[MMM343] – [Business Ethics]

[Trimester 1, 2020]
Assessment 1 – Articles Folio
DUE DATE AND TIME: Week 7, Friday, May 1, 2020: 23:55 PM
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL GRADE: 50%
HURDLE DETAILS: This is an individual assignment.

Requirements

In this assignment you will present a folio of two (2) articles that you have read and reviewed during
the first half of the trimester.

Each article must be from the print media (newspaper article, magazine article, internet article). The
articles that you select must have at least 200 words of text. Please note that academic journal
articles are not regarded as print media for the purpose of this assignment and if used you will be
given a zero for that article.

The articles must be concerned with issues related to business ethics. If unsure of the article’s
applicability please review the article against a business ethics related situation that you would be
learning in this unit. The unit team is not permitted to confirm an article’s applicability. Please ensure
that your articles are business ethics related and do not cover social, cultural or political issues.
Sometimes there is a fine line and if you are not sure, then choose another article which clearly
outlines a business ethics issue(s).
You must have:
• 2 articles print-dated 31 January, 2020 or
after.

The discussion of each article must contain:

• the title of the article.
• the media from which it was obtained: i.e. newspaper or magazine name, internet
site location.
• the date of the article (it must be dated 31 Jan 2020 or after; if not that article
discussion will score 0).

Deakin's Bachelor of Commerce and MBA are internationally EPAS accredited.

Deakin Business School is accredited by AACSB.
 • an overview of the essence of the article with a brief discussion of the identified
ethical issue(s).
• a more in depth discussion of the ethical issues. How is each issue defined and in
what way do these issues present themselves in the article? Specifically reports on
what happened; why it happened, factors which contributed, and consequences
• who are the stakeholders being impacted (now and in the future) by the issue and
how? Briefly discuss impact (positive and/or negative) on each stakeholder.
• a discussion that links the essence of the article and ethical issues(s) to the theory
(referenced theory to support your ideas is expected and will be deemed as
essential)*.
• your recommendations (that are realistic and practical) as a manager to resolve the
issues identified in the article. If no resolution has been mentioned in the article, you
can give your suggestions of how to resolve the issues here. If a resolution has been
mentioned, discuss whether you would had resolved the issue in the same manner
or other ways, and why.
• a conclusion in which you proffer an opinion on the article’s ethical issue(s).
• an academic reference list that is constructed correctly (using APA format).
• a scanned copy of each article (not URLs).

*as this unit is at 3rd year level, you can use any theory that relates to business ethics regardless of
having already formally studied it in the unit schedule: i.e. you can read ahead and use ideas and
theories from weeks outside of 1-7.

You must include a scanned copy of the article with your assignment, else your assignment will
NOT be marked until after the exams. In these circumstances, you will receive a maximum of 25/50.

You are to write at least 1500 words per article (up to 1800 per article is acceptable).

The reference list incorporating in-text references from both (2) articles should be included at the
end of the last article following APA format.

Submission Instructions

You must keep a backup copy of every assignment you submit, until the marked assignment has been
returned to you. In the unlikely event that one of your assignments is misplaced, you will need to
submit your backup copy.

Any work you submit may be checked by electronic or other means for the purposes of detecting
collusion and/or plagiarism.

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When you are required to submit an assignment through your CloudDeakin unit site, you will receive
an email to your Deakin email address confirming that it has been submitted. You should check that
you can see your assignment in the Submissions view of the Assignment dropbox folder after
upload, and check for, and keep, the email receipt for the submission.

Assignment Extension

Assignment extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. Extensions must be

requested in writing to the unit chair. You are required to provide documentation in support of your
request for extension along with evidence of the work you have completed till that point.

Any work that is submitted late without an approved extension will be subject to a marking penalty,
or may not be marked at all as per faculty policy.

References and word limits

1. Where does the reference list go?

Place the combined reference list in alphabetical order after the discussion of the 2 articles, in other
words, at the end of the document.

2. Is the final reference list part of the word limit?

The final reference list is not included in the word limit of the assignment nor are the in-text
references.

3. Word limits for the assignment.

A minimum of 1500 words and maximum of 1800 words for each article in the assignment is
acceptable.

Formatting Requirements

You also need to ensure that in your assignment you:

- Have double line spacing.
- Have 12 point font.
- Have Times New Roman or Arial style font.
- Have numbered the pages of your assignment.
- Don’t write very long sentences (over 4 lines is usually too long).
- Write short paragraphs as they increase readability. Paragraphs should not be one page
or more long. Use your judgment to ensure that each paragraph talks about a new idea.
- Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

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Notes

• For more information about academic misconduct, special consideration, extensions, and
assessment feedback, please refer to the document Your rights and responsibilities as a
student in this Unit in the first folder next to the Unit Guide of the Resources area in the
CloudDeakin unit site.
• Building evidence of your experiences, skills and knowledge (Portfolio) - Building a portfolio
that evidences your skills, knowledge and experience will provide you with a valuable tool to
help you prepare for interviews and to showcase to potential employers. There are a number
of tools that you can use to build a portfolio. You are provided with cloud space through
OneDrive, or through the Portfolio tool in the Cloud Unit Site, but you can use any storage
repository system that you like. Remember that a Portfolio is YOUR tool. You should be able
to store your assessment work, reflections, achievements and artefacts in YOUR Portfolio.
Once you have completed this assessment piece, add it to your personal Portfolio to use and
showcase your learning later, when applying for jobs, or further studies. Curate your work by
adding meaningful tags to your artefacts that describe what the artefact represents.

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 Assignment: Frequently Asked Queries

1. What should be the focus of business ethics?

The articles must be concerned with issues of a business ethics nature. For example, drinking is a
social issue, but drinking in the workplace/ on the job is a business ethics issue as it can have an
impact on your performance. Business ethics issues are those issues that have a direct bearing on the
business operations of an organisation. The issues can be in either the corporate sector or the public
sector, as long as you can demonstrate a business implication.

2. Advice regarding suitability of an article.

If you are not sure of the article's applicability please think through before you use it; perhaps choose
another one that you are sure fits with what is required. The unit team cannot give you an assessment
of the article's applicability. As a third year unit, we expect students to take responsibility for their
own learning decisions, therefore deciding on the articles that you choose is a part of the assessment
process.

We cannot comment on the suitability of your article choice. Your choice is a part of the
demonstration to us of your understanding of the unit content.

3. We would accept issues that have gone from business ethics issues to legal issues.
By this statement, we mean that often behaviour begins as unethical and over time may become
illegal. Often people convicted of criminal intent continue to appeal and protest their innocence and
still cannot see that they have done anything wrong. Nonetheless, you should still be able to clearly
identify and discuss an ethical issue and differentiate it from legal aspects.

4. Topics that you can use in your theory discussion. Should you confine it just to Topics 1-7?
As this unit is at third year level, you can use any theory that relates to business ethics regardless of
having already formally studied it in the unit schedule: i.e. you can read ahead and use ideas and
theories from weeks outside of 1-7, or use another textbook.

5. The articles used must be print dated from 31 Jan, 2020 or after. The articles that you use must
have appeared in the print media source at earliest 31 Jan 2020. The articles can be about events
that occurred pre-31 Jan 2020. If the article header is dated prior to 31 Jan, 2020, it will receive 0
marks regardless of the quality of content discussion.

6. Journal articles: are they print media?

Each article must be from the print media (newspaper article, magazine article, internet newspaper
or internet magazine article). The articles that you select must have at least 200 words of text.
Please note that academic journal articles are not regarded as print media for the purpose of this
assignment.

7. Can I use one source (e.g., same Newspaper) for all of the articles?
Yes, you can, use the same source (eg., The Age website) for both the articles. Nonetheless, do note
the articles should be about 2 different organisations and 2 different business ethics issues.

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8. Do I need to use sources other than the textbook and the articles themselves?
This is not necessary but it could be helpful for your arguments, especially if your articles are on the
shorter side and others have written about the issues presented in your articles.

8. Are overseas newspapers and websites acceptable?

Yes, they are – the only requirement is that they be printed or translated in English.

9. Does the ethical issue have to occur in Australia or need to involve an Australian organisation?
No, you can cover ethical issues that involve any organisation in any industry, anywhere in the world.

10. Can I use Wikipedia for my assignment?

You can read Wikipedia, but do not cite it, and take the information on it with a grain of salt. You
need to search information about the various theories and business ethics issues from various
textbooks, journal articles and other sources as opposed to gaining potential inaccurate information
from Wikipedia.

11. Can I use blogs for my assignment?

Whilst blogs can be part of the media source, we recommend not to use them as we are looking for
your views on various business ethics issues more so than personal commentary.

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