Instructions
AI policy for this assignment: No AI Assistance (NAA)
This assignment extends your financial statement project by asking you to reflect on the ethical and faith-based considerations of the company you already selected. You will connect financial reporting to broader questions of corporate responsibility, stakeholder impact, and Christian ethics.
Please write a 500-600 word essay that addresses the following sections:
- Company & Issue Overview
- Provide a short overview of your company and its business model (linking to what you’ve already analyzed in the financial statement project).
- Find at least one recent article from a reputable business source that identifies an ethical issue for the company (preferably the Wall Street Journal or Business Week, but if you can’t find one on your company you can try Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Reuters, Harvard Business Review, or an industry publication such as Retail Dive).
- The article should describe the company as behaving ethically or unethically – that is, the article should either demonstrate that management and/or company executives were NOT serving society or their organizations, OR should demonstrate that management and/or company executives WERE serving society and their organizations by living the Second Commandment of Jesus to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. (This could include your neighbor's fair pay, air quality, water quality, healthy climate/environment in which to work, ability to take care of family, healthcare, etc).
- If you cannot find an article directly about your company, you may instead use an article about a close competitor in the retail sector and briefly compare the ethical implications for your chosen company.
- Accounting & Financial Implications
- Identify how the issue connects to accounting concepts from the course (revenue, expense (which type), assets, liabilities, equity, or other key accounting topics)
- Explain which financial statement(s) are or could be affected, and how (e.g., overstated/understated, etc.).
- Stakeholder & Ethical Analysis
- Identify the stakeholders affected (e.g., employees, customers, investors, suppliers, community, environment).
- Discuss the financial, social, and operational impacts on these groups based on the article.
- Evaluate whether the company acted ethically, or what management should do differently.
- Faith & Purpose Reflection
- Apply Christian ethical principles, especially Jesus’ commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” to the situation.
- Discuss what “loving your neighbor” would look like in the company’s decision-making.
- Conclude with your perspective: is the company balancing profitability with serving society responsibly?
Examples of acceptable topics are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) violations, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fines/penalties for financial statement errors or misstatements, internal control issues such as theft or embezzling, a company that must restate previously issued financial statements, fraud by executives, IFRS violations, obsolete inventory, write down or impairment of inventory, goodwill or assets, purchases of a company/product line/division, sale of a company/product line/division, company expansion, companies doing good and doing well at the same time, company strikes, company wage increases, new products that serve a societal need, charitable giving/volunteering, etc.
Your final submission must include both the link to the article and your written essay. The essay must address all four sections of the assignment with at least one paragraph.