Business and the EnvironmentDoes business, or anyone else for that matter, have direct ethical responsibilities to natural objects like animals, plants, andecosystems? Or are all environmental responsibilities indirect, derived from more primary responsibilities to other people? Arethere limits of business’s environmental responsibilities best left to the market or legal system? What are the tradeoffs betweengrowth and sustainability? What are the ethical responsibilities do business leaders to protect the environment? What are thelimits to these responsibilities? What are the relevant stakeholder groups that leaders should take into account when makingdecisions that can impact the environment? How, in your opinion, can organizational leaders best fulfill their environmentalresponsibilities?

RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNMENT: One of the major activities of this course will be your personalexploration into a relevant ethical challenge of leadership. Your activities in this area will result in aresearch paper.Assignment Description – You as an individual (not as a team) are responsible for preparing a paperapproximately 10-20 double-spaced pages in length (1” margins, Times New Roman 12 pt. font; not including titlepage plus references: 10 total) that reports the results of your research into the assigned leadership/ethics topic(see below). The paper should include a comprehensive review of what we know about the topic based onacademic and practitioner research. Use Business Source Complete online database through the TAMUC library.The following sources are acceptable: Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review,Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Academy of Management Perspectives, British Journalof Management, Group and Organization Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, ManagementInternational Review, Management Science, Organization Behavior and Human Decision Processes, OrganizationScience, Business Ethics Quarterly, California Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Journal ofBusiness Ethics, Sloan Management Review, and Leadership Quarterly. This report should augment (not repeat)material presented in the course and should draw useful conclusions about the questions provided.

Grading Criteria

-1. Comprehensiveness and accuracy of course concept applications (e.g., Does the paper focus on all of therelevant ethical issues that organizational leaders face for the assigned topic?) (35%)

2. Breadth and depth of the exploration and analysis (e.g., Does the paper combine the knowledge of bothacademic scholars and practicing managers in order to come to appropriate conclusions for the assigned topic?)(40%)

3. Writing quality (e.g., Is the paper a professional product that reflects college level work? Are research sourcesproperly documented and referenced? Does the paper conform to APA style guidelines? Is information logicallyorganized?) (25%)