Brief Hypotheticals 03.1

A No, because Gamma has a legal and ethical duty to make sure that foreign suppliers maintain working conditions that meet or exceed American standards.

B Yes, because it is good business to maximize profits, and those foreign citizens are better off with a job than without one.

C No because Gamma has an ethical obligation to make sure that people who work for the company, either directly or indirectly, are being treated fairly.

D Yes, because Gamma cannot be expected to investigate and oversee all of its suppliers, and Gamma is not doing anything wrong.

Question #4

Carly is a manager at a business. When she has a job opening, she regularly does internet searches on the applicants to see if they have social media accounts. If so, she reviews whatever she can access. Her findings, or lack of findings, go into her notes and may influence whether she interviews and ultimately hires an applicant. Carly’s actions are:

A clearly illegal and clearly unethical.

B clearly legal and clearly ethical.

C clearly legal but ethically uncertain.

D legally uncertain but clearly ethical.

Question #5

Cora owns a Christian bookstore and tries to run it in accordance with Judeo-Christian values, which promote charity among the poor and also strictly prohibit theft. Cora learns that Margo, one of her employees, has been taking money from the cash register and giving it to homeless people who come into the store. Under an analysis of duty-based ethics with a Judeo-Christian religious foundation, Margo’s behavior is:

A acceptable, because stealing is sometimes justifiable.

B not acceptable, because stealing is never justifiable.

C acceptable, because it is compassionate.

D not acceptable, because of the categorical imperative.

Question #6

Bribery is acceptable in certain foreign countries. Indeed, U.S. Development, Inc., has found that the only way it can ensure delivery on certain contracts in these countries is to bribe the officials. This is

A permitted by U.S. law if the payment is made to a minor official to speed up administrative procedures.

B permitted by U.S. law if the payment is made to government officials for the purpose of securing advantageous contracts.

C prohibited by U.S. law if the contract price exceeds $20,000.

D prohibited by U.S. law under all circumstances.

Question #7

Sanderson worked in a travel service office and had access to the reservation systems of several airlines. Sanderson accessed the system and replaced the names of passengers with fictitious names. She also enrolled the fake names in the airlines’ frequent-flyer programs. Her husband set up mailboxes under those names for the delivery of free airline tickets “earned” under the frequent-flyer programs. Real passengers were not harmed by and did not complain of the deception. The Sandersons’ behavior was:

A unethical but legal.

B unethical and illegal, because their actions constituted theft from the airlines.

C ethical, because no passengers complained.

D ethical, because the other passengers did not suffer monetary damages.

Question #8

Patrick, the human resources manager at Acme Company, must decide how to cut personnel costs. This decision will harm employees who are laid off or fired. Patrick must balance the interests of employees who have been loyal to the firm for a long time against the interests of:

A the city council.

B Acme’s shareholders.

C the state courts.

D Acme’s competitors.

Question #9

Bernard is the owner and manager of a small auto-parts store. He thinks that talking about business ethics with employees takes time that would be better spent paying attention to customers. He also does not believe that he has a right to tell other people how they should behave. Is Bernard likely to create an ethical workplace with this way of thinking? Why or why not?

A Bernard is unlikely to create an ethical workplace and so is likely to get into legal trouble, because business laws require him to compel his employees to follow an ethical code.

B Bernard’s attitude will have no particular effect on workplace ethics, because management has no ability to affect employee behavior.

C Bernard’s attitude will have no particular effect on workplace ethics, because ethics is strictly a private matter best left to individual employees.

D Bernard is unlikely to create an ethical workplace, because the attitude of top management influences employee ethics.

Question #10

The upper-level management of Nationwide Sales Corporation wants to fire Andy because he is a nonproductive employee. Using a utilitarian approach to business ethics, management would probably consider:

A how Andy and his family might suffer if Andy were to lose his job.

B Andy’s fundamental rights.

C the costs and benefits of retaining a nonproductive employee.

D how all other employees in the company would feel about Andy’s firing.

Question #11

Jeff believes in the principle of rights theory and uses it to make ethical decisions for his business. He must decide whether to expand his business into Asia. Several key employees do not want the business to expand overseas and have threatened to quit if Jeff makes this move. Under the principle of rights theory, he will make this decision by considering:

A the cost of losing employees and the benefit of the profit he could earn.

B how society would be affected if everyone expanded their businesses against the advice of their employees.

C how his decision will affect the rights of his employees, his consumers, and others.

D whether the expansion violates his employees’ principles.

Question #12

Regan owns and manages The Coffee Shoppe. She likes to experiment with different management styles and life philosophies. She recently studied Kantian ethics and asks her employees to begin following Kant’s categorical imperative at work. This means that the employees should:

A consider or weigh all of the costs and all of the benefits of their actions before making decisions.

B consider their actions in light of the consequences if everyone in society acted the same way.

C follow all city ordinances, as well as state and federal law, but no more.

D treat others as the employees themselves wished to be treated.

Question #13

Ted is the owner and chief executive officer of a business. He recently began an advertising campaign to promote a new product that is regulated by state law. The law is somewhat unclear. Before launching the campaign, he researched the relevant law and consulted with his attorney in an effort to comply with the law. Nevertheless, the attorney general of his state has filed a lawsuit against him for deceptive advertising. Ted’s best defense is that:

A his attorney was incompetent and he should not be held liable for bad advice.

B he acted in good faith by conducting due diligence and acting accordingly, under an unclear law.

C his firm made a profit on the product which shows that consumers were happy with their purchase.

D the law is unfair.

Question #14

Marshall owns and operates a construction firm. He uses inexpensive and low-grade building products and accepts inferior carpentry work from his subcontractors. Nevertheless, Marshall complies with all the city building codes as well as all state and federal laws. Has he fulfilled all of his ethical obligations?

A No, because legal compliance is regarded as the moral minimum.

B Yes, because ethical obligations require only legal behavior.

C Yes, because legal standards are stricter than ethical standards.

D No, because ethics is too hard to define.

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Brief Hypotheticals 03.1

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