Please choose a prompt for paper 1 and only do the abstract part. I attached all the instructions, grading rubric, and prompts. Please let me know if you have any questions. Abstract should only be 100-200 words as it says in the Instructions. this assignment and class is a multi step assignment and I will use you again to do the future assignments as well if it looks good.
BADM 4101W
Paper 1 Prompts
For some tasks, generative artificial intelligence (GAI) may be a useful starting point (if its
use is allowed by your instructor, employer, etc.). But you shouldn’t just assume that what GAI
tells you is correct. For example, consider this exchange I once had with ChatGPT:1
Or consider this example of the real-world consequences of uncritically accepting the accuracy
of ChatGPT: “Judge Sanctions Lawyers Who Filed Fake ChatGPT Legal Research.”
Both using GAI and evaluating its output are likely to be important skills in many
occupations. See, for example: “Companies Want Workers to Trust AI—but Not Completely.”
In light of the above, your task for the first paper is to do the following:
1. Choose one — and only one — of the prompts below (A through D).
2. Submit your chosen prompt as a message to ChatGPT (here).
3. Write a paper evaluating ChatGPT’s answer.
Writing the paper will be a multi-stage process. You will first write an abstract, then a draft, and
then the final version of the paper. For detailed instructions that apply to both paper 1 and paper
2, see the Paper Instructions. For paper 1, the following comments also apply:
1
The most recent version of ChatGPT appears to not produce such results. Also see this (much longer)
exchange posted to Reddit by an anonymous user, which inspired my own exchange with ChatGPT.
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•
For each submission — the abstract, the draft, and the final paper — the first page of your
submission should contain the text of (i) your chosen paper prompt, and (ii) ChatGPT’s
response. These elements will not count toward the word limit.
•
Your paper’s thesis should, in some way, evaluate the quality of ChatGPT’s answer. If
you think ChatGPT’s response is correct — or incorrect, or correct about x but wrong
about y — then that could be your thesis. Or, if you think ChatGPT’s response doesn’t
actually answer the question — e.g., if ChatGPT summarizes some related concepts but
doesn’t use them to answer the specific question posed — then that could be your thesis.
Or, if you think that ChatGPT’s response has some problem or faces some objection that
ChatGPT fails to address, then that could be your thesis.
•
The argument that you make in defense of your thesis should then be an explanation of
why ChatGPT’s answer is correct (or incorrect, etc.), or doesn’t actually answer the
question, or faces some particular problem or objection.
•
Because of the word limit on the abstract, your abstract doesn’t need to cite any sources,
and it shouldn’t contain any quotations. Instead, your abstract can just refer to the
principles, facts, etc., that support your thesis. (E.g., “ChatGPT claims that directors must
do x; but this fails to take into consideration the business judgment rule, which allows
directors to do y.”) Later, when you write the draft of your paper, then you should add
quotes (or paraphrases) and citations to sources that support your claims.
The prompts to give ChatGPT are below. In each case, the instructions enclosed in
parentheses are intended to limit the responses the ChatGPT gives you; they are not limits on
what you are allowed to do in your paper.
(A) Do a corporation’s directors and officers have a legal duty to make shareholder value
their sole end? (Focus on Delaware. Don’t discuss specific cases, the duty of care, or the duty of
loyalty. Answer in 200 words or less.)
(B) Does the business judgment rule prevent directors from being held accountable for
decisions that predictably reduce shareholder value? (Focus on Delaware. Don’t discuss gross
negligence, the duty of care, or the duty of loyalty. Answer in 200 words or less.)
(C) Is there a difference between shareholders and other stakeholders that justifies
management owing fiduciary duties only to the former? (Don’t discuss the duty of care or the
duty of loyalty. Answer in 200 words or less.)
(D) Businesses that want to be successful need to consider the interests of various
stakeholder groups. Does this fact challenge shareholder theory and provide support for
normative stakeholder theory? (Answer in 200 words or less.)
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BADM 4101W
Paper Grading Rubric
In general terms, your papers will be graded based on the following criteria:
Clarity. Is it clear, at every point in the paper, exactly what you are claiming, and how the
points you make and the examples you use are supposed to support that claim? For example, do
you appropriately distinguish premises vs. conclusions, and objections vs. replies?
Conciseness. Is everything in the paper strictly relevant to the claim you are trying to make? Do
you make your points efficiently?
Accuracy. Do you accurately portray the views of the authors or sources that you discuss? Are
you correct when you say that certain claims entail or support others? Or does your argument
instead rely on logical fallacies or dubious empirical claims?
Originality. Are you merely repeating points made by others during class or in the readings, or
have you thought deeply about the issue for yourself?
These criteria are incorporated into the rubric below, which provides additional detail and will be
used to assign numerical grades. (If appropriate, a grade may be assigned that is intermediate
between two of those listed below.)
100% Truly exceptional. The paper demonstrates deep and precise understanding and
originality of thought, with a consistent precision of ideas and elegance of expression.
The paper is logically flawless and extremely well structured.
A
95%
Excellent. The paper contains a clearly defined thesis, and a clear, reasonable and
logical argument supporting it. The exploration of the issue is articulate and thorough,
and demonstrates clear understanding. The organization is very good. The paper
shows insight and independence of thought.
B
85%
Good. The paper exhibits most of the qualities required for a higher score, but there
are non-trivial errors in argumentation, organization, or accuracy, or a lack of
independent thought in an otherwise strong paper.
C
75%
Acceptable, but lacks one or more major criteria. For example, the following sorts of
papers will typically receive a C:
– A well-written paper that has good organization, but whose argument is seriously
flawed
– A paper which has good or creative ideas, but whose organization or presentation
is very hard to follow, or which is seriously deficient in developing those ideas
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– A paper that consistently makes factual mistakes, as in the views it attributes to
the authors we’ve read
D
65%
Deficient, as the paper contains significant errors. Mostly those errors will be on the
side of argumentation, in that there is little of it, or it is significantly wrong.
Alternatively, papers with several of the following features will often receive a D:
– The organization may be seriously flawed. For instance, the ideas may be
presented here and there in the paper, and the main points scattered around with
no clear unity or organization; but the ideas are all right to some degree.
– The paper is unclear.
– Transitions are few or weak; the paper sometimes jumps around.
– The structure of the paper is not straightforward. The introduction, development
and conclusion of the paper do not match up very well.
– Examples may be unclear or inappropriate.
F
50%
Fail. A paper in this category contains more errors than one in the previous category.
For example, if the paper demonstrates little understanding of the topic, or if the
writing is so muddled that it is difficult to trace any line of argument, then the paper
will probably receive an F. What follows are more specific guidelines on what papers
in this category are often like.
Content: The argument is inconsistent, vague and unimaginative. The argument
might be very hard to identify. The paper just strings together related ideas, but
does not attempt to organize them in the form of an argument. The paper just
summarizes or narrates, but does not present an argument. There is a general
failure to support statements with argument and/or illustrative examples.
Structure: Unclear, often because the thesis is weak or non-existent. Transitions are
confusing or non-existent. The paper lacks unity or organization.
Presentation: Serious problems in sentence structure, grammar, diction,
punctuation and spelling to the point of interfering with the understanding of the
prose and frustrating the reader.
Relevance: The relationship of the content of the paper to the question nominally
being addressed is very weak or unclear.
0%
No credit. No credit will be earned if you don’t submit a paper; don’t complete the
abstract and draft stages before submitting a paper; don’t revise your abstract and draft
in response to the feedback you receive; or engage in plagiarism or otherwise cheat on
the paper, including at the abstract or draft stages.
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BADM 4101W
Paper Instructions
1. Stages
p. 1
2. Due Dates
p. 3
3. Formatting & Submitting
p. 4
4. Citations
p. 4
5. Paraphrasing
p. 5
6. Grading
p. 5
1. Stages
As stated in the syllabus, you will be writing two papers this semester. Writing each paper
will be a multi-stage process. The stages are as follows. (Paper prompts will be provided in a
separate document. General advice on writing a good paper can be found here.)
1.1 Abstract
Your abstract should accomplish two things (and just two things). First, state your paper’s
thesis. Second, provide a bare-bones summary of the argument that you propose to make in
defense of your thesis. Your thesis is the claim that your paper aims to establish, or the position
that your paper aims to defend. You should be able to state your thesis in a single sentence. An
argument is a line of reasoning that leads to the conclusion that your thesis is true.
You should not submit a numbered outline that summarizes the structure of your paper. Nor
should you submit any other kind of paragraph-by-paragraph or section-by-section summary of
the paper you propose to write. You shouldn’t even include an introduction or conclusion at this
stage of the paper-writing process. Instead, submit a single paragraph that accomplishes the two
things mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Below are two example abstracts. They illustrate the type of information that should be
included in your abstract. They don’t correspond to any of the paper prompts for this class. (And
the views they express aren’t necessarily ones that I actually agree with.)
(Thesis) Pfizer should donate their COVID vaccine to the American public free of
charge. (Argument) Corporations in the United States are provided with enormous
privileges by federal, state, and local governments. These privileges include low rates of
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corporate taxation, generous patent protections, and government funding of scientific
research. In light of such privileges — advantages that Pfizer doesn’t have any right to
receive — Pfizer owes the US an enormous debt of gratitude. The only appropriate way to
acknowledge this debt, given current circumstances, is for Pfizer to donate its vaccine to
the American public rather than charging for it.
(Thesis) Although Milton Friedman argues that corporate social responsibility is
ineffective, Friedman’s argument for this conclusion fails. (Argument) Friedman argues
that corporate social responsibility is ineffective. His argument assumes that while
corporate executives are skilled at business, they have no special competence to solve
societal problems. Friedman’s argument is undermined by the fact that in order to
succeed in business, a person must possess an ability to quickly master new information,
as well as superior problem-solving abilities that can be used to tackle problems of any
kind. As a result of these facts, successful corporate executives are in fact the perfect
people to solve all of society’s problems.
As you can see, these abstracts are just sketches of the argument that a paper would develop.
Your abstract should be 100 –200 words.
You’ll receive written comments on your abstract. You may be asked to submit a revised
version. Your abstract must be clearly written; be responsive to the prompt you’ve chosen; and
include a line of reasoning that supports or justifies your thesis. Once you have an abstract that
meets these criteria, your abstract will be given credit on Blackboard and you can begin work on
your draft.
1.2 Draft
For each of the claims made in your abstract, write one or two paragraphs justifying the
claim; i.e., explaining what reason there is to believe the claim. So, for the first of the two
example abstracts above, the draft would have to explain what are the advantages that Pfizer is
given by federal, state, and local governments; why these advantages should be seen as creating a
debt of gratitude; and why Pfizer’s debt of gratitude can only be repaid, in the present
circumstances, by donating its vaccine to Americans completely free of charge. Likewise, for the
second of the two example abstracts, the draft would have to justify or support the claim — rather
than merely make the claim — that successful corporate executives have the qualities in question
(“an ability to quickly master new information…”). The paper would also have to justify or
support the claim that these qualities would, in fact, allow a person to solve the “societal
problems” referenced in the abstract (climate change, racism, inequality, or whatever).
After justifying each of the major claims made by your argument, you should write one or
two paragraphs explaining why those claims, taken together, show that your thesis is true (or is
likely to be true, etc.). No other concluding remarks are necessary.
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Finally, write an introduction. Write it last (but place it at the start of your paper). Write the
other parts of your draft and then ask yourself what background information the reader would
need to understand those other parts. Provide that information in a short introduction. (Assume
that your reader is not already familiar with the topic of your paper.)
Your draft should be no more than 1000 words. (As you’ll see below, the final version of
your paper can be longer, so that you’ll have space to address issues noted in feedback.)
Once you receive written comments on your draft on Blackboard, you can begin working on
the final version of your paper.
1.3 Final Paper
The final version of your paper should have the same structure as the draft. (For each of the
major claims made by your argument, write one or two paragraphs justifying the claim… etc.)
But the final version must incorporate revisions to address or avoid any problems noted in
comments on your draft. If you need additional space for that, the final version of your paper can
be up to 1500 words. There is no minimum word count. But if you write significantly less than
the word limit, that is a sign that you likely have not included enough detail.
If you receive more than one or two substantive comments on your draft, then I recommend
that you write the final version of your paper by starting with an empty Word document and
writing a new version of your paper. You can copy and paste material from your draft into the
final version if appropriate. But don’t just make changes within the document containing your
draft. People who do that tend to end up with papers that have one or more of the following
problems: (i) digressions, lengthy introductions, or other superfluous material remains in the
final version simply because it was included in the draft and not removed; (ii) clarifications or
corrections have been added, when the confusing or incorrect parts of the draft should instead
have been removed; (iii) only isolated changes have been made to the draft, when systematic
changes are needed.1
2. Due Dates
In all cases, deadlines are 11:59 pm on the due date. For paper 1, the abstract is due on 9/22,
the draft is due on 10/13, and the final version is due on 11/10. For paper 2, the abstract is due on
10/27, the draft is due on 11/17, and the final version is due on 12/15.
For each of the two papers, if you submit your abstract by the deadline, then you’ll receive
written comments on your abstract no later than two weeks before the draft is due. Likewise, if
1
Here’s a common example of problem (iii): I attach a comment to a particular sentence in a student’s
draft, pointing out a mistake; the student fixes the mistake in that sentence but doesn’t revise the other
parts of the draft that make the very same mistake.
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you submit your draft by the deadline, then you’ll receive written comments on your draft no
later than two weeks before the final version is due.
No work will be accepted after the end of the final exam period on 12/17. Otherwise, late
work will result in deductions to the score earned on the final version of a paper. For each day
that the abstract is late, 2% will be deducted; for each day that the draft is late, 5% will be
deducted; and for each day that the final version is late, 10% will be deducted. Note that if a
deadline is 11:59pm on a given day, then submitting at midnight — i.e., submitting at 12:00am
the next day — counts as one day late. (That may seem harsh, but there have to be cutoffs
somewhere. If you prefer, we can say that the deadline is noon and that you have a 12-hour grace
period before late penalties are imposed. But that’s equivalent to the harsher sounding policy set
out in this paragraph.)
You can configure Blackboard to send you notifications when items for this course have been
graded, so that you are alerted right away when comments are available on an abstract or draft.
See this video or this help page (and, specifically, the section “Choose how and when you get
notifications”). Then enable notifications for “Item Graded” (either for this course specifically, or
for all your courses).
3. Formatting & Submitting
Submit your work through the appropriate link in the “Submit Assignments” section on the
class Blackboard site. In each case, submit your work as a double-spaced Word document.2 Don’t
include your name in the document that you submit or in the filename. Submissions will initially
be read in anonymized form, but they can be de-anonymized if you would like to meet to talk
about your ideas, or the comments you receive, etc. (I encourage you to make an appointment to
talk about your work. Don’t refrain from doing so merely because it would require
de-anonymizing your submission.)
4. Citations
For sources that are assigned as readings, you can just cite the reading’s number (as seen in
the online textbook) and the number of the paragraph that contains the relevant information. For
example, you might write:
In eBay v. Newmark, the court wrote that a for-profit corporation “is not an
appropriate vehicle for purely philanthropic ends” (1.1.6: 5).
The citation there refers to reading 1.1.6, paragraph 5. The paragraph numbers can be found in
the left-hand margin of each reading in the online textbook. (Don’t try to count them yourself.)
2
You can get a free subscription to Microsoft Office 365 here.
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If you use any sources that were not assigned as readings, then cite the author(s).3 Your
citation must also indicate the location within your source where the relevant information can be
found, e.g., by citing page or paragraph numbers. In addition, you must include a bibliography at
the end of your paper which, for each outside source, lists the author(s) and a URL that leads to
an English-language version of the source. This must be a URL and not just a hyperlink.
(Hyperlinks aren’t clickable when viewing submissions in Blackboard.)
Note, however, that you aren’t expected to do research beyond the readings that have been
assigned. And, if you do so, you must be careful in your selection of sources. Much of the
information that you will find online is incomplete, misleading, or inaccurate, and your paper
will be graded down if it contains such information (e.g., if it makes claims that are factually
inaccurate). I can answer questions that you have, including questions about where to find
reliable information.
5. Paraphrasing
You are responsible for having read and and understood this handout on paraphrasing. If you
are unsure of what counts as a genuine paraphrase, please talk with me.
6. Grading
The grading rubric is available here. The abstract and draft stages are designed to help you
write a better paper. Apart from deductions for late work (see § 2), the grade earned by the final
version of your paper is the only thing that directly affects your course grade. The abstract and
draft stages do have the following effects, however. When your abstract receives a score of 1/1 in
the Blackboard gradebook, that will give you access to the link through which you can submit
your draft. Likewise, when your draft receives a score of 1/1, that will give you access to the link
through which you can submit the final version of your paper. Completing all three stages of the
paper-writing process, in order, is a precondition of having your paper graded. Skipping any
stage will result in a grade of zero on the paper. Plagiarizing or other cheating at any stage will
also result in a score of zero on the paper.
3
This includes any sources that might be linked in the paper prompts, if you use any of those sources.
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