Answer the following questions and also the 4 questions on page 20 of the attached Ch. 10 PDF, in the Ethics in Practice Case “The Beast of Bentonville” You should recognize that your answers to these discussion questions should be well reasoned and supported with evidence. Make certain that you use chapter material and theory as the basis for your answers. No outside material. All work must be original as this will be submitted through Turnitin. No plagiarism.
1. Can you think of any additional benefits or negative side effects of technology in business that has not been mentioned in this chapter? Discuss.
2. Do you agree that society is intoxicated with technology? Does this pose special problems for business with respect to the ethics of technology? Will such intoxication blind people to ethical considerations in business?
3. Do you think business is abusing its power with respect to invasion of privacy of consumers? Is surveillance of consumers in the marketplace a fair practice? Which particular practice do you think is the most questionable?
4. Is it an exaggeration to question the ethical implications for business of cell phone and textmessaging use? Discuss both sides of this issue.
5. Do you think genetically modified foods (GMFs) raise a legitimate safety hazard? Should government agencies such as the FDA take more action to require safety testing? Do you think labeling unfairly stigmatizes GMFs and makes consumers question their safety? Explain your answers.
6. Drawing on the notions of moral, amoral, and immoral management introduced in Chapter 7, categorize your impressions of (a) Nestle, the infant formula controversy; (b) Union Carbide, in the Bhopal tragedy; and (c) Google, in moving its search engine out of China.
7. As an MNC seeks to balance and honor the ethical standards of both the home and host countries, conflicts inevitably will arise. What criteria do you think managers should consider as they try to decide whether to use home or host country ethical standards? Does it depend on the ethical issue involved? Explain.
8. Differentiate between a bribe and a grease payment. Give an example of each.
9. Conduct research for purposes of updating the latest rankings of Transparency International and the activities of the OECD, UNCAC, and individual country initiatives. How could countries such as China, India, and Russia most effective improve their TI rankings?
10. What are the major strategies companies might employ in improving global business ethics? What are the key steps research has shown are important to successful company anticorruption efforts?
