Project 2: Grace (20%)
In the first assignment, you have the opportunity to see ethics in play in a real world scenario. You will read the case scenario and answers the questions in a narrative format (not a question answer format). Use headings for each question.
NOTE: All submitted work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse. You are expected to understand the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 6th Ed. (Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated reference list only). Serious sanctions can result from violations of any type of the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism including a zero on a project, a zero for the course or dismissal from the University.
Read the Case Scenario
The W. R. Grace Company was founded by, yes, a man named W. R. Grace. He was Irish and it was a shipping enterprise he brought to New York in 1865. Energetic and ambitious, while his company grew on one side, he was getting civically involved on the other. Fifteen years after arriving, he was elected Mayor
of New York City. Five years after that, he personally accepted a gift from a delegation representing the people of France. It was the Statue of Liberty.
Grace was a legendary philanthropist. He provided massive food donations to his native Ireland to relieve famine. At home, his attention focused on his nonprofit Grace Institute, a tuition-free school for poor immigrant women. The classes offered there taught basic skills—stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping—
that helped students enter the workforce. More than one hundred thousand young women have passed through the school, which survives to this day.
In 1945, grandson J. Peter Grace took control of the now worldwide shipping company. A decade later, it became a publicly traded corporation on the New York Stock Exchange. The business began shifting from shipping to chemical production.
By the 1980s, W. R. Grace had become a chemical and materials company, and it had come to light that one of its plants had been pouring toxins into the soil and water underneath the small town of Woburn, Massachusetts. The poisons worked their way into the town’s water supply and then into the townspeople. It caused leukemia in newborns. Lawsuits in civil court, and later investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency, cost the corporation millions.
- Peter Grace retired as CEO in 1992. After forty-eight years on the job, he’d become the longest-reigning CEO in the history of public companies. During that time, he also served as president of the Grace Institute. The nonfiction novel A Civil Action came out in 1996. The best-selling, award-winning chronicle of the
Woburn disaster soon became a Hollywood movie. The movie, starring John Travolta, continues to appear on television with some regularity.
To honor the Grace Institute, October 28 was designated “Grace Day” by New York City in 2009. On that day, the institute defined its mission this way: “In the tradition of its founding family, Grace Institute is dedicated to the development of the personal and business skills necessary for self-sufficiency, employability, and an improved quality of life.”
Source: Used from Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensor.
Instructions
Step 1: Write the Introduction
Create the introductory paragraph. The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper and tells a reader the main points covered in the paper. To help you know how to write an introduction, view this website to learn how to write an introductory paragraph: http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/intro.html
Step 2: Answer the following
- In what ways does the structure of a “C” corporation protect its owners from absorbing ethical responsibility for the company’s actions?
- The triple bottom line is a form of corporate social responsibility where leaders analyze bottom-line results. In addition, the company’s effects are evaluated in terms of the social realm as well as in terms of the environment. At the intersection of ethics and economics is sustainability, or the long-term maintenance of balance. In which way(s) did the W.R. Grace Company comply or violate:
- Economic Sustainability
- Social Sustainability
- Environmental Sustainability
- There are three approaches to Corporate Responsibility – Corporate Social Responsibility; The Triple Bottom Line; and Stakeholder Theory. What is the importance of balancing stakeholder interests and how did the implementation or lack of implementation affect the W.R. Grace Company?
- Is the best method of managing Corporate Social Responsibility a governmental obligation, marketplace responsibility, or a hybrid of the two? Explain.
- What are the benefits of an Environmental Impact Statement; what are opposing arguments?
- Do corporations have an ethical responsibility to finance environmental protections? Did the W.R. Grace Corporation have a financial responsibility to protect the environment? Explain
- How does a Cost-Benefit Analysis align with Utilitarianism? How might a cost-benefit analysis pertain to the W.R. Grace Company?
- Is the creation of “Grace Day” an ethical issue? Why or why not?
Step 3: Review the Paper
Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present. Use the grading rubric to ensure that you gain the most points possible for this assignment.
Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical issues, and third person writing.
- Read the paper aloud as a first measure;
- Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a second measure;
- Have someone who has excellent English skills proofread the paper;
- Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC). The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.
Step 4: Submit the paper in the Assignment Folder (The assignment submitted to the Assignment Folder will be considered the student’s final product and therefore ready for grading by the instructor. It is incumbent upon the student to verify the assignment is the correct submission. No exceptions will be considered by the instructor).
How to Set Up the Paper
Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is double-spaced, 12-point font. The final product will be between 5-6 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page. Write clearly and concisely.
Completing the Paper
In order to complete this project, you will want to first read the module, Learn How to Support What You Write, as this assignment requires you to use the course readings and research to support what you write. Also,
- Read the grading rubric for the project. Use the grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
- Third person writing is required. Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.
- Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them.
- Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks. Paraphrase means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, but puts a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document. Not using direct quotation marks means that there should be no passages with quotation marks and instead the source material is paraphrased as stated above. Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.
- Provide the page or paragraph number (required) when using in-text citations. If using the eBook, use Business Ethics followed by the Chapter/Section title and paragraph number.
- You are expected to use the case scenario, and weekly courses readings to develop the analysis and support the reasoning. The expectation is that you provide a robust use of the course readings and demonstrate thorough research of the cosmetic industry. There is no need to use external source material. Material used from a source document must be cited and referenced. A reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.
- Use a wide array of the course material.
