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    Burger man shareholders

  • Burger Man shareholders are investors who have purchased shares of Burger Man's publicly traded stock.
  • What are their stakes?
  • What are their responsibilities? For example, how closely should shareholders monitor the actions of their agents, i.e., Burger Man's managers? Are shareholders responsible for holding Burger Man to certain standards of corporate social responsibility? What are these standards and how do they stand in relation to the different models of social responsibility?
  • Prepare your presentation around these issues. Address shareholder interests (stakes) and responsibilities.

    Burger man managers

  • Burger Man managers are the agents of the shareholders/owners responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the corporation.
  • What are the manager's stakes? What role do they play in the different models of social responsibility? (Classical, stakeholder, and alliance views?)
  • Agency theory argues that the primary corporate governance problem is overseeing and controlling the actions of managers. How closely should shareholders and their board of directors oversee corporate managers? Are managers self-interested agents or stewards of the corporation?
  • What are managerial responsibilities vis a vis corporate social responsibility? Should they uncover illegal actions? Should they implement an audit process that assess the corporation's success in carrying out its social responsibilities? Should these responsibilities go beyond the legal minimum?
  • Should managers go beyond the legal minimum in monitoring and carrying out corporate social responsibilities?
  • Are corporate managers responsible only to shareholders or do their responsibilities extend to other stakeholders? If the latter, how do they balance conflicting stakes?
  • Structure your presentation around outlining managerial stakes and roles. Choose a model of corporate social responsibility and argue for its appropriateness to Burger Man.

    Government regulatory agencies: osha and epa

  • OSHA is in charge of regulating workplace safety. EPA is in charge of setting, monitoring, and enforcing standards concerning the environment. (For example, they establish acceptable air emission and water discharge standards.)
  • What are the stakes of government regulatory agencies? What is their role in the context of the Burger Man corporation?
  • Write your position paper outlining your group's stakes and roles in the context of establishing Burger Man's corporate social responsibility procedures. What would you recommend? How should you back up or enforce these recommendations?

    Animal rights activists

  • Burger Man serves hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and dairy products. These involve animals. As animal rights activists, you are concerned with steering Burger Man and its suppliers toward morally acceptable treatment of animals.
  • What are your group's stakes in this board meeting? What kind of role should you play?
  • State your policy on animal treatment? Is it a position of animal welfare based on utilitarian considerations? (Peter Singer provides such a position.) Is it a deontological position based on the assertion of animal rights that impose correlative duties on humans? (Tom Regan takes this position.) Or should you base your arguments on anthropocentric issues such as human health?
  • Write a position paper that responds to these questions for presentation in the Burger Man board meeting.

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Source:  OpenStax, Business ethics. OpenStax CNX. Sep 04, 2013 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col10491/1.11
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