BUSINESS ETHICS 2019 GUIDELINES for the GROUP PROJECT

“ETHICS DILEMMAS IN MOVIES”

GRADING: This assignment represents 25% of the final grade for the Business Ethics course. 

It’s a GROUP PROJECT (all group members get the same grade).

OBJECTIVES
• To think critically and reflect in group about a situation with a SPECIFIC, DIFFICULT DECISION to be made;
• To apply various ethical theories (both normative and descriptive) to analyze and evaluate the situation and the decision.

GROUP TASK:
• Identify within your movie a specific scene with a difficult decision to be made.
• Discuss, analyze and evaluate this scene (and only this scene), using the various theories discussed in class.
• Prepare your Presentation (Powerpoint or Keynote) of 10 slides maximum with written notes on each slide explaining the key
arguments of your analysis (prepared for class presentation) and providing references, using the class readings and other sources, when necessary.

GUIDELINES FOR YOUR PRESENTATION with WRITTEN NOTES:

• The goal of this assignment is to demonstrate how ethical theories (NORMATIVE and DESCRIPTIVE) can help us in better understanding a
decision-making dilemma.
• Therefore, your first task is to identify a specific decision exemplified by the characters in the movie of your choice, and illustrate it in your
slides.
• Do not explain the theories, but explain how relevant they are to analyze/evaluate the situation. Be able to articulate various theories (use them all
together or find out which one fits better).
• Be very clear about who is the decision maker and what are the options (both those identified in the movie, and others that you can think of)
and express your Group’s assessment on their moral legitimacy.
• Conclude by presenting the “real story” (What the character did in the movie) and your Group's solution - what would have been the best
thing to do?
• Present your rationale supporting your Group’s Solution
• What is the “Learning Points” of the dilemma? What considerations/open questions did this specific decision analysis suggested to you?
• Include a “bibliography” slide with the references to class readings and other necessary citations.
• UPLOAD your file on IESEG-Online by 48hours before class #8 (our last class).
• Include your group number in your file’s name and indicate in the presentation all the group members who actively contributed to the project

Simone de Colle 1
 GUIDELINES for the GROUP PROJECT
BUSINESS ETHICS
“ETHICS DILEMMAS IN MOVIES”

GUIDELINES FOR YOUR PRESENTATION IN CLASS:

•You will have 15 minutes to present your analysis, plus 5 minutes of Q&A with the class.
• It is not necessary that all group members present, but all group members must be on stage in front of
the class during the presentation, ready to answer specific questions from class and the instructor during the Q&A
• While attending the presentation of the other movie your group has been assigned to watch, you will have the role
of “critical audience” and will have to prepare questions to be raised after that presentation.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
• Use Normative ethical theories to support your analysis and explain whether one option is ethical or not.
•Use Descriptive ethical theories to discuss which factors (INDIVIDUAL and/or SITUATIONAL) in your opinion
may have an influence in the situation and/or on the decision-maker (inducing her/him to do the wrong thing…);
• Engage with the class during the presentation! Try to make it fun, interesting, while keeping it professional and
‘academic’. You might engage the audience in different ways….e.g. via a role-playing, showing a video, asking direct
questions, asking for individual vote, etc. (do all this before you present your Group’s solution!);
• Describe the options and indicate whether we are dealing with a Right versus Right choice or a Right v.
Wrong (and explain why)
• AVOID PLAGIARISM: Please, be careful to avoid plagiarism, including self-plagiarism (see IESEG Guidelines
to avoid plagiarism on the course homepage). The quality of your own personal reflections matter - therefore,
make sure it is crystal clear in the text what words are yours and what is a citation (and provide all sources in the
bibliography);
• And remember: This project is a Group project - Not a collage of 5 individual pieces of work!

Simone de Colle 2