Possible Exam Questions for the Second Business Ethics Exam  --  on May 3

Note: I may transform several questions from this list into multiple choice questions. Otherwise several will be presented as short essay questions.  (Short = half a page or a page)  You will be able to consult your textbooks but not any notes or handouts or other papers.

1. In Moral Mazes (especially in Chapters 6 and 7) Robert Jackall describes patterns of communication that could be considered pervasively dishonest.  Or they could just be considered ‘the way the game is played’.  What are some of the patterns he describes?  What do you think about the ethical acceptability of these ways of communicating?
2. Pick one of the cases discussed in Chapter 5 of Moral Mazes and discuss whether the manager involved should have ‘blown the whistle’ according to what Michael Davis calls ‘the standard theory’ and according to his ‘complicity theory’.
3. Does it make sense for employees to be loyal to the companies that employ them? Why or why not?
4. Do you think that it is fair to require employers to make workplaces as safe as is technologically feasible?  If not, what would be a more reasonable standard?  Explain your reasoning.
5. How should we draw the line between a ‘frivolous lawsuit’ and a justifiable claim to be compensated for damages from a defective product?
6. Let’s assume that, in a democratic society, business managers have an obligation to obey the law.  Do they have an ethical obligation to do more than that in order to avoid damaging the environment or to promote a sustainable way of life?  Explain -- include some discussion/rebuttal of the arguments for the opposing view.
7. Consider the case of Brady in Chapter 5 of Moral Mazes (pp. 105-112).  When he discovered that managers in his company were using money from the pension fund to manipulate their books and maximize their bonuses, he felt that his ethical standards as an accountant would not permit him to go along.  Other managers (to whom Jackall presented this case) felt there was nothing really wrong with what was being done.  Discuss.
8. Is there really anything wrong with ‘managing earnings’ so that one can reliably present ‘good numbers’ to the investing public?
9. David Holley argues that sellers have an obligation to make sure that transactions are mutually beneficial (beneficial to both buyers and sellers).  He gives three criteria (p. 337) for making sure this happens.  Thomas Carson argues that these criteria are too demanding and lays out his own set of criteria. Why?  What do you think of Carson’s criteria?
10. Do business people have a moral responsibility to be honest with customers (and to avoid manipulating them), even when doing so may reduce their company's profits?  Why or why not?
11. At the end of Moral Mazes, Jackall suggests that people who master the corporate game (who attain the ‘adeptness at inconsistency’, ‘dexterity with symbols’ and the moral flexibility that are required) pay a price – what might be called a psychic or a spiritual price.  Explain what he thinks that price is.  What do you think about this?