Paper 3: Position Paper
Each student will prepare a Position Paper on one of three questions:

1)  “A socially responsible organization is a profitable organization”
2)  “Business has a social responsibility to provide safe products for consumers;” or
3) “An organization’s leadership is the most important factor in establishing an ethical climate.”

After choosing one of the questions, each student will then prepare a Position Paper that discusses both sides of the statement, defending (or supporting) it and refuting (or arguing against) it.  Simply put, you will prepare a written version of a debate speech, taking both the affirmative or negative side of the topic.

Then, choose the side with which you agree, state why you choose this position, and defend your answer.  Your justification of why you chose the position that you did will count for a significant portion of your grade for this paper.

The point of this exercise is to learn to be persuasive and attempt to sway people to your point of view.  To do this, each student will present evidence in his/her paper that supports the point of view s/he has taken.  This may be a challenging assignment, as some students may find themselves arguing for or against something with which they do not agree.  However, this is an important part of ethics.  In the future when you are working in an organization, you may find that you are defending something with which you do not agree with personally.

Your paper will be 8-10 pages in length; please keep in mind that the more substantial evidence that you provide to support your position, the better your grade will be.  The page requirement applies to the body of the paper and excludes the coversheet, executive summary and appendix.

Paper 3: Position Paper
Each student will prepare a Position Paper on one of three questions:

1)  “A socially responsible organization is a profitable organization”
2)  “Business has a social responsibility to provide safe products for consumers;” or
3) “An organization’s leadership is the most important factor in establishing an ethical climate.”

After choosing one of the questions, each student will then prepare a Position Paper that discusses both sides of the statement, defending (or supporting) it and refuting (or arguing against) it.  Simply put, you will prepare a written version of a debate speech, taking both the affirmative or negative side of the topic.

Then, choose the side with which you agree, state why you choose this position, and defend your answer.  Your justification of why you chose the position that you did will count for a significant portion of your grade for this paper.

The point of this exercise is to learn to be persuasive and attempt to sway people to your point of view.  To do this, each student will present evidence in his/her paper that supports the point of view s/he has taken.  This may be a challenging assignment, as some students may find themselves arguing for or against something with which they do not agree.  However, this is an important part of ethics.  In the future when you are working in an organization, you may find that you are defending something with which you do not agree with personally.

Your paper will be 8-10 pages in length; please keep in mind that the more substantial evidence that you provide to support your position, the better your grade will be.  The page requirement applies to the body of the paper and excludes the coversheet, executive summary and appendix.