BASF Controversy and Ethical Reasoning

Length: 2 pages double-spaced, 12 font size, Times New Roman.
Due date: Thursday, 10/11, by midnight.  Please upload a copy on Canvas.
ASSIGNMENT GOAL:

• The purpose of the assignment is to show your grasp of different theories of ethical reasoning that come into play when business decisions are involved.
  • Practice critical thinking and writing about a study case; yes, for a college class, but in the process hone writing skills that you will need in the real world.

CASE STUDY:
At the conclusion of their introduction on Ethical Reasoning, Donaldson and Werhane go back to a discussion of the case that begins the Introduction. The case concerned a German chemical firm, BASF, and its attempts to locate a plant in South Carolina in the same county as the Hilton Head resort. Ultimately, BASF decided to locate elsewhere, despite the fact that it had been presented with a petition from the citizens of the county, hoping for the new plant and the jobs it would bring. The primary reason for BASF’s decision was pollution concerns, and specifically, the fact that the Hilton Head developers had raised those concerns with the media and with the political establishment, and were likely to act as a private watchdog over BASF’s operations to make sure that their own site remained attractive to upscale vacationers.
WRITING TASK: 
The two pages should present your point of view on the ethical issue in the BASF controversy. In your assignment you are working with a hypothetical situation i.e. you need to imagine yourself as the BASF manager and write your response in first person. Think of the following questions as your guiding questions:
1) Which line of ethical reasoning would you employ to reach a decision that would be most beneficial for your company?
2) Would your decision satisfy business ethics?
As you try to wrap your mind around the ethical issue(s), consider some of the questions from our online discussion as well.
Do your best to apply the modes of ethical reasoning to this problem, and suggest possible conclusions as to how employing ethical reasoning contributes either to BASF’s answer to the dilemma or to a different conclusion. Try to come up with your own argument how any of the ethical theories — consequentialism, deontological reasoning or virtue theory ethics — could have contributed.
This is a short writing assignment and the emphasis should be on the analytical aspect. Don’t worry about the intro so much, the focus should be more on highlighting the ethical problem and tracing a discernible line of ethical reasoning that you think is best in resolving the controversy.