Excelsior College Poverty in America Paper

All of us would agree that poverty is damaging to communities and economic stability. Individuals that grow up in poverty often face disadvantages in our society, making it much harder for them to break through the barriers this creates. Eliminating poverty is a challenge that we as a society fail to solve regardless of the social programs we develop. It could be argued that a country with our level of wealth should have no poverty. However, this brings us to a discussion about what causes poverty and who holds responsibility for an individual’s poverty level.

Begin by reading Case 3.3, Poverty in America on pages 114-116 of your textbook.

Next, reflect upon the following in preparation for composing a case analysis:

1. What moral obligation, if any, do we have individually and as a society to reduce poverty?
2. What role should business play in the elimination of poverty? Consider your views from M3D1 while developing this case analysis.
3. How would our economy be assessed from the point of view of Rawl’s difference principle? Does this shed any light on the issue of poverty and the role of business?

Then, develop your case analysis using the five following sections:

• Section 1: Introduction and situational analysis. Describe the ethical dilemma, giving appropriate background information. The term “dilemma” implies that there are pros and cons to various options, even if some are clearly more socially acceptable than others. This is also where you do your situational analysis – identify factors related to the individual(s) involved (consider the readings from this module), company and managerial practices and policies, external factors such as economic pressure, and any other aspects of the situation that you believe helped create the dilemma. Do not tell the story of the chosen case, instead spend time on pulling out the relevant points that form the main thrust of the ethical dilemma.
• Section 2: Stakeholder analysis. Identify the key stakeholders and how they are potentially impacted by the various options in the dilemma. Note that stakeholder analysis is particularly pertinent to the consequentialist approach, and that one of the challenges is in estimating positive and negative impacts on relevant stakeholders. Do the best you can, looking at both good and bad consequences for each stakeholder group. Make sure you summarize the overall situation and come to a conclusion about the greater good.
• Section 3: Analysis based on ethical theories. Analyze the ethical dilemma using a relevant theoretical perspective from this module’s material.
• Section 4: Conclusion and recommendations. Up to now, you have been analyzing and comparing options. Here is where you pull together the different threads of your analysis and determine whether or not the company or individual did the right thing. Also, make recommendations about what should have been done. Make sure your justifications clearly flow from your analysis. Make managerial and policy recommendations that would help avoid similar ethical dilemmas in the future and provide guidance to help those facing a similar dilemma.
• Section 5: References. List at least three sources (other than the articles provided, your text, or the case article) where you located additional information about the company and the associated ethical dilemma(s).

General guidance: Include a title page, and label the five sections. Your paper should be 2 to 3 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages. All citations should be in APA 6th Edition format. Double space your paper, and use Times New Roman, 12-point font, with one inch margins.