Personal Ethics

In this project, you will reflect on what "ethics" means to you personally. Please read the Project Guidelines carefully so that you can earn the best score possible.

Ethics Project: A Personal Ethics Statement

 INTRODUCTION

In this project we ask you to reflect on what “ETHICS” means to you personally. It is important that you include your opinions, supported with numerous personal examples from your own life, and NOT someone else’s ideas. This project is graded based on you giving an honest assessment of what you think about ethics by reflecting on the three categories listed below: Personal, Career, and Society.

You are NOT required to do any research for this paper. Sit down and start writing, in your own words, what is true for you. As you write, do not worry about creating an answer you think your professor would like. Take responsibility and give a truthful response to the questions. If your paper is 100% positive about ethics or 100% negative about ethics, your opinions will NOT impact your grade. It is very important to support your opinions with examples from your life.

ETHICS PROJECT: PERSONAL ETHICS STATEMENT GUIDELINES

Your paper must be divided into 5 sections, each beginning with the BOLD headings below, responding in your own words to the following elements:

1)      Introduction: Write a short, opening paragraph introducing what this paper is about.

2)      Personal: Define “ETHICS” in your own words; explain your personal perspective about ethics, and why ethics is or is not, important to you. Use examples from your personal life to explain your position. Also answer the question, “where do you derive your moral principles?” An individual's moral principles tend to drive our decision making and personal viewpoint on what we think of as right from wrong.

3)      Career: Explain in your own words how you see ethics applied in corporate or other work settings and discuss why you believe this is important, or not important, to your career. Provide examples from your personal experience (first-hand account) or knowledge of companies and their ethics protocols (second-hand account) including any work or non-work experiences. Consider your major and how ethics applies to someone working in that major (give examples from the world of business).

4)      Society: The last topic we want you to reflect on is how ethics is applied across society. Describe in your own words the importance of, or the lack of, ethics in the world at large. Provide examples from personal experience (first-hand account) or things you have learned about over your life (second-hand account). Also, you are encouraged to relate this to your home country where applicable. You can take an individual nation or global approach in your response.

5)      Conclusion: Write a short paragraph tying the three topics (Personal, Career, Society) together and include conclusions you believe others would find helpful in understanding your perspective on this subject.

Note: A first-hand account is direct experience where you are directly involved. A second-hand account is something you have learned about through sources (people, readings, classes, etc.).

PROJECT SUBMISSION MECHANICS/DELIVERABLES

1. File Type: typed, electronic document must be either .doc or .docx. Please DO NOT submit PDF files or PAGE files.
2. File Name: Name your file using the following format: Last name First name BA 342 Ethics Personal Statement Example File Name: Smith Mary BA 342 Ethics Project.docx
3. Spacing: single-spaced, 9 pt. between lines
4. Page Length: 1.5 – 2 pages in length (Do not exceed 2 pages; do not submit less than 1.5 pages or you will receive penalties.)
5. Margins: Use 1” margins on all 4 sides.
6. Font Size/Type: 12-point font; Calibri or Times New Roman
7. Title (Bold): “Ethics Personal Statement – BA 342 SP 21
8. Student Name (Bold): Your full name should appear at the top of page right below the title. Please use the name as it is listed in Canvas.
9. Headings (Bold): Bold the headings for all five sections (Introduction, Personal, Career, Society, Conclusion).
10. Grammar, Spelling, and Attention to Detail: Points will be deducted for misspellings, grammar, and punctuation errors, poor formatting/not following the guidelines. Please proofread your document carefully.
11. Original Content: For the Personal, Career, and Society sections, you are asked to share examples from your own personal experience. Tell us your thoughts in your own words, not copied from another source. When writing about your own experiences, you can write in first-person voice (I, me, we, us, myself, etc.).
12. Submission Method: Submit your file via the Canvas Ethics Project assignment by the deadline of Friday, 2/02 at 11: 59 p.m. (US Eastern).

1.  
   • DO NOT wait until the last minute to submit your project as Canvas closes automatically at 11:59 p.m. Plan to upload your project at least 30 minutes prior to the deadline.
   • DO NOT paste your project in the Canvas comments or your project will receive a zero.
   • DO NOT send your project to the Teaching Assistants (TAs) or the Professor.

BA 342 PERSONAL ETHICS STATEMENT GRADING RUBRIC

This project is worth 35 points of your overall course grade. We will use the following grading guidelines:

WRITING SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS

Penn State provides many resources to help students improve their writing and communication skills. Please refer to Canvas MODULES>HELP & SUPPORT and click on the page: “Writing Resources for Students.”

PERSONAL ETHICS STATEMENT SAMPLE OUTLINE

The outline provided below is offered as a guide to help you organize your project and can be copied/pasted into a new document to start your paper

Ethics Personal Statement – BA 342 SP 21

Your Name (as it appears in Canvas)

Introduction:

Personal:

Career:

Society:

Conclusion: