Q&A Hero

Q: Ethical choices often prove costly to firms in the short term.

Q: A company executive exerting pressure on a scientist and her university to delay disclosure of study results harmful to the company and its products would be unethical.

Q: Labeling infertility surgery as "diagnostic surgery" in order to allow the patient to recover the costs from an insurer is unethical.

Q: "The lawyers have okayed this," is a signal that the decision/action is legal and ethical.

Q: "Everyone else does it," is a signal of an ethical pitfall.

Q: The failure to speak out when an ethical or legal lapse occurs within your firm is in itself an ethical violation.

Q: Taking information from a confidential file accidentally left on your desk is not unethical.

Q: The failure to disclose that your college degree was withheld because of outstanding parking fines and violations is unethical.

Q: Payments of royalties from drug sales by a pharmaceutical firm to the university where a researcher conducting studies has validated the firm's claims is a conflict of interest.

Q: Purchasing agents accepting a pleasure trip from a supplier when no bids are pending is still an ethical violation.

Q: Having loan applicants pay for the expenses of bank officer travel for purposes of evaluating collateral is not a conflict of interest.

Q: A major donation by one of your long-term suppliers to a non-profit organization run by your spouse should not create perception problems so long as your purchasing decisions are based on the merits.

Q: Giving preferential treatment in contract bidding to the daughter of a member of the company board is not a conflict of interest.

Q: A physical fitness expert retained by a fitness magazine to evaluate walking shoes has a conflict of interest if she has an endorsement contract with one of the shoe companies that manufactures the shoes she will be evaluating.

Q: A physician conducting a study on a new prescription drug manufactured by a firm in which he is a 10% shareholder does not have a conflict of interest so long as his stock ownership is disclosed in his report on the drug.

Q: A member of the city council who is employed by a waste management firm would have a conflict of interest in voting on the city's award of a contract for the handling of the city's waste.

Q: A commercial broker who accepts fees from both the seller and the buyer of the business without disclosure to either has not committed an ethical violation if both parties are happy with the transaction.

Q: A real estate agent who recommends a management firm to an apartment complex buyer without disclosing that the agent owns 50% of the firm has committed an ethical violation.

Q: An agreement by an agent to accept a 10% commission from a seller who will sell goods to the agent's employer is ethical so long as the agent would have chosen that seller anyway.

Q: A valid ethical barometer is the reaction of family and friends outside the business setting to your proposed decision.

Q: The element of balance in the Blanchard/Peale ethical model requires an examination of the issue from the perspective of the affected party.

Q: Using positive law as an ethical standard means simply compliance with the law.

Q: An illegal act is an unethical act.

Q: A conflict of interest is unethical only if those involved actually change their decision based on the benefits to be derived.

Q: It is plagiarism to rewrite the phrasing of another source and not use quotes or a footnote.

Q: It is not plagiarism to use facts obtained from several sources that are footnoted or listed as sources.

Q: Laura Nash provides tools for examining how a company got into an ethical dilemma.

Q: Hank Greenberg was ousted from his position as CEO of AIG.

Q: Hank Greenberg's ability to find a way around rules was evident from his conduct as a soldier in London.

Q: "We all don"t share the same ethics" fails to consider common values that do exist in business.

Q: "It's a gray area," is an example of ethical analysis.

Q: Robert Solomon is a proponent of virtue ethics.

Q: Third-trimester abortions would be supported under a Rights Theory.

Q: Robert Nozick is the leading thinker for utilitarianism.

Q: The Rights Theory is generally associated with Plato and Aristotle.

Q: What are the values in conflict in the enhanced CIA interrogation case?

Q: Locke and Rawls are contractarians.

Q: Locke and Rawls develop their ethical theory on the basis of a tabula rasa.

Q: Explain who is affected when dog walkers don't scoop up after their dogs.

Q: Kant and Rand do not agree on the importance of self-interest in ethical theory.

Q: Discuss norm shifting and speeding.

Q: Kant is part of the utilitarian school of thought on ethics.

Q: In November 2009, world-class golfer Tiger Woods crashed his escalade into a tree near his Florida home. One of the windows in his Escalade had been smashed with a golf club. Mr. Woods' wife pulled him from the car and he was taken to the hospital, treated for injuries, and released. A sordid tale emerged over the next few days of a pattern of extra-marital affairs by Mr. Woods with a resulting separation from his wife and their eventual divorce. Following these public disclosures, sports writers, golf pros, country club staff members, and even CEOs of companies said that they were all aware of Mr. Woods' infidelity and that it was the best kept widely known secret among and between those who were golf players and/or fans. One said, "We just had a pact of silence." When the news of Mr. Woods' serial infidelity made international news, some of his sponsors dropped him and others continued with him as a spokesperson. Are there any ethical issues here? Who faces them? Discuss whether you would have gone along with the pact.

Q: Kant would label paying lower wages in developing countries than the wages paid in developed economies as unethical.

Q: Applying ethical theories, discuss why you would not take food out in your pockets from an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Q: Ethical egoism is selfishness.

Q: Former-President George W. Bush has proposed reforming Social Security by asking those from ages 18-40 to forego their social security and invest their own funds in a retirement/pension plan. What ethical theory most applies to this proposal?

Q: Self-interest is the same as selfishness.

Q: Stanford University medical researchers conducted a study on the correlation between the use of fertility drugs and ovarian cancer. Their study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, concludes that the use of the fertility drugs, Pergonal and Serophene, may increase the risk of ovarian cancer by three times. The lead author of the studies, Professor Alice Whittemore, stated, "Our finding in regard to fertility drugs is by no means certain. It is based on very small numbers and is really very tenuous." FDA Commissioner David Kessler would like the infertility drug manufacturers to disclose the study findings and offer a warning on the drug packages. He notes, "Even though the epidemiology study is still preliminary, women have a right to know what is known. We're not looking to make more of this than there is." If you were a manufacturer of one of the drugs, would you voluntarily disclose the study information?

Q: Unwritten rules of conduct are part of our normative standards.

Q: Althea Caldwell is the director of Arizona's Department of Health Services (DHS). DHS is charged the administration of the state's behavioral health system and is responsible for contracting with private providers for millions of dollars of mental health care each year for eligible patients. Ms. Caldwell accepted a $20,000 per year director position for a hospital group corporation. One of the hospitals in the group was one to which state contracts for mental health treatment had been awarded. One month after accepting the position, Ms. Caldwell asked the state's attorney general for an opinion as to whether she had a conflict of interest. Does Ms. Caldwell have a conflict of interest?

Q: An ethical breach is not necessarily a violation of the law.

Q: In 1991, James McElveen fell 30 feet from a waterfall and broke his back. He was employed by a small business and had no medical insurance. His lifetime friend, Benny Milligan, was with him when the fall occurred. Benny took James to the emergency room. Moved by his friend's severe injuries and pain and suffering and realizing that James did not have insurance, Benny switched IDs with James in the hospital emergency room. James required surgery to fuse his back to avoid what doctors said would have been certain paralysis. The cost of the surgery and hospitalization was $41,107.45. Neither James, employed as a mechanic, nor Benny, employed as a painter, could have paid for the surgery and follow-up care. Benny's employer's insurance paid for the surgery because the hospital took the information from Benny's ID found in James' pockets. While Benny was contemplating telling his employer, someone notified the insurance company of the switch. Benny, James, and Benny's wife, Tammy Milligan, were charged and convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Tammy, because of the Milligans' three young daughters, is serving her sentence through home confinement, Benny is serving 9 months and James is serving 7 months. All three will serve three years on probation and pay restitution. Benny states, "I know what I did was wrong. But I look back on it, and I feel that I had to do it at the time. I don't feel like I'm a criminal in the sense of rapers, muggers and murderers." Benny said he did not understand that a hospital has an obligation to treat someone who is dying. Friends testified that as they were racing James to the hospital they told Benny that hospitals in the area had routinely refused to provide medical treatment. Benny said he wanted to tell his employer, but he was afraid he would be fired and then be stuck with the bill. Tammy adds that the government is right to demand restitution but wrong to imprison them. James asked the judge if he could go to prison for all three of them, "I would be lost without my friendship with Benny. I probably would be dead." a. Benny and James committed an illegal act. Was it unethical? b. What punishment is appropriate in the case? c. If you were Benny's employer, what would you have done?

Q: Part of a credo includes a list of lines you would never cross to be successful.

Q: Henry Rauzi, the controller for Sunbeam, issued an offer to Linda Croce for an entry-level accounting position at Sunbeam at a salary of $34,000 per year. Ms. Croce accepted the offer and gave notice to her employer. When then-CEO of Sunbeam, Paul Kazarian, was informed of the offer, he demanded that Mr. Rauzi rescind it because Kazarian had not approved it prior to it being made. Mr. Rauzi called Ms. Croce at 10:00 P.M. three days before she was scheduled to being work and told her of Mr. Kazarian's action. Ms. Croce had no job and remained unemployed for several months while she searched for a new job. Evaluate the legality and ethics of Sunbeam's officer's actions with respect to Ms. Croce.

Q: A credo consists of how you define yourself by job title and income.

Q: Susan Wade is the president of the Illinois Hospice Organization (IHO). IHO is a state organization affiliated with a national non-profit organization, the National Hospice Organization. Both the state and national organizations have members from both for-profit and non-profits hospices. Susan Wade is the director of a non-profit hospice in Illinois. A Chicago newspaper has printed a story about hospices and what they do. Susan was interviewed extensively for the piece. In one quote in the article, Susan expressed her concerns about for-profit hospices. "It has become the sort of franchise of the decade. They're not all bad, but I think the original spirit of hospice is becoming very adulterated. There's one time in a person's life when he shouldn't be looked at as a number, as a piece of an actuarial problem. If your first and last priority is making money, it flies in the face of what hospice is all about. It's the end of the health-care chain. It's the place of last hope for patients. Dollars should not be the issue here." A chief operating officer of a for-profit hospice has written to Susan complaining that her remarks are libelous and misinform the public about for-profit hospices. a. Does Ms. Wade have a conflict of interest? b. Is Ms. Wade properly executing her role as the president of the state organization?

Q: Dr. Phil Hayes has received an offer of full funding for his research on a new drug manufactured by Eli Mentin. The drug would be a competitor for Prozac without the questioned side-effects of possible violent behavior. Eli Mentin has, however, attached a condition to the funding. That condition is that Dr. Hayes may not publish his findings until Eli Mentin executives and its attorneys have had the opportunity to review them. List the ethical issues Dr. Hayes faces with this offer.

Q: List those who are affected by wi-fi piggybacking.

Q: Define wi-fi piggybacking and explain why it is an ethical issue.

Q: List those affected when employees cheat on their travel expenses.

Q: List the six steps you should follow for analyzing an ethical dilemma.

Q: Give a description of the simple tests that can be used to resolve ethical dilemmas.

Q: Give the ways we avoid facing ethical dilemmas.

Q: List the categories of ethical dilemmas.

Q: List and briefly describe the schools of ethical thought.

Q: Explain what ethics is. Give a definition here.

Q: What was the American Bar Association's position on enhanced interrogation techniques used during the Bush administration? a. That the tactics were not in violation of either U.S. or international law. b. That the tactics were in violation of U.S. and international law. c. That the tactics were not in violation of U.S. law, but were in violation of international law. d. That the tactics were in violation of U.S. law, but were not in violation of international law.

Q: Randy White is the executive director of a non-profit preschool for special needs children. Part of Randy's responsibilities include fundraising for the preschool. Because of his experience and success in operating specialty pre-schools, Randy is sought after as a consultant at locations around the country to assist in the start-up and operation of such facilities. Randy does so quite frequently. Randy does not take vacation time for this work, and his consultant fees (which range from $750 - $1500 per day) are kept by him as personal income. Randy uses his secretary at the preschool to book his travel arrangements and prepare his consultant reports and bills for these outside engagements.a. Randy's activities are ethical so long as disclosed.b. Randy is using the time and resources of his employer in an unethical manner.c. Randy's activities are ethical whether disclosed or undisclosed.d. There is no conflict of interest in Randy's activities.

Q: Edward Snowden released classified documents that were stored at his employers' archives. He works for a government agency. He released them because he felt U.S. citizens should know what kind of information their government was keeping about them. Which of the following is a correct statement? a. Snowden has done nothing wrong. b. Snowden has taken something that did not belong to him. c. Snowden is justified if the government was acting unfairly. d. Snowden follows the philosophical school of thought of the newspaper test.

Q: Which of the following is true about Steve Cohen, the founder and owner of SAC Capital?a. He was banned from trading securities for life.b. He was accused of insider trading in a civil suit.c. He was an aggressive trader, but he was never fired.d. He is under criminal indictment.

Q: Lance Armstrong says that he looked up the meaning of the word "cheat" in the dictionary when he was using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The dictionary defined cheating as "using an unfair advantage in a competition." Mr. Armstrong believed that PEDs were used by his competitors and felt it was ethical to continue using them. Which rationalization did Mr. Armstrong use? a. It's a gray area. b. It could be worse. c. Everyone does it. d. I deserve this.

Q: Ralph has used all but one day of his personal leave time (PLT). His company's policy is that PLT can be used for illness, family needs, or medical appointments. Ralph has used his PLT days when he was hung over or when a friend wanted to spend the day with him. Ralph's grandmother, to whom he is very close, passed away, and he would like to go to her funeral, but it will take a day of travel, a day for the funeral, and a day to return. Ralph has asked his supervisor for additional time off in order to go to the funeral. Which of the following is correct? a. If Ralph were an employer, he would see his request differently. b. Companies need to provide additional days when employees request them for a good reason. c. Ralph should receive the extra days because everybody uses PLT for sketchy reasons. d. Giving Ralph the extra days does not affect other employees.

Q: What was the occupation of the author of "The Parable of the Sadhu" piece? a. Minister b. Professional mountain climber c. Writer d. Investment banker

Q: Megyn Kelly, a Fox News Anchor, is interviewing a physician about the impact of Obamacare. The physician is a partner with Ms. Kelly's ex-husband. a. Ms. Kelly need not disclose the relationship because she is now divorced. b. Ms. Kelly need not disclose the relationship unless she also interviews her ex-husband. c. Ms. Kelly needs to disclose the relationship. d. Ms. Kelly need not disclose the relationship because she is an anchor, not a reporter.

Q: Pam purchased a quesadilla at Taco Bell for lunch. She also asked for a water cup, which is free and to be used to get water at the soda fountain. Pam used the water cup to get Pepsi. Which of the following is correct? a. Pam has simply taken advantage of a loophole with no supervision over water cup use b. Pam has taken something that does not belong to her c. Pam has done nothing wrong unless she was warned not to fill the water cup with soda d. Both a and c

Q: Which category of ethical dilemma applies to dog walkers who do not scoop up after their pets? a. Conflict of interest b. Not following the rules c. Balancing ethical dilemmas d. Saying things you know are not true

Q: Thomas Hobbes felt that we needed strong government control in order to achieve ethical behavior.

Q: The most commonly used method of execution today is the electric chair.

Q: When a grand jury subpoenas a witness for the sole purpose of obtaining perjured testimony, it is a __________________.