Exam 1: Ethical Theory, Philosophical Foundations, Our Reasoning Flaws, and Types of Ethical Dilemmas

An ad contains the following: "Restaurant Critic, Jose Winfrey, on Mama Leone's Italian Eatery, 'Mama Leone's is simply the best. It is a surprising new entrant into the competitive Italian bistro market and it is a mighty one.'" Jose Winfrey is the cousin of the owner of Mama Leone's and knows restaurants, but is not a critic for any publication or other media outlet. The ad:

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

Conduct may comply with the law but still be unethical.

Acting in one's own self-interest is a description of ethical egoism.

You should disclose to your employer if a relative of yours has submitted a bid for work with your company.

Robert Nozick is the leading thinker for utilitarianism.

A false impression, unlike lying, is not an ethical violation.

The Divine Command Theory includes the principles of natural law.

Which philosopher would start with a tabula rasa and then develop ethical standards?

The failure to disclose relevant information about a product or service is unethical.

A purchasing agent who is an owner of 25% of the shares in a supplier does not have a conflict of interest.

Taking advantage of a party in a contract situation due to the party's inexperience, and not due to any lack of disclosure on your part, is ethical.

Medical Purchasing Agents (MPC) is a company that represents groups of hospitals as their agents for purchasing medical supplies. MPC is able to obtain discounts for the hospital group because of their sheer volume needs when they are grouped together. MPC's CEO, CFO and general counsel own 51% of the stock of a company called Medi-Pump. Medi-Pump is the sole supplier to the hospitals for feeding pumps, IV pumps and other forms of hi-tech medical pumps and supplies. MPC has negotiated a low-cost supply contract from Medi-Pump to the hospitals. MPC:

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

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

It would not be unethical to continue interviewing for positions after you have already accepted employment with a particular firm.

Your company has several outdated computers sitting in a storage closet that no one is using. You have taken one home and set it up for personal use. This is unethical conduct.

With respect to #66, it is not necessary for the company to take any action to correct the problem or refund money for those who already own the new calculator.

The Graduate Management Admissions Council announced that it was canceling the GMAscores of 84 applicants and students. The Council found that the students were active users of a now shut-down website, Scoretop.com, a site with origins in China that posted live questions from the GMAT. The site had 5,000 to 6,000 subscribers who paid $30 per month for access, but the Council is only canceling the scores of those against whom it feels it has an airtight case. Two of the students whose scores were canceled are currently enrolled at the University of Chicago's MBA program and another has already graduated from Stanford's MBA program. Twelve of the students whose scores were canceled had posted questions on Scoretop.com and the remaining 72 allowed the site to post their testimonials that they had seen the Scoretop.com questions on their GMAT. Ten of the 72 students had applied to Stanford but were denied admission. Which ethical category does the conduct of the students who posted live questions fit into?

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