Assessment 3
I attached the file for the requirements. The due date is on 18th October 2020. Thank you
BUS201Business Ethics Page 1
CHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITY
Asia Pacific College of Business and Law
Assignment 3: Case Study
Due Date: Week 12, Sunday midnight (Darwin time)
Value % 50%
Length: 3,500 – 4,000 words (excluding title page, TOC, reference list, and
appendices)
Learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Preparation: § Participate in lectures and tutorial in week 1 to week 12.
§ Engage with the learning activities on Learnline.
§ Start researching and working on your assignment early and clarify any
question you may have with your lecturer.
§ Research relevant information and sources to address the assignment
task.
Presentation: § Report-style written assignment that should be presented in a
professional way (no executive summary needed).
§ Add a title page with your student information (name, student number,
study location) and the unit information (unit code and name, lecturer
name, assignment number and title).
§ Formatting suggestion: font style Calibri or Arial, font size 12, 1.5 line
spacing, justified text, margins 2.5cm each, no indents, subheadings are
permitted but should not be numbered, add page numbers.
BUS201 Business Ethics Page 2
Task Details
Task Plastic is a product that we can’t live without anymore, or can we? Modern
consumerism is closely linked to plastic, and technological advancements have
allowed businesses and consumers to benefit from plastic-based products. Plastic
may have made our lives easier, however, an explosion in plastic uses combined
with the rise of global consumerism have resulted in a range of environmental
issues. Plastic waste and environmental issues are being discussed widely by
different stakeholder groups and the media, and often linked to the question whose
responsibility it is to solve the issues around plastic.
The main task of the assignment is to analyse the situation around plastic pollution
from a business ethics perspective and to critically discuss using the ‘tragedy of the
commons’ and ethical theories. You can discuss this from a global perspective or
focus on an Australian perspective. Please see below tasks and questions that you
need to address in your assignment. The case study assignment is organised into
three parts, an analysis, a critical discussion, and recommendation and reflection.
§ A ‘plastic tragedy’?
As part of your analysis, address the following points:
Ø Provide a brief introduction into the use of plastic.
Ø What are the key stakeholder groups and their interests?
Ø What are the key environmental issues around plastic use?
Ø In your analysis, consider the different ethical theories.
As part of your critical discussion, address the following points:
Ø What is the ‘tragedy of the commons’ theory and how does this relate to
environmental ethics?
Ø Do we have a ‘plastic tragedy’? Critically discuss in the context of your
above analysis (stakeholders, issues, ethics) and the ‘tragedy of the
commons’ theory.
Ø Do businesses have a right to use plastic and impact the environment for
the sake of economic success? Use ethical theory to justify your answer.
Ø Does the environment and its non-human inhabitants have rights on their
own? Or are the rights of the human population, especially consumers,
more important? Use ethical theory to justify your answer.
Ø What role do environmental groups play in highlighting the
environmental issues around plastic pollution and are these groups just
anti-business? Use ethical theory to justify your answer.
BUS201 Business Ethics Page 3
As part of your recommendation and reflection, address the following points:
Ø In your view, whose responsibility is it to act on the plastic issues to
prevent a further decline of the environmental quality due to plastic
pollution? And what kind of actions you think are needed. Explain.
Ø Which of the identified issues concerns you personally most and why?
Explain.
Ø Overall, how do you see the future with regards to the use of plastic?
In this assessment, you have the opportunity to analyse and discuss a current global
environmental situation from a business ethics perspective. The analysis part will
enable you to research and review the use of plastic, the views of stakeholder
groups, and the environmental issues associated with plastic. In the critical
discussion, you then will need to use the ‘tragedy of the commons’ and ethical
theory to critically discuss questions regarding the use of plastic and environmental
aspects. In the recommendation and reflection part, you will have the opportunity
to provide your personal views and reflections. Within your case study assignment,
please address the above listed tasks and questions, as well as support your text
with evidence.
Important specifics on the case study
For this case study, you are provided with a range of resources and are required to
research and use additional appropriate academic and non-academic resources (at
least 10 additional) for your discussion. Additional credible non-academic sources
can come from, for example, government or non-governmental websites, interests
or stakeholder groups, or credible news organisations. Furthermore, the textbook
can be used as a reference, however, your research and focus of discussion should
be based on above mentioned types of resources. Support your text with in-text
citations and a reference list.
Make sure all sources are relevant and current (preferably within the last five years;
however, seminal work can be older). The general structure of a case study is a
report-style assignment that includes a title page, (an executive summary is NOT
needed), a table of content (please number sections), an introduction (what the
reader can expect), the main body of the assignment (analysis of the case, discussion
based on the questions, and recommendation and reflection), and a conclusion
(what were the main aspects/findings). You can use tables, figures or images to
support your text. The reference list should follow on a new page, formatted in the
CDU Harvard Referencing style. If needed, you can place additional supporting data
or information in appendices.
Please note, keep electronic or physical copies of sources you used as you may be
asked to provide them.
BUS201 Business Ethics Page 4
Case study
resources
Below resources provide you with initial information about the case study and
associated issues. When assessing and using especially non-academic sources,
always consider its authors and possible interests.
As stated above, you are required to conduct further research on suitable resources,
including academic ones.
Plastic
Perfect Plastic: How Plastic Improves Our Lives
http://www.pepctplastics.com/resources/connecticut-plastics-learning-
center/perfect-plastic-how-plastic-improves-our-lives/
Plastics and packaging
https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/plastics-and-
packaging
We made plastic. We depend on it. Now we’re drowning in it.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-
pollution-trash-crisis/
How Big The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Really Is
https://youtu.be/vrPBYS5zzF8 (3:18 mins)
How to clean up our universal plastic tragedy
https://theconversation.com/how-to-clean-up-our-universal-plastic-tragedy-98565
Your Plastic Diet | WWF-Australia
https://youtu.be/xiuxHvAaZ2M (1:00 min)
No Plastic in Nature: Assessing Plastic Ingestion from Nature to People
https://www.wwf.org.au/ArticleDocuments/353/pub-no-plastic-in-nature-assessing-
plastic-ingestion-from-nature-to-people-jun19 .aspx?OverrideExpiry=Y
New plastic innovations are being created each day
https://www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com/whats-new-cool/
The tragedy of the commons
What is the tragedy of the commons? – TedEd talk by Nicholas Amendolare
https://youtu.be/CxC161GvMPc (4:57 mins)
The tragedy of the commons – Original article by Garrett Hardin
https://cdu-edu-
primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/7r169d/TN_jstor_archive_291724745
BUS201 Business Ethics Page 5
Assessment
criteria
Analysis of the situation and issues (25%)
Analysed and demonstrated an understanding of the current environmental
situation around the use of plastic and identified the main stakeholders,
environmental issues, considered ethical theories and based on relevant and
credible academic and non-academic resources.
Discussion of the ‘plastic tragedy’ (35%)
Critically discussed the ‘tragedy of the commons’ theory in relation to the use of
plastic, as well as addressed the given questions with consideration of ethical
theory. Demonstrated an ability to interpret, evaluate and formulate arguments and
logical conclusions. Discussion is supported with on relevant and credible academic
and non-academic resources.
Recommendation and reflection (20%)
Provided personal recommendations and reflections of the situation around the use
of plastic and business ethics and supported with credible academic and non-
academic resources where needed.
Written report (10%)
Written and presented in a professional way with correct spelling and grammar.
Structure and flow supports the discussion and readability.
Referencing (10%)
Used appropriate academic journal articles, and other credible academic and non-
academic resources, and referenced correctly in-text and in the reference list (CDU
Harvard Referencing style + page number and link).
Penalties Late Submission
Late assignments will lose 5% of the available marks each day (or part thereof).
Plagiarism
You are to identify the sources of any ideas and words in your assignment that are
not yours. Unattributed materials may not be included in the consideration of your
assignment and serious cases of academic misconduct will be handled in accordance
with the Student Complaints Management Process.