in the Week Three Discussion, you selected a current business problem from the following case categories: Banking Fuel and the Environment GMOs Factory Farming Pharmaceuticals Gender Discrimination In this written assignment, you will present your work on the case analysis using selected components of an argumentative essay as described in Sections 9.1 and 9.2 of With Good Reason: A Guide to Critical Thinking (Hardy, Foster, & Ziga y Postigo, 2015). This written assignment will include a revised and polished version of your discussion work, the presentation and support of two premises, and an analysis of how your chosen ethical theory offers the best moral solution to the business problem in your case analysis. Using the components of the argumentative essay located in Sections 9.1 and 9.2 of With Good Reason: A Guide to Critical Thinking (Hardy, Foster, & Ziga y Postigo (2015), your assignment should include the following: An introduction. This is the \"Problem\" portion of the essay that is covered in Section 9.1: The Argumentative Essay (Hardy, Foster, & Ziga y Postigo, 2015). This should be an improved version of the introduction in your initial post, revised on the basis of your professor's feedback and additional research. In this introduction you will need to (a) identify the specific issue or problem that you want to address and give an impartial presentation of the controversy, (b) articulate briefly the characteristics of the economic system that serves as the setting for the business, and (c) examine the laws that affect the operations of the business. The introduction should be one paragraph of around 200 words in length. A thesis. Start a new paragraph with a precise and clear sentence in which you state your moral position with regard to the case that you presented in your first paragraph. This is known as stating your thesis. (See the \"Thesis\" passage in \"The Argumentative Essay\" in Hardy, Foster, & Ziga y Postigo, 2015). The thesis you state here should be an improved version of the thesis in your initial post in the discussion, revised on the basis of your professor's feedback and your reading of \"The Argumentative Essay\" indicated above. A thesis is only one sentence, so do not write a series of sentences, or a complex sentence with explanatory clauses (e.g., \"because...\" or \"since...\" or \"according to Dr. Mary Expert, an economist with the Bureau of Labor statistics...\Environment Issues- BP BP is considered as one of the largest Oil & Energy Resources Company of the World. In a tragic accident on April 20, 2010, an undersea BP oil well exploded in Gulf of Mexico. The explosion took place 40 miles from the Louisiana coastline which killed 11 workers on the deep water horizon rug. Millions of gallons oil leaked into the water for a course of 87 days disturbing the aquatic life. Fishing and tourism business was hit badly due to this incident. Although, BP led a million dollar clean-up campaign to restrict the damage. This incident raises the ethical issues of human destruction of wildlife and environment. The explosion killed aquatic life and created problems for the general population. The main concern is here with the environmental obligations of the organizations while doing their everyday operations. Every company wants to maximize its growth and cost cutting is an effective way to achieve this goal. BP took timesaving steps in order to cut costs and overlooked the potential hazards that may lead to an accident. It is an unethical behaviour as the company didn't take complete measures to ensure safety.Petroleum companies operate under a variety of laws. Regulatory bodies issues environmental system certifications which has to be maintained by the companies. The certifications need renewal after a fixed interval of time. Hence, different kind of machinery and equipment are needed to be installed which increases the financial overhead of the company. Such regulatory bodies include Department of Energy (DOE), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) etc. Strict restrictions are imposed on the import/export of energy resources. Authorisation form Department of Energy's Office is required to carry out any import/export activity related to natural gas. This kind of an operation involves a due process and takes time. Such laws affect the operations of businesses with respect to the time frame and cost measures. There are two actions in this issue. First is the explosion of the oil well and second is the clean-up activity undertaken by the company. So, it involves both moral and immoral actions on behalf of the company. I would like to explain this problem by deontology ethical theory. Deontology theory states that if the action had moral intentions, it doesn't matter what the consequences are. This theory emphasizes that the consequences have no moral relevance as long as the intention is moral. It focuses on an individual's ability to perform its duty. There was no need of the oil well to explode, so the action would not be considered immoral because the consequences are relevant. On the other hand, BP's clean-up campaign would be considered moral. They had good intentions while trying to restrict the oil seepage and the clean-up activities. Hence, I would conclude that according to Deontology ethical theory, BP can be termed as ethical and unethical for separate reasons on the basis of their intent. Reference Sherwell P., (April 20, 2015) BP Oil Spill: Five Year after 'Worst environmental disaster' in US History, How bad was it really? Retrieved from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11546654/BP-oilspill-Five-years-after-worst-environmental-disaster-in-US-history-how-bad-was-itreally.html Malik S., (June 29, 2010) Ethical questions surrounding the BP Oil Spill Retrieved from: http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2010/06/ethical-questions-surrounding-the-bpoil-spill/ Warren S., (May 18, 2012) Is BP an ethical company? Retrieved From: https://wearedevelopment.net/2012/05/18/is-bp-an-ethical-company/ Fieser, J. (2015). Introduction to business ethics [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ BP Oil BP oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico in the year 2010 is one incident that marks a greater part of the United States history. The claims a total of 5000 barrels were being released in the water on a daily basis and there was no way of measuring the actual amount of the oil spill. According to analysts, 53000 to 83000 barrels were leaking into the water on a daily basis and estimate that has been widely accepted and received support in equal measure. It lasted for a period of 87 days before the workers sealed the leak though by that time more than four million barrels were spilled into the ocean. The leak caused an explosion that killed the aquatic life and led to pollution of the entire environment. The major concern was due to the effects the oil spill had on the environment thus raising concern on the ethical responsibility of BP oil as a company. This action was unethical since the company did not take into account the interest of the general surrounding or the public but only focused on achieving profits and cost cutting measures that lead to hazards within the environment they were operating in. The act of BP oil was not morally justifiable. The oil spills were a threat to the general habitat as they threatened the existence of the aquatic animals. This act had to be stopped by ensuring the company came up with various means that such as the use of microbes that would degrade the absorbents (Sharwell, 2015). Deontology theory alludes to BP oils action since the company had the obligation of observing the general responsibility by ensuring that the surrounding or environment that it is operating is free from any form of pollution. In addition, if the action had moral intentions, whatever the consequences will be does not matter in the long run (Sharwell, 2015). In addition, the consequences do not have moral relevance so long as the moral aspect of the intentions undertaken is moral within the environment. The company has an ethical standing that guides its code of operation therefore it was in order for the management to ensure that all operations being undertaken have to be take into consideration the interest of the surrounding community. The ethical cultures of BP are also question based on the oil spill incident. The refusal by the management to accept the safety and various environmental violations lead to lack of trust of BP in their operation (Warren, 2012). The company did not also follow the government standards thereby making it hard for the company to uphold ethical responsibility in its operation thereby bringing to question if indeed its employees followed the laid down environmental rules that have to be observed when operating (Malik, 2010). This has also led to an act of complacency towards the rules as seen in the daily procedures of the company. The routine checks of the pipelines are questionable thus it is unethical in the event that the entire management has assumed its role in observing its ethical responsibility when undertaking its operations (Fieser, 2015). The fact that the oil spill continued for a long period of time clearly shows that the company was never concerned about the effects it had on the environment thus it goes back to questioning its ethical responsibility. Just as it is directed, the management needs to ensure that its business operation is not a threat to the environment in any way (Malik, 2010). Moreover, a company has to ensure that it contribute towards the conservation efforts of the environment and the organization at large thus in the event that BP does not take this into consideration makes this action unethical. The fact that the company failed to observe risk in their operation makes it turn out as unethical and negligent in its operation. BP Oil Company's lack of concern on the instances of environmental management and risk analysis was based on the fact that the organization had a difficult time coping with the major issues that the management failed to adhere to ethical considerations in ensuring that the company complies with the various requirements in environmental operations (Fieser, 2015). In addition, without complying to the organization's ethical operation shows that the company is less concerned about whatever goes around them in all the operations they undertake. The workers spend a lot of time and become dependent on each other and placed in an offshore. They are also dependent on one another in seeking to know more about each other. These are also other issues that need to be taken into consideration in order to ensure that their operations are done responsibly within the organization and further operations when the company had to undertake overtime in order to meet the desired goal (Warren, 2012). Moreover, by not having an appropriate review model to ensure that the operations within the organization are monitored, made it hard for BP oil to keep track of the various operations within the environment and ensuring that the organization's operations take into account the ethical considerations within the environment they operate in. The company needs to align itself with the various ethical responsibilities in order to ensure that the company has to undertake its operations by observing the available ethical guidelines. In addition, the management needs ensure that all the employees within the organization practice a high level of ethical responsibilities and in this regard, they have to ensure that all of them make it a responsibility in all their operations. Based on the deontological theory, the management needs to ensure that they report direct to the board of directors and a further review of the same has to be done in order to ensure the employees would be responsible in coming up with appropriate revision of the ethical practices that would give them the chance to better identify with the appropriate ethical practices. The BP Oil board also has to come up with policies that would help in ensuring that the ethical guidelines are followed through by every single employee. References Sherwell P., (April 20, 2015) BP Oil Spill: Five Year after 'Worst environmental disaster' in US History, How bad was it really? Retrieved from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11546654/BP-oilspill-Five-years-after-worst-environmental-disaster-in-US-history-how-bad-was-itreally.html Malik S., (June 29, 2010) Ethical questions surrounding the BP Oil Spill Retrieved from: http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2010/06/ethical-questions-surrounding-the-bpoil-spill/ Warren S., (May 18, 2012) Is BP an ethical company? Retrieved From: https://wearedevelopment.net/2012/05/18/is-bp-an-ethical-company/ Fieser, J. (2015). Introduction to business ethics [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ BP Oil BP oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico in the year 2010 is one incident that marks a greater part of the United States history. The claims a total of 5000 barrels were being released in the water on a daily basis and there was no way of measuring the actual amount of the oil spill. According to analysts, 53000 to 83000 barrels were leaking into the water on a daily basis and estimate that has been widely accepted and received support in equal measure. It lasted for a period of 87 days before the workers sealed the leak though by that time more than four million barrels were spilled into the ocean. The leak caused an explosion that killed the aquatic life and led to pollution of the entire environment. The major concern was due to the effects the oil spill had on the environment thus raising concern on the ethical responsibility of BP oil as a company. This action was unethical since the company did not take into account the interest of the general surrounding or the public but only focused on achieving profits and cost cutting measures that lead to hazards within the environment they were operating in. The act of BP oil was not morally justifiable. The oil spills were a threat to the general habitat as they threatened the existence of the aquatic animals. This act had to be stopped by ensuring the company came up with various means that such as the use of microbes that would degrade the absorbents (Sharwell, 2015). Deontology theory alludes to BP oils action since the company had the obligation of observing the general responsibility by ensuring that the surrounding or environment that it is operating is free from any form of pollution. In addition, if the action had moral intentions, whatever the consequences will be does not matter in the long run (Sharwell, 2015). In addition, the consequences do not have moral relevance so long as the moral aspect of the intentions undertaken is moral within the environment. The company has an ethical standing that guides its code of operation therefore it was in order for the management to ensure that all operations being undertaken have to be take into consideration the interest of the surrounding community. The ethical cultures of BP are also question based on the oil spill incident. The refusal by the management to accept the safety and various environmental violations lead to lack of trust of BP in their operation (Warren, 2012). The company did not also follow the government standards thereby making it hard for the company to uphold ethical responsibility in its operation thereby bringing to question if indeed its employees followed the laid down environmental rules that have to be observed when operating (Malik, 2010). This has also led to an act of complacency towards the rules as seen in the daily procedures of the company. The routine checks of the pipelines are questionable thus it is unethical in the event that the entire management has assumed its role in observing its ethical responsibility when undertaking its operations (Fieser, 2015). The fact that the oil spill continued for a long period of time clearly shows that the company was never concerned about the effects it had on the environment thus it goes back to questioning its ethical responsibility. Just as it is directed, the management needs to ensure that its business operation is not a threat to the environment in any way (Malik, 2010). Moreover, a company has to ensure that it contribute towards the conservation efforts of the environment and the organization at large thus in the event that BP does not take this into consideration makes this action unethical. The fact that the company failed to observe risk in their operation makes it turn out as unethical and negligent in its operation. BP Oil Company's lack of concern on the instances of environmental management and risk analysis was based on the fact that the organization had a difficult time coping with the major issues that the management failed to adhere to ethical considerations in ensuring that the company complies with the various requirements in environmental operations (Fieser, 2015). In addition, without complying to the organization's ethical operation shows that the company is less concerned about whatever goes around them in all the operations they undertake. The workers spend a lot of time and become dependent on each other and placed in an offshore. They are also dependent on one another in seeking to know more about each other. These are also other issues that need to be taken into consideration in order to ensure that their operations are done responsibly within the organization and further operations when the company had to undertake overtime in order to meet the desired goal (Warren, 2012). Moreover, by not having an appropriate review model to ensure that the operations within the organization are monitored, made it hard for BP oil to keep track of the various operations within the environment and ensuring that the organization's operations take into account the ethical considerations within the environment they operate in. The company needs to align itself with the various ethical responsibilities in order to ensure that the company has to undertake its operations by observing the available ethical guidelines. In addition, the management needs ensure that all the employees within the organization practice a high level of ethical responsibilities and in this regard, they have to ensure that all of them make it a responsibility in all their operations. Based on the deontological theory, the management needs to ensure that they report direct to the board of directors and a further review of the same has to be done in order to ensure the employees would be responsible in coming up with appropriate revision of the ethical practices that would give them the chance to better identify with the appropriate ethical practices. The BP Oil board also has to come up with policies that would help in ensuring that the ethical guidelines are followed through by every single employee. References Sherwell P., (April 20, 2015) BP Oil Spill: Five Year after 'Worst environmental disaster' in US History, How bad was it really? Retrieved from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11546654/BP-oilspill-Five-years-after-worst-environmental-disaster-in-US-history-how-bad-was-itreally.html Malik S., (June 29, 2010) Ethical questions surrounding the BP Oil Spill Retrieved from: http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2010/06/ethical-questions-surrounding-the-bpoil-spill/ Warren S., (May 18, 2012) Is BP an ethical company? Retrieved From: https://wearedevelopment.net/2012/05/18/is-bp-an-ethical-company/ Fieser, J. (2015). Introduction to business ethics [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/