Questions and Answers of Ethical Obligations Decision

5. Can LIPA be saved, or should it be converted into a private utility?
4. Should the utility be held legally liable for damages suffered by those who lost power?
3. What steps do leaders need to take to better prepare LIPA for future disasters? What obstacles could they face as they take these actions?
2. Can you think of other organizations that are unprepared for crisis? What characteristics do they share with LIPA?
1. Why do you think officials at LIPA ignored the advice of experts?
6. What steps should Southern Cross Austereo take to restore the firm’s reputation and that of station 2Day FM?
5. How would you evaluate the crisis response of Southern Cross Austereo? What did it do right? Wrong?
4. How much blame should be assigned to the DJs, to the station, and to the hospital for what happened?
3. Would you evaluate the prank call differently if it hadn’t resulted in the death of a nurse? Why or why not?
2. Was it ethical for the DJs to make a prank call to a hospital? Should all prank calls be banned?
1. What warning signs were ignored in this crisis?
3. Form a team at your organization and create a crisis management plan. Or evaluate the organization’s current crisis management plan.
2. Form teams and argue for or against the use of extreme measures in supreme emergencies (see Case Study 11.1).
1. Use Self-Assessment 11.1, the Crisis and/or Disaster Preparedness Scale, to determine your readiness level and that of your organization. If possible, distribute the instrument to others in your
6. Is Internet censorship ever justified? What topics, if any, should be filtered?
4. Should the U.S. government prevent American technology companies from working with repressive regimes in China and elsewhere?
3. Use the steps of integrative social contracts theory or the HKH decision-making process to determine whether Google and other American hightech firms should participate in the Great Firewall of
2. Why do you think Google has gotten more criticism for operating in China than other U.S. high-tech firms?
1. Google initially argued that filtering Internet content is less damaging than not making its search engine available in the Chinese market. Do you agree?
5. How could applying the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the global ethic improve the standing of women in India?
4. Do multinational companies operating in India have an ethical responsibility to improve the status of Indian women?
3. Should NGOs and the governments of other nations intervene to try to improve India’s treatment of women? If so, what steps should they take?
2. What steps should Indian political leaders take to reduce the number of “missing women”?
1. What cultural values contribute to discrimination against women in India?
2. Complete Self-Assessment 10.2, the Individualism/Collectivism Scale. How do your individualistic and collectivistic tendencies influence your perspective on ethical issues? (Supply examples.) What
1. Distribute Self-Assessment 10.1, the Diversity Perceptions Scale, to other members of your organization and discuss your responses. What factors contributed to your organizational and personal
6. How do you determine when your moral duties to others outweigh your obligations to your organization?
5. Is responding to life-threatening situations a “general ethical commitment we have to each other as part of living in society”? Why or why not?
4. What emergency care policies should elderly independent living facilities have in place? What steps should leaders take to make sure that all employees and residents understand these guidelines?
3. Should Colleen be punished if she acted in good faith but misinterpreted the policy?
2. Since the family was satisfied with the response of Glenwood Gardens, does this justify the decision not to offer CPR?
1. If you were the Glenwood Gardens employee on the 911 call, would you have violated company policy and performed CPR?
6. Should other leaders follow the example of Mayer and require that their employees work at the office?
5. Will the return-to-the-office decree significantly lower the level of organizational trust at Yahoo!? Why or why not?
4. What does Mayer’s work-at-the-office memo say about her values and the values that she wants to instill at Yahoo!?
3. Was it fair for Mayer to require that working mothers return to the office when she could afford to build a nursery for her own child?
2. What limits, if any, should be placed on teleworking?
1. Do you think requiring employees to return to the office increases employee productivity?
5. What steps can multinational firms take to prevent their employees from offering bribes, particularly to government officials in poor nations?
4. Should the United States prosecute companies headquartered in other countries for violating its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?
3. What lessons do you take away from Siemens’s efforts to eliminate corruption?
1. Given the company’s massive size and the scale of its corrupt activities, did Siemens get off too easy? Should it have faced additional financial penalties?
10. Design an ethics training program for your organization using the guidelines presented in this chapter.
8. Conduct an analysis of the mission statements of 10 different companies or organizations. Which are most effective? Why?
2. Analyze the ethical climate of your organization. In your paper, consider the following questions: How would you classify the organization’s ethical orientation based on Self-Assessment 9.1, the
5. Is it ethical for employers to fire employees who use marijuana legally? Why or why not?
4. What ethical principles can employers apply when deciding whether or not to fire workers who test positive for THC because of legal marijuana use?
3. What values are in conflict in this case?
2. Do you think that marijuana has any legitimate medical uses?
1. Would you have voted for the marijuana initiatives in Colorado and Washington? Why or why not?
12. Evaluate your team’s relationship with outside groups based on the last section of the chapter.
11. Fishbowl discussion: In a fishbowl discussion, one group discusses a problem while the rest of the class looks on and then provides feedback. Assign a group to Case Study 8.1 or 8.2. Make sure
10. With other team members, develop a conflict covenant. Determine how you will enforce this code. Or, as an alternative, complete Self-Assessment 8.2, the Task/ Relationship Conflict Scale, as a
9. Identify forms of faulty evidence and reasoning in a public argument about an ethical issue. Draw from talk shows, newspaper editorials, speeches, interviews, debates, congressional hearings, and
3. Evaluate the level of social loafing in your group using Self-Assessment 8.1. What factors encourage members to reduce their efforts? What can you as a leader do to raise the motivation level of
5. Should all U.S. states adopt benefit corporation laws? What are the potential benefits and costs of doing so?
4. Does Patagonia put too much emphasis on the environment? Who might be hurt by this commitment?
5. How can the agency reinforce the importance of its mission?
4. How can the Secret Service encourage more women to join its protection teams?
3. What additional steps can the agency take to change its culture?
2. Will the new rules and the appointment of a female director prevent future scandals in the Secret Service?
1. Should Secret Service agents be held to a higher ethical standard than other government employees both on and off the job?
4. Have you ever had to confront a leader about her or his behavior? If so, what did you say or do? What was the outcome of the encounter? Would you do anything differently next time?
3. How would you evaluate the actions of the college’s board of directors?
1. What elements of transactional and transforming leadership did Thomas exhibit?
7. Analyze an instance in which you believe that a leader put on a beautiful performance. How did that individual demonstrate mastery, coherence, and purpose?
• Business leaders have an ethical duty to address global problems like poverty and hunger. • Ethical leadership is beautiful leadership.
3. Discuss the following propositions in a group:
2. Brainstorm a list of pseudo-transformational and transformational leaders. What factors distinguish between the two types of leaders? How do your characteristics compare with the ones presented in
1. What additional applications and cautions can you add for each approach described in this chapter? Which perspective do you find most useful? Why?
7. Should people do everything they can to work within the corporate organization and support their superiors?
6. The data in the boss’s report are false. Does that make it morally wrong if Evelyn fails to contradict the report?
5. Suppose the problem with the brake involved more than irritating sounds. Would it make a difference if the brake problem caused uneven brake applications and skids that could lead to possible
4. Is it important that people do everything they can to have the truth known? Explain.
3. If the lab technician working on the project issued the report supporting tensile stress hypothesis, should Evelyn contradict the report?
2. Should the potential conflict with Evelyn’s boss have any impact on Evelyn’s actions? Why, or why not?
1. Should Evelyn contradict her boss’s report? (Yes or No) Why or why not?
8. Use a format from this chapter to analyze an ethical decision facing society (e.g., gay marriage or gay ordination, universal health care, immigration). Write up your analysis and conclusions.
7. Apply each of the formats to one of the scenarios in Case Study 6.1. First reach your own conclusion based on your initial reactions without using a format and then discuss the situation in a
4. Create an original case study that demonstrates one or more of the ethical blind spots in action.
7. Apply each of the five perspectives to Case Study 5.3 to determine whether you support the use of drones against suspected terrorists. Write up your conclusions
• To be effective, leaders must practice self-sacrifice. • When making ethical choices, compassion is more important than justice.
5. Debate one or more of the following propositions: • The scientific method is the best way to solve ethical problems.
1. In a group, generate a list of absolute moral laws or duties that must be obeyed without exception. To make the list, everyone in the group must agree on that item. Keep a separate list of the
6. What leadership ethics lessons do you take from this case?
4. How can we keep from being deceived by evildoers?
1. Should preventing North Korea from developing nuclear weapons take priority over efforts to stop the country’s human rights abuses?
8. Evaluate the spiritual climate of an organization using the values presented in this chapter. Share your findings with the rest of the class.
5. Analyze the apology of a well-known leader and analyze its effectiveness. Conclude with an overall evaluation and provide suggestions for how the apology could have been improved.
4. Can you develop character without experiencing failure?
3. What role did hardship play in her ultimate success?
2. What character traits did Maathai exhibit?
1. What did Maathai have in common with other moral exemplars?
6. Has Mortenson done more good than harm?
5. As a donor, what ethical responsibility do you have when deciding which charities to support?
4. Is Mortenson now completely discredited as a spokesperson for building schools in Central Asia?
3. Why do we often have difficulty acknowledging that our heroes have flaws?
2. Which poses the greater danger to a leader’s character, success or failure?
1. How much was Mortenson’s failure the result of poor character and how much was the product of other factors?
5. How can we prepare ourselves to function effectively in high-risk situations

Showing 1 - 100 of 385