Your posts in the discussion area should exhibit careful thought and logical reasoning and provide evidence for your position. Use correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The discussions must be completed by the due dates specified. You are also required to read and reply to other students in this discussion forum. Your replies should offer new substantiated ideas or thoughtful questions. Friendly debate and disagreement is encouraged but be courteous and respectful. Do not be afraid to speak your mind, but remember that yours is only one opinion.

Your grade will be based on your post as well as your required two replies to the posts of your classmates.

For all discussion topics, the following guidelines apply: Post a well thought out, well written, and proofread reply to the topic. A couple of paragraphs is about the right amount. You can earn up to 10 points. Refer to the Discussion Board Posting Requirements page in the Start Here! module for detailed posting requirements and the grading rubric

Read and reply to at least two of your classmate's postings. In doing this, you can earn up to 4 points, but to do so, you must engage them in some point they made or failed to make. Just telling them they did a good job and you agree with them, will not earn any points. In all discussion postings, you should include material from the module reading. In your replies to other students, begin with their name and end with your own.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

Read: Cases from the Real World page 326. ( Links to an external site. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/business-ethics/pages/11-1-business-ethics-in-an-evolving-environment Links to an external site. )

General Motors Failure to Consider Stakeholders

General Motors (GM) has struggled with its brands and its image. Over the years, it has jettisoned some of its once-popular brands, including Oldsmobile and Pontiac, sold many others, and climbed back from a 2009 bankruptcy and reorganization. The automaker was hiding an even bigger problem, however: The ignition switch in many of its cars was prone to malfunction, causing injury and even death. The faulty switches caused 124 deaths and 273 injuries, and GM was finally brought to federal court. In 2014, the company reached a settlement for $900 million and recalled 2.6 million cars.

The case exemplifies the tension between the concept that the only goal of business is to profit, so the only obligation that the business person has is to maximize profit for the owner or the stockholders on one hand, and the ethical obligations a company owes to its other stakeholders on the other.4Links to an external site. GMs failure to consider its stakeholders and consumers when choosing not to report the potential for malfunction of the ignition switches led to an ethical breakdown in its operations and cost the company and its customers dearly. In addition, by treating customers as only a means toward an end, the company turned its back on a generation of loyal buyers.

Critical Thinking

• What virtues and values shared by its long-time customers did General Motors betray by failing to disclose an inherent danger built into its cars?
• How do you think that betrayal affected the companys brand and the way car buyers felt about the firm? How might it have affected its shareholders views of GM?