Questions and Answers of Business And Society Ethics

Who should be responsible for assuring the safety of flooring products: the retailer, the supplier, the customer, lawyers, or government regulators? Why do you think so?
What were the interests and sources of power of Foxconn, Apple’s supplier?
What social, ethical, and environmental risks were present in Apple’s supply chain?
What were the advantages and disadvantages to Apple of using its own companyspecific supplier code of conduct, rather than an industrywide code?
What are the advantages and disadvantages to Apple of relying on its own internal audits, as contrasted with using an independent auditor like the Fair Labor Association?
What more, if anything, could Apple do now to reduce supply chain risk and create shared value?
What are the benefits and costs to JPMorgan Chase’s reputation given its use of a stakeholder question-and-answer session on Twitter? How do its various stakeholders now think of JPMorgan Chase’s
Develop a reputation management strategy for JPMorgan Chase to combat the bad publicity it encountered.
Would you define this incident as a crisis? Assume you are JPMorgan Chase’s CEO and are conducting a press conference: what main points about the incident should you emphasize to the media and
What other tactics mentioned in this chapter could JPMorgan Chase use to improve the public’s opinion of their products? Should it use Twitter again and, if so, how can it avoid a repeat of this
Did Sony Pictures’ executives, eventually, make the right decision by releasing the film? What were the risks and benefits to Sony and to its customers (both movie theater operators and movie
What actions, if any, could Sony employees take to protect themselves from the theft and release of their data on their employer’s servers?
What role should the U.S. government play in protecting the privacy and security of individual citizens, such as Sony employees in this case? What specific actions could the government take?
What actions should the U.S. government have taken against North Korea? Should the U.S. government have reacted sooner than it did?
Using tools presented in this chapter, what additional measures could Sony take to better protect its company’s information from attack by hackers?
What was the public issue facing The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) in this case?Describe the “performance–expectations gap” found in the case—what were the stakeholders’ concerns, and how did
Was Alcoa justified in changing management at the facility for failure to report workplace accidents, even though no serious harm resulted from the workplace incident?
Can the focus on safety seen at Alcoa be duplicated into other ethics and compliance areas and how would this be accomplished?
Why do you think Alcoa’s strong values-based culture failed to prevent corrupt acts by a subsidiary, as described earlier in the chapter? Do you think Alcoa’s creation of a new code of conduct in
What is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and what are its costs and benefits?
Using the classification system presented in this chapter, what type(s) of pollution is(are) generated by fracking?
What are the benefits to companies of moving beyond compliance and developing more sustainable methods of fracking?
What factors might influence a company to use more or less environmentally responsible methods of fracking?
What principles of corporate citizenship (using Exhibit 3.A) are evident in this case?
What arguments for and against corporate social responsibility (referring to Figure 3.3)are relevant to this case?
What are the benefits and risks to consumers of using paperless, electronic systems to pay for products and services both online and in stores? Do the benefits to consumers justify the risks, or not?
Do you think technology will be able to stay ahead of sophisticated cybercriminals, or not? Why do you think so?
Who do you think should be responsible for the costs of switching to the more secure EMV card? Retailers? Banks? Consumers? How would different stakeholders answer this question?
Why did it take so long for American companies to better protect their customers’ personal information by turning to the more secure technology that existed and was used in Europe and Asia for many
If you were managing a retail store or chain, what steps would you take to protect your customers from others accessing their confidential information? If customer information theft had occurred,
Based on the information you have, draft a stakeholder map of this case showing each stakeholder’s position on the issue and degree of salience. What conclusions can you draw from the stakeholder
What do you think Uber should do in response to the bill introduced by Susan Bonilla, and why?
Should the U.S. and other national governments ban or more severely regulate the manufacture, sale, and use of e-cigarettes? Why or why not?
Is the tobacco industry demonstrating a strategy of working in a collaborative partnership with the FDA by its voluntary warning labels on e-cigarettes?
Using the elements of public policy presented earlier in this chapter, identify the inputs,goals, tools, and effects of the FDA’s effort to regulate e-cigarettes.
What reasons, discussed earlier in this chapter, could the FDA or other national regulatory agencies use to justify greater regulatory control of e-cigarettes?
If you owned shares of stock in Whole Foods, would you support McRitchie’s 3-and-3 proposal or the company’s 5-and-5 proposal ? Why?
How do Whole Foods’ executive compensation practices compare with those of other firms, as described in this chapter? Do you think Whole Foods’ approach is better or worse than that of most other
Some companies described in the case have voluntarily supported greater proxy access for shareholders. What do you think has motivated them to do so?
Several business support groups mentioned in the case have opposed greater proxy access for shareholders. What do you think has motivated them to do so?
Do you believe Whole Foods’ opposition to expanded proxy access is consistent or inconsistent with other aspects of the company’s culture and policies?
This section describes several “workplace rights.” Which of these rights are violated in the nail salon industry, and what evidence do you have of this?To what degree do you think managers in the
What factors make it particularly difficult for government policy makers and regulators to make rules for the nail industry and enforce them? How could these factors be overcome?
What do you think is the best way to improve conditions for workers in the nail industry?
Where else have you heard neoliberalism influence people’s expectations of business?
What do you believe about business’s role in achieving gender equality? What caveats, boundary conditions, or concerns are raised for you?
Which of these organizational and individual approaches have you seen in action? How well have they seemed to work?
How do these individual level and organizational level strategies fit together? What combinations are sympathetic matches, and what combinations set up a clash of perspectives and visions? How might
How has considering the revised definition of feminism and the five feminist values changed your expectations about how feminism can be relevant to business?
Why have we seen so much of feminism’s protective energy and relatively little of feminism’s constructive energy?
Where do you see the different steps in the story of gendering play out in the workplace?
What do you think of the feminist argument that gendering is really a strategy for establishing the power of one group over another?
Table 3.1 contrasts the ways that conventional and feminist perspectives answer three questions about how business could be. What do you think the goals of business should be?What principles should
Which of these topic sections raised issues you’ve not heard of before?
What business topic do you wish you’d seen in this chapter? How might you critique this topic, by bringing in women’s voices and experiences, asking how the topic addresses gender equality, and
Explain in your own words the differences between the production, managerial, and stakeholder views of the firm. Which view is best and why?
Describe the corporate public affairs function today. What are the three opportunities for PA executives in the future?
Do research on the impact of Hurricane Sandy on business organizations. What have been successful and unsuccessful examples of crisis management that have come out of this research? Is terrorism a
From your personal experience, give an example of a situation you have faced that would require one of the six elements of moral judgment. Which of these six elements are most important and why?
From your personal experience, give two examples of ethical dilemmas you have experienced as a member of an organization.
Which is most important in ethics principles-consequences or duty? Discuss.
Assume that you are in your first managerial position. Identify five ways in which you might provide ethical leadership. Rank them in terms of importance, and be prepared to explain your ranking.
What do you think about codes of conduct? Give three reasons why an organization ought to have a code of conduct and three reasons why an organization should not have a code of conduct.On balance,
Which three of the concepts under the field of behavioral ethics appear to be the most powerful? Explain why and give examples.
Is society intoxicated with technology? Does this pose special problems for business with respect to the ethics of technology? Will such intoxication blind people to ethical considerations in
Do you think genetically modified organisms (GMOs) raise a legitimate safety hazard? Should government agencies such as the FDA take more action to require safety testing? Do you think labeling
What are deregulation and reregulation? Under what circumstances should each be considered?
What is a PAC? How is it different from a Super PAC? What are the major arguments in favor of PACs? What are the major types of PACs and how do they differ? In your opinion, are PACs a good way for
What is your opinion of the consumerism movement? Is it "alive and well" or is it fading away? Why has consumerism been such an enduring movement for so long?
Give an example of a major abuse of advertising via social media from your own observations and experiences. How do you feel about this as a consumer?
Does the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau make sense? How do you keep politics out of government agencies? In a free market, why shouldn't consumers be left to fend for themselves with
Explain the pros and cons of corporate philanthropy, provide a brief history of corporate philanthropy, and explain why and to whom companies give.
Differentiate among strategic philanthropy, cause-related marketing, and cause branding. Provide an example of each not discussed in the text.
In your opinion, why does a business have a responsibility to employees and community stakeholders in a business- or plant-closing decision?
How has the World Trade Center tragedy affected workplace privacy? What are the longterm implications of that?
Which two of the six policy guidelines on the issue of privacy presented in this chapter do you think are the most important? Why?
Identify the privacy, health, and due-process ramifications of violence in the workplace.
Identify the major federal discrimination laws and indicate what they prohibit. Which agency is primarily responsible for enforcing these laws?
Do you agree with the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act? Do companies have a right to know and use genetic information about employees? Why or why not?
How will the COVID-19 pandemic alter business and society relationships? Identify and discuss some of the major effects and impacts.
Generally speaking, what does CSR mean? What are some of the earlier definitions of CSR? Why were they sometimes ambiguous?
In what sense is the Pyramid of CSR a unified whole, dynamic, and sustainable? How is it stakeholder inclusive?
Explain what makes a CSR exemplar firm. Distinguish among social entrepreneurship, social intrapreneurship, and mainstream adopters.
Compare and contrast the socially oriented concepts: CSR, corporate citizenship, sustainability, creating shared value, and conscious capitalism. Do these represent different forms of the business
Explain how stakeholder capitalism has evolved to be a governing system in many advanced nations of the world. Have business firms adapted to this evolving system?
What are the five key questions that must be answered for stakeholder management to be successful?
What are the three levels of stakeholder engagement that a company might use? Explain each.
Which government measures in the United States have effectively contributed to a containment of pollution and, in some cases, environmental restoration?
What role can non-government organizations and individuals play in promoting sustainability?
How does Gilligan’s research about the process of moral development differ from that of Kohlberg’s? Have you seen these differences in your personal experiences? Explain by way of example.
Is everyone capable of recognizing a moral issue in stage one (moral awareness) of Rest’s moral decision-making model? Do you think that people can get “stuck” in a stage, for example,
An ongoing debate concerns whether business ethics can and should be taught in business schools. Do you think ethics can be taught in B-school? Substantiate your point with reasons. Can top managers
Discuss what you think are the main challenges for multinational operations in the global environment today.
How does shareholder activism change the practices of business and corporate governance?
Describe the corporate public affairs function today.
Identify several examples of “crisis” that have occurred in recent years under each issue category.
What changes in employees in the workplace will be brought about by organizations becoming digital enterprises? What changes will be brought about as a result of the worldwide pandemic?
Discuss the new gig economy and the implications for employee engagement.
What other steps can management take to be responsive to potential whistle-blowing situations?
Should employers continue to do drug testing for things like marijuana, which continues to be controversial with varying state laws? Why or why not?

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