Chapter 4 case study

Case Exercises

Charlie sat at his desk the morning after his nightmare. He had answered the most pressing e-mails in his inbox and had a piping hot cup of coffee at his elbow. He looked down at a blank legal pad, ready to make notes about what to do in case his nightmare became reality.

Discussion Questions 1. What would be the first note you wrote down if you were Charlie? 2. What else should be on Charlies list? 3. Suppose Charlie encountered resistance to his plans to improve continuity planning. What appeals could he use to sway opinions toward improved business continuity planning?

Ethical Decision Making The policies that organizations put in place are similar to laws, in that they are directives for how to act properly. Like laws, policies should be impartial and fair, and are often founded on ethical and moral belief systems of the people who create them. In some cases, especially when organizations expand into foreign countries, they experience a form of culture shock when the laws of their new host country conflict with their internal policies. Suppose that SLS has expanded its operations in France. Setting aside any legal requirements that SLS make its policies conform to French law, does SLS have an ethical imperative to modify its policies to better meet the needs of its stakeholders in the new country? Suppose SLS has altered its policies for all operations in France and that the changes are much more favorable to employeessuch as a requirement to provide child and elder-care services at no cost to the employee. Is SLS under any ethical burden to offer the same benefit to employees in its original country?