| Course | BUSI 472 Organizational Ethics (BUSI472) |
|---|---|
| Module/Week | 6 |
| Assignment | Discussion Board Forum 3: Reply |
| Paper type | Discussion reply |
| Length | about 356 words (thread and replies). Course guide: a reply of at least 250 words to at least 1 classmate's thread, with 2 to 3 citations in current APA format and 1 biblical principle |
| Format | APA 7 citations and reference list |
| Points | 30 |
| School | Liberty University Online |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Where it sits | Module/Week 6 in Liberty's published BUSI 472 course guide; current sections can differ |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUSI 472 Week 6
Discussion Board Forum 3: Moral Analysis and Ethical Duties
BUSI 472 Organizational Ethics, Discussion Board Forum 3 Reply
Thread by [Student Name]
The forum prompt and the classmate's thread are composites; the textbooks, the research and the Scripture cited are real.
Reply to Marcus
Marcus, you argued that utilitarian reasoning is the most practical ethical system for managers, because businesses already weigh costs and benefits and because it focuses on outcomes rather than abstract rules. I agree that consequences matter morally, and that a manager who ignores the effects of a decision is not acting responsibly. But I see two problems that make utilitarianism hard to use alone.
The first is measurement. Hosmer (2011) points out that utilitarian analysis requires adding up all benefits and subtracting all harms, yet many of them have no common unit. How many dollars of profit equal a worker's lost hearing, or a town's loss of its largest employer? Managers who try to convert everything into dollars tend to undercount the harms that are hardest to price, such as a community's trust or an employee's sense of being treated fairly, simply because those harms leave no line on the income statement.
The second is distribution. A decision can produce the greatest total benefit while placing its costs on a few people. Hosmer (2011) notes that this is why distributive justice and universal duty developed as alternatives: they ask who bears the harm and whether people are being used merely as means. A plan that raises total profit by exposing one shift of workers to a known hazard might pass a utilitarian test while failing both of the others.
Research suggests that people sense this problem intuitively. Forsyth (1992) found that individuals' personal moral philosophies shaped how they judged questionable business practices: those high in idealism, who emphasize avoiding harm to others, judged such practices more harshly than those who focused mainly on outcomes or rejected universal rules. Many employees and customers will judge a company by whether it harmed identifiable people, not by whether the totals came out ahead.
Micah 6:8 boils the Lord's requirements down to three: act justly, cherish mercy and keep a humble walk with God (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016). Justice in that sense belongs to each person, not to the total. Would your utilitarian analysis change if one group bore all of a decision's harm while others shared its benefits?
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)
Forsyth, D. R. (1992). Judging the morality of business practices: The influence of personal moral philosophies. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5), 461-470. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00870557
Hosmer, L. T. (2011). The ethics of management: A multidisciplinary approach (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
What the BUSI 472 Week 6 instructions ask
Week 6 of BUSI 472 pairs Hosmer's chapter 5 with one presentation and one lecture note, and brings two deadlines: the Forum 3 reply, worth 30 points, and the Group Case Project final paper. The reply answers a classmate's Forum 3 thread from Week 5, where students put a decision through the week's competing ethical frameworks. The guide's rules for replies hold here as everywhere in the course: 250 words or more, two or three APA citations and one biblical principle woven into the argument. With the group paper due the same week, a focused reply that tests one claim works better than a broad survey.
How this BUSI 472 Week 6 example is built
The reply restates the classmate's argument in one sentence and grants its real strengths before raising objections. Two objections follow, each tied to a source. The first, from Hosmer, is the measurement problem: utilitarian reasoning requires adding up benefits and harms that have no common unit, such as profit and a worker's health. The second, also from Hosmer, is the distribution problem: a decision can maximize the total while placing its costs on a few. A study of personal moral philosophies shows that people who weigh harm to individuals judge questionable practices more harshly. Micah 6:8 supplies a standard of justice that does not depend on totals, and the last line asks Marcus how his analysis would handle a lopsided burden.
BUSI 472 Week 6 grading rubric: where the points go
Grades for this reply rest on whether it engages the classmate's specific claim, meets the 250-word minimum, supports its points with two or three APA citations and applies one biblical principle to the argument. Instructors look for Hosmer's and Ferrell et al.'s ethical systems described accurately, objections framed fairly, and evidence that adds something the classmate did not consider. Pushback earns credit when it is courteous and backed by sources, and acknowledging the strengths of the classmate's position before objecting shows the charity that good ethical discussion requires. A reply that ends with a genuine question keeps the forum a discussion rather than a series of statements. Brevity with substance wins.
BUSI 472 Week 6 help: mistakes that cost points
Find a thread whose central claim you can test, and summarize it accurately in your first sentence. Credit what is right in it before disagreeing. Bring one objection per paragraph, each supported by the textbook or a study; research on how moral philosophies shape business judgments is a useful source. Choose a verse that addresses the specific issue, such as justice for individuals rather than totals, and explain how it applies. Count the words, check that citations follow APA format, and finish by asking something that pushes the classmate to sharpen the argument rather than merely restate it. Cite the page or chapter.
Related BUSI 472 sample papers
Other BUSI 472 weeks
- BUSI 472 Week 1: Forum 1 Thread: Moral Problems
- BUSI 472 Week 2: Business Etiquette PowerPoint
- BUSI 472 Week 3: Research Paper Bibliography
- BUSI 472 Week 4: Forum 2 Reply: Legal vs. Ethical
- BUSI 472 Week 5: Forum 3 Thread: Five Ethical Systems
- BUSI 472 Week 7: Personal Code of Ethics
- BUSI 472 Week 8: Research Paper: Speaking Up at Work
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BUSI 472 Week 6 questions, answered
What is the BUSI 472 Forum 3 reply?
In the sixth week each student answers a peer's Forum 3 thread on ethical systems in 250 words or more, citing two or three sources and applying a biblical principle, for up to 30 points.
Where can I find a free BUSI 472 Week 6 sample paper?
The complete BUSI 472 Week 6 forum reply is here, testing the claim that utilitarian reasoning is best for managers with Hosmer, research on moral philosophies and Micah 6:8.
What are the weaknesses of utilitarianism in business ethics?
It requires adding up benefits and harms that often cannot be measured on one scale, and it can justify a decision that maximizes total benefit while concentrating serious harm on a few people.
What are idealism and relativism in business ethics research?
Two dimensions of personal moral philosophy: idealism is concern with avoiding harm to others, and relativism is rejection of universal moral rules; together they shape how people judge business practices.
What else is due in BUSI 472 Module/Week 6?
The Group Case Project final paper, a 5- to 7-page ethics case written by the assigned group with at least seven scholarly references beyond the textbooks and Scripture.
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