Ethics Exercise

For each of the scenarios below, write a response of at least 150 (each) discussing how you would respond.  Then respond to at least one solution offered by two different students.

1. Marcy McBain is writing a brochure for Hills and Lakes Center, an expensive summer camp for children ages 10 to 16.  The director tells Marcy to be sure to describe the camp counselors as “highly experienced.”  Marcy knows that only the head counselor is highly experienced.  The other counselors usually are new to the job each year. If you were Marcy, what would you do?

2. Brad Stalsky, the Director of Communications at the Cedars Wellness Center, needs information about good eating habits for the clients at the Center.  He goes to the library and finds three articles that fit his needs.  After copying the articles at the library, Brad tells his assistant to make multiple copies and put them in the packets of nutrition information the Center sells for $2.00 each.  If you were the assistant, what would you do?

3. You are running a small business and recently have been successful enough to hire one full time assistant.  You post the job listing and begin interviews.  You interview all the applicants on a Wednesday and Thursday; then you decide to hire John who was by far the best candidate.  You call John on Friday morning and offer him the job; he accepts, and you both agree he will start a week later on Monday.  A few hours later your good friend calls and says she has found the perfect assistant for you.  You tell her you have already hired someone, but she insists and says that you should at least meet Mindy as a backup or to keep her mind for the future.  You meet Mindy and your friend was correct.  She is perfect and far more qualified than John.  She is ready to start immediately.  You can only hire one person. 

4. Jake Farrell needs to prepare a report on landfill management for his boss.  He is behind in his work and needs the report tomorrow.  He searches the Internet and finds an up-to-date report on the Web site of the Association of Landfill Management.  He also finds four relevant maps on the Web site of the U.S. Department of the Interior.  Jake downloads the report and the maps and then pastes them into the company report format under his name without citing any sources. If you are Jake’s co-worker, what would you do?  If you were his boss, what would you do?

5. Britany Curtiz needs a research paper on the fishing industry in Peru.  She searches the Internet and finds a four-page report on the Web site of the Center for South American Studies at the University of Santa Clara.  Brittany downloads the report and writes a new opening paragraph.  She adds one citation for information on page 2 of the report.  If you are Britany’s co-worker, what would you do?  If you were her boss, what would you do?

questions for each exercise:

1. What are the legal implications?

2. How do I feel about this?

3. What if I don’t agree to do this or just don’t want to do it?