MgtS 4461
Business and Society
Questions to answer for hand-in assignments
Fall 2005
Chapter 1 – Due on
or before
From the text, choose among questions: #1, 3, 5 (but go into reasons why), 7.
Additionally, you can choose to answer one of the following questions:
Chapter 2 – Due on
or before
From the text, choose among questions: #2, 4, 5, 8. For question 2, think about both profit-oriented reasons as well as “other” reasons. That is, are there any ways that you could see ethical behavior as enhancing profit. Clearly distinguish between profit-oriented and other reasons. For question 5, pick a specific TV show or movie film, and go into your discussion about it in some detail. Also, do not assume I will have seen it. (My wife laments my unwillingness to attend movies, so this latter concern is not hypothetical!)
Chapter 3, part 1 –
Due on or before,
You may choose
to answer one question dealing with either human resource issues or conflicts of interest, but not both.
Human resource
issues
1. Have antidiscrimination laws helped or hurt fair treatment of workers? Why?
2. Is diversity management an ethical issue? Why &/or why not?
3. Is sexual harassment as important an issue for men as for women? Why or why not? Is it becoming more or less so?
Conflicts of interest
1. You find out that a good friend of yours is the HR manager at a firm you’d like to work for. Is it ethical to ask your friend for help in securing the job? Why or why not? What concerns would you have about doing this?
2. Chapter 3, question #6. If you have a friend in one of these positions, you might want to talk with them about their perspectives on “fiduciary responsibilities.”
3. Have you ever felt like you’ve been put in a conflict of interest? Briefly describe the situation. How did it make you feel? Were you even aware of it at the time? How did you resolve the conflict? Do you feel like you did a good job? If you could change it, would you? How?
Chapter 3, part 2 –
due on or before
Note – your first hand-in assignment is due
no later than the start of tonight’s class!
You may choose to answer one question dealing either with consumer confidence issues or whistle-blowing, but not both
Consumer confidence
issues
1. Describe the conditions under which it would be okay to hire one of your college friends. Be as broad in your thinking as possible.
2. Assume you work as a buyer for a large firm. Your firm has a policy against accepting gifts from outsiders in the course of business. However, one of your suppliers is located in a country where gift-giving is a common form of saying thanks. Your supplier’s representative has sent you an expensive vase, with an estimated value of $5,000. Should you accept the gift? What are the repercussions of doing so or not? What would you do?
3. Why do some professionals have fiduciary responsibilities?
Whistle blowing
1. Think about a job you’ve had – either your current one, or a prior one. Briefly describe your job, so I can understand its circumstances. What conditions would have (had) to be (been) present for you to blow the whistle on unethical behavior you observed? How would you go about it?
2. Think about your university career here at UMD. What conditions would have to be present for you to blow the whistle on unethical behavior you may have observed here? What would you do / have you done?
3. If Sherron Watkins had blown the whistle publicly to the media rather than privately to Ken Lay, do you think she would have kept her job? Why or why not?
4. Do you know someone who has blown the whistle at their place of work? Talk with them and describe their experience. How is it similar to and different from what you’ve read in the text? What do you learn by this comparison?
Note for class on
You may choose to answer one question dealing with either the issues raised in chapter 4 or one from chapter 5, but not both.
Chapter 4 – due on
or before
1. If you had to choose just one of the philosophical approaches described in this chapter to guide your decision making, which one would you choose? Why?
2. Think through a decision you’ve recently made. Describe it briefly. Apply each of the philosophical approaches to your situation to determine an “ethical” choice. Do they lead to the same choice, or different, and why?
Chapter 5 – due on
or before
Choose from text questions 2, 6, 9, or 10.
Chapter 6 – due on
or before
Choose from text questions 2, 3, or 5, 6, 7, or 8, or answer one of the following questions:
Chapter 7 – due on
or before
Note – this is the last chapter you can submit an answer
for your second assignment! Make sure
you turn in one no later than tonight!
Choose from chapter questions 1, 2, 3, 5, or 6. If you choose to answer question #6, think about the question in terms of jobs you either hold now or have held in the past. How could your job (or those of your employees, if you’re a manager) be better designed to force employees to take responsibility for their actions?
Classes on
There will be no assignment questions available for these evenings
Chapter 11 – due on
or before
Chapter 8 – due on
or before
Choose from chapter questions 1, 2, or 3. If you choose to answer question #3, be sure to be concrete in your answer – think about the specific process you’d use.
Class on
There will be no assignment question for this evening.
Chapter 9 – due on
or before
Choose chapter question #4. If you choose to answer this question, I highly recommend that you think about how you’d adapt the culture audit questions for your upcoming job search. Be as specific as you can so you can know what to look for on the job market.
Your third and final
assignment is due no later than December 7, 2005. Please remember that you can choose to submit up to five assignments throughout the
term.