ETHICS DISCUSSION: INVESTOR KNOWLEDGE (25 Points) INSTRUCTIONS: There is no outside reading for this particular discussion assignment. Write a 400-600 WORD response to the discussion topic, and post your response to the discussion board. Your response should take one of the following forms: 1) an exploration of the suggested discussion question included in this assignment, 2) an examination of a separate issue that interests you from this weeks topic, OR 3) a response to another students posting from this week. Regardless of what you choose to write about, be sure to support your position with specific examples. If you choose to write on a topic that another student has already written on, say something new about the subject. If you agree with another student, provide additional reasons to support your position. If you disagree with another student, be respectful in your response, and be clear about why you disagree. You may complete this assignment either as one long posting or as several shorter postings. SUGGESTED DISCUSSION QUESTION: Upon offering shares or stocks for purchase, a company must submit a prospectus to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for review. The prospectus contains information such as the companys mission, services, and who its executives are (along with their biographies). This prospectus is available to any and every prospective investor prior to buying shares in the company or enterprise. Now imagine that some time after posting its prospectus, a particular company decides to invest in an area that is not pertinent to its own territory. Lets suppose that General Electric (GE), which produces light bulbs and kitchen devices among other products, decides to purchase stock in a cable television channel that broadcasts adult entertainment films. GE buys the stock and makes a sizeable profit from the dividends that the stock produces. Now the question is, do you think that investors and GE employees have the right to know what GE invests in or do you think that as long as GE shows profits (i.e., investors receive dividends and employees stay employed) investors and employees shouldnt be concerned with where the money comes from, as long the source is legal? Use specific examples in your answer. A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES: * I dont make detailed grading comments on discussion assignments, but I am happy to discuss grades with students individually over email. Please dont hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns. * While I dont respond to every discussion board posting, I do read them all carefully. I will enter the discussion with comments and suggestions (either on the board or by email) as it seems appropriate, and I encourage students to respond to my postings. * Be respectful of other members of the class. You are free to disagree with anything posted on the discussion boardin fact, I encourage debate. If you do disagree with something thats been posted, however, be polite in your response. While I dont anticipate any problems in this area, I do reserve the right to lower the grade of any student who does not show respect for the other members of the class. Also, if you feel that another student has posted something inappropriate on the discussion board, please contact me rather than addressing your complaint over the discussion board. * Feel free to bring in examples, not only from the assigned reading, but also from books, movies, your own life, current events, or any other sources that seem pertinent to the discussion. I will be grading these assignments on the originality, clarity, and complexity of your ideas.

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