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ETHICS INITIATIVE
An initiative to deliver principle-based ethics education
One-Part Cases
One-part cases consist of a short traditional ethics case and instructor notes.
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Case: Rapt Flight Systems Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Proprietary information, trade secrets |
The proposal manager for a lucrative opportunity at Rapt Flight Systems gains access to proprietary information of the primary competitor for the business. A critical member of her proposal team is also a former employee of the competing firm. The case follows different employees of Rapt and how they act regarding both these issues. What are the responsibilities of individual employees with knowledge of potential improprieties? What are the obligations of the organization? How do market pressures affect behavior and create risk?
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Case: Relational Solutions Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Disabilities, performance issues |
An engineering staff member at Relational Solutions, Inc., a 7,000-employee high-end electronics firm, experiences difficulties related to her hearing impairment. However, questions arise about her performance separate from her disability. The case follows her manager as she attempts to balance operational needs with the need to make reasonable accommodations for the disability. How do we separate what is genuine failure to perform from issues that could be resolved by reasonable accommodations? How do preconceptions about disabilities affect our actions?
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Case: Anderson Rollers and Bearings Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 5 Primary Topic(s): Inside information |
Anderson Rollers and Bearings, Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of high-performance bearings, transmissions, and gearboxes. When an executive assistant discovers some sensitive, non-public information regarding the company's business plans, it creates a conflict between an obligation not to disclose the information and a desire to protect another person who will be adversely affected.
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Case: Alanthus Hotel Group Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Abusive conduct and retaliation |
An employee at a hotel chain is subjected to verbal abuse by her manager. This is part of a pattern of such abuse of employees by the manager. Another employee reports the abusive conduct, the matter is substantiated, and corrective action taken. But the employees are not aware of the resolution of the case. Subsequently, the employee who was the subject of the most recent incident feels she is being retaliated against. The case looks at the growing concern over abusive conduct in the workplace as well as the effect of retaliation. What is abuse? What does retaliation look like? How do both abuse and retaliation affect the workplace and the viability of an organization? A subsidiary issue is communication with employees over ethics allegations.
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Case: Polymentos Consulting Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Abuse of position |
There is an often-expressed perception in organizational ethics research that executive management is not held to the same standards as others in the organization. This case will examine situations that arise in the workplace where pressure to please a senior manager can create potential problems in an organization. To what extent can a senior employee use his/her position to influence subordinates and colleagues for private purposes, even when those purposes may be considered a good end? Does it make a difference if the end result benefits a relative, a student, a charity, or a valid political goal?
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Case: Teller Aerospace Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Bribery |
Bribery, particularly in the conduct of international business, draws a great deal of attention from enforcement agencies and the press. What constitutes bribery — is it as obvious as it seems? Are "everyone does it" and "that's the way business is done in this country" valid arguments? Are there values to be considered and not just rules (the law)? This case of a British-based multi-national company that provides radar and flight control systems worldwide, examines both the effect of bribery on society and how individuals see their responsibilities in the face of questionable conduct.
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Case: Optimatics Written by: Earnie Broughton |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Employee surveillance |
Employers have the means to monitor data related to all kinds of employee activity at work. Sometimes employees are aware of the surveillance capabilities of companies and the data they collect and sometimes they are not. Should a company be transparent about the kinds of employee activities they monitor and why? Or should they withhold this information from employees to make it easier to detect misconduct and criminal activity?
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Case: Advanced Technology Labs Written by: Earnie Broughton |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Procedural justice |
Procedural justice involves establishing and communicating transparent processes to support a perception of fairness and justice. This case of a computer chip manufacturing company presents a situation related to the promotion of an employee with two possible outcomes; one where there is no context of procedural justice, and the other where procedural justice is present. The case will compare and contrast outcomes with the two approaches.
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Case: Graham Intelligent Solutions Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Off-duty conduct |
Two employees at Graham Intelligent Solutions, Inc., a developer of large-scale software systems, display questionable conduct outside of the workplace and work hours. To what extent is such conduct a matter for concern by their employer and to what extent can or should an employer impose discipline? Does the fact that one employee is a non-manager and the other is a senior manager make a difference? Accountability for conduct at different organizational levels in the company is a concern in this case.
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Case: Integrated People Solutions Written by: Earnie Broughton |
Pages: 5 Primary Topic(s): Employee health benefits |
Employers have a vested interest in the good health and well-being of their employees. Healthy employees are more productive, take fewer sick days, and make fewer claims against the employee insurance plan. Increasingly, employers have begun to use mandates, incentives, and penalties to discourage employees covered by their insurance plans from smoking, exceeding Body Mass Index (BMI), or engaging in other "risky" behaviors that create financial threats to the company. How far companies can or should go in attempting to influence or control their employees' health-related practices and behavior is an issue with ethical implications.
Two-Part Cases
Two-part cases consist of a Part A traditional ethics case, plus a Part B crisis situation, which provides more information and can be introduced after Part A.
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Case: Early Childhood Disease Research Foundation Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 7 Primary Topic(s): Internal controls, sexual harrassment |
Early Childhood Disease Research Foundation (ECR) is the leading funding organization for research in rare early childhood diseases. Participants in the case will take the role of a management consulting group reviewing ECR’s strategic plan and making recommendations to the Board of Directors. The review uncovers issues relating to management oversight, internal controls, and inappropriate relationships between employees.
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Case: Home Office Designs Written by: Tim Mazur |
Pages: 7 Primary Topic(s): Genetic screening |
Home Office Designs is a small business that creates high-tech, adaptable home offices for telecommuters. Participants will advise the company on the appropriate action to take after one of the owners accidentally overhears an employee tell another that she has received genetic screening test results that threaten her safety on the job.
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Case: Phinney, Inc. Written by: Tim Mazur |
Pages: 7 Primary Topic(s): Location-based tracking, privacy, corporate espionage |
Phinney, Inc. is a $775 million emerging technology company that makes leading-edge batteries for products ranging from the smallest computer devices to hybrid vehicles. The company learns that a competitor is tracking Phinney's employees using location-based tracking technology, and Phinney is considering doing the same. Participants will advise the company's management on a strategy in this case, which addresses issues such as privacy, fair competition, and corporate espionage.
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Case: Acli-Mate Formulations Written by: Tracy Gonzalez-Padron |
Pages: 11 Primary Topic(s): Product quality |
Acli-Mate Formulations is a start-up operation for sports nutrition supplement drinks. The company operates in a controversial industry because of the ongoing research on the safety and suitability of energy and sports drinks. Participants in the case will take the role of a management consulting group advising the company on growth and to address a crisis situation. Issues addressed include validity of product claims, athlete banned substances in products, marketing to youth, fairness in distribution/competition, and consistent production quality.
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Case: Milton Field Systems Written by: Charles Chadwick |
Pages: 11 Primary Topic(s): Various |
Associated Defense Systems, Inc. (ADS), a major defense and aerospace company, is in the initial phases of acquiring Milton Field Systems, Inc. (MFS), a mid-tier defense firm. Participants in the case should take the role of a management consulting firm conducting a due diligence review of MFS' corporate culture and ethics issues for the board of ADS in preparation for a formal offer for MFS. In Part A of the case, many issues are present including lack of corporate oversight, lack of effective ethics and compliance infrastructure, retaliation, abuse of position, conflicts of interest, and more. Part B of the case reveals surprises that further highlight the consequences of MFS' ethical issues.
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Case: BESLA/PEAR Written by: Dr. Andrea Bonime-Blanc |
Pages: 7 Primary Topic(s): Implantable technologies, animal and human testing, whistleblowers |
Two technology firms, BESLA and PEAR, have created a joint venture to develop and sell a revolutionary new, implantable high-tech product called Alter/Ego. When users of the implants develop medical issues, many ethical issues come to the surface including treatment of whistleblowers, testing on animals and humans, high pressure performance incentives and financial targets, and more.
| Case: Healthy Kids Playground Equipment Written by: Anne Harris | Pages: 8 Primary Topic(s): Conflicts of interest, product safety, sexual harrasment, workplace intimidation, and more |
Healthy Kids is a successful family-owned business that undergoes an erosion of its culture of integrity when the founder, who had been a champion of high ethical standards, suffers a lengthy illness and dies. His daughter assumes the mantle of CEO and, over the course of her first year in the role, learns about a number of issues related to ethics and compliance lapses. These issues are negatively impacting the company's bottom line and its reputation.
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Case: GeneFutura Written by: Dr. Andrea Bonime-Blanc & Jacqueline Brevard |
Pages: 6 Primary Topic(s): Gene editing, social media, board oversight, celebrity CEOs, international joint ventures |
GeneFutura is a gene-editing firm with operations and joint ventures in several countries. Their visionary celebrity CEO generates much controversy with her high profile social media lifestyle. In addition to those issues and others, the firm is reported to be developing a prototype gene-edited human, allowing people to choose gene options for their children.
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Case: The Case of Space-Age Ethics Written by: Dr. Andrea Bonime-Blanc & Jacqueline Brevard |
Pages: 4 Primary Topic(s): Defense contractors, artificial intelligence, bioengineering, board oversight, cybersecurity |
QuantumX (QX) is a defense contractor serving NASA and the International Space Station. The company faces a number of ethical issues including senior management team conflicts, proper health and safety oversight of their biological experiments, and security breaches compromising their AI algorithms. QX's board may be high-powered, but do they have the necessary expertise to effectively oversee the organization?
e-Cases
E-cases consist of an ethics mini-documentary video and an online learning module with activities to explore the ethics issues in the case. There are two options for instructors to provide their students access to the e-cases:
General Access:
Instructors can give their students general access by simply clicking the general access button below and completing a two-question survey. You will receive a direct link you can provide to students where they can access the full e-case.
Customized Access:
This option allows instructors the added ability to track their students' registration and completion of the case, and establish deadlines. Customized Access will require students to register and create an account with Helios Digital. To establish customized access, email a request to Helios Digital with the following information:
General Access:
Instructors can give their students general access by simply clicking the general access button below and completing a two-question survey. You will receive a direct link you can provide to students where they can access the full e-case.
Customized Access:
This option allows instructors the added ability to track their students' registration and completion of the case, and establish deadlines. Customized Access will require students to register and create an account with Helios Digital. To establish customized access, email a request to Helios Digital with the following information:
- Instructor name
- Instructor's class name and number (e.g. Accounting 201)
- Completion deadline
Produced by: Helios Digital
Primary Topic(s): Investment fraud
Click image to the right to preview video
Jay Nolan was a successful bond trader who got in over his head and found himself hiding his customers' losses from them. Jay shares his true story about how bad decisions he made while trying to make up losses, grew into a larger fraud which ended up sending him to jail. In this two-part e-case, learn how principle-based ethical decision-making could have helped Jay avoid this situation.
Click here to download the Teaching Note which provides case background and tips on integrating the case into your course.
Produced by: Helios Digital
Primary Topic(s): Company credit cards and expense reports
Click image to the right to preview video
When Heather's boss asked to borrow her corporate credit card, it seemed like a reasonable business request. But it quickly became concerning after her boss made fraudulent personal charges on Heather's card. In this two-part e-case, you will hear what it took for Heather to speak up about this unethical behavior, and learn what to do when faced with your own ethical dilemmas.
Click here to download the Teaching Note which provides case background and tips on integrating the case into your course.
Audio Cases
Audio cases consist of radio/podcast profiles sharing the stories of prominent business leaders and the ethical dilemmas they have faced in their careers.
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Bill Daniels, Utah Stars Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Leadership, Accountability, Fairness, Respect, Viability, Legacy, Ethical Decision-Making |
Bill Daniels, former owner of the American Basketball Association's Utah Stars, and others associated with the team, tell the story of the team being forced into bankruptcy and Bill's monumental effort to repay everyone who lost money — with interest — because it was the right thing to do.
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Case: Jim Parke, Otter Products Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Bribery, Fair Contracts, Privacy, Supply Chain |
Otter Products President & CEO Jim Parke talks about his start with the company, ethical challenges they have faced, and how the company's culture helps employees do the right thing.
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Case: Jim Johnson, GE Johnson Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Financial Accountability, Corporate Culture, Fair Contracting |
Jim Johnson, President & CEO of GE Johnson, talks about doing what is right for a client and making ethical decisions, even when it comes at significant cost to his company.
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Case: Scott and Sean Smith, Founders of Zelis Healthcare Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Business Ownership, Fairness, Leadership, Legacy |
Scott and Sean Smith are entrepreneurs and twins who built a billion dollar company and dealt with a number of ethical decisions along the way.
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Case: Kenny Monfort, Monfort Feed Lots Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Fair Contracts, Leadership, Legacy, Honesty, Corporate Culture |
Colorado Rockies Owner Dick Monfort tells the story of his father Kenny Monfort and the ethical decisions he faced in growing his cattle company to become the largest in the nation.
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Case: Kathryn Minshew, The Muse Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Corporate Culture, Leadership, Accountability, Viability |
Kathryn Minshew, CEO & Founder of The Muse, talks about the ethical decision to fire a client who was mistreating her employees and its impact on the company's success.
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Case: Lee Habib, Our American Stories Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Responsibility, Fairness, Parenting, Ethical Decision-Making |
Lee Habib, CEO of Our American Stories, shares stories of how his parents taught him about ethical decision-making as a child and how those lessons shaped his life.
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Case: H.P. Rama and Mike Leven Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Discrimination, Bias, Empathy, Fairness, Leadership, Legacy |
Hotelier H.P. Rama shares his story of partnering with Days Inn President Mike Leven to create a more fair and viable market for Indian American hoteliers.
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Case: Brad Anderson, Former CEO of Best Buy Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Accountability, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Viability |
Brad Anderson, former CEO of Best Buy talks about the company’s culture of accountability and innovations in ethics as it grew to $50 Billion in revenue and 180,000 team members.
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Ralph Stayer, Founder and former CEO of Johnsonville Sausages Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Corporate Culture, Leadership, Viability, Fairness |
Ralph Stayer, founder and former CEO of Johnsonville Sausages talks about the “Johnsonville Way” and how ethical decision-making throughout the company has helped overcome challenging times and has elevated them to the #1 sausage brand in the country.
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Case: Aron Marquez, Founder & CEO of Wildcat Oil Tools Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Corporate Culture, Fair Contracting, Ethical Decision-Making, Leadership |
Aron Marquez, Founder & CEO of Wildcat Oil Tools talks about the long-term benefits of running a business ethically, even though it caused significant pain and uncertainty in the short-term.
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Steve Bell, Bellmont Cabinets Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Integrity, Responsibility, Trust, Legacy, Facing Problems Head-On |
Steve Bell, President & CEO of Bellmont Cabinet Company, hit rock bottom when his company was entangled in a crime ring and went bankrupt. He regrouped and paid back every penny he owed on his way to building a new, thriving business.
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Case: Kirk Aubry, Savage Produced by: Our American Stories |
Primary Topic(s): Integrity, Transparency, Respect, Financial Accountability, Fairness, Leadership, Legacy |
Savage CEO Kirk Aubry shares how lessons learned as a youth helped him understand the value of ethics — leading him to proactively make a number of ethical decisions in his career that continue to pay off in the long run.