Business Ethics PH305 D: Final Exam
Requirements:
- Answers to *each* individual question should be between 2 and 3 pages in length…double spaced! This will mean test totals should be 6 to 9 pages. Word process or type your answers! Though writing styles vary, much less than 2 pages will probably prove insufficient and anything much longer than 4 pages will likely be ignored.
- All margins are to be 1 inch all around. All fonts used should be in 12 point type. Do not separate paragraphs with extra rows or returns. Microsoft Word defaults to 1.5 spacing between paragraphs, or more. You must correct that default in your paper. Do not repeat or retype the question at the beginning of your paper. See the sample page attached for visual confirmation of the text format required. Failure to properly format your answers will affect your grade!
- The test itself will be open book and open notes. That is worth repeating: you may use any material from the class – your notes, my notes, or even the books on the test. Note well, however, this is a test of your understanding of the material from this class so you would be well advised to concentrate on the material assigned. It is not a test of your ability to transcribe quotes. For example, do not simply list arguments advocated by one author or another. If you do list an argument in premise form, also write an answer that demonstrates you understand the premises and how they are justified. DO NOT SIMPLY RE-STATE CASE FACTS: ASSUME I AM FAMILIAR WITH ASSIGNED CASES. “Martin should slap the auditors because…” is sufficient case detail.
To put it another way – the answers should present your understanding and opinions of arguments and materials covered in THIS class.
- The answers should be your work. DO NOT turn in any work that you did not produce by your own hand.
- You are required to answer the underlined question or questions. The material preceding the underlined question is meant to direct you to the relevant issues.
- You may answer any question, but DO NOT cut and paste any old material into your new answers. Take the time to read, understand, and rethink your old answer to make it better.
Answer ANY 3 of the following
- Question: When doing business in countries other than your home country, when should you comply with the host country’s cultural traditions and when should you follow principles other than those favored by host country’s cultural traditions? What decision procedure should you use to answer this question? Feel free to use cases we have studied or other “real life” examples to answer this question.
- Nozick seems to think much of what Rawls’s theory would require is actually unjust re-distribution.
Question: What is Nozick’s argument to this conclusion? Is he correct?
- HB Fuller/Kativo Industries finds itself in quite a bind regarding the sale of Resistol in Honduras. Fuller/Kativo’s product is causing harm to the children the media have called “Los Resistoleros.” The moral theorists we have studied this semester, from Aristotle through Donaldson, would all have something to say regarding this situation. Some would agree with each other, though many would be diametrically opposed in their views. Those who do agree would probably offer very different justifications from their fellows.
Question: Is it morally permissible for HB Fuller to continue to sell Resistol with its current composition or should Fuller remove the product until an acceptable composition is formulated? What sort of moral reasoning directed you to your conclusion and why is this reasoning most relevant? (Put differently, this second question asks: Why should a reasonable person agree with you?)
- Not too long ago, Milton Friedman argued that the only moral responsibility of managers in a capitalist system is to increase the owner’s investment through profit maximization, with precious few (if any) moral limitations. Many have claimed that a justified sea change occurred when Ed Freeman started arguing to rebuild, revitalize, and re-conceptualize stockholder managerial capitalism to transform it to stakeholder managerial capitalism.
Question: How revolutionary is Freeman’s theory when applied to managerial decisions? When we move from Milton Friedman’s Stockholder theory to Ed Freeman’s Stakeholder theory – does this shift in theories end up telling managers to take different actions, or do they simply disagree about the justifications for roughly the same actions? Feel free to use cases we have studied or cases from “real life” to answer this question.
- Some people, like Solomon and Aristotle, think a theory of virtue ethics and good character is best for guiding actions in business. Utilitarians think maximizing good consequences is the only relevant framework for guiding actions in business. Kant thinks morality has some essential connection to rationality, so that to act wrongfully is to act in ways that are clearly irrational, e.g. treating people as a mere means when people are clearly ends in themselves.
Question: Are there any good reasons to think one of these theories is more basic than the others, that one of the theories is required as a foundation or necessary requirement to make the others work in application to guide your actions? (Put differently, if you had to pick just one to use, which one could best stand on its own?)
- Ellen Moore will cost more to employ in Saudi Arabia than an equally qualified man, though no such male candidate exists at the time of the case. Ellen will not only cost more to employ, but the General Manager believes she has a lowered chance of success because she is a woman. Felice N. Schwartz presents arguments to convince businesses regarding the rationality of hiring women even though women cost more to employ. What is Schwartz’s argument against sexism in hiring and promotions, and is this a good argument? Why should a business be blind with regard to sex?
- Bernard and Charles are both applying for an entry level accounting position at HAL, an accounting firm. HAL requires applicants to have at least a 3.0 GPA. Bernard has a 3.3 GPA and is African-American. Charles has a 3.5 GPA and is white. Bernard and Charles are identical in all other relevant ways, such as quality of undergraduate educational institution, etc. What argument best justifies hiring Bernard instead of Charles? Consider and answer an objection Charles may raise for being passed over in hiring.
The next page will demonstrate the REQUIRED format for your answers regarding type face, margins, spacing etc.
- This is sufficient indentation to begin your first paragraph. Notice as well that I started this answer at the top of page and just below the 1 INCH margin, that is, a 1INCH MARGIN AROUNDTHE ENTIRE PAGE! Now suppose I am done with this very short paragraph.
See how I just hit enter /return, indented ½ an inch, and started typing again?!! There is no additional space between paragraphs. I don’t care much about the font, but I do want the tests typed in 12 point scale. This font is Times New Roman, but most anything will be accepted. And for goodness sake, please staple your answers together! One and only one staple is necessary if done correctly. Staplers are fairly easy to operate. Do not make an elaborate origami sculpture out of your paper in the upper left hand corner just because you didn’t bring a stapler. I will probably be nice enough to bring my stapler along.
Remember to hit a hard page return when you have completed an answer. The instructions indicate that each new answer should start on a new page. Let’s assume I want to give an extended quote or list the premises of an argument:
“Whether a quote or a list of premises, notice how the page is double indented and starts over at the same point on the soft return. Also notice that the type face is reduced, and this part of the paper is single spaced.
And here we are again back to normal. The purpose of all the above formatting at the quotation section is to reduce the size of the quotation to leave you more room to expound on the meaning of the quotation. Your words are more important than the
