| Course | BUS 454 Ethical Decision Making for Business |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Business ethics paper |
| Length | About 1,025 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 454 Module 1
Ninety Jobs and a New Plant: The Shareholder and Stakeholder Views at Harbor Point Foods
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
BUS 454: Ethical Decision Making for Business
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Ninety Jobs and a New Plant: The Shareholder and Stakeholder Views at Harbor Point Foods
Harbor Point Foods is a composite maker of granola and snack bars with 480 employees, two plants in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and a new plant under construction near Jackson, Tennessee. The older Sheboygan line is slow and costly to maintain, and the finance team projects savings of about $3.1 million a year if its production moves to Tennessee, where labor and energy cost less and the equipment will be new. The move would end 90 jobs in Sheboygan, many held by workers with more than fifteen years at the company. The family owners and their lender favor the move. The plant manager, the union steward and the mayor have asked for a meeting. This paper introduces business ethics through this decision and compares two ways of thinking about what the company owes, and to whom.
What Business Ethics Asks
Business ethics asks what is right and good in business decisions, not only what is legal or profitable. Most business decisions are legal; the ethical questions arise in how they are made, whose interests are weighed and how the people affected are treated. Moving production is lawful, and the federal plant closing law would require notice only if the layoff met its size thresholds. The ethical question is how Harbor Point should decide and carry out the move.
The Shareholder View
One influential answer holds that a company's managers are agents of its owners and that their responsibility is to increase profits within the rules of the game, meaning open and free competition without deception or fraud (Friedman, 1970). On this view, spending the owners' money on goals such as preserving jobs that are no longer efficient is a kind of tax imposed without consent. Applied here, the shareholder view supports moving the line, provided Harbor Point obeys the law and deals honestly with employees.
The Stakeholder View
A second answer holds that a business should be managed for the benefit of all groups that can affect or are affected by its purposes, including employees, customers, suppliers, communities and owners (Freeman, 1984). Donaldson and Preston (1995) distinguished three forms of stakeholder theory: descriptive, which observes that managers do in fact attend to many groups; instrumental, which holds that attending to stakeholders tends to improve performance; and normative, which holds that stakeholders' interests have value in their own right. They argued that the normative form is the foundation of the theory. On this view, Harbor Point must weigh the harm to long-serving workers and their town, not only the savings.
Who Gains and Who Loses
The table shows how the relocation affects each group.
| Stakeholder | Main interest | Effect of the move |
|---|---|---|
| Owners | Long-term profit and family legacy | Gain about $3.1 million a year |
| Lender | Repayment and covenant compliance | Stronger margins; lower risk |
| Sheboygan line workers | Jobs, income, health coverage | 90 jobs lost; many with long tenure |
| Tennessee community | New jobs and tax base | About 70 new jobs |
| City of Sheboygan | Tax base, employment | Lost payroll; empty building |
| Customers | Price, quality, reliability | Possible disruption during transfer |
Where the Views Agree
The two views are less opposed than they first appear. Even a strict shareholder view recognizes that how a company treats employees affects its reputation, recruiting and productivity. Harbor Point still needs 390 employees in Sheboygan, and they will watch how the 90 are treated. The instrumental form of stakeholder theory reaches the same place by a different road. Both views reject deception, and both accept that a business that cannot compete cannot protect anyone's job for long.
Where They Differ
The views differ on whether the workers' interests matter only as a means to profit or also for their own sake. On the normative stakeholder view, a worker who gave twenty years to the company has a claim to fair treatment even if generous treatment brings no return. That claim does not require keeping an inefficient line forever, but it does require treating the loss as a real cost to real people rather than a line item.
Value-Based Management
Aspen's course frames ethical decisions through value-based management: deciding in light of the organization's stated values and seeking outcomes that stakeholders with competing interests can accept. Harbor Point's own values statement promises to treat employees "as neighbors, not numbers." That promise does not settle whether to move, but it shapes how. A decision that followed the numbers and ignored the promise would teach every employee that the values statement is decoration.
A Plan Both Views Could Accept
The recommended plan moves the line, because the savings are large and the old equipment cannot be rebuilt economically, but it shares the gains. Harbor Point should announce the decision nine months ahead, offer the 90 workers first choice of the 34 openings expected in its other Sheboygan plant over the next year, offer relocation packages to anyone willing to move to Tennessee, and pay severance of two weeks per year of service with six months of continued health coverage. It should fund retraining through the local technical college and work with the city to market the building. The first-year cost, about $1.4 million, is less than half of one year's savings. Harbor Point should also keep the Sheboygan warehouse and maintenance jobs in place, which limits the loss to production roles.
Communicating the Decision
The owners should explain the decision in person to the affected workers before any public announcement, share the reasons and the numbers honestly, answer questions and meet the union and the mayor the same day. Collaboration matters: workers and the city may have ideas, such as a new use for the building, that management has missed.
Conclusion
The shareholder view supports moving the line; the stakeholder view insists that the people harmed be treated as ends and not only as costs. At Harbor Point, the views meet in a plan that captures the savings while sharing some of them with those who bear the loss, and that keeps the company's promise about how it treats its people. Business ethics here is less about whether to act than about how to act well.
References
Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65-91. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9503271992
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman.
Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). A Friedman doctrine: The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine, 32-33, 122-126.
What the BUS 454 Module 1 instructions ask for
Aspen describes BUS 454 as resolving ethical dilemmas through a stakeholder perspective and value-based management, so an opening paper typically introduces those ideas through a real decision. Your instructor supplies the Module 1 prompt; this example applies the ideas to one relocation. Start by separating what is legal from what is ethical. Present the shareholder view fairly, in its strongest form, before responding to it. Explain the stakeholder view and distinguish its forms, since instructors look for more than a list of groups. Map how each stakeholder is affected. Show where the views agree as well as where they differ. End with a concrete decision and a plan for carrying it out and communicating it.
How this BUS 454 Module 1 example is built
The paper opens with an aging Wisconsin line, a new Tennessee plant and 90 jobs. It distinguishes legal from ethical questions, then presents Friedman's 1970 argument that managers are agents of owners. Freeman's definition of stakeholders and Donaldson and Preston's three forms of stakeholder theory follow. A six-row table shows interests and effects for owners, the lender, workers, both communities and customers. Sections explain where the views agree, on honesty and competitiveness, and where they differ, on whether workers matter for their own sake. The company's promise to treat employees as neighbors shapes the plan: nine months' notice, transfers, relocation, severance, health coverage, retraining and in-person communication.
Where the marks sit in the BUS 454 Module 1 rubric
Introductory ethics papers are judged on fair presentation of competing views, accurate use of theory, careful application and a reasoned conclusion. This example gives the shareholder view its strongest form rather than a caricature, then shows how the stakeholder view changes the analysis. The APA reference list holds Friedman's New York Times Magazine essay, Freeman's Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach and Donaldson and Preston's Academy of Management Review article on stakeholder theory. The table makes the distribution of costs and benefits visible. A plan costed at less than half a year's savings shows that ethical choices can be financially realistic, which strengthens the argument. The communication plan, with owners speaking in person first, reflects the course's emphasis on collaboration.
BUS 454 Module 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
A common weakness is treating the shareholder view as simply greedy. Present it fairly, then respond. Another is listing stakeholders without saying how the decision affects each. Distinguish the forms of stakeholder theory rather than using the term loosely. Separate legal requirements from ethical ones. Reach a decision; a paper that only describes both sides does not resolve the dilemma. Include how the decision would be communicated, since that is part of acting ethically. Put approximate costs on your plan so readers can judge whether it is realistic. If you draw on a layoff you experienced, write carefully and avoid identifying people, and keep your analysis fair to those who made the decision. Finally, reread your ending and ask whether a skeptical reader would reach it from your evidence alone.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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BUS 454 Module 1 questions, answered
What does BUS 454 Module 1 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 454 is built on a stakeholder perspective, so a first paper introducing business ethics and applying the stakeholder view to a decision is typical. Follow your classroom prompt.
What is the difference between the shareholder and stakeholder views?
The shareholder view holds that managers should maximize profit for owners within the law; the stakeholder view holds that managers should weigh the interests of all groups affected by the business.
Is a legal business decision always ethical?
No. Law sets minimum standards; ethics also asks how a decision is made, whose interests count and how affected people are treated.
Where can I find a free BUS 454 Module 1 sample paper?
The whole paper is above: a plant relocation affecting 90 jobs, analyzed through the shareholder and stakeholder views, with a table of gains and losses and a costed plan.
What are the three forms of stakeholder theory?
Donaldson and Preston described descriptive, instrumental and normative forms, and argued that the normative form, that stakeholders' interests matter for their own sake, is its foundation.