Central Georgia Technical College Ethics in Business and At Work

Learning Activity #1

Co. A was founded in Baltimore, MD in 1923. In 1924, Co. A began to manufacture sugar

cookies. The company continued to grow, expand its manufacturing operations until, in

1945, Co. A “went public” and sold its stock on the NYSE for $10/per share. The value of

the stock has increased to a value of $100/per share in 2012.

In 2011, Co. A stated in its annual financial report to stockholders that its 2011

profit was $5 million, when in fact its profit was only $3 million. This error was a typo,

and not an intentional fraudulent act. The new CEO has discovered this falsification and is

concerned about ethical and legal implications.

What is the ethical dilemma? Explain possible consequence of the problem and suggest alternative resolutions to the case.

Learning Activity #2

EXERCISE

Clarifying Your Values

If you wish to be better prepared to make tough ethical decisions at work or elsewhere

in your life, it can be extremely helpful to clarify your personal ethical

values before they’re seriously challenged. Following is a selected list of values.

Feel free to add one or more if you have a deeply held

value that is not represented on this list (it is not meant to be exhaustive). In

priority order (with 1 being the most important value), list from three to six values

that are most important to you personally in making decisions. That’s the

easy part. Next, think seriously about what happens when two or more of these

values conflict. For example, what happens if you value both honesty and success

and they come into conflict? Are you willing to forgo financial success in order to

be completely honest with customers or suppliers? Next, if you’re working, think

about the values of your organization and how those are prioritized. Are there

serious conflicts between your personal values and the organization’s values?

Finally, list those values that you would choose to serve as the basis for business

dealings in an ideal society.