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You make the call!

PROMPT:

Read Resolving Ethical Business Challenges on p. 24 of the text and answer the following questions:

1. Do you view this as a legal or ethical issue? Explain.

2. Where would you draw the line between loyalty to the company and loyalty to the staff?

3. What do you find most difficult about this situation?

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Week 3 Discussion Question

Discussions are worth 50 pts (25 pts for initial discussion and 25 pts for replies). Your initial post will be due by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. of each week. Points WILL be taken off if this is not adhered to. The purpose of this is to ensure that your classmates have ample time to respond to your posts. You will need to reply to at least 2 classmates to earn the remainder of your discussion points by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Initial posts should be at least 250 words and end in a question that will help to facilitate discussion.

Prompt:

• • Compensation and wealth: How much is too much?
    • Should executive compensation be capped at a multiple (20 to 100 times) the average pay of the lowest full time worker in the company or perhaps the average full time compensation in the U.S.?
    • Is it fair that we demonize corporate CEOs and other executives while at the same time “giving a pass” to our favorite coaches, athletes and celebrities who make (in many cases) just as much if not more?
    • Can we constrain / put limits on wealth and compensation and still be a capitalist society and economy?
    • What are ways that public policy can help to frame this debate and possibly improved perceived equity in the system? (I.e. increased minimum wages, tax policy, limitations on money in elections etc.).

3/ Week 4 Discussion Question

Discussions are worth 50 pts (25 pts for initial discussion and 25 pts for replies). Your initial post will be due by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. of each week. Points WILL be taken off if this is not adhered to. The purpose of this is to ensure that your classmates have ample time to respond to your posts. You will need to reply to at least 2 classmates to earn the remainder of your discussion points by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Initial posts should be at least 250 words and end in a question that will help to facilitate discussion.

Prompt:

• Are “blind” medical research studies ethical?

Blinded study definition: A study done in such a way that the patients or subjects do not know (is blinded as to) what treatment they are receiving to ensure that the results are not affected by a placebo effect (the power of suggestion).

A double-blind study is one in which neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This procedure is utilized to prevent bias in research results. Double-blind studies are particularly useful for preventing bias due to demand characteristics or the placebo effect.

If we say intoxicated people cannot give sexual consent… prisoners cannot give informed consent. Then how do we suppose people with little (to no hope) and under extreme duress can give informed consent for blind studies?

4/ You make the call – HSBC Money Laundering

The U.S. government ordered British Bank HSBC Holdings to strengthen its anti-money laundering practices after the financial institution was caught laundering more than 800 million dollars for Mexican drug cartels. The investigation of HSBC found that the bank covered up illegal transactions for Burma, Iran, Sudan, Cuba, and Libya—countries existing under banking sanctions due to human rights violations, terrorism, and nuclear programs. For a settlement, the bank had to pay $1.9 billion to the U.S. government—the largest fine in history. Although HSBC has anti-corruption programs in place, the bank worked with known drug cartels and helped other banks hide illegal transactions. In response, the U.S. government fined the company and set up a five-year monitoring program to oversee the company’s transactions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc48nu05HAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln3zY62kHi4

1. What types of ethical misconduct took place at HSBC Holdings?

2. What consequences did HSBC face as a result of its ethical and illegal actions?

3. Do you think the government’s settlement with HSBC will fix the bank’s ethical lapses? Why or why not?

5/ You make the call – The Fall of Enron

In response to accounting scandals and the collapse of Enron at the turn of the century, the U.S. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to establish a system of federal oversight of corporate accounting practices. The purpose of the law is to hold CEOs accountable in matters of financial reporting, and to ensure the truthfulness of statements offered to investors. Despite the law’s good intentions, businesses must now spend millions of dollars each year just to comply with the regulations. However, the steep challenges of compliance have created a boom in new accounting firms that specialize in helping companies meet the law’s requirements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvslpOUDaHo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v26mGyNyDpE

1. Was the fall of Enron caused primarily by personal or organizational ethical lapses? How do these two levels of ethics differ?

2. What aspects of Enron’s early development as an organization may have produced a lax corporate culture ripe for scandal?

3. What ethical improvements and controls might have protected Enron from a massive financial accounting scandal?

6/ Week Six Discussion

Discussions are worth 50 pts (25 pts for initial discussion and 25 pts for replies). Your initial post will be due by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. of each week. Points WILL be taken off if this is not adhered to. The purpose of this is to ensure that your classmates have ample time to respond to your posts. You will need to reply to at least 2 classmates to earn the remainder of your discussion points by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Initial posts should be at least 250 words and end in a question that will help to facilitate discussion.

Opportunity exists all around us for unethical behavior. If you are behind in your bills and you have access to the petty cash in the office, would it really hurt your organization if you just “borrowed” some until you can make ends meet? Likewise, you were not able to finish an assignment and the answers are available online, would you use them? For this week’s discussion, please share with the class, a time that you were tempted to act in an unethical way. Why were you tempted? Did you considered the potential ramifications from your actions prior to deciding whether or not to act upon them?

7/ You make the call – Caterpillar

The image that companies present to the public is a positive one but are those companies living up to the image that they are presenting? Watch the following two video clips and answer the question listed below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5X8Z0xjKPc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAs6V5GYMfI

Questions:

1. How do you view Caterpillar after watching the videos?

2. Does the company’s efforts in sustainability outweigh the negative press regarding the it’s fraud activities? Why or why not?

3. Is it ethical for companies to take advantage of international tax relief? Do you companies try to play by the rules or try not to get caught?

8/ Case Study: Whole Foods Strives to Be an Ethical Corporate Citizen

Read Case 13: Whole Foods Strives to Be an Ethical Corporate Citizen in text, pp. 537-548. Prepare a 2-3 page case study analysis that consists of:

• Identify Key Issues
• Answer the following questions:
  • How has commitment to corporate values contributed to Whole Food’s success?
  • Describe how Whole Food’s adoption of a stakeholder orientation has influenced the way it operates.
  • What are some ways that Whole Foods might have neglected certain stakeholders in the past?

Additional Case Resources:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/careers/our-values-and-mission (Links to an external site.)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/whole-foods-results-add-to-growth-concerns-1438202546 (Links to an external site.)

http://college.usatoday.com/2015/08/19/trader-joes-vs-whole-foods/ (Links to an external site.)

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Week Seven Discussion

Discussions are worth 50 pts (25 pts for initial discussion and 25 pts for replies). Your initial post will be due by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. of each week. Points WILL be taken off if this is not adhered to. The purpose of this is to ensure that your classmates have ample time to respond to your posts. You will need to reply to at least 2 classmates to earn the remainder of your discussion points by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Initial posts should be at least 250 words and end in a question that will help to facilitate discussion.

Prompt:

Describe your moral philosophy. What events helped to shape your philosophy?

10/ Midterm

Midterm: For your midterm, you are required to watch the two following videos and write a 3 page paper (double space, 12 pt. font) answering the following questions.

1. What surprised you about the Stanford Prison Experiment?

2. Given similar circumstances, how would you have reacted if you were chosen to be a guard? A prisoner?

3. Given what you have learned so far in the course, what might cause good people to do evil things? What if anything can be done to prevent this from happening?

The Stanford Prison Experiment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxUe0UbW9jU

What makes people go wrong?

https://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_the_psychology_of_evil