Ethics Application Paper Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics Application Paper - Case Study Example The teacher always strives to treat all of her students fairly and teach them the best that she absolutely can, but once in a while a questionable scenario arises that calls her ethics into duty. This is the case one day when she finds herself cornered at work. The school operates on the quarter system. During Week 10 of Quarter Four of last year, the school's Registrar approaches the teacher to tell her that she 'needs' to pass a particular student, regardless of his performance and the fact that did not attend class at all for the first 10 weeks. The Registrar informs the teacher that it is the student's final quarter and that he has a job lined up for him upon graduation that is going to make the school look really good. She also informs the teacher that the Director of Education has sent explicit instructions that the teacher is to pass the students with no questions asked per her demand. The teacher is in absolute shock, is confused, and has no idea what to do in this situation. If she were to pass the student, it would be completely unfair to the other students in the class. It might even be illegal. Certainly it would be against the school's accreditation standards. However, if she were to fail the student, the Registrar had made it clear that she would likely lose her job for making the school look bad if the student did not graduate and, thus, could not start working right away and the highly-regarded company in question. The Moral Agent The moral agent in this particular ethical scenario is the teacher. She is the individual who must make the moral decision. She has to choose between passing the student and being unfair to her other students and quite possibly disobeying the law and/or violating accreditation standards but pleasing the school's administration and keeping her job or failing the student and making the school look bad and possibly losing her job. Two of the Ethical Theories Discussed For the purposes of this paper, virtue theory and ethical relativism will be the theories that are applied and discussed with regard to the ethical scenario in question. "Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach which emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008, pg. 1), whereas "Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. For the ethical relativist, there are no universal moral standards -- standards that can be universally applied to all peoples at all times" (Velasquez, et.al, 2008, p g.1). Since ethical relativism can go either way, the culture in which the teacher was raised will determine her actions. If she looks more at herself and her own desires than at those of others, she would probably choose the safest route that allows her to keep her job since it is in her own best interest. Making this decision, she would violate her other students, but could probably keep it quiet, satisfy

The Main Stages of PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Main Stages of PLC - Essay Example The question of which to use, or where on this continuum to operate, must be made at the introductory stage of the PLC. PLC distinguishes five market-opportunity phases: entry, establishment, expansion, maturity, and decline; and indicates the kind of opportunity analysis that should go into developing the marketing mix (see Appendix 1). This chart shows that markets increase slowly at first, and then increase at an increasing rate, reach maturity, and finally decline (Drejer 62). The time period for this cycle varies by products. Consider the difference in cycle among the dress industry, the lumber industry, and the computer industry. Also, different companies choose to enter markets during different developmental phases. Even so, management must be aware that marketing tasks of a phase 1 situation are different from those relevant to phase 4 (Crawford and Benedetto 44). In the initial phase (market entry), there is no direct competition. Computer games manufacturing should take into account the fact that the tasks of marketing programs and strategies are those of gaining initial market acceptance and changing habits. They are concerned with creating primary demands for the product, providing customer and consumer information, identifying market segments, gaining market knowledge, soliciting channel support, and promoting to gain a foothold in the marketplace. A common market price emerges in this stage, with the range of acceptable prices narrowing (Crawford and Benedetto 44). The marketer is encountering downward pressure on prices, although this depends on the extent of product differentiation among competitors and the rate at which technological improvements are being made to the product. At this stage, a computer games manufacturer should find the most effective channel strategies and promotions activities in order to plan and develop the furth er campaign. For a computer game, traditional marketing channels (through specialized stores) and direct selling methods will be the most effective channels of distribution. It will be appropriate to use a skimming price in order to attract more users, and popularize the new product. The main promotion techniques are advertising and press conferences aimed to inform community about benefits and uniqueness of the new computer game (Drejer 63). Establishment The second phase is characterized by endeavors to establish markets. In this phase, limited direct competition exists, and potential competitors begin to notice the situation. The functions of marketing programs and strategies are to solidify and extend market footholds and to establish differential advantage. Marketing activities center around gaining brand acceptance and developing customer loyalty. The attempt is to establish a market niche. Also, in the growth stage individual need or benefit segments may surface (Grieves 98). A benefit segment is a sizable group of buyers that places heavy emphasis on a specific product attribute or particular mix of attributes. These segments will often differ in their willingness to pay for specific attributes (e.g., faster delivery, smaller inventories, better service, a special feature). There may, at this stage, still be a substantial amount of