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

Moral relativism is circumstantial ethics.

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?

Peter Drucker believes that the ethical obligation of business is to bluff within reason.

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

Unwritten rules of conduct are part of our normative standards.

The failure to disclose a current employee's conduct that resulted in dismissal and harm to a prospective employer is a breach of ethics.

You had quite a night last night of partying. Because of excessive drinking, you are unable to get to work today. When you call your supervisor you:

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

Who of the following follows the Front-Page-of-the-Newspaper test?

Which philosopher developed the "greatest happiness principle"?

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

"The tragedy of the commons" applies in which of the following circumstances?

Plato believed one cannot make ethical decisions without first developing virtue.

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

"I did fudge on some of the numbers in our financial reports, but that kept 6,000 employees from losing their jobs," a statement by a CFO, is an example of:

The former CEO of Countrywide Mortgage (now a part of Bank of America), offered favorable loans to members of Congress, Countrywide government regulators, and members of the board and officers of Fannie Mae, the quasi-government agency that bought Countrywide's mortgages in the secondary market. The loans were jumbo loans at below-market rates. Countrywide sold 90% of its mortgages to Fannie Mae. Congress was responsible for the creation, funding, and policies of Fannie Mae. The members of Congress who received the Fannie Mae favorable loans sat on House and Senate Banking Committees. Which of the following categories of ethical breaches, if any, applies to this practice?

You are a building inspector for the county. A friend of yours is a plumbing contractor. Under county regulations, all steps in plumbing construction from the initial dig to the final installation of sink and bathroom fixtures requires an inspection sign-off. Your plumbing contractor friend has just called and wants to take you to dinner for your birthday at a five-star restaurant. Because you are friends anyway, the dinner presents no ethical problems.

Matt Walsh, a golf pro from Hawaii, was a video operator for the New England Patriots from 1999-2002. Walsh says that he taped the Patriots' opponents' signals, information that he says was then used by the Patriots when they next met that team. If you know the signals, then you know what defense has planned. Offense is then a tad easier. Some quotes emerged from the situation: From Patriots' coach, Bill Belichick,   "I misinterpreted the rules." From Jacksonville Coach Jack Del Rio on the videotaping, " I think all teams do that. That's been going on forever." From Matt Walsh, "I had always been a big Patriots fan. I wasn't going to question what they wanted me to do." From Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, "If you can cheat in the NFL, you can cheat in college, you can cheat in high school, you can cheat on your grade-school math test. There's no limit as to what you can do. I think they owe the public a lot more candor and a lot more credibility." What rationalization did Matt Walsh follow?

Your college of business is sponsoring a case competition. One of your team members is dating a member of another team. Your team member would be able to pull up his team's materials and share them with your team to save your team some work. Because they are dating and the case competition is just a game, gaining access presents no ethical issues.

"We didn't think of them as bribes. We thought of them as useful expenditures," is an example of virtue ethics.