This Document Contains Chapters 3 to 4 Chapter 3 Deciding What’s Right: A Psychological Approach Contents: (Please note: the Instructor Guide for every chapter will follow this structure.) 1. Chapter Outline 2. Teaching Notes 3. In-Class Exercises 4. Homework Assignments 5. Additional Resources Chapter Outline I Introduction II Ethical Awareness and Ethical Judgment III Individual Differences, Ethical Judgment, and Ethical Behavior A. Ethical Decision-Making Style B. Cognitive Moral Development a. Level 1: Preconventional b. Level 2: Conventional c. Level 3: Postconventional d. Are Men and Women Different? e. Looking Up and Looking Around f. Autonomous Principled Thinking and Action C. Locus of Control a. Relationship to Ethical Judgment and Action D. Machiavellianism E. Moral Disengagement IV Facilitators of and Barriers to Good Ethical Judgment A. Thinking about Fact Gathering B. Thinking about Consequences a. Reduced Number of Consequences b. Consequences for Self vs. Consequences for Others c. Consequences as Risk d. Consequences over Time: Escalation of Commitment C. Thinking about Integrity D. Thinking about Your Gut a. Your Gut – “Automatic” Ethical Decision Making E. Unconscious Biases F. Emotions in Ethical Decision Making V Toward Ethical Decision Making A. Revisiting the Pinto Fires Case: Script Processing and Cost-Benefit Analysis a. Script Processing B. Cost-Benefit Analysis VI Conclusion VII Exercise: Understanding Cognitive Moral Development VIII Discussion Questions Teaching Notes – Discussion Questions 1. Steven F. Goldstone, Chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco (one of four biggest U.S. cigarette manufacturers) said in a magazine interview, “I have no moral view of this business. . . I viewed it as a legal business. You shouldn’t be drawing a moral judgment about a business our country says is perfectly legal and is taxed like crazy by it.” Think about Goldstone’s statement in terms of moral awareness. What might happen if he began thinking about his business in moral, and not just legal, terms? Possible Answer The leaders of the tobacco companies have worked hard to keep from thinking about their companies’ product in moral terms. If they don’t think about it in moral terms, they don’t have to engage moral judgment processes. When forced by others to think in moral terms, they tend to talk about individual choice - the individual adult’s right to smoke in a free country. They ran into serious problems with the public and the government, however, when it became apparent that they were aiming advertising at teenagers. As was discussed in Chapter 1, this strict focus on the law is unacceptable. The law simply doesn’t cover all ethical and social responsibility expectations of corporations. Companies that wish to stay out of trouble need to think beyond the law. They need to keep their fingers on the pulse of society. The disclosure rule can be helpful here. How would a particular practice play on the front page of the New York Times or on YouTube or Twitter? 2. Evaluate yourself in terms of cognitive moral development and locus of control. What does this tell you about your own ethical decision making? Do the same for someone you know well. It is actually difficult for people to accurately evaluate themselves or others on cognitive moral development with the small amount of information provided in the chapter. Information about obtaining a measure of cognitive moral development is provided below. But, this question does provide as an opportunity for thought and self-reflection. A measure of locus of control is provided below. Probes to Stimulate Discussion • “What do you think about when faced with an ethical dilemma: whether you’ll be caught and punished? What significant others would think and do in the same situation? Or, what kind of world it would be if everyone took a particular action?” (Most of our MBAs generally acknowledge that they and those they have worked with are at the conventional level of cognitive moral development.) 3. Can you think of a time when you have used morally disengaged thinking? It should be easy for students to think of times when they have heard others use morally disengaged thinking. Before teaching about moral disengagement, it can be revealing to give students examples of situations (see three examples below) and ask them how likely they are to engage in them. Then, ask them to list the reasons why one might or might not do these things. Many of the reasons they generate for doing them will match the moral disengagement mechanisms. The following examples would probably work best with undergraduates. • You work in a fast-food restaurant. It's against policy to eat food without paying for it. You came straight from classes and are therefore hungry. Your supervisor isn't around, so you make something for yourself and eat it without paying. • Your accounting course requires you to purchase a software package that sells for $50. Your friend, who is also in the class, has already bought the software and offers to lend it to you. You take it and load it onto your computer. • You’re preparing for the final exam in a class where the professor uses the same exam in both sections. Some of your friends somehow get a copy of the exam after the first section. They are now trying to memorize the right answers. You don’t look at the exam, but just ask them what topics you should focus your studying on. 4. Identify a situation in which you have used script processing in a work or other life situation. Most students find it difficult to really “get” this notion of scripts. So, it’s helpful to discuss examples from real work settings. Be sure to emphasize that scripts only apply in “routine” situations. Think of them as “standard operating procedures” that one learns to use in these routine situations. For example, the triage system emergency room personnel use can be thought of as a script for deciding which patients get attention first, second, and so on. 5. Do you believe that scripts can override an individual’s values system? Possible Answer Obviously, this question asks for an opinion. But, the truth is that they can. And, Denny Gioias personal reflections provide a great example of this. Denny had strong values and beliefs related to business' responsibility to society. And he probably believed that he was being true to those values and beliefs. But, he needed some set of guidelines for making the tough decisions of a recall coordinator. These had evolved in the context of the corporate decision environment and the scripted guidelines excluded ethical considerations. This issue hints at something discussed in Chapter 7 - multiple ethical selves. It may also be important to note that Denny was quite young when he was given this responsibility – in his late 20s. But, he also did not make recall decisions alone. He was part of a group that made “recommendations” to a higher level management group that would decide on the recall. So, the script became an important guide for decision making for the entire group. Probe to Stimulate Discussion • "Can you think of an example of a situation where a script overrode your value system?" 6. Answer the question posed in Gioia’s Reflections: Is a person behaving unethically if the situation was not even construed in ethical terms – if there was no moral awareness? Probes to Stimulate Discussion • “Is it appropriate to say, ‘I hadn't thought of this in terms of right and wrong I employed a structured way of thinking about the situation and that's why I missed the ethical overtones?’ " Sure, it helps to understand one’s behavior, but it doesn’t necessarily excuse it. The action was still unethical. Obviously, Denny doesn't think now that he did the right thing, although he seems to understand why he behaved the way he did. The purpose of studying the case is to learn from his mistakes. • “How autonomous can we expect people in organizations (ourselves) to be? “ • “Whose responsibility is it to decide that a situation involves ethical concerns?” Here is the relevant quote from Denny's personal reflections in the text: The recall coordinator's job was serious business. The scripts associated with it influenced me more than I influenced [it]. Before I went to Ford, I would have argued strongly that Ford had an ethical obligation to recall. After I left Ford, I now argue and teach that Ford had an ethical obligation to recall. But, while I was there, I perceived no obligation to recall and I remember no strong ethical overtones to the case whatsoever. It was a very straightforward decision, driven by dominant scripts for the time, place, and context. (An overhead with this quote on it can stimulate a lengthy discussion). 7. Who should make the decision about taking risks with others' lives in designing products? Possible Answers Engineers, marketing people, top managers, government regulators, consumers? This is an important question about responsibility in organizations and is related to topics treated later in the book chapters 7 and 9. When responsibility is diffused among a variety of people, there is more of a tendency to ignore the potential harm that a product might cause unless organizational decision making systems are explicitly designed with this concern in mind. So, one way to deal with this is to consider ways to get every individual who makes decisions related to new products to consider their potential harm in other words, to design that into the decision making process similar to environmental impact statements that are becoming a regular part of corporate reports. Ultimately, someone high in the organization must make the final decision. But, if information about risk and potential harm is included in reports provided to top decision makers they are less likely to ignore or downplay these problems. It is also important that these decision makers be aware of the biases that affect the way they are likely to think about risk. They should design risk analysis into decision making processes and ask questions like, what is the worst-case scenario? Another consideration is to have people making the product release decision be different from those who are already highly invested in the product's success. They're likely to be more objective in their decision making. This is also an appropriate time to consider again the role of government regulation. Arguably, government safety standards have evolved because businesses didn't create standards stringent enough to satisfy the public interest. But, in the Pinto Fires case, the car met all safety regulations in effect at the time. Students’ attitudes toward government regulation often differ depending upon the role they take - businessperson or consumer. It can be effective to have students take these different roles in the discussion. 8. Should a person be permitted to place a value on a human life? Should a company? Should the government? If not, how would decisions be made about whether to market certain products (that might be risky for some, but helpful for others), how much those who have lost family members in disasters should be compensated, and so on? Possible Answers Again, there are more questions than answers. The question is designed to get students thinking and we’ve had many lively discussions around the issues raised by this question. Some students are inclined to answer this question with a simple "no." But, it isn't that easy. As a society, we make decisions about the risk we're willing to take with human life all the time. Certain medical procedures and medications have the risk of serious harm or death attached to them. Traveling in automobiles and on trains and airplanes does kill people. We could build cars to protect us better in car accidents and fewer people would die, but we don't because of cost and competitiveness issues. In some cases, people decide to give one life more value than another, as when a fetus is aborted to save the life of the mother, or one person is selected over another to receive an organ transplant. So, we do make these decisions. How do we do it? Is it better to use a moral reasoning approach or some intuitive or "gut" approach than to place a dollar value on human life? Do the approaches presented in Chapter 4 help? Perhaps the most important question is, who should be making these decisions? 9. How do you feel about the use of cost/benefit analysis where human life is part of the cost calculation? Might the infusion of moral language have changed the decision makers’ thinking? For example, what if decision makers had talked about their responsibility for killing 180 human beings? Possible Answers This is a question about how students "feel" and is designed to provoke thought and discussion. An argument for using cost benefit analysis might be that dollars and cents are simply the ways we place value on things in this society. So, why not human life? It forces us to think about what human life is really worth to us. However, an argument against it might be that the value of a human life simply can't be captured in such a crude measure. It's like trying to measure love in dollars and cents. If adults tried to do a dollar based cost benefit analysis on the decision to have children, they probably never would. Although there are many benefits, they can't be captured in a dollar figure. It’s clearly harder to make a decision to “kill” people. For that reason, it may be very appropriate to use this kind of language. At least we’ll be morally aware and we’ll be making our decisions with our eyes wide open. Probes to Stimulate Discussion • "If we don't use some form of cost benefit analysis, what do we use?" 10. Given that all automobiles are unsafe to some degree, where do you draw the line on product safety? How safe is safe enough – and who decides? Possible Answers Students have difficulty with this one. But, again, it makes them think about the complexity of these issues, and they usually acknowledge the importance of product safety regulation to protect consumers. Probes to Stimulate Discussion • “How many of you drive Volvos? If not, why not?” (Volvos are thought to be among the safest cars on the road, but one doesn’t see many, likely because they’re expensive and because people admit that they choose cars based upon criteria other than safety) In-Class Exercises Exercise #1: Another Short Case for Discussion Mary, the director of nursing at a regional blood bank, is concerned about the declining number of blood donors. It’s May, and Mary knows that the approaching summer will mean increased demands for blood and decreased supplies, especially of rare blood types. She is excited; therefore, when a large corporation offers to host a series of blood drives at all of its locations, beginning at corporate headquarters. Soon after Mary and her staff arrive at the corporate site, Mary hears a disturbance. Apparently, a nurse named Peggy was drawing blood from a male donor with a very rare blood type when the donor fondled her breast. Peggy jumped back and began to cry. Joe, a male colleague, sprang to Peggy’s defense and told the male donor to leave the premises. To Mary’s horror, the male donor was a senior manager with the corporation. What is the ethical dilemma in this case, and what values are in conflict? How should Mary deal with Peggy, Joe, the donor, and other representatives of the corporation? The values in conflict are Peggy’s right to be treated with dignity and respect and the rights of those who will need blood in the coming months. If Mary blows the whistle on the male donor (senior manager) she may be concerned about jeopardizing future blood donations. Mary should talk with Peggy about her experience. She may need counseling from the organization’s Human Resources Dept. or Employee Assistance Program. Mary should also praise Joe for taking quick action in Peggy’s defense. Peggy should discuss the incident with someone in the corporation’s ethics office or human resources department. This behavior may be part of a pattern and, if so, it would be important for them to know about the incident so they can take action. Most large corporations would consider this kind of incident to be quite serious, especially if this executive is acting similarly with their own employees. Peggy could save the company from future legal problems by alerting them to the problem. At the very least, this individual should be barred from future blood donations. Exercise #2 – Relativism/Idealism Scale (Forsyth, 1980)
The statements below are about your general philosophies. Please circle the number that indicates how much you agree or disagree with each item, IN GENERAL.
Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree
1) A person should make certain that their actions never intentionally harm another even to a small degree. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2) Risks to another should never be tolerated, irrespective of how small the risk might be. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3) There are no ethical principles that are so important that they should be a part of any code of ethics. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4) What is “ethical” varies from one situation and society to another. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5) The existence of potential harm to others is always wrong, irrespective of the benefits to be gained. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6) Whether a lie is judged to be moral or immoral depends upon the circumstances surrounding the action. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7) Questions of what is ethical for everyone can never be resolved since what is moral or immoral is up to the individual. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8) If an action could harm an innocent other, then it should not be done. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9) Deciding whether or not to perform an act by balancing the positive consequences of the act against the negative consequences of the act is immoral. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10) Rigidly codifying an ethical position that prevents certain types of actions could stand in the way of better human relations and adjustment. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11) One should never psychologically or physically harm another person. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12) One should not perform an action which might threaten in any way the dignity and welfare of another individual. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13) No rule concerning lying can be formulated; whether a lie is permissible or not permissible totally depends on the situation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
14) Dignity and welfare of people should be the most important concern in any society. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
15) Moral standards should be seen a individualistic; what one person considers to be moral may be judged to be immoral by another person. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
16) Moral actions are those which closely match ideals of the most “perfect” action. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
17) If an action could harm an innocent other, then it should not be done. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
18) Different types of moralities cannot be compared as to “rightness.” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19) Moral standards are simply personal rules which indicate how a person should behave, and are not to be applied in making judgments of others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
20) Ethical considerations in interpersonal relations are so complex that individuals should be allowed to formulate their individual codes. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
To score: • Add scores from statements 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, and 17. The sum represents the score on the idealism scale. • Add scores from statements 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 15, 18, 19, and 20. The sum represents score on the relativism scale. Total possible score on each scale = 70 Exercise #3 – Locus of Control Students can have a difficult time understanding why locus of control is important. An easy way to help them understand this is to focus on the characteristics on the internal and external ends of the spectrum. Internal Locus of Control: • More likely to help someone • More likely to question you and authority in general • In charge of their own fate External Locus of Control: • Follows orders and rules • Less likely to question you and authority in general • Very much influenced by peer pressure • Less likely to see how they (their role) can effect an outcome Begin a discussion about why locus of control might be important when you are hiring someone to do a specific job. The point: locus of control has implications for how people behave on the job and it’s good to think about this. For example: How might locus of control figure into: • Hiring an assembly line worker? • Hiring a nanny? • Choosing a doctor? • Naming someone to head a compliance function? • Selecting a nuclear power plant engineer? • Promoting someone in the military? Exercise #4: Locus of Control Questionnaire Another interesting exercise to encourage students to consider their own locus of control and is to administer this questionnaire in class. Then have the students score their own – you can use a paper survey, use slides to ask each questions, or even use an online survey program to collect the results and then feed them back during class. Locus of Control Questionnaire Instructions: Please read each pair of statements, (a) and (b). Then select which statement you agree with more. Check either (a) or (b) for each pair of statements. 1. ____ a) Many of the misfortunes people experience are partly due to bad luck. ____ b) People's misfortunes usually result from the mistakes they make. 2. ____ a) In the long run people get the respect they deserve. ____ b) Unfortunately, an individual's worth is often unrecognized no matter how hard he or she tries. 3. ____ a) Grades in school are generally a fair representation of the student's effort and ability. ____ b) Most students don't realize the extent to which their grades are influenced by accidental happenings. 4. ____ a) Without the right breaks one cannot be an effective leader. ____ b) Capable people who fail to become leaders have not taken advantage of their opportunities. 5. ____ a) No matter how hard you try some people just don't like you. ____ b) People who can't get others to like them don't understand how to get along with others. 6. ____ a) I have often found that what is going to happen will happen. ____ b) Trusting to fate has never turned out as well for me as making a decision to take a definite course of action. 7. _ ___ a) If a student is well prepared, there is rarely if ever such a thing as an unfair test ____ b) Many times exam questions tend to be so unrelated to course work that studying is really useless. 8. ____ a) Getting a good job is a matter of hard work. Luck has little or nothing to do with it. ____ b) Getting a good job depends mainly on knowing the right people. 9. ____ a) The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions. ____ b) This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the average person can do about it. 10. ____ a) When people succeed, it's usually because they worked hard for it. ____ b) When people succeed, it's often because they were in the right place at the right time. Scoring Instructor: Note that this is not a validated measurement instrument. It has been adapted from a variety of other instruments and is designed for instructional use only. The purpose is to familiarize students with the locus of control concept not to measure an individual's locus of control. We recommend asking students to identify which statements refer to an external orientation and which statements refer to an internal orientation. Then discuss how this orientation might influence ethical conduct. I = internal E = external 1. ____ a) Many of the misfortunes people experience are partly due to bad luck. (E) ____ b) People's misfortunes usually result from the mistakes they make. (I) 2. ____ a) In the long run people get the respect they deserve. (I) ____ b) Unfortunately, an individual's worth is often unrecognized no matter how hard he or she tries. (E) 3. ____ a) Grades in school are generally a fair representation of the student’s effort and ability. (I) ____ b) Most students don't realize the extent to which their grades are influenced by accidental happenings. (E) 4. ____ a) Without the right breaks one cannot be an effective leader. (E) ____ b) Capable people who fail to become leaders have not taken advantage of their opportunities. (I) 5. ____ a) No matter how hard you try some people just don't like you. (E) ____ b) People who can't get others to like them don't understand how to get along with others. (I) 6. ____ a) I have often found that what is going to happen will happen. (E) ____ b) Trusting to fate has never turned out as well for me as making a decision to take a definite course of action. (I) 7. ____ a) If a student is well prepared, there is rarely if ever such a thing as an unfair test. (I) ____ b) Many times exam questions tend to be so unrelated to course work that studying is really useless. (E) 8. ____ a) Getting a good job is a matter of hard work. Luck has little or nothing to do with it (I) ____ b) Getting a good job depends mainly on knowing the right people. (E) 9. ____ a) The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions. (I) ____ b) This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the average person can do about it. (E) 10. ____ a) When people succeed, it's usually because they worked hard for it. (I) ____ b) When people succeed, it's often because they were in the right place at the right time. (E) Additional Resources 1. Cognitive Moral Development: Materials for measuring cognitive moral development using the Defining Issues Test can be obtained from the Center for the Study of Ethical Development, University of Alabama 305a Carmichael Hall, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Phone: 205-348-4571 2. Moral Disengagement An 8-item measure of moral disengagement (particularly useful with undergraduates) can be found in an article by Moore, C., Detert, J.R., Treviño, L.K., Baker, V.L., & Mayer, D.M. Why Employees do bad things: Moral disengagement and unethical organizational behavior. Personnel Psychology (2012), 65 (1): 1-48. The items and the associated mechanism of moral disengagement are found below: Propensity to Morally Disengage Scale Items measured on a 7-point Likert scale -- ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.-- comprise the 16-item measure. Moral Justification It is okay to spread rumors to defend those you care about. Euphemistic Labeling Taking something without the owner’s permission is okay as long as you’re just borrowing it. Advantageous Comparison Considering the ways people grossly misrepresent themselves, it’s hardly a sin to inflate your own credentials a bit. Displacement of Responsibility People shouldn’t be held accountable for doing questionable things when they were just doing what an authority figure told them to do. Diffusion of Responsibility People can’t be blamed for doing things that are technically wrong when all their friends are doing it too. Distortion of Consequences Taking personal credit for ideas that were not your own is no big deal. Dehumanization Some people have to be treated roughly because they lack feelings that can be hurt. Attribution of Blame People who get mistreated have usually done something to bring it on themselves. 3. Video: Pinto Fires Linda Treviño and Dennis Gioia have created an instructional DVD to accompany his Pinto Fires case and reflections (Chapter 3). For years, Denny has taught the case to MBA business ethics classes as a "living case." It has always been a big hit with the students to be able to interact with Ford's recall coordinator himself and ask questions left hanging in the case. The DVD includes an introduction by Linda Treviño, Denny Gioia teaching the MBA class (edited to about 45 minutes), and some closing learning points by Denny. We also created titled vignettes that an instructor can pick and choose to make specific points in a shorter time period. That seems to work best. The case is packaged with the DVD, along with a brief instructor's guide and suggested readings. We have priced the DVD at a reasonable cost so that it will be accessible to any instructor who would like to use it. Proceeds are being split between Penn State's Media Sales and the Shoemaker Program in Business Ethics endowment that supported creation of the DVD. Linda Treviño would be glad to answer any questions you have about using the DVD which she has used successfully in several teaching settings. The link to Penn State Media Sales where you can purchase the DVD is below: http://mediasales.psu.edu, or call: 814-865-3333 To find the Pinto Fires DVD, see the banner, third from the top, on the right. 4. Videos: ABC News You can purchase the following videos or DVDs at the ABC News Store: www.abcnewsstore.com • What Would You Do? A series of video tapes that explore what people might do in a series of hypothetical cases. Cases vary and include subjects such as shop lifting and domestic violence. • Basic Instincts – the Milgram experiments revisited. 5. Video and Podcast: Nova’s Mind Over Money Nova’s Mind Over Money is a fascinating exploration of how emotions and the way the brain works affects out behavior. Specifically this shows how traders get so caught up in the game of trading that their ethics and ability to assess risks is compromised. Here’s a link to the website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/money/ 6. 60 Minutes created a wonderful segment this past year called “The Baby Lab.” It’s about studies conducted at Yale University with young infants. The experiments demonstrate pretty clearly that fairness is hardwired in us – this includes the desire to see “bad guys” punished. It’s really fun to see what the babies do. But, our ingroup/outgroup biases are also apparently hardwired. Showing this video segment can lead to a rich discussion about the moral inclinations we come into the world with and what we can do with them as we develop as moral beings. 7. Another fun YouTube video that demonstrates the presence of concerns for fairness even in our primate relatives shows an experiment with monkeys. Put “monkey cucumber grape experiment” into the search engine on YouTube and choose the video you want to show. There are a number of places in the course when this might be appropriate to show – when discussing fairness in Ch. 2? Chapter 4 Addressing Individuals’ Common Ethical Problems Contents: (Please note: the Instructor Guide for every chapter will follow this structure.) 1. Chapter Outline 2. Teaching Notes 3. In-Class Exercises 4. Homework Assignments 5. Additional Resources Chapter Outline I Introduction A. Indentifying Your Values – and Voicing Them II People Issues A. Discrimination B. Harassment, Sexual and Otherwise III Conflicts of Interest A. What Is It? B. How Can We Think About This Issue? C. Why Is It an Ethical Problem? D. Costs IV Customer Confidence Issues A. What Is It? B. How Can We Think About This Issue? C. Why Is It an Ethical Problem? D. Costs V Use of Corporate Resources A. What Is It? B. How Can We Think About This Issue? C. Why Is It an Ethical Problem? D. Costs VI When All Else Fails: Blowing the Whistle A. When to Blow the Whistle B. How to Blow the Whistle VI Conclusion VII Discussion Questions VIII Short Cases Teaching Notes - Discussion Questions 1. What do you value? Can you make a list of the three or four values you would stand up for? How will you explain to others what your values are and why? This is the perfect place to begin linking the values exercises you (hopefully) did with your students in Chapter 2, with why it’s important to identify their values. It is difficult, if not impossible, to voice values, if you have no idea what your values are! Go to the Giving Voice to Values website: http://www.babson.edu/academics/teaching-research/gvv/Pages/home.aspx There are many exercises available there which can help you teach the importance of identifying values and then provide tools you can use to help students begin to practice voicing their values. 2. Have you ever practiced raising an ethical issue to a professor or to your manager? What did you do? What were the results? Again, see Giving Voice to Values. This would make a great homework assignment. 3. Have anti-discrimination laws helped or hurt the fair treatment of workers? This really depends on whom you talk to. However, there's probably little argument among labor experts that the strides made by women and minorities in the workplace would probably never have taken place (or they would have taken much longer to occur) if not for anti-discrimination legislation. As with everything else, there's been a backlash of sorts. Also, many young women and minorities today find it impossible to believe that only 20 years ago, their prospects for employment and advancement would have been far different than they are now. 4. Is diversity management an ethical issue? If we buy into the argument that diversity management helps us appreciate differences among various groups, then it could be viewed as an ethical issue from the standpoint of fairness and respect toward all individuals. If diversity management helps us manage people more fairly, then it certainly could be viewed as an ethical issue. 5. Is sexual harassment as important an issue for men as it is for women? Yes. If research is correct and sexual harassment is about power, then anyone can wield it. Whoever has the power -- male or female -- can make life difficult in myriad ways for those who have less power. According to Newsweek, 16% of sexual harassment claims files with the EEOC are from males. (“Abuse if Power” by Krista Gesaman, Newsweek, January 10, 2010.) Since so much interpretation of sexual harassment in the courts is based on what's "reasonable," try to determine what students think is reasonable. For example, try to determine what the class thinks is reasonable when it comes to asking someone out. Is it sexual harassment to ask someone out once? (Almost everyone will say "no.") Is it sexual harassment to ask someone out twice? (Almost everyone will still say "no," although one or two people may disagree.) How about five times? (The majority of people in the room will now think that it's sexual harassment.) How about ten times? (Now, it would be unusual for someone to think that this isn't sexual harassment.) This exercise recently produced amusing results in one group of executive education students. One man in his 50's exclaimed that he had asked his wife out 20 times before she accepted, and he had no idea that his persistence would be considered harassment by almost all of his peers. Another man in the group said, “Today you would be considered a stalker.” 6. What conditions would make accepting a gift from a vendor or a client acceptable? Accepting a gift from a vendor could be acceptable if it was of nominal value -- probably under $100 (or whatever figure an employer has determined to be nominal). Many organizations have stated policy defining what amount constitutes “nominal,” so employees should always check policy before they accept or give any gift to someone outside of the organization. A gift could also be acceptable if it was a food product that could be shared by a department. For example, many companies would consider it acceptable if an elaborate tin of assorted cookies and snacks was sent to and accepted by a department of employees. The same present sent to and accepted by an individual may not be acceptable depending on company policy. In most cases, the conditions shouldn't change outside of the U.S. See Chapter 11 for more information on gifts. Probes to Stimulate Discussion • "Is there a difference between a gift given by an individual or one given by a company?" • "What if the gift was an invitation to a party, or a day at a company-sponsored tennis match where all clients were invited?" 7. Describe the conditions under which you could hire a college friend. There are probably no circumstances under which this would be acceptable. Hiring implies that an individual would report to you and be appraised by you. That's a conflict of interest regardless of how you look at it. The only possible exception could be a part-time, temporary job, like working in a department store during the holidays, or working on a construction detail during the summer. In both cases the work is short term and the wages are set. The operative word in this question is "friend." The nature of the relationship is important. If the person is more of an acquaintance, hiring the person would probably be acceptable. 8. Why do certain professionals -- bankers, accountants, lawyers, physicians, clergy -- have fiduciary responsibilities? Certain professions have fiduciary responsibilities because they are known as "trust" professions. All of these professions have access to personal, confidential information about finances, health, or other highly private matters and therefore, they must exercise a higher standard of care regarding their clients' confidentiality. 9. What would you do if a former subordinate asked you to write him/her a letter of reference on corporate letterhead? As is stated in the text, you should get your company’s permission to do so. It is almost always better (safer) to write a personal letter on your personal letterhead and attach a business card. That way, the reference represents your “personal opinion” and is not likely to be interpreted as a “corporate” position. 10. Do employers have a responsibility to alert other employers to an employee's wrongdoing by supplying an unfavorable reference? Why or why not? Discuss the conflict between community responsibility and self-protection. There has been some publicity lately about the ethical responsibility of employers to warn other companies about workers who have been dismissed for "cause" (see Chapter 8 in the "Terminations" section for a description of "cause.") For example, in an ethics training session held recently at a leading university in the Midwest, three former bank examiners complained about how employers keep quiet when it comes to employees' misdeeds. "The slime just go from one institution to another because no one will point a finger at them," said one former regulator. No doubt, employers have a balancing act between any responsibility they may have to protect other companies from unscrupulous employees and their desire to protect themselves from lawsuits filed by those employees for bad references. 11. What conditions would have to be present for you to blow the whistle about unethical conduct you observed at work? How would you go about it? It’s good to have a plan even though it’s difficult for us to anticipate how we will react when a real situation occurs. Recommend that students think about the following: How much and what kind of harm would be “enough” to trigger action on their part? 12. If Sherron Watkins had blown the whistle to the Houston Chronicle and not to Enron’s CEO Ken Lay, do you think she would have kept her job at Enron? That is highly unlikely. Whistleblowers who report organizational misconduct to the press are usually ostracized or worse. Despite being named a person of the year by Time magazine, some have criticized Ms. Watkins for not going outside the firm and not reporting the problems sooner. But, as we said in the chapter, blowing the whistle is difficult and we believe that Ms. Watkins should be commended for her efforts to at least alert senior executives inside the firm. 13. Research a story of whistle blowing? Relate what “your” whistle-blower did with the seven steps recommended in the chapter. What have you learned from the comparison? Students could read Sherron Watkins’ book, view the film, “The Insider,” or read stories written by other whistleblowers. They will probably learn that most whistleblowers are caught off guard and have not planned what they would do in such a situation. We have used clips from “The Insider” successfully in class as a basis for discussion of whistle-blowing. (There’s more under Homework Assignments.) 14. Do you think that “paying” whistle-blowers encourages people to look for ethical misdeeds or to “game up” ethical misdeeds? This is a wonderful issue to debate in class. Does the prospect of collecting millions as part of a whistle-blower suit encourage people to speak up? Blowing the whistle generally poses a substantial risk to employees – they can lose their job and can even be blackballed in an entire industry if they raise an issue and are wrong and are defeated or even if they win (a very stressful process that can take years). If they do win the suit, the payoff can be tremendous, but win or lose, they may not be able to find another job in their industry. How much would a big payout influence someone’s behavior? In-Class Exercises – Cases in the Chapter Text These are great springboards for discussions in class. Divide your class into teams of 3 – 5 students per team and give them 5 – 10 minutes to discuss each case in their teams. Then ask the teams to report out. Who are the stakeholders in each case? What are the ethical issues? What are the possible courses of action? And more. In fact, starting each class with one of these cases is a great way to focus students and get their “heads in the game.” Case # 1—Discrimination You and Lisa met five years ago when you were hired into the management training program of a large utility. Although you’re now in different parts of the organization, you have managed to stay close over the years. Lisa recently had a baby and plans to take advantage of the full six months of maternity leave the company offers. She told you that she’s definitely coming back to work after her leave, and that her department has promised to hold her job for her. Meanwhile, you’ve seen a posting for her job on the company’s website. You run into one of Lisa’s colleagues in the hall and ask about the posting. He says, “Oh yeah, they’re going to fill that job. But don’t tell Lisa. She’s got five more months to be a happy Mom. Besides, they’ll find something for her to do if she decides to come back.” Notes: The reverse of this situation is probably what happens more frequently in industry: Many new mothers give every indication that they are returning to their jobs after a maternity leave, and then they don’t. Many companies jump through hoops to try to keep positions open for workers on maternity leave, only to have the workers quit at the end of their leaves. It would be interesting in class to probe around this issue; to see if students think companies have any ethical obligation to hold jobs open for workers on maternity (or other kinds of) leave; and whether students think that workers on leave have any ethical duties regarding their return to an organization which may be holding a job open for them. Case # 2 -- Sexual Harassment One of your coworkers is Joanne, a computer whiz with an offbeat style and a great sense of humor. Two of Joanne's favorite "targets" are you and Bill, another coworker who tends to be quite standoffish in his business relationships. Joanne is the department clown and is forever goading you and Bill -- you because you're a great audience and clearly think she's hilarious; Bill, because she likes to try to get him to be more approachable. Joanne frequently alludes to sexual subjects and has called both you and Bill "little alley cats" and "studs." While Joanne's behavior doesn't offend you at all, you're surprised when Bill approaches you in the men's room and bitterly complains about Joanne's constant teasing. Notes: We purposely wrote this case with a man as the "victim" to illustrate the fact that sexual harassment is not just a women's issue. While it's not typical for men to be harassed, its incidence is increasing and when it does occur it's just as disturbing as when it happens to a female. (See the Teaching Notes under Discussion Question 5 for more information.) With all of publicity and the sexual harassment training going on in corporations in the last few years, most workers have a pretty good idea of what behavior is inappropriate in a work setting with other employees. Similarly, most students have become sensitized to this issue, and in fact, some are almost paranoid about it. It's important that students be aware that they need to know their audience. For example, in one large, well-respected firm, a young woman filed suit because a male senior executive had placed his hand on her knee while they were sitting in front of a computer screen. Certainly, most women wouldn't react that vehemently to such a gesture. However, this woman had endured years of sexual abuse as a child and, as a result, the executive's gesture unhinged her. The company settled out of court, and the executive (who had an outstanding reputation) was warned and that was the end of it. That's why it's important to know who you're dealing with before you make any comment or gesture that could be considered sexual. Case #3 -- Conflicts of Interest Your daughter is applying to a prestigious university. Since admission to the school is difficult, your daughter has planned the process carefully. She has consistently achieved high marks, taken preparatory courses for entrance exams, and has participated in various extra-curricular activities. When you tell one of your best customers about her activities, he offers to write her a letter of recommendation. He's an alumnus of the school and is one of its most active fund-raisers. Although he's a customer, you also regularly play golf together and your families have socialized together on occasion. Notes: Although the text describes circumstances under which accepting this favor would be acceptable, it's still not a good idea. Any action that places you under any sort of "obligation" to a customer or vendor should be avoided -- even in small towns and even when your friendship is well known in the community. Realistically, few people would turn down this offer, although it could be problematic in some cases. The question one should always ask is: “Does this obligate me in some way? Will this in any way influence my professional judgment?” Case #4 -- Customer Confidence Issue You work for a consulting company in Atlanta. Your team has recently completed an analysis of Big Co., including sales projections for the next five years. You're working late one night when you receive a call from an executive vice president of Big Co. in Los Angeles, who asks you to immediately fax to her a summary of your team's report. When you locate the report, you discover that your team leader has stamped "For internal use only" on the report cover. Your team leader is on a hiking vacation and you know it would be impossible to locate him. Big Co. has a long-standing relationship with your company and has paid substantial fees for your company's services. Notes: At many companies, releasing information like this would be enough to get a young worker fired. Senior managers at a number of firms tell stories of how various phone callers tried to bully them into releasing information like this. When you're a new employee, it's difficult to say "no" to a big client. The most prudent move in a situation like this is to stall the customer until you have time to check policy with a senior manager. First, confirm the identity of the caller -- usually by taking their number and calling them back or calling their company's central switchboard. Then try to reach your manager. If that's impossible, try to reach your manager's manager or another senior member of your team. If you can't reach anyone on your team, explain the problem to any other senior manager in your company, being careful not to release any customer information. All you need to know is your company's process for authorizing the release of internal, customer information. Many young people do not have the “language” needed to respond to a threat such as this one. They feel that they have to make a decision immediately and/or answer immediately. Seasoned executives understand that it is common business practice to stall. An executive might say something like, “I need to consult my team. I’ll get right back to you.” Or she might say, “I need to think about this. I’ll get back to you within half an hour.” We think that giving young people the tools to make the right decisions is an important aspect of teaching this course. Please let your students know that it’s perfectly OK in business to say, “I’ll get right back to you,” and then go get help. Case #5 -- Product Safety You’re the head of marketing for a small pharmaceutical company that has just discovered a very promising drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. You have spent months designing a marketing campaign that contains printed materials and medication sample kits for distribution to almost every family physician and gerontologist in the country. As the materials are being loaded into cartons for delivery to your company’s representatives, your assistant tells you that she has noticed a typographical error in the literature that could mislead physicians and their patients. In the section that discusses side effects, diarrhea and gastrointestinal problems are listed as having a probability of 2 percent. It should have read 20 percent. This error appears on virtually every piece of the literature and kits, and ads containing the mistake are already on press in several consumer magazines. Notes: This case was recently used in a training program that was delivered to 2,000 medical company employees. The workers were unanimous in their assessment of the case. Once they identified the stakeholders, they decided that patients were the primary stakeholders. Since their profession has as its underpinning -- “first, do no harm” -- the employees had no problem fixing this error before the kits were distributed to physicians. It will be interesting to see how students playing the role of marketing professionals address this issue. Case #6 -- Truth in Advertising Imagine that your financial firm is offering a new issue -- a corporate bond with an expected yield of 7–7.5 percent. In the past, offerings like this one have generally been good investments for clients, and you have sold the issue to dozens of large and small clients. You're leaving on a two week vacation and only have a few hours left in the office, when your firm announces that the yield for the bond has been reduced; the high end will now be no more than 7 percent. The last day of the issue will be next week, while you're away on vacation. What should you do? Notes: Most financial professionals have no problem with notifying their customers of the change. They may leave it for their assistants to deal with, but they somehow deal with it. Case #7 -- Special Fiduciary Responsibilities For 12 years, you’ve been the financial advisor for an elderly man in his late 70s who is an active investor of his own portfolio and for a trust that will benefit his two children. In the last few months, you’ve noticed a subtle, yet marked change in his behavior. He has become increasingly forgetful, has become uncharacteristically argumentative, and seems to have difficulty understanding some very basic aspects of his transactions. He has asked you to invest a sizable portion of his portfolio and the trust in what you consider to be a very risky bond offering. You are frank about your misgivings. He blasts you and says that if you don’t buy the bonds, he’ll take his business elsewhere. Notes: Undergraduate students frequently don’t see the ethical issue here -- they simply say that they would buy the bonds. Graduate students frequently see the issue, but would go ahead and buy the bonds anyway. However, ethical financial professionals almost always find a way to protect this client. They may warn him in another way, or contact his family, or a trusted professional who is close to him. One graduate student who saw this case exclaimed that it described exactly what he had been through with his father. In that case, his father’s broker called him, explained that he felt there was something wrong with his father, and that he was concerned about the father’s behavior and investments. The student investigated, encouraged his father to see a doctor, and shortly after, discovered that his father had a brain tumor. The broker not only saved his father’s assets -- he saved the father’s life. That said, the financial representative must proceed very carefully and try to protect the client’s confidentiality at all costs. One financial executive from a well-known investment bank told the story of how he did this once – contacted the daughter of an investor who was clearly impaired – and the daughter later sued the financial firm and the executive for breach of confidentiality. This is why it is so crucial to discuss these issues up front with a client. “What are your specific investment objectives? Who can I contact in case you become ill?” Obviously, these kinds of questions become even more imperative with elderly clients where the risk of impairment is greater. It’s also interesting to note that a client’s cognitive ability can be affected by any number of issues, not just age. Clients can be affected by any of the following: drugs (including prescription medications), alcohol abuse, gambling, divorce, depression and other mental issues, and any number of physical conditions and diseases. Case #8 -- Use of Corporate Reputation A young woman who works for you is moving with her husband to another city, where she'll be looking for a new job. She's an excellent worker and when she asks you for a reference, you're glad to do it for her. She specifically asks for a written recommendation on your corporate letterhead. Notes: Some managers would no doubt deny this young woman a reference and cite company policy as the reason. In the real world, it's probably not fair to penalize a good employee because of the constraints of corporate policy. If you feel that you want to recommend her for another job, it would probably be all right to recommend her personally on personal letterhead. Then attach your business card to the letter. The only reason companies refuse to give recommendations is because of the risk of lawsuits. The risk to you as an individual is probably negligible. Case #9 – Use of Social Media You joined one of the country’s largest retail chains, and already you’ve been promoted to department manager in one of your employer’s largest stores in an upscale shopping mall. Imagine your surprise when you log on to Facebook and see that one of your ‘‘friends’’—a young woman who heads one of the other departments in your store—has posted confidential store sales on her wall and has also posted sexual comments about a young man who reports to her. Use of social media is very popular, especially among college students and other young people. A well-known and trendy retailer, who was shocked to find confidential store information posted on Facebook by a young store manager, suggested this case to us. Needless to say, this young manager was fired for disclosing (and posting!) confidential company information. The retailer described a number of other problems it had uncovered on social media websites. One involved provocative verbiage and photos appearing on an employee’s page – used to describe a coworker. Anther involved a worker who was on an extended medical leave, who posted photos of herself horseback riding, playing golf, gardening – all of which are activities that are highly unlikely if her medical condition (and the leave) were legitimate. Companies are struggling with this new media and many are establishing guidelines for use among employees. Others are establishing their own social media sites for internal use by employees. Bottom line: if an individual misbehaves – whether in person or on social media sites – their job is in jeopardy. That includes activities such as disclosing company or personal information (about other employees), sexual or other harassment of coworkers or subordinates, etc. An offense does not have to be “in person” to get an employee disciplined or fired. Case #10 -- Dealing With the Press You’re an employment counselor at a large outplacement firm. Your company is currently negotiating with Black Company to provide outplacement services to 500 employees who are about to lose their jobs as the result of a layoff. Your neighbor and good friend is a reporter for the local newspaper, who mentions to you over coffee one Saturday that she’s writing a story about Black Company. According to her sources 1,500 employees are about to lose their jobs. You know her numbers are incorrect. Should you tell her? Notes: If there was ever a trap, this is it! Under no circumstances should this employee talk to a newspaper reporter -- especially one who is a good friend and neighbor. If she is a good friend, she should refer her to the company’s public relations department. And she should go to PR herself, and explain what the problem is and what her good friend is about to write. In that way, she protects the company, the community, and perhaps gets a good and accurate story for her friend. Case #11 -- Use of Corporate Resources You’ve been working very long hours on a special project for the chairman of your company. Your company policy states that employees who work more than 12 hours in one day may be driven home by a company car at company expense. Policy also states that employees who work longer than two hours past the regular end of their day can have a meal delivered to the office at company expense. You and your colleagues who are also working on the project are arriving at the office at 8:00 a.m. and order dinner at 7:00 p.m.; then you enjoy dinner and conversation for an hour and are driven home by company cars. Is this OK? Notes: Most workers who see this case think that these folks have found a way to have a free meal on the company. Their behavior is slimy, and it would be interesting to hear them justify this to their management. Case #12 -- Corporate Financial Resources Your manager is being transferred to another division of the company in early January. He calls a meeting in early November and asks that every department head delay processing all invoices until after January 1. He wants to keep expenses low and revenues high so that his last quarter in your area shows maximum revenue. Notes: This is unethical on myriad levels -- regarding the new manager, the vendors, the company, and the employees, etc. There is no way to justify behavior like this and any company would fire this person. Case #13 -- Blowing the Whistle A long-time customer approaches you for financing for a new business venture. The customer offers as collateral a piece of property he has purchased in a rural location for the purpose of building a housing development. You send an appraiser to the property and he accidentally discovers that this property holds toxic waste. You’re sure this customer is unaware of the waste; in fact, the waste is migrating and in a few years will invade the water table under a nearby farmer’s fields. You explain the situation to your manager, who naturally instructs you to refuse to accept the property as collateral, but he also forbids you to mention the toxic waste to the customer. “Let them find out about it themselves,” he says. Do you alert the customer to the toxic waste? Do you alert government regulators? Notes: This case is a real one that occurred at a huge multinational corporation. The company’s lawyers were uncertain how to handle this because they felt that telling the customer would be “poor customer service.” (We haven’t figured that one out yet.) Even if customer service was a concern, the company could approach the owner, explain what had been found, and offer to go to the regulators with them. There is no alternative but to report this. Case #14 – Voicing Your Values You’re a trader who joined a large investment bank two years ago. Pat, one of your fellow traders, is well known on the Street for being a big risk taker and a big money maker for the firm. Consequently, he is popular among your firm’s senior management. You see him at a party one night and notice that he surreptitiously used cocaine several times. Several weeks later in the office, you notice that he seems exceptionally high-spirited and that his pupils are extremely dilated—you know that both are signs of drug use. You’re thinking of mentioning something about it to his managing director, Bob, when Pat makes a particularly impressive killing in the market for your firm’s own account. Bob jokes that he doesn’t know how Pat does it, but he doesn’t care. ‘‘However he is pulling this off, it’s great for the firm,’’ Bob laughs. You feel strongly that this is a problem and that it places your firm at risk. You’ve already raised the issue to Pat’s manager, Bob, who ignored the issue. Do you raise it further? How can you voice your values in this case? Notes: This case is more realistic than many people know. Traders at senior levels in investment banks are under tremendous pressure to perform and the stress can be daunting. They also have almost unlimited resources and can afford to pay for a drug habit. This can be a toxic combination. The issue here is not whether or not this is wrong – there’s little doubt of that. The issue is: how do you raise this issue about a star employee without getting cut off at the knees yourself? It helps to practice what you’re going to say and to whom you will say it. Approaching the managing director is probably pointless and dangerous. This is why HR was created – to worry about the risks that some employees can pose to the organization. Consequently, the best answer in this case is to practice what you’re going to say, document your observations, and approach HR with the issue. If they do nothing, then no one else will either and you may have to consider whether you want to stay with this company. Case #15 -- Human Resources Issue Your division has formed a committee of employees to examine suggestions and create a strategy for how to reward good employee ideas. The committee has five members, but you are the only one who is a member of a minority group. You're pleased to be part of this effort since appointments to committees such as this one are viewed generally as a positive reflection on job performance. At the first meeting, tasks are assigned and all the other committee members think you should survey minority members for their input. During the weeks that follow, you discover that several committee meetings have been held without your knowledge. When you ask why you weren't notified, two committee members tell you that survey information wasn't needed at the meetings and you'd be notified when a general meeting was scheduled. When you visit one committee member in his office, you spot a report on the suggestion program that you've never seen before. When you ask about it, he says it's just a draft he and two others have produced. Notes: The challenge in this case is to make sure you're included in all committee matters, but not alienate anyone you're going to have to work with. Probably the best way to handle it is to approach each member of the team individually and frankly explain that you feel excluded from the process and if they can think of any ways to make you feel more a part of the team. Before you do this, explain your strategy to you manager. Case #16 -- Conflict of Interest Issue You've just cemented a deal between a $100 million pension fund and Green Company, a large regional money manager. You and your staff put in long hours and a lot of effort to close the deal and are feeling very good about it. You and three of your direct reports are having lunch in a fancy restaurant to celebrate a promotion, when the waiter brings you a phone. A senior account executive from Green is on the phone and wants to buy you lunch in gratitude for all your efforts. "I'll leave my credit card number with the restaurant owner, he says. "You and your team have a great time on me." Notes: The pros are: you and your staff get a free lunch and the account executive feels as if he has thanked you for your efforts. The cons are: it could appear that you've been “bought” to the account executive, your employees, and restaurant personnel. This is a far cry from being entertained by a client or account executive in person. The point of business entertainment is to discuss business, and no business will be discussed at a luncheon like this one. If a client wants to thank you and your staff, he should have sent popcorn or candy or a fruit basket to the office for everyone to share. Or your client could arrange for a luncheon for you and your staff and attend it to thank you in person. Case #17 -- Customer Confidence Issue You're working the breakfast shift at a fast food restaurant when a delivery of milk, eggs, and other dairy products arrives. There's a story in the local newspaper about contaminated milk distributed by the dairy that delivers to your restaurant. When you read the article more closely, you discover that there's a problem with only a small portion of the dairy's milk, and the newspaper lists the serial numbers of the containers that are affected. When you point out the article to your manager, he tells you to forget it. "If you think we've got time to go through every carton of milk to check serial numbers, you're crazy," he says. "The article says right here that the chances are minuscule that anyone has a contaminated carton." He also explains that, not only doesn't he have the workers to check the milk, but also destroying the milk would require him to buy emergency milk supplies at the retail price. So, he tells you to get back to work and forget about the milk. He says, "I don't have the time or the money to worry about such minor details." Notes: This is one of those cases where a local manager is behaving in a way that probably would appall a company’s senior management. Food safety is such an important issue to companies -- and mistakes in this area are so expensive -- that senior managers would surely advise local supervisors to take the time to check the dates, or throw the milk out and get new supplies. The restaurant chain for which this case was designed absolutely believed in the highest quality standards for food and food safety. Case #18 -- Corporate Resources Issue You work for Red Co. You and a colleague, Pat Brown, are asked by your manager to attend a weeklong conference in Los Angeles. At least 25 other employees from Red Co. are attending, as well as many customers and competitors from other institutions. At the conference, you attend every session and see many of the Red Co. people, but you never run into Pat. Although you've left several phone messages for her, her schedule doesn't appear to allow room for a meeting. However, when you get back to the office, the department secretary, who is coordinating expense reports, mentions to you that your dinner in L.A. must have been quite the affair. When you ask, "What dinner?" she describes a dinner with 20 customers and Red Co. employees that Pat paid for at a posh L.A. restaurant. When you explain that you didn't attend, she shows you the expense report with your name listed as one of the attendees. Notes: Your colleague's mistake could be just that -- a mistake -- or she could be involved in some kind of fraud. Probably the best move is to ask her for an explanation. Did she know that you weren't at the dinner? Depending on her answer, you can determine what your next move should be. If it appears that she did make an honest mistake, you could ask her to make sure that your name is off the report and you might want to just mention it to your manager as insurance. If you think the whole thing is a fraud, you might want to report it to your manager, or even to your company's audit department. The auditors can frequently check the veracity of expense reports without anyone ever knowing it's being done and without any damage to reputations. Homework Assignments: Assignment #1 – Interview Have students interview their parents, grandparents, or other individuals they may know who are over the age of fifty and would remember what looking for their first job was like before anti-discrimination legislation was in place. How have the workplace and hiring practices changed as a result? Assignment #2 – Case Analysis Any of the cases used in this chapter can be used as homework assignments. Students can be asked to submit a 2 – 3 page paper where they address some or all of the following: identify the stakeholders and the ethical issue; describe possible actions and the consequences of each action; describe how actions would be influenced by looking at it through various theoretical lenses (consequentialist, deontological, virtue ethics); and decide how they personally would handle the situation and explain why. Assignment #3 – The Costs and Benefits of Blowing the Whistle There’s a wonderful first person account of whistle-blowing from the Financial Times entitled “First Person: Jill Osiecki” from the December 20, 2013 edition that describes how Osiecki reported wrongdoing by her employer, Amgen, to regulators. The investigators asked her to wear a wire in order to collect the evidence necessary to convict Amgen of paying doctors to promote the company’s pharmaceutical products. Amgen agreed to a $762 million settlement and Osiecki is going to receive up to $15 million as a reward for whistle-blowing. But, as this article makes clear, blowing the whistle was a gut-wrenching decision. Students could do additional research on whistle-blowing – what it costs, whether the whistle-blowers would do it again, what protections exist to make it easier for employees to report wrong-doing, etc. What effect does whistle-blowing have on the business community, on individual companies, and on the whistle-blowers. Is it something that the students could do? How bad would something have to be in order for a student to blow the whistle? Additional Resources 1. Giving Voice to Values Dr. Mary Gentile, formerly with the Aspen Institute, now with Babson College, designed a groundbreaking program on ethics called Giving Voice to Values. The entire curriculum is available free on the Babson College website. All you need to do is register as a user. Here’s a link to the program website:http://www.babson.edu/academics/teaching-research/gvv/Pages/home.aspx You’ll find cases, teaching tools, assignments, etc. We urge you to explore this website and incorporate this approach into your teaching. 2. Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute has publications and cases that you might find useful: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ 3. Case Place Case Place also contains teaching materials, cases, and teaching tools: http://www.caseplace.org/ 4. Institute for Global Ethics The Institute for Global Ethics has interesting tools and perspectives posted on its website. In addition, it has also posted a series of interesting cases that can be used as in-class exercises or as homework assignments. Click on ”Dilemmas” on the organization’s website: http://www.globalethics.org/ 5. Videos: • 60 Minutes produced a highly recommended segment entitled “Bad Medicine” about a woman (a quality control professional) who eventually blew the whistle on her company, Glaxo Smith Kline, a pharmaceutical company that was found guilty of failing to fix multiple safety problems found in a plant in Puerto Rico, problems that put lives at risk. The segment shows how difficult it was for her to blow the whistle. • “Crash” - starring Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and Sandra Bullock. This is an excellent vehicle for a discussion on bias. It’s very fast-paced and nothing is what it seems. • “42” is an amazing story about Jackie Robinson and the racial bias that existed in baseball. • “The Insider,” movie starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. This is an excellent film. You can use selected clips as a springboard for discussing whistle blowing and its risks. There are many subtexts to the movie including CBS’ social responsibility (not just Brown & Williamson). Jeffrey Wigand’s website also provides lots of great information and instructional materials, including videos you can use in class such as his 60 Minutes interview, and other information about his situation and his current activities. It’s helpful for students to see that there is life after whistle blowing. See www.JeffreyWigand.com. • “Margin Call,” starring Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, and Demi Moore – about an investment analyst who discovers information that could destroy his firm and how the executives of the firm handle that information. A thriller that mimics some of the situations – think Bear Stearns – that helped turn 2008 into the year of the financial crisis. Instructor Manual for Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk about How to Do It Right Linda K. Trevino, Katherine A. Nelson 9781118582671
