Kohlberg’s Three Levels of Morality

This week’s lecture focused on moral development and ethical reasoning. As part of your readings for the week, Kohlberg’s three levels of morality were discussed. How would you have answered Heinz’s dilemma? (See readings for the week for the full dilemma). Which of Kohlberg’s three levels of morality do you feel you are in? Do you feel you are in a different level of morality in different settings (i.e. work vs. personal life?) How has your morality (if it has) progressed from your adolescence?

Your work should be at least 500 words, but mostly draw from your own personal experience. This should be written in first person and give examples from your life. Be sure if you are using information from the readings that you properly cite your readings in this, and in all assignments

Moral Reasoning

Have you ever considered what has set the foundation for you as to what is right and wrong?  What drives your ethical decision making?  Although not without some controversy and detractors, a man named Lawrence Kohlberg set out to define and describe moral learning in people in the world.  He tested hundreds of men with a dilemma called Heinz’s dilemma. 

The dilemma went something like this: 

Imagine living 1000 years ago – and there was a guy named Heinz and his wife.  Heinz’s wife had a very rare form of cancer.  A doctor in a town down the road has come up with a new medication that could treat Heinz’s wife’s cancer and give her a shot at life.  He charges 2,000 dollars for this – 10 times what it cost him to make.  Heinz did everything he could to come up with the money and he could only come up with 1000 dollars.  He begged and pleaded for the pharmacist to take $1000 dollars as a down payment and let him pay the rest back in payments.  The pharmacist declined.  Desperate, Heinz broke into the pharmacy and stole the medication.  Should Heinz have done this – and why? 

Kohlberg was not interested in whether or not you said yes or no to this dilemma.  He was more curious as to WHY you agreed or disagreed.  Through his research, he gave people thorny moral dilemmas, and broke up their answers into three different types of moral reasoning. 

• Preconventional thought
• Conventional thought
• Postconventional thought

It is easy to keep up with the three stages – since the first one is “pre”, the last one is “post” and the middle one is normal.  If you take a future psychology course here at Grantham, you’ll learn more about Kohlberg and how each level is broken up into two stages – but for the purposes of this course, we want you to understand that Kohlberg had three levels of thought – which are stated above.

Preconventional thought occurs primarily in children, but it can occur in adults.  This is when you participate in a behavior because you get a reward or to avoid a punishment.  Why did you donate to that charity?  Well, I got entered into a million dollar raffle to do it – and I wanted to get a chance!  Why did you volunteer at the homeless shelter?  My coach said I would have to run 20 laps if I didn’t volunteer.  These are examples of preconventional thought.  The method and reasoning why you do something is to get a reward or avoid a punishment.  In Heinz’s dilemma, the example answers might be – well, of course you steal it – you get a free 2000 dollar drug!  Or – no, if you steal, you go to jail – and you don’t want to get in trouble, do you?  If those were your thoughts about the dilemma, you are in preconventional thought.  Most adults are not in preconventional thought, but some still are.

Conventional thought is more advanced than preconventional thought, and it is a progression children make as they get older and get more thoughtful.  They start to consider – what would a good person do?  They haven’t internalized themselves that they are a good person – but they really focus on trying to be good – and that is their justification for a behavior.  Also – their justifications come into understanding that laws are there to protect society – and one should honor laws.  So the type of answers someone might give to the previous dilemma in conventional thought would be – a good husband would protect his wife at all costs; subsequently, stealing the drug is an appropriate behavior.  Or someone might also say that the law is the law – and it is wrong to steal – not because you are going to be punished – but what type of society would we have if we do not obey the rules? 

Finally, we advance to postconventional thought.  Postconventional thought comes in when you consider laws and rules, and you have your own belief system – and your belief system may actually go outside the laws and rules – and you understand and respect them – but you are willing to fight for your belief system at all costs.  It is the highest level of thinking.  The belief system may be the same as the law – or it may be different.  So examples of post-conventional thought to Heinz’s dilemma might be things like Life is more important than property – and when deciding whether or not to do something – you have to consider the value of each – and valuing life is a way more lofty endeavor.  Or something like – laws are grounded in justice, and there is no justice in allowing someone to die to make a 100% profit with no consideration for a payment plan – so it is absolutely justified.

Part of critical thinking and understanding critical thinking is to learn how to become a stronger ethical and moral thinker.  Understanding the levels of thought help you to consider how you’re thinking.  It’s unlikely that we will always answer questions with post conventional thought.  For instance, there may not be some universal principal as to why you change your oil and rotate your tires – it may sometimes be just to avoid having to pay costly car repairs down the road – but in life and death situations – or thorny situations dealing with complex levels of thought – always keeping your own values and principles in mind can help you become a more critical thinker.  As part of your assignments and work this week – consider these levels of thought – and if you’re not quite there yet – that’s absolutely okay.  Even thinking about higher levels of thought can assist you in achieving your critical thinking goals.  One final thought about critical thinking.  As soldiers, you are taught to obey orders.  But as thorny situations in movies like Born on the Fourth of July teach us – “just obeying orders” does not stand up in court as an affirmative defense to a criminal action – so understanding critical thinking always pays dividends.   

This assignment consists of two sections:

1. Marketing plan and sales strategy (an MS Word document).
2. Marketing budget (using the Business Plan Financials Excel Template).

To successfully complete this assignment, you must attach both documents to the submission area as separate files and then click Submit.

Reminders

• Your company, whether it’s a startup you created or one based on the snack food company scenario, will operate in a 100-mile radius from your home address. Your goal is to reach $1 million in sales by the end of the second year.
• Be sure to follow the guidelines, whether you chose the snack food company or your own startup company.
  • Snack Food Company Guidelines [DOCX].
  • Company of Your Choice Guidelines [DOCX].

Section 1: Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy

In MS Word, write the 3–5 page marketing plan and sales strategy section of your business plan, in which you:

1. Revise the company’s target market based on the feedback received in the Week 3 discussion thread.
   • Be sure to include demographic, geographic, lifestyle, psychographic, purchasing patterns, and buying sensitivities in the target market description.
2. Assess your chosen company’s market competition.
   • Use the factors listed in the graphic in your textbook labeled “Assess the Competition” (page 125), to assess the company’s market competition.
     • When assessing the competition, specify the exact company and particular product or service you are competing against. For example, Coca Cola offers a portfolio of products, such as water, fruit juice, and cola. Are you competing against Coca Cola’s fruit juice product? Or its cola product?
   • Be sure to detail your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition.
3. Outline the company’s value proposition and create a marketing slogan/tagline for the product.
   • The value proposition tells your customers why they want to do business with you.  
   • You need to know what message you want to convey in your marketing slogan before selecting the marketing vehicles in the next step.
4. Specify the marketing vehicles you will use to build your chosen company’s brand and justify the key reasons they will be effective.
   • Marketing vehicles are ways to promote your product. Examples include social media, sponsored events, trade shows, and sampling. You will use a combination of these tactics.
   • Planning to use online marketing tactics? Consult the “Online Marketing Tactics” worksheet on page 177 of your textbook to guide your response.

Formatting

Format your assignment according to these requirements:

• This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course.
• Typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
• You must include headings in your paper for each major topic.
• Include a cover page containing the assignment title, your name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
• Include a source list page. All sources used must be listed in the source list page and have a corresponding in-text citation. Citations and references must follow SWS format. The source list page is not included in the required page length.
  • Note: There is no minimum requirement for the number of resources used in this assignment.

Section 2: Marketing Budget

In this portion of your assignment, you will develop a marketing budget. This budget is critical to helping you determine how much it will cost you to reach your market and achieve your sales goals. To create your marketing budget, you will use the Business Plan Financials Excel Template. This is the document you downloaded using the access code you purchased from the Strayer Bookstore.

Reminders

• You will complete only the Setup and Marketing Budget worksheets for this assignment; be sure to submit the entire Excel Template, however.
• You have already worked on your marketing budget in the Week 5 discussion. Incorporate information from your post and the feedback you received into this section of your assignment.

Instructions

Develop a marketing budget, supporting your marketing plan and sales goals, in which you:

1. Prepare the Setup worksheet for your selected company based on the appropriate guidelines instructions.
2. Prepare the Marketing Budget worksheet for your selected company based on the appropriate guidelines instructions. When filling out the Marketing Budget worksheet in the Business Plan Financials Excel Template, do the following:
   • Begin with the current year and complete a marketing budget for the business’s first two years.
   • Leave at zero any marketing vehicles you do not plan to use.
   • Reminder: All marketing activities involve costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketing plan, assume you will incur advertising costs; reflect these in your marketing budget. Even if a social media site charges nothing to use it, you will need to use company resources to manage the site, execute your social media marketing campaigns, and most likely pay for ads on that site.
   • Do not leave the Marketing Budget worksheet blank assuming you will not have any marketing costs.
   • Do not complete all the rows; only fill in the costs for the marketing vehicles you will actually use. These must match the content you described in Item 4 of Section 1 of this assignment.

Learning Outcomes

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

• Create a marketing plan for a company that identifies a target market, market competition, a company message, marketing vehicles, and a budget.

 “Ben Buckley and Associates” is a talent agency that represents “big name acts”  during their tours of Australia. Ben, the principal of the agency, is extremely pleased  to have secured the contract to act as exclusive agent for a huge American  entertainer named “Slick Parsley”. “Slick”, as he is known to most people, is due to  tour Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in a week’s time on his “Fresh Spices” tour.  This contract is a huge career break for Ben, so he has decided to make sure he  does everything himself, both for the kudos, and to ensure nothing is left to chance.  Ben therefore goes to great lengths to ensure all stationary, business cards and  promotional material clearly displays the statement “Ben Buckley, exclusive agent to  Slick Parsley in Australia”. He has even had this statement included in the extensive  television advertising for the tour. Ben also includes as a term of the contract that he  will be the “exclusive” agent for Slick Parsley while he is in Australia.  Ben, however, is horrified to learn that Slick has two dogs he wishes to take with him  on tour. “Jekyll” and “Hyde” are a pair of miniature maltese/poodle crosses that Slick  simply cannot bear to be apart from. Ben realises that the dogs need to accompany  Slick otherwise he will fret too much to perform. Ben however hates dogs and cannot  bear the thought of touching or having anything to do with them. He therefore hires  renown Sydney “Dog Whisperer” Rusty Wagtail to take care of the two dogs while  Slick is on tour.  Rusty’s contract with Ben states that Rusty will take care of “all matters dog related”  such as feeding, grooming and accommodating. It is also clear that Ben remains  responsible for all other “dog” matters not specifically related to the day-to-day  management of the dogs such as customs declarations and the like.  Rusty subsequently flies to the USA to assist Slick with the two dogs. He is surprised  however to see there are actually three dogs, the third being another female MaltiPoo named “Nessie”. Slick tells Rusty that the other two dogs are in love with Nessie  and cannot travel without her. There is no time to get in touch with Ben for guidance,  so Rusty therefore makes what he considers to be an “executive decision” to board  all three dogs onto Slick’s luxury private jet. He tells Slick that he will “take care of it”  when they get to Sydney. All three dogs fly off to Australia with Slick and Rusty.  Slick’s plane gets into some engine trouble just off the New South Wales coast,  necessitating a diversion away from Sydney and a subsequent emergency landing at  the small Byron Bay airport. The plane lands and skids to a halt near the perimeter  fence, and all are ordered to evacuate the plane immediately. The crew ensure Slick  evacuates safely, and the three dogs are left for Rusty to take care of. He hurriedly  grabs all three in his arms and jumps down the emergency shute. Then, in a selfless  act of care for the animals, Rusty hurriedly runs away from the plane and throws all  three animals over the perimeter fence to safety.  After medical checks and other such requirements, all are free to go. Customs clears  two of the dogs due to their prior approvals. Nessie, however, is still at large  somewhere behind the perimeter fence. Rusty finds her, shaken but in otherwise  good health, and once again makes an “executive decision” to simply pick Nessie up and take her to the accommodation with the other two dogs. He tells Slick that  “everything is taken care of”. He does not inform Ben about any of this.  Two days later, however, an ardent fan takes a movie with his video recorder  attached to a drone of the three dogs in Slicks plush rented harbour side apartment.  Word gets out that one of the dogs is in the country illegally. Slick is prosecuted and  expelled from Australia before he could do any concerts, thus disappointing  thousands of eager fans. The three dogs are kept in quarantine pending destruction.  Explain how the law of agency in Australia may impact on the legal positions of Ben,  Slick, Rusty, Jekyll, Hyde, Nessie and “the fans”. In your answer, refer to relevant  legislation and cases where appropriate.  

Acquisition and depreciation of long-term assets are important to understand because these assets represent a business’s largest investment of resources. Recording the correct cost for an asset can be difficult because there are many costs associated with the purchase or construction of tangible property, and there are many legal fees associated with the purchase of real property.

After assets have been acquired or constructed, they can be depreciated over a period of time. Depreciation is not meant to show the decline in the value of property. Depreciation refers to how the asset is used or charged over a period of time—its useful life. A company will record depreciation on the books in order to follow the generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP) matching principle. The matching principle occurs when expenses are matched to revenues. The revenue generated from the asset purchased is matched to depreciation expense.

Scenario

Imagine that you own or work for a business as you discuss the following information in a two- to three– page report (the two to three pages do not include the cover and reference pages):

• Identify and describe your business (e.g. clothing store, landscaping business, delivery service, or restaurant).
• Provide two examples of long-term assets that the business owns.
• Classify the asset (i.e. building, equipment, furniture and fixtures, etc.)
• What depreciation method will you use to depreciate this asset? Explain why.
• How does depreciation affect the income statement and balance sheet?
• Explain how depreciation might affect your decisions to purchase expensive equipment or real estate.

Support your content with at least one credible source. Please note: Wikipedia is not a credible source. Cite your sources and format your paper with APA style. You are not required to write an abstract.

Create your assignment in a Microsoft Word document. Name and save your file using the following file naming convention: YourFirst_LastName_U1_inclass_activity.