College of
Business
Administration
College of
Business
Administration
The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
1) With respect to the JOHNSON CONTROLS CASE:
What are the key issues in this case? How would you go about thinking through these issues?2) You return from vacation and find that while you were away, your assistant forged your name to a cash advance to cover the cost of office supplies. Although the purpose of the advance is appropriate, you're frankly shocked that your assistant would forge your signature.What do you see as the fundamental moral dilemma in the Johnson Controls case?
The moral dilemma represents a conflict between ___________ and ___________ .As the director of human resources for Johnson Controls, would you support or change the policy on women performing lead-exposure tasks? What ethical justification can you provide for your position?
To what extent should a woman have the right to make decisions that will affect not only her health but the health of her unborn child? To what extent should a woman's consent to or acknowledgment of danger mitigate an employer's liability? What if a child born with lead-induced birth defects sues? Should the mother's consent apply as a defense?
The U.S. Supreme Court eventually decided Johnson Controls' policy was discriminatory and a violation of Title VII (International Union v. Johnson Controls Inc. 5). At what times, if any, should discrimination issues be subordinate to other issues, such as the risk of danger to unborn children?
How do you handle this employee?3) Are there universal human rights--and if so, what are they?4) What are the core ethical criticisms of utilitarianism? How might these best be remedied?
5) Is affirmative action normatively justifiable? If so, how might both organizational as well as public policies be crafted to better reflect the ethical claim that reparations need to be made on behalf of those who have been the 'victims' of past unjust discrimination?
6) What practical prescriptions might you offer organizations which want to encourage 'integrity' on the part of their employees? How might corporate reward systems be structured to promote 'integrity'?
7) List the values—or character traits—which you would advocate for within an organizational setting.
8) What principles do you think we would do well to live by?
9) What is the "link between the firm's ethical responsibilities or perspectives and its major stakeholder groups"?
10) In The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility, Archie Carroll seems to suggest that there are hierarchical interests with which corporations are involved. These interests range from economic to legal, social and ethical [see also Treveno/Nelson pp. 28-30]
Is Archie correct in his evaluation?11) You've recently been promoted to a supervisory position and are now responsible for coordinating the work of four other employees. Two of these workers are more than 20 years older than you are, and both have been with the company much longer than you. Although you've tried to be supportive of them and have gone out of your way to praise their work, whenever there is some kind of disagreement, they go to your boss with the problem. You've asked them repeatedly to come to you with whatever issues they have; they just ignore you and complain to other workers about reporting to someone your age.
What is implied by the metaphor of hierarchy?
How might this model be applied in the context of the organization with which you are currently employed?Design a strategy for dealing with these workers and your manager
12) A young man you manage tells you that one of your female peers has made a sexual advance toward him. Your peer is married, has children, and is a popular and respected department head. The young man is very flirtatious and has mentioned unwanted sexual attention from other women in the company on at least two other occasions. However, this is the first time he has named names and has made what appears to be a "formal" complaint.
How do you handle this?
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