the paper where you mention it. Failure to do this is a form of plagiarism. If you use the exact words from any author, they must be cited and either placed in quotation marks (if the quotation is short) or inset (if the quotation is long). Failure to do this is a form of plagiarism. Notice that putting someone else’s words into a paper without proper citation and quotation marks (or indentation) is still plagiarism even if you have made a few changes to the author’s words. Any violation of these rules, even if it is unintentional, constitutes academic misconduct, and the minimum penalty for academic misconduct in this course is zero credit for the assignment. (Particularly egregious forms of plagiarism–such as buying or stealing an entire paper–will result in a failing grade for the course and my vigorous recommendation to the Dean of Students that additional action be taken.) It is YOUR responsibility to know, understand, and follow the rules against plagiarism; if you are unsure of what they are or how they apply in any particular situation, it is YOUR responsibility to ask me.

I am not picky about the format of your citations, so long as they meet the following requirements:

1. Any fact or idea that needs to be cited, and any quotation, must be cited in the text where it occurs. You can do this by using a footnote, endnote, or parenthetical citation.

2. Somewhere in the paper, full citations need to be given. If you use footnotes or endnotes, it is easiest to give the full citation information in the note; if you use parenthetical citations, you can use the author-date method and give the full citation information at the end of the paper.

3. Everything that needs to be cited does get cited.

 

Make an outline; it helps organize your thoughts before you write. Use the outline along with your notes to work out what you are going to say before you begin to write.

"Writing is rewriting." It is virtually impossible to write clear, precise, and accurate philosophical text on the first try. I urge you to do at least 1 or 2 rough drafts and to edit them very carefully.

Read the paper out loud when you are evaluating your drafts. Better yet, read it out loud to another person. If any sentence does not sound clear to you or the other person, rewrite it.

Strive for clarity. I am not impressed with fancy words and long sentences, and it is a myth that you can bullsh*t your way through philosophy class. Try to write in short, clear sentences. If a sentence is too long to say out loud, it is probably too long to write.

One strategy for writing clearly is to say something out loud in your own words as clearly as you can (as though you were explaining it to someone else), and then write down what you say and revise from there. Be sure that you do revise–while your paper does not need to be extremely formal, it should be at least "business casual." Most of us speak in a more informal tone than you want your paper to have.