aBelow is a preview of the 18 scenarios in the Business Ethics survey.

For each scenario answer the 5 questions below.

1) Indicate which of the following, best describes the Ethical Dilemma:

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1 Ethical and Legal   2 Ethical, but Illegal   3 Unethical, but Legal   4 Unethical and Illegal.

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IN ADDITION, explain fully

2) what is the ethical issue?,

3) alternatives?, (what are the options?)

indicate whether each option is

1 Ethical and Legal   2 Ethical, but Illegal   3 Unethical, but Legal   4 Unethical and Illegal

If you are unsure of the law you can indicate “probably” legal or “probably” illegal.

4) recommendation? (of the options you identified, what should be done?)

5) and the rationale for your recommendation.

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Preview of the 18 Scenarios in the survey.

First read the scenarios below before starting the survey.

For each scenario indicate which of the following, best describes the Ethical Dilemma:

1 Ethical and Legal   2 Ethical, but Illegal   3 Unethical, but Legal   4 Unethical and Illegal.

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In total there will approximately 18 scenarios including:

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13. Child Labor  14. Childhood Obesity  15. Tattooing Children

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16. Axis of Terror Nations 17. Separating Families  18. Children in Advertising.

You can start typing your responses in Microsoft WORD and then copy / paste into survey gizmo.

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This course requires students to demonstrate superior: 

1) critical thinking,

2) written communication,

3) quantitative reasoning,

4) information literacy skills,

5) leadership and

6) ethical reasoning.

(1) You work for the Worldwide Tire and Rubber Company as a marketing executive.  You have just been informed that a new tire made by your company has a very slight chance of resulting in a blowout which could cause a serious accident. The Engineering Division assures you that the total number of people that could be hurt by this product defect is at most 5.  The problem has been corrected, but there are still 5 million of your tires out there with this slight defect. The Legal Department asserts that it would be cheaper to do nothing and see what happens. If 5 people are injured, the maximum cost to the company would be approximately $20 million in settlements. On the other hand, a product recall of the 5 million tires in use would cost at least $500 million, would generate a huge amount of bad publicity that would hurt future sales, and the effect on the price of the stock would be devastating to shareholders. Certainly, there would be no money for executive bonuses. What is your recommendation?

(b) Same scenario as above.  The CFO informs you that if you recall the product, the company will go bankrupt and 3,000 jobs will be lost. What is your recommendation now?

 (2)  You work for the Wholesome Hamburger Company. You own 100 fast food restaurants in California. There is a big drought and people are being told to use less water.  You know that it takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef [it takes 12 gallons of water to produce a head of lettuce, 2 gallons for one walnut, and 468 gallons of water to produce a pound of chicken]. You discuss this with the executives in your firm and they tell you that the way water is allocated by government, the company does not incur any additional expense: water will remain very cheap for business. The head of the company is soliciting ideas for its strategic plan for the future. What are your recommendations?

(3) You work in the HR Department of the GreenJet Airways Company. Most of your flights are to various Asian countries. You are hiring flight attendants to work on the planes. Several resumes have come in with photos of the applicants (the company requires a photo). The head of HR tells you that three of the applicants should be rejected because they may cause problems.  One of the applicants is wearing a yarmulke, another a crucifix on a chain around her neck, and the third is clearly a Sikh with a turban. What do you do?

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(4) You work for a college that is ranked in the top 50 among MBA programs. A key factor in the ratings is average GMAT scores. Currently, the average GMAT scores of new MBA students at your college is a very respectable 660 out of 800.  Enrollments are declining and the VP for Enrollments says that unless the college is going to admit students with lower GMAT scores, the college will face a serious shortfall in tuition; average MBA tuition is $100k.  Of course, admitting students with lower GMAT scores will hurt the rankings of the college. The VP for enrollments has an idea: Inform low scorers on the GMAT that they should go to a different school for the summer, take at least 3 credits at that school, and then apply as a transfer student. Transfer students are considered a “special admission” category and their GMAT scores do not have to be reported. What are your recommendations to the College President?

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(5) You work directly for the mayor of a small upstate town, Honesty, NY, as controller. The town had financial difficulties in the past and came up with a way to raise money. The NYS Thruway runs near the town and there is a stretch of highway where there is a steep decline. Most cars hit 70 mph unless the driver has his/her foot on the brake. The idea was to put up a few signs indicating that the maximum speed limit in the county is 55 mph – photo enforced.  The police installed some cameras at the top and the base of the steep hill. People exceeding the speed limit received letters in the mail with a choice: Pay $400 and no penalty points for speeding or appear in the Honesty, NY court to state your case. Of course, if you lose the case in court, you get points for speeding in addition to the fine, and your car insurance premium goes up. Since 99% of the people driving through do not live near Honesty, most people would rather spend $400 than waste a day in court. Going to court in Honesty often takes more than a day. In fact, the judge has been known to throw people in jail if they are disrespectful. The policy has been working quite well and revenues generated by tickets exceed $5 million a year. You have been thinking about the ethics of this. What do you recommend?

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(6) You are the mayor of a small upstate town. The main source of jobs is a state prison which is located there.  You have heard that some towns allow prison-cell upgrades at a cost of $100 per night. For this charge, nonviolent offenders can get quiet, private cells with showers, computers and televisions away from other prisoners. You are not sure whether or not this is ethical. However, the town needs money and this can generate several million dollars in extra revenue that can be used to upgrade its schools. What do you do?

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(7) You own a small business that manufactures a popular, sugary beverage.  To keep costs down, you sweeten the beverage with very cheap high-fructose corn syrup. The drink contains the equivalent of 9 teaspoons of sugar. Evidence is mounting that soft drinks are responsible for the obesity epidemic in the United States-more than two-thirds of American adults are overweight and more than one-third are obese. Your children have been complaining about the fact that you are selling an unhealthy product. Of course, the product is paying for their college tuition. You do not have the money to do what the big soft drink companies have done — diversify and also sell healthier beverages. What should you do?

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(8) You are the CEO of a chicken-processing company. The VP of marketing informs you that if you label your chicken as “free range” you can charge 20% more and greatly improve profit margins. You find out that all that needs to be done to legally  use the term “free range” is to open the door to the henhouse for 5 minutes a day. This provides the chickens with access to the outdoors when, in fact, very few chickens will wander out when the door is open for 5 minutes. Moreover, the term “free range” may be used regardless of space per chicken, number of chickens, or amount of time spent outside. What should you do?

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(9) You are the CEO of a baked-goods plant located in the South Bronx. You have gotten into the doughnut business and your marketing VP suggests using a brand name that suggests that the doughnuts are made in the old fashioned way.  She suggests using the brand name, “Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Bakery” to evoke the image of a simple bakery using wholesome ingredients. What should you do?

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(10) You are Chairman of the Board of a fairly successful company. Many of the shareholders have been complaining about excessive compensation for the CEO of your firm, especially since employee wages are very low. They cite a statement by Warren Buffett that “the ability of corporations to rein in skyrocketing CEO pay is the ‘acid test’ of corporate governance reform.” You find that the CEO earns $22 million a year and the lowest paid worker in the company earns $22,000.  This ratio of 1000:1 seems a bit high to you. A recent study published by the Economic Policy Institute indicated that CEOs at large firms in the United States make about 300 times more than the typical worker. Other members of the Board feel that since the stock has been going up, the salary for the CEO should be raised.  What should you do?

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(11) You are Chairman of the Board of a successful technology firm. There is a nominal federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent, yet the effective tax rate of the typical corporation is about 12.6%.  Your firm has been clever with use of transfer pricing and keeping money abroad and has barely paid any taxes over the last 5 years; during this same time period, profits were $28 billion. One member of the board feels that it is un-American to use various accounting devices in order to avoid paying taxes. Others feel that these are legal loopholes and corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to minimize taxes. One board member quoted what the CEO of  Exxon once said: “I’m not a U.S. company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.”  What should you do?

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(12) You are CEO of a small company that manufactures sophisticated drones. Your company’s drones are used for non-military purposes such as fighting wildfires, monitoring borders, aerial photography, and law enforcement (finding criminals).  You have just received a huge order worth millions of dollars from a firm located in a country ruled by a vicious dictator. This dictator has been known to suppress human rights and has been waging a war against a group fighting for democracy.  In the past, he has even used chlorine gas against his own people. The company assures you that the drones will not be used for military purposes. You suspect that the company is a front for the government and may modify the drones as weapons so that they can be used to target freedom fighters and terrorize civilians throughout the country. What should you do?

The quality of your responses matter.

If your responses appear arbitrary or inconsistent your score will be a zero.

All assignments are for your benefit.

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You should work ahead on assignments.   

The deadline is not the due date.  The deadline is the latest the assignment can be submitted.

Assignments are due on Wednesday,

but sometimes I have extended the deadline to Sunday as indicated in our syllabus.

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Before completing the surveys read the instructions carefully.

Complete the 4 surveys below.

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The Ethics in Business survey below includes the 18 scenarios which are previewed in this folder. 

Read and think about the scenarios previewed before starting the survey.

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Survey link message me for link:

Survey link goes here!

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