BUSI 472 Week 1 Forum 1 Thread: Moral Problems Example

Course	BUSI 472 Organizational Ethics (BUSI472)
Module/Week	1
Assignment	Discussion Board Forum 1: Thread
Paper type	Discussion thread
Length	about 461 words (thread and replies). Course guide: a thread of at least 350 words demonstrating course-related knowledge, answering the provided prompt
Format	APA 7 citations and reference list
Points	60
School	Liberty University Online
Program	BS in Business Administration
Where it sits	Module/Week 1 in Liberty's published BUSI 472 course guide; current sections can differ
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for BUSI 472 Week 1

Discussion Board Forum 1: The Nature of Moral Problems in Management

BUSI 472 Organizational Ethics, Discussion Board Forum 1 Thread

Thread by [Student Name]

The forum prompt and the manufacturing example are composites; the textbook, the research and the Scripture cited are real.

Thread

Why this part earns its pointsThe thread starts from one concrete decision so that each of Hosmer's features has something to explain.

A mid-sized manufacturer of industrial pumps runs two plants: a 60-year-old facility in a small Ohio town that employs 340 people, and a newer plant in Tennessee with spare capacity. Moving the Ohio work to Tennessee would cut costs by about $6 million a year. On a spreadsheet the choice looks simple. Hosmer (2011) argues that decisions like this are moral problems, not merely financial ones, because they can help or harm people who have no say in them, and that what makes them hard is a set of features that distinguish moral problems in management from ordinary business choices.

The first is extended consequences. The closing would not end at the plant gate. It would reach 340 families, the suppliers and diners near the plant, the school district that depends on the plant's taxes and the town's sense of itself. Few of those affected would be in the room when the decision is made.

The second is mixed outcomes. The move would benefit shareholders through lower costs, and it would benefit workers and the community in Tennessee through new jobs. It would harm Ohio workers, many in their fifties with skills tied to this plant. No option on the table helps everyone; every choice moves benefits and harms between groups of people.

Why this part earns its pointsUncertainty is shown with the case's own unknowns, which keeps the analysis from being abstract.

The third is uncertain consequences. The savings estimate might be wrong if the Tennessee plant struggles to absorb the work, and the harm to Ohio might be smaller if a regional employer hires many of the workers, or larger if no one does. Managers must decide without knowing which future will arrive.

The fourth is personal implications. The plant manager has worked in Ohio for 20 years and knows the families involved. Recommending the closing could advance a career at headquarters; opposing it could end one. Hosmer (2011) notes that moral problems in management are rarely detached from the decision maker's own interests.

Why do some managers treat such a decision as purely financial? Jones (1991) proposed that people are more likely to recognize a moral issue when its moral intensity is high, meaning that the harm is large, likely, soon, close to them and concentrated on identifiable people. From a headquarters several states away, the Ohio workers are distant and abstract, which lowers the perceived intensity of the decision and makes it easier to treat as arithmetic.

Scripture does not settle the decision, but it sets the frame. Jeremiah 22:13 pronounces woe on the one who makes his neighbors serve him for nothing and withholds their wages (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016). Whatever the company decides, it owes the Ohio workers honest notice, fair severance and real help finding new work. Recognizing the closing as a moral problem is the first step toward handling it as one.

References

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Hosmer, L. T. (2011). The ethics of management: A multidisciplinary approach (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of Management Review, 16(2), 366-395. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1991.4278958

What the BUSI 472 Week 1 instructions ask

BUSI 472 opens with the first chapter of Hosmer, a presentation, a lecture note and a website, and the week's graded work is the 10-point syllabus confirmation, a self-introduction and the 60-point Forum 1 thread. The thread must reach 350 words, respond to the instructor's prompt and show command of the chapter; the reply to a classmate, due in Week 2, carries the forum's citation and Scripture requirements. Hosmer's opening chapter asks what makes a management decision a moral problem rather than a technical one, and why such problems are hard to resolve, so a thread that tests the chapter's ideas on one realistic decision tends to show the most understanding.

How this BUSI 472 Week 1 example is built

The thread opens with the decision, an old plant in a small town that costs more to run than a newer facility two states away, and then argues that it is a moral problem because people outside the boardroom will bear its consequences. Each paragraph applies one of Hosmer's features of moral problems in management: extended consequences reaching families and the town, mixed outcomes that help shareholders and the new plant's town while harming others, uncertainty about what will actually happen, and personal implications for the plant manager. A study on moral intensity explains why the ethical dimension can go unnoticed. A short scriptural note on the treatment of workers closes the thread.

BUSI 472 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go

Forum threads in BUSI 472 are judged on how accurately they use Hosmer's chapter, whether they answer the prompt directly, how well an example is analyzed and how readable the prose is, with the 350-word minimum applied. The chapter's own terms, such as moral problem, extended consequences, mixed outcomes, uncertain consequences and personal implications, should be used in Hosmer's sense and put to work on the example, not recited as a glossary. Citations are not required in the thread itself, but a study that sharpens the analysis shows initiative. Because the course compares Judeo-Christian and secular paradigms, a brief note on how Scripture frames the problem fits naturally.

BUSI 472 Week 1 help: mistakes that cost points

Pick one decision with real consequences for people, such as a layoff, a product recall or a pricing change, and use it throughout. Work through Hosmer's features one paragraph at a time, showing how each applies to the case. Avoid deciding the case too quickly; the chapter's point is that moral problems are hard because good arguments exist on several sides. A research study on ethical decision making can explain why managers sometimes miss the moral dimension. Keep the thread above 350 words but focused, and save notes, because next week's reply must include two or three citations and a biblical principle. A clear example matters more than length.

Related BUSI 472 sample papers

Other BUSI 472 weeks

More BS in Business Administration sample papers

BUSI 472 Week 1 questions, answered

What is BUSI 472 Discussion Board Forum 1 about?

It applies the first chapter of Hosmer's The Ethics of Management, on what makes management decisions moral problems; this sample analyzes a plant closing.

Where can I find a free BUSI 472 Week 1 sample paper?

A complete BUSI 472 Week 1 forum thread is here, analyzing a plant closing with Hosmer's features of moral problems and research on moral intensity.

What makes a management decision a moral problem?

A decision becomes a moral problem when it can help or harm people outside the decision maker's control, usually with consequences that spread widely, mix benefits with harms and cannot be predicted with certainty.

Does the BUSI 472 thread need citations?

The guide places the two or three APA citations and the biblical principle on the reply, but citing the textbook and a study in the thread strengthens it and costs little extra effort.

What else is due in BUSI 472 Module/Week 1?

Two small items: confirming the syllabus for 10 points and introducing yourself to the class, both completed alongside the first chapter of Hosmer, one presentation, a lecture note and an assigned website.

Use it as a model, or ask for your own

This paper is an original model written by our desk for study. It is not a submitted student paper and not an official Liberty University document. Read it for structure and reasoning, then write your own to the instructions in your Canvas course. If you want a version built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

Ask for a custom BUSI 472 Week 1 sample · All BUSI 472 weeks · All courses

BUSI 472 Week 1 Discussion Board Forum 1: Thread Example