“Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility”

Imagine you have just graduated after taking a business ethics course at York University and
have opened up your own business ethics consulting practice. Your very first client is Lance
Armstrong, the former seven-time Tour de France cycling champion and cancer survivor . Lance
has asked you to prepare a memo to help him with an important matter . The bike company that
hired Lance as a spokesperson has cancelled their contractual agreement with Lance, but in
addition, the contract also says that if Lance ever acts ‘unethically’ as part of his racing activities,
the bike company can demand back all of the millions of dollars of sponsorship money they have
already paid to Lance. Lance does not want to have to return the mill ions of dollars he has
already received from the bike company, much of which Lance has already poured into his
charitable foundation ‘Livestrong’ . Lance wants you to go over all the facts that have been
reported in the media, and prepare a memo in no more than 1,800 words (not including student
information or headings) that answers the following questions:

1)   What are the arguments that Lance can make that he acted ethically by taking
performance enhancing drugs , and what are the arguments that the bike company can
make that Lance acted unethically by taking performance drugs   and how he treated his
teammates? You should apply each of the seven moral standards (i) core ethical values;
(ii) relativism; (iii) egoism; (iv) utilitarianism; (v) Kantianism; (vi) moral rights; and (vii)
justice to the full extent that they are relevant and applicable (clearly indicate which
moral standards you are applying). As part of and incorporated into your application of
any of the moral standards, make very brief reference to the following cases discussed in
the course: ‘Parable of the Sadhu’; ‘Child Sponsorship and the Future of Basketball’, and
‘Assurance Magnum of Quebec’ as well as the theoretical framework ‘When in Rome…’
Based on you analysis, briefly indicate your overall moral judgment on whether Lance’s
actions were ethically justified to the point he should not have to return the money to the
bike company, and should be able to keep his winning titles .   (approximately 1, 650
words);
2)   Assuming Lance believed he would never be caught, w ould Milton Friedman agree with
Lance’s decision to take performance enhancing drugs in order to win his races and
benefit the bike company according to Friedman’s corporate social responsibility criteria
and each of his constraints? (approximately 150 words).

Here are several sources of information to assist you with your analysis (paste the URL into your
browser if necessary) :
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/lancearmstrong/9810801/Lance- Armstrongs-interview -with -Oprah-Winfrey-the-transcript.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/lancearmstrong/11370341/Lance-Armstrong-says -he -would-still -dope -if -he – could-start – all -over -again.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/lancearmstrong/11666570/Lance -Armstrong- Ive-admitted -to -it -all -and- I- have -suffered-enough -its – now -time -to -draw-line -in -the-sand.html

edition.cnn.com/2014/08/20/sport /lance -armstrong- rehabilitation-cycling/

www.infoplease.com/spot/lancearmstrongtimeline.html

Instructions for completing assignment (important, please read carefully):
In no more than a total of 1,800 words (please indicate your total word count at the end of the
analysis) analyze the questions indicated above .
No additional research beyond the course materials and the sources of information indicated
above is required. Given the word limit, t here is no need for an introduction in your memo, you
can immediately proceed to your analysis. Include any reasonable factual assumptions you are
making if necessary. Note that rather than the position you take, you will be graded on the
quality of your analysis and your demonstration of your grasp and application of the course
concepts and cases. This assignment is to be completed by you alone. You may not discuss, ask,
or allow another student or anyone else to read, review, or give any comments on your answer
(or even an outline of your answer), and you may not discuss, review, or give comments on any
other student’s answer or outline. Failure to observe the requirement to write your assignment
alone will be considered a serious ethical violation, so please be careful to avoid problems.
Please do not ask if you can go over the word limit (the total maximum of 1,800 words) as I will
reply that you should not go over the word limit (in fairness to other students).

Instructions for submitting assignment (important, please read carefully):
• The final assignment must be submitted in Word format ( not a pdf file) by Monday, June
29
th
by 3:00 pm (please try to submit at least several hours earlier in the day to avoid
potentially getting blocked by the system).
• To submit your final assignment, go to the Moodle website where the final assignment is
posted, and then click below where it will say: “Upload (i.e., Submit) Final Case Assignment
Here” and then follow the uploading instructions.
• Your file name of your Word document (do not submit a pdf file) should conform to the
following format (depending which section you are in, A or B). Do not use any spaces, and
use hyphens as follows:

3660[section letter] – Last name-First name.
Here are examples for each of the two sections if the student’s name was Mary Smith:
“3660A-Smith-Mary” (for students in section A)
“3660B-Smith-Mary” (for students in section B)
• Only if you are unable to successfully submit your assignment after several attempts (and if
close to the deadline) then you should submit your assignment directly to me prior to the
deadline (schwartz@yorku.ca ). Continue however to try to submit your assignment onto the
course website and let me know if you succeed in doing so.
• Please note that there is an automatic grade deduction of 5% for each day (24 h ours) late
beginning as of Monday, Jun e 29
th
at 3:00 pm for any reason (including
family/medical/health/ work-related reasons), so please do not wait until the last few days to
complete the assignment. This policy will be strictly enforced, so if you ask for an extension,
the response will be t hat you can submit the assignment late but you will receive the 5% per
day grade deduction.
• Also note that any requests to defer the final assignment will not be accepted.