Term Research Project. Corporate Social Responsibility

Managers and employees in organizations are increasingly being challenged to meet acceptable ethical standards. This individual term project  enables you to experience  how ethical standards are applied in business  first-hand. Specifically, the project is designed to achieve the following three objectives: (1) promote your analytic and critical thinking skills; (2) encourage your application of our course concepts to real-world organizations; and (3) develop your integration of internal (firm’s web site, annual report, etc.) to external sources of information (Fortune rankings, commercials, etc.).
You are required to do an analysis of a company or a department or work group within an organization. To do so, you are encouraged to leverage your personal and/or professional networks, prior work experience and/or campus affiliations. Students tend to enjoy this project most when they are involved with, committed to, or are interested in the organizations they study!
 Please note the following additional details:
• The organization can be for-profit, non-profit, or community-based. 
• The organization should have documentation available (on line, public, printed materials) that support your analysis of their ethical behaviors
• It is critical that you secure confirmation from the instructor of your selected  organization in a timely fashion. Do not wait until the last minute!
 Your assignment:
 A.    Select a topic:
1.     Corporate Social Responsibility
2.     Environmental Sustainability
B.    Select a company:
You are required to select a company and have it approved by the instructor. No two students may write about the same company, so get your approval early. I suggest selecting a company from the 2019 Fortune 500 listing.
 A. Research and write a paper on your selected topic  and approved company  using logical arguments based on research and facts. List the positives and negatives of the organization’s support of ethical behavior with linking to course theories and concepts. To help you, use the following questions to help focus your research:
a. In capitalistic economies, profit is  the #1 goal. Some say the only goal. Is this a valid criteria to measure your company’s success? - Why?
b. We believe some products (like pharmaceuticals and food) are different from  other products (clothing or cars) so that pricing as an ethical consideration exceeds maximizing profits? From the  information you have gathered on our selected company, does this theory apply? Why?
c. What theory of ethics do you believe best supports the concept of responsibility or sustainability in your selected company? 
Format:  All deliverables must adhere to the following format criteria:
• Cover page with your name, class and submission date
• Times New Roman 12-point font
• Double-spaced
• One inch margins all around
• Numbered pages (page number in upper right hand corner)
 Background Information (5 points)
1. Describe the strategy, mission and/or vision of the organization, business unit, work group or department.
2. What product or service do they provide? Is this company a global organization or a domestic organization?
3. Using data from the company’s web site or publications, what can you show as persuasive evidence that the company supports responsibility or sustainability? 
Analysis of the organization’s ethical standards linked with Course Content (15 points)
1. Define in your own words the two concepts or theories from our course which you have chosen to analyze your selected company. The definition should be clear and easy to understand by any reader, who may not be familiar with our class content.
2. Provide examples from your data collection which offer rich evidence of the selected course concepts or theories.
3. KEY: Explain how one course concept or theory illustrates the company’s approach to responsibility/ sustainability.  For example, if normative theories are chosen, explain how this theory is linked to the overall performance of the company in terms of responsibility or sustainability. It is very important that you offer such linkages and clearly describe the connection between course content and the organization’s use of ethics.. 
 Recommendations (10 points)1. Identify two (2) recommendations for the organization to enhance their ethical standards based on your analysis. It is expected that one recommendation will be linked to the first course concept you have selected selected; and the second recommendation will be linked to the second concept you have selected.
2. For each of the two recommendations, provide at least two (2) examples of “best practices” which other organizations – either inside or outside the same industry as your organization, business unit, work group or department which you studied – have implemented to address similar ethical issues.  How might these practices be helpful to validate and offer credibility to your recommendations?
3. For each of the two recommendations, provide one risk; one cost; and one possible unintended consequence that might be important for the organization, business unit, work group or department to consider.
 Bibliography, Endnotes & Appendices (5 points)
This project should be supported by relevant theories and research findings from assigned course readings as well as from a minimum of eight (8) reputable sources that are external to our class syllabus. Such research should reflect that you have become a “subject matter expert” on the course topics and recommendations developed. Examples of reputable sources include scholarly books, academic research articles (e.g., Academy of Management Journal), and business periodicals (e.g., Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Financial Times).
 Finally, any supporting information (e.g., charts, tables, etc.) should be included in an Appendix section located at the end of your paper
Good grammar (5 pints)
I expect your paper to be both unique and written with no spelling or grammatical errors. :