1. Think of a time when you faced an ethical dilemma at work, at school, or at home. Be sure to choose a situation in which you had to choose between two or more options, each with negative consequences for you or someone else.

What values were involved?

What choice did you make?

What was the impact on each party involved?

Would you make the same choice if you were faced with a similar situation today?

Why or why not?

2. Taking a code of ethics "off the wall and into the hall" can be a particular challenge for medium- to large-sized firms with a diverse array of employees. Imagine that you are the president of a casual dining restaurant chain with 10 locations that operate in your province. You have recently developed a code of ethics that you unveiled last month at a meeting with your restaurant managers. But, as you've visited the various restaurants and chatted with the employees this month, you've realized that most of them know nothing about the code of ethics other than that it's posted on the breakroom wall. Clearly, you need to bring the code of ethics to life. Outline a training plan that will help employees at all levelsfrom bussers to kitchen managersunderstand and live by the code of ethics.

On-the-Job Ethical Dilemmas

Purpose: To stimulate discussion about the grey areas in business ethics

Background: Many students have difficulty relating to the idea of ethical dilemmas in business, probably because the ethical meltdowns featured in the press seem so clear-cut: unscrupulous managers clearly did the wrong thing. But real-world ethical dilemmas usually are not so obvious; all too often there is no resolution that will not harm some party involved in the issue. These exercises are designed to explore the grey areas and, by doing so, to help students clarify their individual ethical principles.

Estimated Class Time: 5 to 10 minutes per scenario

Preparation/Materials: Consider making copies of the scenarios for each student. It's not crucial, but it really helps.

Exercise: Divide the class into small groups to discuss each of the scenarios below. Ask each group to reach consensus on the best approach, but when you discuss as a class, ask students to respond with their personal viewpoints. You may also want to ask them if their personal viewpoints changed based on the group discussion.

Scenario 1: You've just done a great job on a recent project at your company. Your boss has been very vocal about acknowledging your work and the increased revenue that resulted from it. Privately, she said that you clearly earned a bonus of at least 10 percent but, due to company politics, she was unable to secure the bonus for you. She also implied that if you were to submit inflated expense reports for the next few months, she would look the other way and you could pocket the extra cash as well-deserved compensation for your contributions. What should you do? Why?