MGT211 Introduction To Business GDB No.1 Solution & Discussion Fall Semester 2013

MGT211 Introduction To Business GDB No.1 Solution & Discussion Fall Semester 2013 Due Date Sunday 10 November 2013

Virtual University Of Pakistan

Graded Discussion Board # 01 Dated: Nov 04, 13
Introduction to business (mgt211)
Fall 2013
Important announcement
Graded Discussion Board

Dear Students
This is to inform that Graded Discussion Board (GDB) No. 01 will be opened on 06th November, 2013 for discussion and last date of discussion will be 10th November, 2013.

Topic/Area for Discussion: “Role of Ethics in Business”
This Graded Discussion Board will cover 01 to 05 lessons.
Note:
For acquiring the relevant knowledge, do not rely only on handouts but also watch the course video lectures and read additional material available online or in any other mode.
Important Instructions:
1. Your discussion must be based on logical facts.

2. The GDB will open and close on above specified date and time. Please note that no grace day or extra time will be given for posting comments on GDB.

3. Use the font style “Times New Roman” and font size “12”.

4. Your answer should be relevant to the topic i.e. clear and concise.

5. Do not copy or exchange your answer with other students. Two identical / copied comments will be marked Zero (0) and may damage your grade in the course.

6. Books, websites and other reading material may be consulted before posting your comments; but copying or reproducing the text from books, websites and other reading materials is strictly prohibited. Such comments will be marked as Zero (0) even if you provide references.

7. You should post your answer on the Graded Discussion Board (GDB), not on the Moderated Discussion Board (MDB). Both will run parallel to each other during the time specified above. Therefore, due care will be needed.

8. Obnoxious or ignoble answer should be strictly avoided.

9. You cannot participate in the discussion after the due date via email.

10. Questions / queries related to the content of the GDB, which may be posted by the students on MDB or via e-mail, will not be replied till the due date of GDB is over.

Advice: For planning your semester activities in an organized manner, you are advised to view schedule of upcoming Assignments, Quizzes and GDBs in the overview tab of the course website on VU-LMS.
Objective of GDB
The basic objective of this discussion is to make students familiar with role of ethics in business practice.
Learning Outcomes
After attempting this GDB students will be able to:
Comprehend the importance of ethics in business practices.
Analyze that how unethical business practices harm the other business’s revenues.
Case:

Microsoft is an American multinational software corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services related to computing. All over the world the companies and individuals use wide variety of its quality products. Microsoft charge good price for its quality product and encourage the purchase of original software. In Pakistan the prices of original software are in thousands and most of the individual users cannot afford to purchase the original software. 

It has been observed that pirated copies of the same software are conveniently available for PKR 40-50 in markets. This is against the copy right laws as all software of Microsoft are copy righted. For Microsoft piracy is a serious issue as directly affects the quality of its brand and revenue. People who are against the piracy believe that it is a serious crime. Companies invest millions and billions of dollars in research and development and brand positioning thus selling pirated versions of software is a theft. Some argue that most of the people cannot afford to buy software thus pirated versions at low cost can solve their many computing issues. In addition to that such large companies can afford such losses occur due to piracy as their revenues are much larger. 

Point of Discussion:
You have read the comments of both schools of thoughts about piracy in the above mentioned case.
In your opinion which school of thought is appropriate and why? Provide at least five points of discussion to justify your opinion.
Marking scheme: (each point carries 6 marks). You may add examples to enrich your discussion.
Note related to load shedding: Please be proactive

Dear Students!
As you know that Pre Mid-Term semester activities have started and load shedding problem is also prevailing in our country. Keeping in view the fact, you all are advised to post your activities as early as possible without waiting for the due date. For your convenience; activity schedule has already been uploaded on VULMS for the current semester, therefore no excuse will be entertained after due date of assignments, quizzes or GDBs.