1. The Effects of Business on Consumers and the Environment:
Case Study: Perdue Farms
This discussion assignment requires you to submit at least four
posts: an initial post, two reply posts to fellow students in
threads other than your own, and a revised post.
Prepare:
In preparation for your first post in this discussion, you will
become familiar with the case of Perdue Farms by means of the
material listed under Required Resources (Generally). You will
also find more material under Required Resources (Per Subject
Heading) because the specific task for this discussion is to
examine this case with an eye for any one of the following four
subject headings in business ethics: (1) the environment, (2)
advertising, (3) consumer safety and (4) moral responsibility.
You must select one of these subject headings and your
selection will be the specific focus of your work for your
discussion. Accordingly, you will be responsible to complete
the readings and videos listed under your chosen subject
heading.
Reflect:
If you choose the environment subject heading, reflect on the
sheer density of chickens raised at any given time in the Perdue
facilities. The disposal of their discarded remains and their
processing for distribution, either individually and most
definitely together, pose a number of environmental concerns.
If you choose the advertising subject heading, reflect on how
the two videos on Perdue farms present the sharp contrast
between the way the company presents its product and the way
in which it has been discovered to run its chicken farms.

2. Consider whether this is an example of failure to provide truth
in advertising and how you would support such a stance.
If you choose the consumer safety subject heading, reflect on
the way in which chickens raised in factory farms risks
consumer safety. These might include (a) bacterial
contamination, (b) the effects of antibiotics on the meat that is
consumed, or (c) the release of adrenaline, cortisone, and other
chemicals resulting from the acute stress endured by factory
farm animals, which then becomes part of the meat that is later
consumed by humans.
If you choose the moral responsibility heading, reflect on the
stewardship role that may fall upon humans toward non-human
animals. Can we utilize them as mere means to an end (for
entertainment, companionship, or food)? Or do we have special
obligations toward them (e.g., not to mistreat or torture them
and to slaughter them quickly and without stress) because they
are sentient beings?
Once you have completed the indicated readings and videos,
reflect on the ethical theories that we have covered in the
discussions thus far and identify one that you want to apply for
your analysis in your discussion post.
Also, reflect on the regulations (or lack thereof) in the factory
farming industry in order to be able to examine how our
nation’s laws affect the operations of the business.
You will need to research the applicable laws on the factory
farming industry
.
Finally, since Perdue Farms is an American corporation, reflect
on the mixed economic system in the United States in order to
articulate the setting for the operations of factory farming, and
then, be able to analyze the ethical actions of Perdue given this

3. setting.
Write:
In the first part of your initial post, you will need to introduce
the Perdue case within the particular subject heading that you
have chosen. In this introduction, you will also need to (1)
articulate the relevant characteristics of our mixed economic
system and (2) present the regulations for the factory farming
industry. These will provide the setting for you to be able to
examine how the nation’s laws affect its operations.
In the second part of your initial post, present your analysis of
the problem in a way that identifies which entities (Perdue as a
corporation, the economic system in the USA, the regulatory
control of the state, or all of these) have a role in the problem
that you have presented. In your analysis, you must assess the
negative effects of the interplay between business activity and
one of the following: the environment, advertising, consumer
safety, or corporate social responsibility. Your focus must be an
ethical analysis of this interplay, and it must be well supported
by reliable and/or scholarly sources by clearly identifying the
ethical theory that you are applying in your analysis.
Revise:
Read the feedback provided by your professor to your initial
post, either directly to you or to your fellow students. Use this
as an opportunity to learn from your professor, especially with
regard to the best ways to apply the course material and your
research to your analysis. On the basis of what you have learned
in this process, post an improved revision of your initial post
that applies the additional knowledge that you have gained.
Remember that your grade depends on the quality of your initial
and revised responses, not just on the submission of an attempt

4. at improvement. It is thus to your advantage to post the best
initial post you can and then to also improve that best effort as
much as you can through revision. Taking this process seriously
will help you develop the skills you need to do well on the Final
Project.
Requirements for Your Initial Post:
Your initial post should be at least
400 words in length and have citations and references in APA
notation
. It should address the prompt in its entirety. This means that
you should not split your response to the prompt in multiple
posts. Your examination should be both thorough and succinct.
This is a combination that demands time and thought, so give
yourself sufficient time to draft and revise.
Please be advised that until you post, you will not see what your
fellow students are posting. Once you submit your post, you
will be able to view the posts from your other classmates. You
can then proceed to reply to at least two different threads based
on the required material for this discussion.
Your list of references for your initial post should include the
videos and the other required reading material for this
discussion, the Instructor Guidance, and any other
announcements presented to you by your professor. List all the
course material that informed your work in the list of references
and cite these too where appropriate. In addition, your
references should include any other sources that you consult to
inform yourself (but not Wikipedia or similar sources).
Your initial post for this discussion should be submitted
no later than the end of Thursday (11:59 pm, U.S. Mountain

5. time)
.
Requirements for Replies to Other Threads:
At least two of the four posts required should be in the form of
replies to fellow classmates in threads other than your own.
Each of your replies should be at least
200 words
and informed by the course material. As such, the replies must
have citations and references in APA notation. Your list of
references for each reply should include all of the course
material that has informed your reply, in addition to any
research that you have obtained on your own.
Your replies should focus on the specific examination presented
by your fellow student, and these should include an examination
of whether or not the characteristics of the ethical theory and/or
economic system were identified well, and whether or not their
application and analysis was also carried out successfully.
Providing such an examination is not an attack on your fellow
student but an attempt to work together with your fellow student
toward the better understanding of the ethical theories
employed, as well as their application.
Requirements for
Revising
Your Initial Post:

6. Submit a revision of your initial post by either replying to your
own post, or to the feedback provided to you by your professor.
There is no minimum word requirement for your revised initial
post. But you should always explain the reasons for revising
your post so that it is clear what you are doing. If you are
revising only a few words, or an ethical theory, you should not
just submit a post with vague language such as: “duty ethics
works better here” or “I did not consider the economic system.”
It is important to recognize that no one can read your mind so
you need to provide the setting for your revision (Why? What
prompted it? What course material informed you?) , and it is
important to write in clear language and complete sentences.
Your revised initial post is your chance to correct any
oversights or errors in your initial post, or show your improved
understanding of the material and its applications to the case at
hand. You may, for example, come to the realization that
another ethical theory is better than the one that you initially
chose. Accordingly, your revision should indicate that you
chose another ethical theory and an explanation why you find
the replacement more suitable. You may also find the need to
revise any relevant portions of your analysis. Or, you might
have realized that your conclusion did not take into account
important factors necessary for your evaluation of the situation.
You should maximize the improvement of your initial post by
employing your professor’s feedback as a guide
. Keep in mind that you may not always receive direct feedback
from your professor. But your professor will have submitted
feedback in the discussion to other posts. So read your
professor’s feedback whether it is addressed to you directlyor to
other fellow students. This will give you much to think about
and apply to your own post.

7. If your professor or a fellow classmate responds to your revised
initial post, and on this basis, you find good reason to submit
yet another revision, then by all means do so. The more you
improve your initial post, the more you will benefit both in
terms of your learning and most likely your grade.