OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the four ethical communities
2. Apply the ethical communities to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

The situation at the social media giant (Twitter) is that the company was sold to a

new owner that proves to be controversial. A large portion of the current staff have been

fired by the new owner in effort to facilitate the restructuring of the company. My role

within the company is the Human Resources Manager and I am responsible for assisting

the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with the restructure and hiring of key positions.

Another part to the dilemma is that Twitter must develop a plan that prevent users from

leaving Twitter because of technical issues and the potential for offensive content being

allowed on the platform.

2) Describe how the ethics of the organization influenced the situation.

Twitter has long valued itself on freedom of speech and allowing people to freely

express themselves publicly. Rightfully so, freedom of speech can come with unwanted

consequences depending on the nature of the speech. Speech such as hate speech, threats,

and slander are not protected under law and can bring legal repercussions. Due to the

range of speech issues, you can see why a social media platform such as Twitter would

have issues in the public eye.

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 The problem with Twitter is that the public has complained that Twitter has

allowed people to post statements that are considered problematic to the public. Once the

new CEO came aboard, his suggestion is to reinstate people who were banned from

Twitter for their controversial comments. The people are now face with a dilemma, do

they continue to use the platform or break away because they do not agree with the rules.

This is a classic ethical problem because who determines what is right or wrong? My

thoughts are that public opinion does. When the CEO does not agree with public opinion,

then the entire situation become complicated.

3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical communities for an alternative
course of action regarding your case.

As an alternative course of action, I would suggest that the CEO use the

leadership contribution community for change. I suggest this because the decision power

of what information is allowed to be posted online lies with him. The company will

follow the lead of the leader if they are represented as an ethical person. He should

present a plan that allows people to exercise free speech as long as it aligns with what the

public views as ethical. I understand that this is a fine line to walk but it can be done.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about ethics.

In this case I would approach the CEO in a different manner than I would

previously to reading this chapter. Initially, I was all about people exercising their right of

freedom of speech without limitations, but after reading how much of a disastrous effect

it can have on the company, I have a change of heart. My job is to make sure that the

company is staffed appropriately and that the company is operating in the appropriate

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 legal manner. When dealing with ethics, the legal line is not so clear cut as you would

think.

I would also suggest to the CEO that we align the new agenda with values that the

public respects. If not, this will make it that much harder to recruit the right people to fill

spots within the company that are gapped. The culture of the company is important and if

the people do not support the direction that we are going, then more people will be lost. I

understand that this dilemma is a tough one to navigate because ethics are subjective.

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 Reference or References
(Choose appropriate Title if Applicable and Delete the Rest)