Is It Ethical For Amazon To Dump Or Incinerate Unused Stock: Business And Professional Ethics Essay, MU, Australia

Questions

Choose ONE of the following questions for your essay. To answer this question you will need to draw on readings covered in the course as well as your research, including integrating at least two peer-reviewed academic articles into your analysis.

1.  Is it ethical for Amazon to dump or incinerate unused stock?

A CNBC investigation found Amazon sending millions of dollars worth of stock to landfills and/or incinerating these products. Critically assess the ethics of Amazon’s waste management strategies. Your answer should begin explaining at least one anthropocentric ethics theory and one non-anthropocentric ethics theory that might be relevant to establishing Amazon’s ethical obligations in this case, including analyzing the main arguments for each theory.

Then apply these ethical theories, and your detailed case research, to explain what ethical obligations, if any, Amazon has in managing its waste products and returns according to each perspective and why. Finally, critically analyze which perspective or perspective is most convincing and why, including considering what strategies might be used for Amazon to act more ethically in this case. Your answer must incorporate and reference ideas from at least two peer-reviewed academic journal articles from either the course readings or your research.

2.  Should companies disclose the ratio of CEO pay to the average worker?

As CEO pay has increased in recent decades, companies have faced growing public and legislative pressure to disclose the pay rates of CEOs compared to their median workers, such as the CEO of US fast-food chain Chipotle who earns 1,129 times a median worker in that company. Are companies ethically obliged to disclose data on relative pay within their organizations? Your answer should begin by explaining at least one ethical theory that might favor companies disclosing social and environmental data to stakeholders and one ethics theory that might be opposed to such disclosure, including analyzing the main arguments for each theory.

Then apply these perspectives to assess what obligations, if any, companies have to disclose payments to the public according to each perspective and why. Finally, critically analyze which perspective or perspective is most convincing and why, including considering alternative strategies that might be used to ensure organizations pay workers fairly. Your answer must incorporate and reference ideas from at least two peer-reviewed academic journal articles from either the course readings or your research.

3.  Are companies meeting ethical obligations to workers’ mental health at home?

Recent research has found workers required to work from home during the COVID19 pandemic suffer considerable mental stress. In response to such stresses, companies like NAB, CBA, and EY have implemented various measures to help workers cope with extended lockdown conditions. Critically assess the ethical and Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) strategies companies like these are taking to protect the mental wellbeing of their employees working at home. Your answer should begin by outlining the main ethical obligations businesses have to protect workers’ mental health in light of at least one relevant ethics theory and the NSW WHS Act (2011), including analyzing the main arguments for each framework.

Then apply these frameworks to explain the core responsibilities employers like NAB, CBA and EY have to protect the mental health of workers at home, incorporating the respective legal duties organizations (PCBUs), officers, and workers would have in managing these risks. Finally, draw on these frameworks to critically assess how far the strategies NAB, CBA, and EY have made public meet their ethical requirements and why considering alternative or additional strategies these companies might consider. Your answer must incorporate and reference ideas from at least two peer-reviewed academic journal articles from either course readings or your research.

4. Is the accounting profession doing enough to promote gender equality at work?

Recent research by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) has found that male accounting partners are paid 60 percent more on average than women In response, CAANZ has a campaign aimed at educating accounting firms and senior leaders, while ‘Big Four’ accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has set a target of 50% of female partners. Critically assess whether the accounting profession, including professional bodies like CAANZ and ‘big four’ accounting firms like PwC, are doing enough to promote the equal treatment of male and female accountants. Your answer should begin by explaining at least two ethical theories used to assess the case for gender equity at work, including the main arguments for each perspective.

Then apply these theories to consider the arguments for and against the strategies professional accounting organizations and Big Four firms are currently using to promote gender equity for accounting staff and partners. Finally, critically assess which perspective you think is most convincing, including considering other strategies professional bodies and firms might use to promote fair pay between male and female workers. Your answer must incorporate and reference ideas from at least two peer-reviewed academic journal articles from either course readings or your research.