Questions and Answers of Managing Business Ethics

How long might such a culture change take? kpo69
Analyze the ethical culture at TAP. Does the culture appear to be in alignment?Misalignment? 58b
Based on the facts in the case and what you have learned in this chapter, evaluate the culture change effort that Douglas Durand undertook. What cultural systems did he target in the culture change
Why did his culture change effort fail? What would it take for it to succeed? jk5
What information did you glean about the culture at Synthes? How do you think the culture might be related to the behavior of the company’s employees? 24
Johnson & Johnson, a company with a reputation for ethics and social responsibility, acquired Synthes. From an ethical culture perspective, what would you recommend if you were going to try to
Do you think jail time for the executives was appropriate in this case? 58
Imagine that it’s your responsibility to select an ethics officer for your organization. What qualities, background, and experience would you look for?Would you ever be interested in such a
What are the advantages of having an ethics office or officer report to a company’s chief executive officer, the legal department, human resources, or audit? What are the disadvantages? lop85
Think about an organization where you’ve worked. What kinds of ethical dilemmas are unique to that organization? To that industry? What might be the best way to prepare employees to deal with those
Think about all of the communication opportunities provided by social media.How could an organization use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and the like to promote ethical behavior and
Which of the following exist in an organization where you’ve worked: mission or values statement, policy manual, code of conduct, ethics training (who conducts it), a hotline? Were they consistent
Is senior management committed to ethics? How do you know? What could they do differently or better? mki96
Are leaders at all levels held accountable for their ethical conduct? If so, how? If not, why not? What would you recommend? ko5
What recommendations would you make for handling frivolous calls to the hotline? mki65
Does the organization evaluate its ethics initiatives? How? If not, why not? ki6
Would you characterize the ethics efforts in this organization as taking a values, compliance, or combination approach? Is it effective? How could it be improved? nu5
How would you raise an ethical concern in this organization? List all of the resources available to you. Which ones would you be likely to use? Why or why not? mk1
Evaluate the ethics program at your organization from the perspective of “fit.”Has the ethics program been designed to fit the organization’s overall culture? If so, how? If not, what could be
Think about your own positive, memorable, “peak experiences” when it comes to ethics. Be prepared to discuss them with others in your class and to think about the conditions that would make it
Based on what you know about developing ethical cultures and programs, identify the problems presented by this case. lop5
Why do you think the corporate counsel has responded in this way? What will be your response to him, if any? mk6
As a consultant, what are your ethical obligations, if any? mk4
How will you proceed? mk4
Establishing compliance standards reasonably capable of preventing criminal conduct? 56
Assigning specific high-level individuals with responsibility to oversee those compliance standards? 47
Exercising due care to ensure that discretionary authority is not delegated to individuals with a propensity to engage in illegality? 58
Taking necessary steps to communicate compliance standards and procedures to all employees, with a special emphasis on training and the dissemination of manuals? 698
Taking reasonable steps to achieve compliance with written standards through monitoring, auditing, and other systems designed to detect criminal conduct, including a reporting system free of
Consistently enforcing the organization’s written standards through appropriate disciplinary mechanisms, including, as appropriate, discipline of individuals responsible for failure to detect an
After an offense is detected, taking all reasonable steps to respond and to prevent future similar conduct? jj
Think about the impact of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Would organizations have tried to drive ethical behavior among employees without government encouragement? kio5
What are the advantages of having an ethics office or officer report to a company’s chief executive officer, the legal department, human resources, or audit? What are the disadvantages? nki5
Think about an organization where you’ve worked. What kinds of ethical dilemmas are unique to that organization? To that industry? What might be the best way to prepare employees to deal with those
Think about all of the communication opportunities provided by social media.How could an organization use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and the like to promote ethical behavior and
Which of the following exist in an organization where you’ve worked: mission or values statement, policy manual, code of conduct, ethics training (who conducts it), a hotline? Were they consistent
Is senior management committed to ethics? How do you know? What could they do differently or better? nj5
Are leaders at all levels held accountable for their ethical conduct? If so, how? If not, why not? What would you recommend? mki6
What recommendations would you make for handling frivolous calls to the hotline? mk5
Does the organization evaluate its ethics initiatives? How? If not, why not? mk5
Would you characterize the ethics efforts in this organization as taking a values, compliance, or combination approach? Is it effective? How could it be improved? ;op4
How would you raise an ethical concern in this organization? List all of the resources available to you. Which ones would you be likely to use? Why or why not? pg55
Evaluate the ethics program at your organization from the perspective of “fit.”Has the ethics program been designed to fit the organization’s overall culture? If so, how? If not, what could be
Think about your own positive, memorable, “peak experiences” when it comes to ethics. Be prepared to discuss them with others in your class and to think about the conditions that would make it
Based on what you know about developing ethical cultures and programs, identify the problems presented by this case. ki6
As a consultant, what are your ethical obligations, if any? mk5
How will you proceed? nmj5
Do I talk about the ethical implications of decisions with the people who report to me as well as with the job candidates I’m interested in hiring? With my peers? With my manager? lop58
Have I made it clear to the people who report to me that I don’t want to be protected from bad news? Do they understand that they can tell me anything without fear of retribution? Do my reports
Do I provide guidance on ethical decision making, and have I participated in the ethics training of those who report to me? jj4
When evaluating the performance of my staff, do I value ethical goals at least as highly as performance and quality goals? Do I focus on the means as well as the ends in decision making and
Do I reward ethical conduct and discipline unethical conduct? jj4
Do I require my people to take responsibility for their decisions? mk5
Do I support employees who challenge unjust authority? ki5
What are the informal norms in my department? If my employees were asked to list the “rules” of working for me, what would they say? Are any of these problematic if ethical conduct is the goal?
Do my direct reports know I care about them and will be there for them in good times and bad? mki5
If I were to die tomorrow, would the people who report to me say that I had integrity? How would my peers describe me? And what would my manager say? mki5
Have you ever been in a situation—especially a work situation—where the norms supported a particular behavior, ethical or unethical, that you felt pressured to go along with? Explain. lop5
Have you ever been in a situation where the rewards explicitly or implicitly supported unethical conduct? Explain. lop5
What do you think would be appropriate punishment for those found guilty of assault or indecent exposure in the Tailhook situation? Why? lop5
Have you ever felt obligated to do something you felt was wrong because a person in a position of authority told you to do it? lop5
Think about how you might design work to maximize workers’ taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions. lop5
Evaluate yourself or a manager you know using the “do you walk your talk?”questions above. lop5
Identify the ethical issues involved in the case from a consequentialist and deontological perspective (refer to Chapter 2). lop5
Identify the management issues involved in the case. For example, think about the case in terms of multiple ethical selves, norms, reward systems, diffusion of responsibility, obedience to authority.
How would you evaluate Sears’s response to the allegations and the changes the company made? Has Sears resolved its problem? Why or why not? lop5
What do you think is the impact of the scandal on Sears’s reputation for quality and service? lop5
Respond to Brennan’s comment, “We have to have some way to measure performance.” What can management do to prevent employees from overselling? Propose a management plan (including a
Should anyone be disciplined? If so, who, and when? What should the discipline be? lop5
Think more generally about Sears management’s response to the firm’s financial problems. How else could they have increased auto center sales without providing incentives to employees to sell
What are the ethical issues in this case? lop5
What are some reasons the decision maker in this case might be inclined to go along? Not go along? lop5
If you were the decision maker, how would you handle the situation? lop5
Would you report the conversation to your manager? Why or why not? lop5
Do you think corporate social responsibility is important? Why or why not? 64
Think about the television programs and films you’ve seen recently in which business’ social responsibility (or lack thereof) was portrayed in some way. How were business and businesspeople
Think about the definition of stakeholders—any parties with a stake in the organization’s actions or performance. Who are the stakeholders in this situation?How many can you list? On what basis
What are the potential costs and benefits of such an investment? nj4
If a safe and effective drug could be developed, the prospect of Merck’s recouping its investment was almost zero. Could Merck justify such an investment to shareholders and the financial
If Merck decided not to conduct further research, how would it justify such a decision to its scientists? How might the decision to develop the drug, or not to develop the drug, affect employee
How would the media treat a decision to develop the drug? Not to develop the drug? How might either decision affect Merck’s reputation? mk4
Think about the decision in terms of the CSR pyramid. Did Merck have an ethical obligation to proceed with development of the drug? Would it matter if the drug had only a small chance to cure river
How does Merck’s value system fit into this decision? lop5
If you were the senior executive of Merck, what would you do? lo5
What factors contributed to Johns Manville’s long silence on the dangers of asbestos? ki5
What role do you think the personality and other characteristics of a CEO play in the handling of an ethical problem? mk6
Imagine that you’re the CEO of a large firm like any of the ones described in this chapter. What concrete steps would you take to restore your company’s reputation if it’s been sullied? nj5
How much testing is enough when launching a new product? jj5
How can the interests of multiple stakeholders be balanced? nj5
Do you think long prison sentences will help deter corporate criminals? nj5
Do you trust technology giants such as Google and Facebook to safeguard your personal data? Is posting online any safer than posting your personal information on a billboard along a busy highway?
How does a company’s reputation play a role in your purchasing decisions? nj
Think about the television programs and films you’ve seen recently that depicted business in some way. How were business and businesspeople portrayed? Is there anything business could or should do
Do you believe that employees are more attracted and committed to ethical organizations? Are you? Why or why not? Make a list of the companies you would prefer to work for, and state the reasons why.
What do you think the Harris Interactive research on corporate reputation means to the companies involved?
How does a lack of trust in institutions affect us? Do you trust institutions? If not, what effect does that have on you?
If you had to choose just one of the philosophical approaches discussed in this chapter to guide your decision making, which would you choose? Why? Or, if you had to rank them from most to least
Some of the steps in the eight-step model might suggest very different courses of action for resolving your dilemma. How would you choose among these distinct courses of action? Why? lop5
Think about situations where your values have been in conflict. How have you resolved those conflicts? Now that you have studied the ethical decision-making frameworks in this chapter, what should
Think about an ethical dilemma situation that you’ve faced. Apply the three approaches and the eight steps recommended in this chapter. Does it change your thinking about the situation? Would it

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