BU 113 - Ethics Research
Topic: Factory Fires in Bangladesh, 2012
Sawyer, Diane [News Anchor]. (2012, March 21). Worker deaths at factory for Hilfiger clothes. ABC World News Tonight [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: American Broadcasting.
Ahmed, Farid [Reporter]. Three managers arrested after deadly Bangladesh factory fire. (2012, Nov 28). CNN News [Television broadcast]. Dhaha, Bangladesh: Cable News Network.
- BigCharts - follow stock prices over time
Steps in Making Ethical Decisions
1.Gather the relevant factual info
2.Analyze the facts to determine the most appropriate moral values
3.Make an ethical judgement based on the right or wrong of the activity or policy
Research session coverage:
- Keywords to use in your searches
- Research Resources
- Citing Sources - APA Style
- In text Citations
- Business Ethic Journals
- Evaluating and selecting sources
Sample search from Business Source Complete: bangaldesh and factory fires
Sample search from ABI-INFORM database: bangladesh and factory fires and clothing
Keywords: search with words that identify your specific topic; adapt your searches as needed
Bangladesh factory fires
Bangladesh factory fires and deaths
Bangladesh and factory fires and Wal-Mart
Bangladesh and "factory fires" and ethical
Bangladesh and clothing manufacture and brands
Databases for Periodicals, Newspapers, SWOTs, Analyst Reports
Business Subject Guide - Listing of databases for business and company research
- Use the Business Quick Search on this page to search different dataabses in one interface
Journal / Magazine Databases
Business Source Complete provides Datamonitor SWOT reports for companies in addition to news articles and in-depth articles from academic journals and the popular press
sample magazine article (trade magazine) from BSC:
Brown, G. (2011). Corporate social responsibility: What is it good for?. Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, 45(5), 34-36.
ABI-INFORM Complete provides access to articles, company reports, market research and industry reports
sample newspaper article from ABI-INFORM:
Syed, Z. A., Lahiri, T., & Mattioli, D. (2012, Dec 11). Fire warnings went unheard --- four suppliers made Wal-Mart clothing at Bangladesh factory after it failed safety inspections. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1231268063?accountid=13909.
sample scholarly journal article from ABI-INFORM:
Bhattacharjee, A., & Roy, A. (2012). Asia floor wage and global industrial collective bargaining. International Journal of Labour Research, 4(1), 67-83. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1143309162?accountid=13909.
National Newspapers
Wall Street Journal database with access to full text of newspaper
New York Times database with access to full text of newspaper
Local Newspapers - providing articles from regional publications
ABI/INFORM Dateline provides access to articles from regional publications
Ethnic Newswatch provides access to publications from ethnic and minority groups
Lexis Nexis provides access to news publications including U.S. regions and cities
Analyst Reports providing information for stockholders / investors
Morningstar company / stock analysis; search for company names such as Wal-Mart
Valueline one page analysis on companies; search for Wal-Mart or WMT (ticker symbol)
Business Source Complete indepth company report on Wal-Mart
Business Insights Essentials search out a company report for Wal-Mart
Hoovers Company Profiles search this database using a company name
- Citing Sources - APA Style
Reference Citations – The format required at SMC for business writing is APA Style. You may use the following methods to create your Reference List:
A. Use the APA citations provided by the library databases you search
Example article citations from an EBSCO databases:
Alterman, E. (2011). Steve Jobs: An American 'disgrace'. Nation, 293 (22), 9.
Barboza, D. (2010, June 7). Foxconn increases size of raise in Chinese factories. New York Times, 1.
Bush, M. (2010). Foxconn crisis proves need for global PR. Advertising Age, 81(40), 6.
Example of citation format for a web document:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://web address.
Henn, S. (2012, March 30). Apple Foxconn to improve factory conditions. Retrieved from www.npr.org.
Example of a company report from Valueline:
Name of company. (2011, date). Valueline Investment Survey: Ratings and Reports, Issue Number. Retrieved from http://www.valueline.com.
B. Refer to the APA Manual in the library or the APA Online Guide from Purdue University. See Electronic citations
This quick guide from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) presents examples using the most recent edition (6th) of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2009).
Link to business instructor's citation guide
C. Use Citation Builder to "build" a citation
D. In-text/parathentical Citations
Examples:
One Author
Example - According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.
Example - It is not surprising to learn that "students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
Two or More Authors
Example of in-text paraphrase: Research supports the view that oil spills cause long term damage (Wegener & Petty, 1994).
No Author
If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books and reports are italicized or underlined; titles of articles, chapters, and web pages are in quotation marks.
Example - A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using APA," 2001).
E. RefWorks allows you to import references from online databases, organize your references into folders, and then create bibliographies. You can select from a variety of style forms (eg APA, MLA). RefWorks is free to the SMC community and available from any computer with Internet access.
Business and professional ethics journal - Print subscription available in the SMC library
Online subscriptions to ethics journals avaiable through SMC library databases are listed below:
Harvard Business Review
Business ethics (Oxford, England)
Business Ethics Quarterly
Ethix: the bulletin of the Institute for business ethics
Journal of academic and business ethics
Journal of business ethics
Journal of international business ethics
Journal of religion and business ethics
Teaching business ethics
Currency: When was the article, book, video, or Internet source written or produced. Does your research topic require current sources of information or historical primary sources?
Relevance: Does the source you have located address your specific topic or research question? Is the coverage of the material too general to be of use to you?
Authority: To determine the authority of the source, ask yourself who is the author of the article--is the individual a reporter, another student, an educator, a researcher, a scholar, a subject specialist? Look for information about the author or explore the authority of the source with your professor or a librarian.
Accuracy: Compare the article or book to other sources that you have located on your topic. Does the information seem credible? How does it compare to other readings on your subject? Who is taking responsibility for the information provided? Has the information been published by a credible source?
Purpose: Is the material written from a biased point of view? Has the document been written to persuade or to inform?
"Evaluating Information - Applying the CRAAP Test." (2004). Meriam Library,
California State University. Retrieved from
http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf .
Place, E., Kendall, M., Hiom, D., Booth, H., Ayres, P., Manuel, A., Smith, P. (2008). "Internet
Detective: Wise up to the Web." Intute Virtual Training Suite. Retrieved from
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective.