Questions and Answers of Business Ethics Now

1. Wigand was initially unwilling to go public with his information. What caused him to change his mind?2. Did CBS pursue Wigand’s story because it was the right thing to do or because it was a
Visit the Government Accountability Project (GAP) at www.whistleblower.org.a. What is the mission of GAP?b. How is GAP funded?c. What kind of assistance is available through GAP for someone thinking
1. Who took the greater risk here: Khaled Assadi or Kyle Lagow? Why?2. Was the alleged behavior at GE Energy more or less unethical than the behavior at the Countrywide Financial? Explain your
What will the consequences for Ben, Rick, their tire store, and Benfield?
Visit the National Whistleblowers Center at www.whistleblowers.org.a. Select the biography of one whistle-blower (not already mentioned in this book) and briefly summarize the details of the case.b.
Divide into two groups and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior:In the case of Dr. Jeffrey Wigand and the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company, the CBS Broadcasting Company
1. What accounting irregularities did Michael Woodford uncover at Olympus?2. How did the executive leadership respond to Woodford’s revelations?3. Critics argue that Woodford could have been more
1. What do you think Elizabeth Holmes hoped to achieve with her affectations and Steve Jobs comparison?2. Do some additional web research on this case. Is there evidence that Holmes knew the
Is whistle-blowing a good thing?
List five conditions for whistle-blowing to be considered ethical.
If you blow the whistle on a company for a personal vendetta against another employee but receive no financial reward, is that more or less ethical than doing it just for the money?
1. Is Sally right to be concerned about Chuck’s plan? Explain why or why not.2. Chuck Junior is obviously focusing on the money to be saved (and made) with this plan. What are the issues he is not
Visit the website for the RAND Center for Corporate Ethics and Governance (CCEG) at www.rand.org/jie/centers/corporate-ethics.html.a. What does RAND aim to do with this research?b. What has RAND’s
1. Why did the Bloomberg piece gain so much attention?2. Were you assured by Amazon’s response? Why or why not?3. Why should we make a distinction between hearing and listening?4. What steps should
How would you feel if you found out that someone halfway around the world from your doctor’s office was reading your CAT scan?
Visit the website for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) at www.eff.org.a. What does the EFF do?b. What is the EFF “Bloggers’ Rights” Project?c. What is the “Open Wireless Movement”?
1. Was Steve Collins wrong to send the e-mail? Why?2. Is Jane Williams overreacting in filing her formal complaint? Explain why or why not.3. What impact do you think any change in the employee
Would your opinion change if you knew the cost savings from outsourcing were putting American radiologists out of a job? What if they were being read this way because there was a shortage of
What will be the consequences for Steve, Larry, Mr. Johnson, and ComputerWorld?
Should your doctor be obligated to tell you where your tests are being read? Why or why not?
Storing private information in digital format simplifies the storage and transfer of that information and offers cost savings to companies that are (hopefully) passed on to their customers. Does
Define the term telecommuting.
Summarize the employer position on privacy at work.
Summarize the employee position on privacy at work.
Explain the difference between thin and thick consent.
Define the term vicarious liability.
List four of the top categories of litigation related to Internet communications.
Define the term cyberliability.
1. Was this an ethical transaction? Explain why or why not.2. Montgomery “managed” the incident as requested. Is there any evidence to suggest that he did anything unethical?3. Should the
Visit the website for the Institute for Global Ethics (IGE) at www.globalethics.org.a. What is IGE’s stated purpose?b. Which five values does the IGE identify in building a code of ethics?c. How
Explain the term globalization.
1. Does the higher U.S. corporate tax rate provide sufficient justification for these inversion deals? Why or why not?2. Proponents of such deals claim that they are simply maximizing profits and
Why shouldn’t National just deliver the American version of CFS? If it works here, it should work there.
Visit the website for Walmart’s Global Ethics at http://www.walmartethics.com/Landing.aspx#a. Why did Walmart create a Statement of Ethics?b. Summarize how Walmart employees can contact Global
Divide into groups of three or four. Each group must map out its proposal for restoring the ethical reputation of a multinational corporation that has been fined for one of the following
1. Was 1MDB a fraudulent venture from the beginning? Why or why not?2. How did the US Government become involved in the 1MDB saga?3. What does the involvement of so many financial institutions in the
What is an MNC?
Which stakeholders will be affected by Kathy’s decision?
When is “operating in full compliance with local laws and regulations” unethical?
Explain the term utilitarianism.
Select your top five from DeGeorge’s guidelines for organizations doing business in less-developed countries, and defend your selections.
What is the UN Global Compact?
Explain the 10 key principles of the Global Compact.
What are the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises?
Can you think of a situation in which a multinational corporation would endorse one or the other? Or should they both be endorsed? Explain your answer.
List six characteristics of a tough market.
Provide three examples of unethical behavior by a customer.
The role of an ethics officer should not be ridiculed or taken lightly. The company implements an ethics policy and they establish a code of ethics to ensure the organizational commitment to ethical
If you were in Brad’s situation, how would you react?
Provide three examples of unethical behavior by a supplier.
When hiring an ethics officer, is it better to promote someone from within the company or hire someone from outside? Explain your answer.
List six key responsibilities of an ethics officer.
Give three examples of celebrating ethical behavior.
If you publicly celebrate ethical behavior, should you also publish punishment for unethical behavior? Why or why not?
List six examples of commitments that companies can make to win the trust of their shareholders.
Find out when your company’s code of ethics was last updated.
What is a reactive ethical policy?
What is a proactive ethical policy?
Would you say the company you work for is transparent? Explain your answer.
1. Why is “people, planet, profits” a more media-friendly message than a triple bottom-line approach to CSR?2. On what grounds could the CSR initiatives of a corporation be dismissed as
1. If Global is paying a fair market price for drilling rights, are there any ethical violations here? Why or why not?2. Are the Global engineers as committed to “full disclosure” as they claim
Did Claire do the right thing here?
Name two other terms that may be used for socially aware corporate behavior.
1. Which ethical standards are being violated here?2. Is the university being unreasonable in the high standards demanded in its Vendor Code of Conduct?3. Do you think the university would have
Do you think the customers will be convinced? Why or why not?
Review the annual report of a Fortune 100 company of your choice. What evidence can you find of triple bottom-line reporting in the report? Provide examples to support your answer.
1. Did Monsanto violate any ethical standards in developing genetically modified wheat and planning to sell it as a companion product to Roundup?2. What should it have done differently?3. Was it
Give four examples of a corporation’s legal obligations.
What do you think Mr. Jones’s reaction will be?
Do investors always invest money in companies to make a profit?
What is the instrumental model of corporate management?
What is the social contract model of corporate management?
Research Friedman’s article—what are the assumptions of his argument?
Do you agree or disagree with the social contract model? Why?
List the five major trends driving CSR.
Which one do you think is the most important? Why?
Explain why organizations are struggling to adopt CSR initiatives.
Why would customers be cynical of CSR initiatives?
Explain the term triple bottom line.
Explain the term ethical CSR.
Explain the term strategic CSR.
1. How did SIB’s status as an “offshore bank” facilitate Stanford’s alleged fraud?2. Why would investors be willing to sacrifice immediate access to the funds they deposited with SIB?3. What
What could Marco have done differently here?
Review the website of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) at www.icgn.org.a. What is the ICGN’s stated mission?b. How can this organization affect corporate governance in the
1. In what way does this scandal demonstrate a lack of corporate governance on Tesco’s part?2. Were the actions taken by newly appointed chief executive Dave Lewis sufficient to address that lack
Explain the roles of a corporate governance committee.
1. Which stakeholders were impacted by Blatter’s leadership at FIFA?2. Where were the failures in corporate governance in this case?3. Is there any evidence of good corporate governance in this
What do you think will happen now?
Review the annual report of a Fortune 100 company of your choice. Who serves on the board of directors for the company? Are there any designated “outside” directors? On how many other boards do
1. Why is Ghosn’s arrest drawing global attention?2. Why is this being labelled “a palace coup”?3. Using internet research, summarize the events that have taken place in this case since April
1. Identify three examples of poor corporate governance in this case.2. Why do you think Bill Ackman remained so supportive of Valeant?3. Critics have described the Valeant board of directors as
If other evidence is found, then David Collins, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Chemco, and Marco will be fired and struggle to be hired in any other firm, if at all. Marco could have saved
What is an outside director?
How are the stakeholders of GlobalMutual likely to react to this news? Explain your answer.
Which two scandals greatly increased the attention paid to the 1992 Cadbury Report?
Explain the “right balance” that Cadbury encourages companies to pursue.
Explain the difference between the King I and King II reports.
Explain the difference between “comply or explain” and “comply or else.”
What is the argument in favor of merging the roles of chairman and CEO?
What is the argument against merging the roles of chairman and CEO?

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