Question: Does the role of an ethics officer

> What should be done to restore the reputation of the CAI?

> Why would CAI want to keep Mortenson in a “visionary” capacity?

> From a business ethics perspective, which was worse, the conduct of the CAI board or the conduct of Mortenson himself? Why?

> Do people have the right to seek assistance in dying?

> What might the phrase “right to die” mean?

> Does being near the end of one’s life make the decision to end it justified?

> Critics of Milgram’s research have argued that the physical separation between the participant and the teacher in one room and the learner in the other made it easier for the participant to inflict the shocks. Do you think that made a difference? Why or

> If Mortenson’s claims have misled donors, should the CAI return the money? Why or why not?

> How does the conduct of the CAI board relate to this case?

> Would the CSR policies of an organization influence your decision to use their products or services? Why or why not?

> How could this issue of patient privacy have been handled in a more ethical manner?

> Based on the evidence presented in this case study, was Mortenson’s work at the CAI an example of deliberate fraud or mismanagement? Defend your position.

> Do people have the right to give assistance in dying?

> The participants were introduced to the learners as equal participants in the study—that is, volunteers just like them. Do you think that made a difference in the decision to keep increasing the voltage? Why?

> Divide into two groups and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior: One rainy evening I wandered into a shop, where I left my name-brand umbrella in a basket near the door. When I was ready to leave, my umbrella was gone. There were seve

> Divide into two groups and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior: My friend works for a company that manages fund-raising events for nonprofit organizations—mostly gala benefits and auctions. Since these events all take place in the sa

> Divide into two groups and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior: I’m a regular customer of a men’s clothing mail-order company, and it sends me new catalogs about six times a year. I usually order something because the clothes are goo

> Divide into two groups and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior: My dad takes me to a lot of baseball games and always buys the cheapest tickets in the park. When the game starts, he moves to better, unoccupied seats, dragging me alon

> Why do we study ethics?

> What would you do if your resolution of an ethical dilemma turned out to be the wrong approach and it actually made things worse?

> Consider how you have resolved ethical dilemmas in the past. What would you do differently now?

> What should VW be doing to recover from this scandal?

> Would organizations really be paying attention to CSR if customers and federal and state agencies weren’t forcing them to? Why or why not?

> Is it unrealistic to expect others to live by the Golden Rule?

> If each of us has a unique set of influences and values that contribute to our personal value system, how can that be applied to a community as a whole?

> Why should we be concerned about doing “the right thing”?

> You are riding in a taxicab and notice a $20 bill that has obviously fallen from someone’s wallet or pocketbook. What do you do?

> You buy a candy bar at the store and pay the cashier with a $5 bill. You are mistakenly given change from a $20 bill. What do you do?

> You are the manager of a nonprofit orphanage. At the end of the year, a local car dealer approaches you with a proposition. He will give you a two-year-old van worth $10,000 that he has just taken as a trade-in on a new vehicle if you will provide him wi

> You are shopping in a department store and observe a young man taking a watch from a display stand on the jewelry counter and slipping it into his pocket. What do you do?

> You are having a romantic dinner with your spouse to celebrate your wedding anniversary. Suddenly, at a nearby table, a man starts yelling at the young woman he is dining with and becomes so verbally abusive that she starts to cry. What do you do?

> You live in a small Midwestern town and have just lost your job at the local bookstore. The best-paying job you can find is at the local meatpacking plant, but you are a vegetarian and feel strongly that killing animals for food is unjust. What do you do

> Has Müller’s commitment to “maximum transparency” helped or hindered the situation? Explain your answer.

> Visit the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (CSEP) at the Illinois Institute of Technology: http://ethics.iit.edu. a. What is the stated mission of CSEP? b. Identify and briefly summarize a current CSEP research project. c. Explain the pu

> Consider the company you currently work for (or one you have worked for in the past). What initiatives could they start to be more socially responsible? How would you propose such changes?

> Has BP been successful in its move “Beyond Petroleum”?

> If Wakefield had disclosed the source of the funding of his study and his interest in the experimental vaccine, would that have added credibility to his campaign against MMR? Why or why not?

> Why did Wakefield lose his license to practice medicine?

> What were the perceived conflicts of interest in Wakefield’s research activities?

> How can BP begin to restore its reputation going forward?

> BP chief executive Tony Hayward argued that “changing the culture of a 100,000 person company couldn’t happen overnight.” He had been in charge for three years before the Deepwater Horizon spill. Were critics right to expect more change than they saw?

> Both sides claimed in media interviews that they had won their case. Was there victory here? Explain why or why not.

> How could senior executives have approached this situation differently?

> Was Instagram’s response to the PR crisis over the change in the TOS appropriate? Why or why not?

> Was DPS considering the interests of all stakeholders in this battle? Explain why or why not?

> When you consider Milton Friedman’s position on corporate responsibility in Chapter 4, is it possible to defend DPS’s demand for lower hourly wages?

> How could Quezon City officials ensure that there is a more equitable distribution of wealth?

> The GMC found that Wakefield brought his profession into disrepute with his conduct. What could he have done differently to share his concerns about MMR?

> Do you think you could be an ethics officer? Why or why not?

> Your company wrote its code of ethics in 1986. You have been assigned to a team that has been tasked with updating the code to make it more representative of current business ethics issues like the Internet and modern business technology. What are your r

> You have been asked to join a team as a representative of your department. The team has been tasked with the development of an ethics training program to support the company’s new code of ethics. What would your recommendations be?

> Would organizational integrity make a difference in your loyalty to a company? Why or why not?

> When Brad took his complaint to the local media, a spokesperson for the city finance office pointed out that the city’s property taxes were paying for the emergency services that were currently working overtime to help everyone impacted by the storm. Is

> What prompted Instagram to change the terms of service (TOS) agreement?

> Which ethical theories could be applied here?

> Review the commitment of the Charity Commission (the regulator for charities in England and Wales) at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission/about. a. What are the stated priorities of the commission? b. What guidance does the com

> Does TOMS buy-one-give-one-away model make it a more ethical company than a traditional manufacturer donating money to a charity? Why?

> The PGEP/Payatas project is being promoted as a win-win project for all parties involved. Is that an accurate assessment? Why or why not?

> Do you think the board of directors of Bausch & Lomb made the right decision in choosing not to fire Zarrella? Why or why not?

> Would you describe Foxconn’s response as an example of proactive or reactive ethics? Why?

> If the company has operated on “wafer-thin margins,” will the Indian and Japanese deals make it a more ethical company? Why or why not?

> Was Foxconn’s response sufficient to stop any future suicide attempts? Why or why not?

> Is the Warby Parker model more or less effective than the TOMS model? Explain your answer.

> Mycoskie designed the TOMS model from the ground up. Could an established company improve its ethical standards by launching a model like TOMS? How?

> Is it ethical for covered entities to be excused from getting patient permission to use their private information for routine purposes? Why or why not?

> Why would customers pay such a high price for a simple linen shoe or pair of sunglasses?

> If patients lack the language skills or education to understand the significance of informed consent or the use of a placebo, is it ethical to allow them to participate in the drug trial? Why or why not?

> What regulations are in place to oversee the professional and ethical management of these trials?

> Identify three factors that are driving pharmaceutical companies to host clinical drug trials overseas.

> If Apple is committed to addressing working conditions at Foxconn factories, should “no worse than any other factory in China” be an acceptable benchmark? Why or why not?

> Review the CSR policies of a Fortune 100 company of your choice. Would you classify its policies as ethical, altruistic, strategic, or a combination of all three? Provide examples to support your answer.

> What proposals would you offer to make the offshoring of clinical drug trials a more ethical process for all the stakeholders involved?

> Divide into two teams. One team must prepare a presentation advocating for the development of a standardized global code of conduct. The other team must prepare a presentation arguing for the development of a more flexible local code of conduct that take

> Divide into two groups and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior: You have been sent to investigate a fraud claim made against your company by the Customs [department] in one of the countries where you do business. On arrival, an offic

> Divide into two groups and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior: Your American company operates manufacturing plants throughout Asia, with a combined staff of 20,000 employees. In 2003, after Asia was hit with the severe acute respira

> Divide into two teams. One team must defend the employer position on employee monitoring. The other team must defend the employee position. Draw on the policies and experiences you have gathered from your own jobs.

> Divide into groups of three or four. Each group must map out its proposal for restoring the ethical reputation of a multinational corporation that has been fined for one of the following transgressions: bribery, pollution, operating sweatshops, or employ

> Do you think global businesses would be willing to subscribe to a global code of conduct? Explain your answer.

> How would the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) that we reviewed in Chapter 6 come into play here?

> Would it be easier to just follow the business practices and customs of the country in which you’re doing business? Why or why not?

> Which offers greater guidance to international businesses, the UN Global Compact or the OECD guidelines? Explain your answer.

> Are there more stakeholders for an international or global company than a domestic one? Explain your answer.

> Does the SEC bear any responsibility in the event of the Madoff Scheme? In what way?

> Charles Ponzi was a working-class Italian immigrant who was eager to find success in America. Bernard Madoff was already a multimillionaire before he started his scheme. Does that make one more unethical than the other? Why or why not?

> How could this apparently endemic problem be approached differently?

> Your company is a major fruit processor that maintains long-term contracts with plantation owners in Central America to guarantee supplies of high quality produce. Many of those plantations are in politically unstable areas and your U.S.-based teams trav

> Review the annual report of a Fortune 100 company of your choice. What evidence can you find of triple bottom-line reporting in the report? Provide examples to support your answer.

> Divide into two teams. One team must defend the introduction of Sarbanes-Oxley as a federal deterrent to corporate malfeasance. The other team must criticize the legislation as being ineffective and an administrative burden.

> You are a midlevel manager for the government of a small African nation that relies heavily on oil revenues to run the country’s budget. The recent increase in the price of oil has improved your country’s budget significantly and, as a result, many new i

> Divide into groups of three or four. Distribute the 11 sections of SOX reviewed in this chapter. Each group must prepare a brief presentation outlining the relative importance of its section to the overall impact of SOX and the prohibition of unethical b

> Do you think the requirement that CEOs and CFOs sign off on their company accounts will increase investor confidence in those accounts? Why or why not?

> Why may the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 be regarded as one of the most controversial pieces of corporate legislation in recent history?

> What issues prompted the revision of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations in 2004?

> Although Johnson & Johnson took a massive short-term loss as a result of its actions, it was cushioned by the relative wealth of the company. Should it have acted the same way if the survival of the firm were at stake?

> “The FCPA has too many exceptions to be an effective deterrent to unethical business practices.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your answer.

> Which is the most effective piece of legislation for enforcing ethical business practices: FCPA, FSGO, SOX, or Dodd-Frank? Explain your answer.

> Based on the information in this chapter, can the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 prevent “too big to fail”? Explain your answer.

> What is the most ethical way to do business internationally?

> Which piece of legislation would apply to each transgression?

> What would be the penalties for each transgression?