GROUP ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment A: 10% Weightage (Already done)

Your group is planning to begin your business career with a start-up. To ensure that your business
institution runs smoothly, you are required to develop a holistic credo.
Assignment B: 30% Weightage (Word limit 1000, Font: Times New Roman, Alignment:
Justified)
The recent advancements in the field of bio-technology are full of exciting commercial implications.
In many cases, one can already see the corporate sector willing to go to great lengths to explore the
promise that the bio-technological breakthroughs are providing and to turn them to commercial
advantages. As an industry, the bio-technology industry is still in its inception. However, in many of
these cases like, human genome project, stem cell research, surrogacy issues, there have been debates
revolving around the ethical aspects involved in this industry. Given this fact, what are the various
ethical issues involved in commercialisation of the bio-technology advancements. Please debate the
issues thoroughly within your group.
Each group is required to illustrate its standpoint by examining its views in the context of one of the
following : a) Human Genome Project, b) GMOs, c) Stem cell Research, and d) Surrogacy
The groups are supposed to submit their assignments by paying due attention to a) Presentation b)
Content and c) application of Ethical concepts/precepts discussed in the class.

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment A: 30% Weightage (Font: Times New Roman, Alignment: Justified)

Sony online Enterprises (henceforth SoE) is planning to introduce an advanced version of its original
online game EverQuest I and its named quite appropriately as, Ever quest II. Destined to be as
popular as EverQuest I, the new version would be set in a new age- the Age of Destiny. Players
guests would directly affect the structure of the game, thus changing the plot line on a monthly basis.
SoE was anticipating high profits and favourable customer response with this new product.
But SoE had some possible legal issues looming against SoE. In the recent past, in Tampa Florida, the
ever quest game was implicated in the death of a young child when the father threw the child into
acloset after the childs crying had interrupted his game playing.
Scott Mc Daniel, Vice President of Marketing for SoE, paced his office and thought about the planned
release of EverQuest II. As big a money-maker it promised to be, was SoE justified in releasing it?

Was the game really responsible, even in part, for death, abuse, or other personal emotional damage to
players? Was there something he should be doing besides preparing the ad campaign? 1
You are supposed to analyse principles of leadership that Scott McDaniel can rely on while
responding to the ethical dilemmas he is confronted with. The word limit is 1000-1200 words.

Assignment B: 30% Weightage (Font: Times New Roman, Alignment: Justified)

Taxi Aggregators
Recently, the Delhi High Court ruled that apps based aggregators should be subject to a maximum
tariff ceiling (Ola, Uber cant charge more, 2016, July 25). The current taxi fares in Delhi are as
follows: Rs. 12.50 per km for Economy Radio Taxis, Rs. 14 per km and Rs. 16 per km for non-AC
and AC black and yellow top taxis. Radio Taxis which have a LCD board notifying Radio Taxi can
charge Rs. 23 per km. Additional night charges of 25 per cent of the fare are applicable between 11
pm and 5 am. The decision about fares also came in the light of rivalry between Ola and Uber.
Ola had successfully obtained a license in Bengaluru to operate as an on demand transportation
aggregator while Ubers license application had been rejected on account of inadequate paper work
(Shrivastava, 2016, August 1). Following its successful license in Bengaluru, Ola had applied for a
license in Delhi. Uber meanwhile did not want to be covered under the legal framework and was
attempting to continue with the status quo where it could operate without regulations. However, there
were concerns regarding a variety of issues, including safety after a 27 year old financial executive
had been allegedly raped by a driver employed by Uber. Also, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers in Delhi
had gone on strike claiming that their businesses were being rendered unprofitable by app based
service providers.
In the Indian market, Ola had a larger presence than Uber. Uber was targeting achieving a million
bookings a day in India by 2016, while Ola had already achieved this target (Rai, 2015, November
18). While Ola had 350000 vehicles registered on its platform and operated in 102 Indian cities, Uber
operated in 22 Indian cities. Ola had closed a $ 500 million funding in 2015-16 leading to estimations
that it could be valued at $ 5 billion. Ola was Indias third most valued venture backed start-up after
online retailers Flipkart and Snapdeal.
Didi Chuxing was a leading app based aggregator in China and had invested about Rs. 68 crore when
Ola had closed a $ 500 million funding in October 2015 (Dalal and Verma, 2016, August 11). Didi had
also been locked in an intense battle with Uber in China and it was felt that Uber could never
overcome Didis competition on account of Didis reach and local knowledge. However, Uber which
was the worlds most valuable start-up announced that it planned to merge its Chinese operations with
Didi. The combined entity would be valued at $ 35 billion and Uber would be Didis largest
shareholder with 20% of Didis shares. This would create a conflict of interest, as indirectly, Uber
would also have a stake in Ola now.
Assignment Questions:
Based on the situation described above and additional data you may want to include in your analysis,
comment in about 1000 words by keeping the following questions in mind:

1Excerpt from Judith W Spain and Gina Vega, Sony Online Entertainment: EverQuest or Ever
Crack?, Journal of Business Ethics (2005), Vol 58: pp3-6

1. Who are the important stakeholders for the two major taxi aggregators, Ola and Uber, operating in
India?
2. What are the perceptions that each of the stakeholders holds towards the taxi aggregators?
3. What are the ethical responsibilities of the taxi aggregators towards their stakeholders? Similarly,
what are the ethical responsibilities of each of the stakeholders towards the taxi aggregators?
4. How are the taxi aggregators and each of the stakeholders faring in terms of meeting their ethical
responsibilities?
5. In what way are the taxi aggregators likely to benefit if they demonstrate higher levels of ethical
responsibility in engaging with their stakeholders?
6. In what way is social well-being likely to improve if the taxi aggregators and other stakeholders
demonstrate higher levels of ethical responsibility?
References
1. Dalal, M. and Verma, S. (2016, August 11). Uber deal tests Didis pact with Ola. Livemint.
Accessed on August 11, 2016 from
http://www.livemint.com/Companies/cQnxJmuvZIDlPQcm4Xb7HN/Uber-deal-tests-DidiChuxings-pact-with-Ola.html
2. Ola, Uber cant charge more than govt prescribed rates. (2016, July 25). Indian Express.
Accessed on August 11, 2016 from http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-newsindia/ola-uber-surge-pricing-delhi-high-court-2935151/
3. Rai, S. (2015, November 18). Ola, Ubers India rival, raises $ 500 million in funding, now
valued at $ 5 billion. Forbes. Accessed on August 11, 2016 from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2015/11/18/ola-ubers-india-rival-raises-500m-infunding-now-valued-at-over-5-billion/#3b797abd7f4b
4. Shrivastava, A. (2016, August 1). Ola applies for taxi license in New Delhi under the name
Ola Fleet. Economic Times. Accessed on August 11, 2016 from
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/ola-applies-for-taxi-licence-in-newdelhi-under-the-name-ola-fleet/articleshow/53482662.cms