Write the paper
1 Spring 2022 - BA 290 Sample of the Four Principal Sections of the Final Business Ethics Research Project, Along with Guidelines on the Page Length and Presentation Time for Each Section and Maximum Scoring Points for Each Section Following below is a very general outline of the four principal areas of your written report and live presentations of the final business ethics project. It is provided only as guideline. As mentioned during lectures, you are free to add subsections that you believe will be instructive and helpful in understanding and appreciating your assessments, analyses and concluding comments. As also mentioned repeatedly, please do not hesitate to send questions or concerns. If you have a question, good chance at lease half the class has the same question or will appreciate you asking the question. Since a sample written report has been posted for some time now using ComEd (an Exelon subsidiary), a couple or so examples of findings related to ComEd are included. That sample written report, if you have not looked at it, does include comments on the side as to what is being addressed. Hopefully, that sample written report will be instructive. Please also remember, as it will impact on scoring, to detail in either end notes or footnotes, the citations to the research materials you are citing to for facts included in the background section, publicly disclosed ethical business conduct code/standards section , and findings of the two to three examples of the corporation’s compliance, non-compliance or partial compliance with such public disclosures section. Also included below in each of the four main principal sections, typed in green, is a guideline of the expected page length and presentation time for each of the four sections. Typed in red is the maximum points available for each section for both the written report and live presentation portions of this final business ethics project. As mentioned in lecture this week, the total available point for the written report portion will be 80 points and total available points for the live presentations will be 20 points. Thus, the maximum score for the entire final project is 100 points. As a reminder, the final project score will be averaged with the two test scores. 2 Since all live presentations are to be completed as of Wednesday April 27th, 2022, the final class session of Friday April 29th, 2022, will involve comments on overall class performance eon the final projects, and expected final letter grade ranges. It will not be a mandatory attendance session. FOUR PRINCIPAL SECTIONS FOR THE FINAL BUSINESS ETHICS PROJECT I. Introduction and General Corporate Background The introduction is where you can provide a general description of the corporation, its business model and “corporate culture.” This is where you explain the industry the corporation does business, its competitors, and general background that may impact in the analysis section. You can also address what the corporation discloses as its “risk” areas. Example: Exelon/ComEd 10 – K Report filed with SEC for 2021 accessible at: https://last10k.com/sec-filings/exc#i0fa971ac9e834218957059819155291f_49 When drafting a report, gaining the interest of the reader is enhanced with a good introduction which gives the reader an indication of what will be addressed in the rest of the report (i.e., captures the reader’s attention!). So, you may state the reason you chose the corporation and state the specific ethical issues that your report focuses on. ❖ This portion of the written report should be no longer than 1 to 1½ pages. ❖ This portion of the live presentation should be less than 1 minute. ❖ For final project scoring, up to a maximum of 25 points will be available for the written report’s introductory/background section. ❖ For the live presentation, up to maximum of 5 points will be available for the introduction/background section and for general organization and logical flow of the presentation. https://last10k.com/sec-filings/exc#i0fa971ac9e834218957059819155291f_49 3 II. Publicly Disclosed Ethic Positions with Focus on the Areas Being Checked for Compliance or Non-Compliance ➢ Corporate Vision, Values and/or Mission Statement: Example: Exelon/ComEd’s “Our Vision & Values” statement publicly disclosed at: https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/vision-and-values You may comment on the vision, values, and mission statements, including assessment points as to how it appears on its face and even might compare to two main competitor’s publicly disclosed vision, values and/or mission statement. You may include an assessment of whether the corporation’s vision, values and/or mission statement reflect a shareholder versus stakeholder corporate social responsibility role as addressed in Chapter 5 of the textbook. ➢ Code/Standards of Ethical Business Conduct and/or Ethics Policy: Typically, large publicly traded corporations have multiple publicized disclosures of its stated positions on ethical business conduct. Undoubtedly, corporations want to be perceived as embracing ethical business conduct and practices. So, your research should identify and summarize key aspects of the corporation’s publicized statements and positions on ethical business conduct. Example: Exelon/ComEd has multiple publicly available disclosures on it embracing ethical business conduct, including: o “Exelon Corporation Code of Business Conduct” ▪ (https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/Exelon %20Code%20of%20Business%20Conduct.pdf ), O “ETHICS, INTEGRITY & BUSINESS CONDUCT” ▪ (https://www.exeloncorp.com/leadership-and- governance/ethics-and-conduct) https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/vision-and-values https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/vision-and-values https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/Exelon%20%20Code%20of%20Business%20Conduct.pdf https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/Exelon%20%20Code%20of%20Business%20Conduct.pdf https://www.exeloncorp.com/leadership-and-governance/ethics-and-conduct https://www.exeloncorp.com/leadership-and-governance/ethics-and-conduct 4 o “Exelon Compliance & Ethics Policy Interactions with Federal, State and Local Public Officials” ▪ (https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/Policy%20 re%20Interactions%20With%20Public%20Officials.pdf) In this section you can focus on the two or three ethical areas you will be checking for compliance, non-compliance and/or partial compliance such as: • Harassment • Discrimination/diversity • Employee dishonesty/integrity • Retaliation • Safety in the workplace • Gifts/bribery Your assessment of the stated/publicized code/standards of business conduct can include comparison to “The Seven Principles for Corporate Conduct” as addressed in our textbook in Chapter 6, as well as comparison to main two competitors. ➢ Other Pertinent Corporate Ethical Program(s) and Disclosures, Such as Corporate Governance Policies and Practices Most large, publicly traded corporation go into even further details made available to the public that address specific enforcement and guidance to officers and managers of the corporation. Reviewing these type documents can provide insight on how well the corporation is embracing its ethical business conduct codes/standards, and insight in follow-up procedures for compliance, etc. If you find such, you can include further assessments of how they are consistent/inconsistent and/or fall within/short of what is contained in “The Seven Principles for Corporate Conduct.” Example: Exelon/ComEd has additional publications such as: o “AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE CHARTER” with insights as to its follow-up by its audit committee. ▪ (https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/Charter_A udit.pdff) https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/Policy%20re%20Interactions%20With%20Public%20Officials.pdf https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/Policy%20re%20Interactions%20With%20Public%20Officials.pdf https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/EXC_CorporateGovernancePrinciples.pdf https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/EXC_CorporateGovernancePrinciples.pdf 5 o “EXELON CORPORATION CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES (Effective July 27, 2021)” with disclosures on governance and management positions that impact on proper implementation, follow-up, and disciplinary aspects of non- compliance with stated ethical business conduct. ▪ (https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/EXC_Corp orateGovernancePrinciples.pdf) ❖ This portion of the written report should be around 2 to 3 pages. ❖ This portion of the live presentation should be around 2 to 3 minutes. ❖ For final project scoring, up to a maximum of 20 points will be available for the written report’s introductory/background section. ❖ For the live presentation, up to maximum of 5 points will be available for this section on publicly disclosed/available ethical business conduct, including assessment points on the disclosures. https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/EXC_CorporateGovernancePrinciples.pdf https://www.exeloncorp.com/company/Documents/EXC_CorporateGovernancePrinciples.pdf 6 III. Findings from Research on Two to Three Examples of the Corporation’s Compliance, Non-Compliance, or Partial Compliance with the Corporation’s Publicly Disclosed Positions on Ethical Business Conduct (actual/reported, alleged, or perceived): This is the section which you summarize, using two to three actual examples, specific findings reflecting the corporation’s compliance, non-compliance, or partial compliance with its publicly disclosed ethical business conduct code/standards. Here you must focus on two to three specific areas of the publicly disclosed ethical business conduct. Such as: • Discrimination • Harassment (employees or customers) • Bribery • Employee Dishonesty • External Dishonesty – subcontractors and suppliers [Hint: SEC filings require identification of risks, typically with 10K reports] In this section you summarize findings from investigative reports, such as those of governmental agencies, industry watch-dog groups, the media, etc. It may include summarizing filings/pleadings and court rulings if the example resulted in a lawsuit or criminal indictment. Your assessment should include your position on how impactful (i.e., good, bad, or indifferent) the example had on the corporation’s public view, financial performance (e.g., increase or decrease in stock value), status in the industry, etc. You can also address and assess how the corporation managed any dilemma and whether the incident resulted in any significant change in the corporation’s publicly disclosed ethical business conduct code/standards. In short, this is the meat” of your report. It is where you are demonstrating how much of the course materials you have embraced and can use in real-life corporate dilemmas. So, incorporating materials from the textbook in your assessment/analyses of the two to three examples will be beneficial! ❖ This portion of the written report should be around 2 to 3 pages. ❖ This portion of the live presentation should be around 2 to 3 minutes. 7 ❖ For final project scoring, up to a maximum of 30 points will be available for the written report’s introductory/background section. More is available for this section as the research and assessment/analysis of the findings is more involved! ❖ For the live presentation, up to maximum of 8 points will be available for this section on publicly disclosed/available ethical business conduct, including assessment points on the disclosures. IV. Concluding Comments: • Is this corporation who it claims to be? • Is ethics/compliance being effectively managed? • What had you learned from the effort? • Comments on the project!!! ❖ This portion of the written report should be around 1 page. ❖ This portion of the live presentation should be around 1 to 1 ½ minutes. ❖ For final project scoring, up to a maximum of 5 points will