1 Ethics and Society Taking Ethics and Society course is vital to both my student career as well as my future employment careers. By accomplishing this course, I need to be able to know what the community defines as ethical. Does the definition of ethics vary from community to community? This is the first thing I hope to get from this course because I have found myself in different life situations whereby I was unable to define what was ethical anymore. Some people see you to be wrong while others perceive you to be right. Are there standards to measure where ethical practices should range? Secondly, I hope to get a strong relationship between ethics and business. I need to identify what makes businesses ethical to the community and what will happen if one does not put them into considerations. Knowing what a community perceives as ethical is crucial for business ethics. Several times, people engage in business activities which a community sees as unethical. This may result in the closure of the business enterprise. To be prepared well to overcoming such, I believe ethics and society will provide me with adequate solutions. For instance, a company may decide to deal in a product line which a given community perceives as unethical to consume. Will they make any sales? An excellent example is bringing in a pork industry in a Muslim dominated society. Pork consumption is ethical to most communities. However, for the Islamic religion, any pig products are not to be consumed since they see the pig as a dirty creature which should not even be seen next to the mosque. Therefore, selling pork to them will be unethical. There is need to know what the society wants. What the community defines as ethical is what you should offer them. Going outside their boundaries might render your business useless. Therefore, the relationship between ethics and business is of great significance. Ethics defines the actions which an organization should follow to serve the community best. Most of 2 these activities are legal. This means that they are as per the government regulations. It is the dream of every business person to succeed in life. The number one thing to consider in business for success are the legal authorities. If your company operates outside the government requirements, no matter how well the community will perceive it, it is subjected to the law and may end up being dissolved. How do you ensure this does not happen? The answer is simple, know the relationship between business and ethics. If you know this, then you will be able to identify what is unethical and illegal to practice. Hence, you will avoid being sued by the legal authorities. You will know the relationship between law and ethics as well. The two achievements from the course are crucial for my career plans. As a student, I need to know what the institution considers as ethical. I don’t want to be expelled or get suspended for practicing in unethical practices. I want to operate within the moral framework of the institution. Nevertheless, knowing what students from different communities consider to be ethical will help me build a healthy relationship with them. Perfect relationships and interactions are some of the ways to get the highest educational achievement. I have a plan of starting a business after accomplishing my studies. I like self-employment. To be able to manage this business firm, I believe knowing the relationship between ethics and business will be of great help. I need to know the ethical framework to operate within. Every business has a great duty to play in the community. Will I engage in unethical practices like pollution of the environment while conducting my transactions? Thus, the ethics and society course is fundamental for me. Instruction list : Revisit your first reflection statement. In that statement, you put forth two learning objectives, and explained how each objective was relevant for business ethics and for your life. In this final reflection statement, choose one of the learning objectives you discussed in your first statement, and explain how you met that objective with a specific aspect of this course. In other words, reflect on how you met one of your objectives, using a particular vignette/example from a reading or presentation in this course. This assignment should be turned in online here, to this assignment. There is no need to bring a hard copy to class. Make sure that you do the following (and clearly label each part (a)-(c)) in 400-600 words: (a) Clearly explain your original learning objective and why it was important to you. (b) Explain the specific example from a reading or in-class presentation that was particularly meaningful to you and your life. Maybe a problem was explained that you'd never thought of before, or there was an example that made you think differently about a problem you'd already thought about. Maybe there was a vignette or image that stayed with you. Perhaps there was a distinction that better helped you understand what was at stake or helped you make sense of an intuitive judgment you had, or a concept that added clarity to your thinking. Maybe someone said exactly what you wanted to say only better. (c) Explain how this example helped you achieve the learning objective you discussed in (a). What about it helped you learn? What connections did it help you make?