Ethical decision making is increasingly critical to business and professional success

Ethical decision making is increasingly critical to business and professional success, but how should business professionals respond when faced with business situations that challenge their values? You are an external consultant brought in to brief a company board of directors about an incident which occurred at a competitor company. They have asked you to identify what they can learn from the incident regarding ethical, professional and values-based decision-making. You will prepare a Briefing Paper that describes and analyses the incident and its context, and evaluates the competitor’s response. The paper will also need to highlight key learnings. Because the purpose of a Briefing Paper is to provide decision-makers with the information and guidance required to make an informed decision, your content needs to be justified using research, data and theory.
Recommended Structure
Subject: Provide a short, informative title for the Briefing Paper.
Purpose: Inform the reader of the purpose of the Briefing Paper in two or three succinct sentences.
Background: Clearly and concisely summarise the incident and what occurred as a result of the incident. Provide an overview of the case and key facts (including the evidence and causes) in your own words and describe the organisational context in which the incident occurred. This section should include only important facts and relevant details relating to the incident.
Analysis of Incident: Engage in critical analysis by relating aspects of the case to theory. Identify the key actors in the incident and the ethical dilemma each is facing. Consider which ethical approach/framework, values, perspectives, and assumptions appear to have dominated their decision making and what values are in conflict.
Evaluation of Reponse: This section should succinctly evaluate the organisational response to the incident.
Key Learnings: This section should highlight key learnings. The learnings should be supported by relevant facts and theories.
Reference List: You will need to reference throughout your Briefing Paper. In-text referencing and reference list should follow the APA format. The reference list does not count toward the word limit.
Tips
It is recommended you access the company website and media reporting on this incident to develop an understanding of the context and incident.
This assessment item should be prepared using secondary data only. Do not contact any organisation or individual directly for information. Use only information that is publicly available (e.g. websites, media and other reports).
 Common errors include: not fully understanding the case and what’s going on; oversimplifying the problems and not engaging with the deeper issues; just describing and not interpreting/analysing the facts of what is going on; ignoring the context; or failing to distil transferable learnings.