Identification, Research, Analysis
For this assignment, you will focus on a case, and complete the first three steps of the critical thinking process: 1) Identification, 2) Research, and 3) Analysis.
First, read the case to be announced the beginning of week 4. The case will not be from the textbook cases. You will find the case above, “Entertainment Allowance”
Entertainment Allowance
Darcy graduated a year ago from law school near the top of her class. She is bright and hardworking. After finishing law school, the law firm, where she had been employed as a law clerk during school, hired her as an associate attorney. Darcy was thrilled to get the offer and was determined to become a partner in this law firm. She knew that would take several years of sacrifice and hard work to become a partner but felt that she was up to the task.
Timothy was assigned to be Darcy’s mentor at the firm. Timothy was an experienced and well-respected attorney in the community. He was impressed by Darcy’s work ethic and her ability to handle more and more responsibility. Timothy knew that one of the things Darcy would need to do in order to one day become a partner was to bring her own clients to the firm and grow her own client list. Timothy was happy to share his contact list with Darcy, so she could learn how to deal with clients in a professional manner, and so she could begin networking to find her own clients within the community.
Darcy’s firm gave each attorney a budget that he or she was to spend on “client relations.” This could be taking clients to lunch, ball games, seminars, fishing trips, etc. In short, the firm expected each attorney to spend time and money cultivating more personal relationships with clients. The firm felt this was important to retain clients and was a value added to its legal services.
Timothy had a long-standing client that happened to be a local insurance company. Timothy asked Darcy to help with the client relations for the insurance company. Robert was the manager in charge of handling all claims at the insurance company and was the main contact with the law firm. Robert had a younger assistant manager working with him named Dolores. Both Timothy and Robert thought that Darcy and Dolores might have a lot in common, and both ladies could gain valuable professional experience by working together to represent the law firm and insurance company.
Darcy wanted to make a good first impression with Dolores. She knew that Timothy and Robert often had lunch and had gone on several fishing trips together. Darcy asked Dolores to lunch so that they could discuss several open legal cases the firm was working on for the insurance company. It was a working lunch, and Darcy thought she could buy lunch and begin using her budget for client relations. When the check came, Dolores politely told Darcy that she could not allow Darcy’s firm to pay for lunch. Dolores went on to say that the insurance company had a very strict policy on never accepting any gifts of any value. If anyone violated this rule, consequences could be severe. Darcy looked confused and asked Dolores if that were the case, why did Timothy always pay for Robert’s lunches and fishing trips. Dolores said she had no knowledge of this, but she most certainly could not accept any gifts from Darcy or her firm.
When she got back to the law firm, Darcy asked Timothy about the insurance company’s gift policy. Timothy just smiled and said these things need to happen “off the books, and, really, what is the harm?” He suggested that next time Darcy take Dolores to a nice dinner. That way it would not be on company time and what Dolores and Darcy did on their own time was their own business. They were about the same age. It would be more like two friends having dinner.
Darcy knew that the insurance company’s policy very clearly meant no gifts—no matter when they were given—or in what setting. However, she also knew that Timothy and the firm were counting on her to keep this client content and happy with their law firm’s services. She did not want this to become an issue for her at the firm and still hoped to become a partner one day. What should Darcy do?
Follow the Sample Format: Identification, Research, Analysis, and submit to this Dropbox using MLA formatting.
Complete this assignment, as follows:
Identification (one sentence in bold print)
State the main ethical/moral issue in question format: Should ______? or What should ______?
Be impartial
Write just one issue, not two; so, do not use the word “or.”
Research (bulleted list)
List three topics that would be appropriate to research, using for example the online library, regarding this case and what you identified as the main ethical issue. Suppose you were the person named in the main ethical issue, and you had to make a decision about the main ethical issue, what perspectives would you want to discover through research to help you make a better decision, and where would you find it? We are not looking here for information you might want to request from the company or the participants but rather ethical principles. You do not need to actually complete the research; just list the three specific topics you would research and discuss why you chose these topics. What would you like to discover? Three distinctly different topics are required.
Analysis (chart)
Complete the analysis chart to include:
at least four options and four stakeholders.
Stakeholders are people or a business/entity that represents people. A stakeholder cannot be a thing such as a friendship or a reputation.
All options must be in the control of the central person named in the main ethical issue. For example, if the issue is Should Jack report, Jill? The first option could be -Jack could report Jill’s stealing to the boss. There are probably many more than 4 options but choose the 4 best options. All options should be reasonable ones that the person named in the main ethical issue could choose to make their decision. For example, you could NOT use, Jill could turn herself into the boss because Jill is not the central person named in the main ethical issue.
Once you have four options and four stakeholders filled in, complete the chart with possible consequences; briefly explain how you believe each stakeholder may be affected by each option. For example, for the option – Jack could report Jill, a possible consequence for Jack, as one of the stakeholders, is that Jack could become a victim of Jill’s scorn. For Jill, as one of the stakeholders, a possible consequence is that Jill could lose her job.
Helpful Hints:
How to Create a Chart:
In MS Word click on the INSERT tab
Click on Table
Create a 5 x 5 Table if you have 4 options and 4 stakeholders. As you write in the squares the chart will expand to support your writingInclude at least 4 stakeholders and 4 options