1. What are the key moral issue(s) you face? (5 points) 2. The case describes two alternative courses of action. What are the key reasons supporting each of these alternatives? (15 pts) 3. What should you do and why? (5 pts) 4. How would a utilitarian assess this situation and what action would she view as moral? (15 pts) (Be sure to explain how you did your assessment using the theory--don't just give an answer.) 5. How would either a Kantian or a proponent of prima facie obligations (choose only one) assess this situation and what action would she view as moral? (15 pts) (Be sure to explain how you did your assessment using the theory--don't just give an answer.) 6. Do either of these assessments (#4 and #5) change your view of what you should do? GROUSE ELECTRONICS You work for Grouse, a publicly-traded manufacturer of cool computers, tablets, and phones. You are five years out of college and two years out of grad school. You have a boatload of school loans. You and your significant other both have good jobs. So, last year you took all your savings and bought a small house in a nice neighborhood. You stretched on the purchase price, but you assume that real estate prices would never go down, and your spouse and you would continue to get wage increases and promotions. Over the last year increases in interest rates driven by massive US deficit spending caused the real estate market to enter a downturn. If you had to sell the house now, you would get less than the amount of money you owe on the mortgage, and you don't have the cash to make up the difference. Your best friend in college stopped by your house around Christmas in her shiny new BMW. You were embarrassed by your used Hyundai, so you signed a lease last week for a sweet BMW 530 at $500 per month. By the way, your spouse just lost his/her job a month ago and is having trouble finding a job in the area. Now, even paying the mortgage is a bit of a struggle, but you are squeaking by.... Scenario A: Product Manager You work as an assistant product manager in Marketing. You make $85,457 per year. Your group is responsible for the launch of the Universe 2.0, a new breakthrough telephone which is critical to the company's success. You signed a contract with a small design company to come up with a sales brochure. This company's owner and sole professional is a single mother, and you know she is struggling to get business. You have worked with the design company over the last few months and you like the design and the work but haven't given your final approval because it needed just a few more "tweaks." Because of some costly litigation due to a faulty Universe 1.0 charger design and the company's inability to borrow money against its line of credit due to a huge write-off of obsolete inventory, your boss tells you the Company is cutting expenses dramatically. Therefore, he wants you to cancel the contract. The contract you signed with the design firm provides, very clearly in bold type, that your company owes the design company nothing unless you have approved a final design and that the design is delivered to the company with camera-ready art." Your law department confirms that you have good legal cause not to pay under the contract. By the way, your group has already done a great job of managing expenses and is close to hitting its bonus target based upon keeping expenses low. If you can save the Company the $30,000 that otherwise would have been paid as part of the design contract, you will get your year-end bonus of $10,000. You could really use the cash! You have two alternative courses of action: 1. You can cancel the contract and save the money. 2. You can finish the brochure and complete the contract. What should you do? 1. What are the key moral issue(s) you face? (5 points) 2. The case describes two alternative courses of action. What are the key reasons supporting each of these alternatives? (15 pts) 3. What should you do and why? (5 pts) 4. How would a utilitarian assess this situation and what action would she view as moral? (15 pts) (Be sure to explain how you did your assessment using the theory--don't just give an answer.) 5. How would either a Kantian or a proponent of prima facie obligations (choose only one) assess this situation and what action would she view as moral? (15 pts) (Be sure to explain how you did your assessment using the theory--don't just give an answer.) 6. Do either of these assessments (#4 and #5) change your view of what you should do? GROUSE ELECTRONICS You work for Grouse, a publicly-traded manufacturer of cool computers, tablets, and phones. You are five years out of college and two years out of grad school. You have a boatload of school loans. You and your significant other both have good jobs. So, last year you took all your savings and bought a small house in a nice neighborhood. You stretched on the purchase price, but you assume that real estate prices would never go down, and your spouse and you would continue to get wage increases and promotions. Over the last year increases in interest rates driven by massive US deficit spending caused the real estate market to enter a downturn. If you had to sell the house now, you would get less than the amount of money you owe on the mortgage, and you don't have the cash to make up the difference. Your best friend in college stopped by your house around Christmas in her shiny new BMW. You were embarrassed by your used Hyundai, so you signed a lease last week for a sweet BMW 530 at $500 per month. By the way, your spouse just lost his/her job a month ago and is having trouble finding a job in the area. Now, even paying the mortgage is a bit of a struggle, but you are squeaking by.... Scenario A: Product Manager You work as an assistant product manager in Marketing. You make $85,457 per year. Your group is responsible for the launch of the Universe 2.0, a new breakthrough telephone which is critical to the company's success. You signed a contract with a small design company to come up with a sales brochure. This company's owner and sole professional is a single mother, and you know she is struggling to get business. You have worked with the design company over the last few months and you like the design and the work but haven't given your final approval because it needed just a few more "tweaks." Because of some costly litigation due to a faulty Universe 1.0 charger design and the company's inability to borrow money against its line of credit due to a huge write-off of obsolete inventory, your boss tells you the Company is cutting expenses dramatically. Therefore, he wants you to cancel the contract. The contract you signed with the design firm provides, very clearly in bold type, that your company owes the design company nothing unless you have approved a final design and that the design is delivered to the company with camera-ready art." Your law department confirms that you have good legal cause not to pay under the contract. By the way, your group has already done a great job of managing expenses and is close to hitting its bonus target based upon keeping expenses low. If you can save the Company the $30,000 that otherwise would have been paid as part of the design contract, you will get your year-end bonus of $10,000. You could really use the cash! You have two alternative courses of action: 1. You can cancel the contract and save the money. 2. You can finish the brochure and complete the contract. What should you do
