LEONARD N. STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Syllabus: Professional Responsibility
2014, Three Sundays in October and November
COR2-GB.3101.00
Class Dates and Meeting Times:
Days
Sunday
Sunday
Sunday
Dates
October 26th
November 2nd
November 9th
Meeting Times
9 AM - 4 PM
9 AM - 4 PM
9 AM - 4 PM
Classroom Number: XXX
Professor’s Information: Dr. Kenneth S. Bigel
Office:
Office Hours:
e-mail:
Cell:
Tisch 4-27
Right before or after class; during lunch; and by appointment
kbigel@stern.nyu.edu - or - kb13@nyu.edu
917.734.9199 (with discretion)
Teaching Fellow’s Information: Brian Gavin
E-mail:
Cell:
BG1241@stern.nyu.edu
609.280.4727 (with discretion)
Other Information:
Web-site Assistance
Secretary
Prof. Rachel Kowal
Ms. Autherine Allison
rkowal@stern.nyu.edu
aallison@stern.nyu.edu
Course Objectives
The bulk of one’s management education consists of a “perfect markets” focus. The
purpose of this course is to introduce the student to a broad range of market imperfections
and “non-market” issues, which may be encountered by managers and business
professionals, and, accordingly, to help students, first, develop a high-level of awareness
and sensitivity to such issues, and, next, acquire a set of analytical perspectives for
making executive judgments when such, often highly critical, issues arise.
In economics, many of these issues can be described as “market failures.” In this context,
we will examine the roles of ethical norms and reasoning in resolving such failures in
managerial life, and in establishing standards of “professional responsibility.” To a
limited extent, we will also illustrate how the legal system is used to redress certain
failures of the market economy.
Operationally, the student in this course will exercise and exhibit professional judgment
through class discussion and written analyses. Most such exercises will require the
analysis of conceptual essays and case studies, as indicated on the attached schedule of
class assignments. As part of this, we will study writings in the fields of ethical
reasoning, professional responsibility, and the law.
Why Study Professional Responsibility?
1) You learn about the variety of traps that lure businesspeople into ethical lapses and
criminal behaviors. These lapses often ruin people’s careers, destroy their companies, and
bring shame to their families, their associates, and the business community.
2) You learn enough moral psychology to understand why even well-meaning
professionals like you get lured into such traps.
3) You learn about your own values and motives, which can help you avoid such traps.
4) You learn how to design a company or team that will be less subject to disastrous
ethical lapses.
5) You commit yourself to a standard of professional conduct (“professionalism”) that
will bring honor to yourself, your company, your family, your associates, and the
business community.
Course-Pak
All required cases and readings for this course are located on Your Professor’s
Blackboard Page under the “Documents” link. Most of the course readings are free
EXCEPT FOR 11 readings which the student may need to purchase from Xanedu.
Placing an Online Order for the Xanedu material:
Students can purchase the Xanedu readings by searching the NYU bookstore website: https://www.bookstores.nyu.edu/WKSCRIPTS3/wkf?BEGIN.ORDER.PROCESS
with either their NYU Id# or the course number. The ISBN for October/November 2014
is # 978200008139B. Proceed to Checkout and complete your order. After completing
your order you will receive an email with your access code and instructions regarding
accessing the course-pack.
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If you encounter any problems, contact rkowal@stern.nyu.edu.
Preparation for and Participation in the Class (Very Important!)
Class sessions consist of study modules or “sessions.” Each study module contains
readings and study questions. A primary obligation of this course is to prepare for class
discussion via a thorough reading and analysis of the assigned materials. Remember: this
is a discussion course, and not a series of lectures. To reiterate: you must conduct the
readings prior to coming to class. Please bring your handwritten notes with you to the
class.
Case discussions and in-class activities are essential components of the course. The
professor will request students to volunteer their views and may also cold-call students to
discuss the readings, present essential facts, and discuss related ethical questions and
issues that shall arise in the classroom. Your responses to questions, your asking further
questions, volunteering opinions, and any other means of positive participation will serve
as bases for “participation credit.” No matter how good your written submissions may
be, a lack of participation, or “negative participation,” will result in a lowered final grade.
It is understood that there are many readings. It is expected that you “substantially”
conduct readings in as many as possible, which is to say, not necessary all. You must
read all “course concepts” articles, and at least one case from each session. Again,
be prepared to speak when called upon, and bring your notes to class. If you have
not prepared a particular case reading and are asked to discuss it, just say that you
did not prepare that one, and then volunteer to discuss another reading from that
same session.
Grading
The approximate weights for the student’s overall grade are:
Class Observable Professionalism (as discussed above)
Homework: Three Written Study Question Analyses
Term Paper Project (see below)
33%
33%
34%
Attendance
Attendance is absolutely mandatory. You will be asked to sign in at each session; it is
your responsibility to ensure that you receive and sign the attendance sheet. If you do not
sign in, you will be marked “absent,” even though you have, in fact, been in attendance.
“Being in attendance” means being present for the entire session; you are expected to
arrive on time and not to leave early. Absences may (severely) negatively affect your
final grade. If you anticipate missing one entire day (out of just three) you must reregister for another section.
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If you must be absent to observe a religious holiday, for health, or any other reason,
please tell your professor in advance. As noted above, you will be awarded participation
credit and you must earn it.
Course Requirements / Etiquette
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Attendance is mandatory.
You must arrive to class on time.
Do not leave the classroom while in session – unless you absolutely must. There
will be breaks.
You must bring a name plate and display it at your seat.
Participation is mandatory.
Prepare to be cold-called.
In general, students are expected to conduct themselves toward one another, and
toward the teaching fellow and professor with civility, respect, and
professionalism at all times.
o No cell phones, laptop computers, texting, or any electronic devices.
o No sleeping in class.
o No reading of materials in class that are external to the class.
o No chit-chat.
o No monopolization of classroom discussion.
You must submit three homework assignments.
You must submit a “final” term assignment.
Any questions that come up of an administrative or similar nature should be
addressed – pro-actively – either to the teaching fellow or to the professor.
Failure to abide by any of the foregoing may result, at the professor’s
discretion, in a penalty to one’s final grade, failure, and/or other academic
consequences.
Homework Assignments
Each student is responsible for handing in a total of 3 written homework assignments.
Each homework assignment consists of a 2-3 page (maximum) double-spaced analysis of
ONE “study question” of your choice from one of the study module(s) for the relevant
“sessions.” In general, please keep in mind the following criteria in writing your
homework assignments:
1. Be sure to apply course concepts and ethical (or legal) frameworks to the
question you are analyzing. Don't just mention these concepts, but provide some
thought and depth.
2. Remember that ethical dilemmas are never black and white, so make your
argument, clearly enunciate your position, but also state and analyze
counterarguments.
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3. In general, clear writing is essential. A strong intro paragraph, followed by the
body (including the points noted above), then a wrap-up with a solid conclusion
are essential.
The homework and final submissions should be double-spaced, and bear a proper
heading or cover page including name and date. Number your pages. The preferred font
is Times New Roman (i.e., the same as this syllabus), 12 points (not less!).
Due dates for homework assignments
We are operating on a very tight schedule, so try to plan for the submissions. All
assignments shall be due by 11:59 PM on the stated dates. Each home-work assignment
is due on the evening before the next class date. The “final” assignment shall be due one
week after the last class.
Should class dynamics necessitate any changes in the schedule, the teaching fellow
and/or your professor will communicate such changes. To summarize, as it now stands:
Assignment
#1
#2
#3
Final
Due Date
10/25
11/1
11/8
11/16
Sessions
# 1-4
# 5-8
# 9-12
Please note that late submissions will be penalized by a notch for every day that they are
late. The teaching fellow will administer the collection and grading of the homework
submissions. Homework-related questions should be directed to the Teaching Fellow,
Brian Gavin.
Students are required to name their file in the following format: Last Name, First
Name_ HW#. To eliminate any potential confusion, students are also required to list the
question being answered at the top of their homeworks.
The homeworks will gauge the student’s understanding of the course concepts and how
they apply to everyday business situations. It is imperative to state points clearly, back
up your arguments, and include course concepts and logic.
If there are any issues uploading your files to NYU Classes / Blackboard, please email
Brian Gavin, our teaching fellow, immediately. Further administrative instructions, if
necessary, will be provided in class or by e-mail by your professor.
Final Paper Requirement
Students should start work on this as soon as possible. The professor will grade the final
assignment. The final paper shall be due one week after the last day of class. The final
paper will be submitted to the professor directly to his e-mail address as an attachment.
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The purpose of this paper is to allow the student to apply principles of professional
responsibility to an actual, specific business situation. The student will describe a
situation with which he or she has first-hand familiarity. The student may have been a
major or minor actor in the situation, or may have merely witnessed the situation. In any
event, the requirements are that the situation raises ethical or legal issues about which a
decision (or decisions) must be rendered, and that the student was there, either directly or
indirectly, as an observer. In this assignment, if not in reality, the student will take it
upon him/herself to render a clear, actionable decision. You cannot “sit on the fence.”
As the semester progresses, much more detail will be provided about the structure and
content of this assignment. Essentially, you must organize the term paper along the
following lines and must include the following, or similar, headings (more or less):
Final Paper Structure and Contents
I. Situation
Provide a description of the situation; the description must be detailed and rich enough to
allow the reader to get a clear sense of the issues and fact-based circumstances. Avoid
“story-telling.” Stay with the key, most relevant facts.
II. Analysis
The phrase, “issues,” refers to matters of which the course modules are representative,
e.g., conflicts of interest, whistle-blowing, truth and disclosure, discrimination,
intellectual property, privacy, etc. After having stated the key facts in the first section
(above), frame the facts articulated as “issues,” and, using ethical models (e.g.,
Teleology, Deontology, etc.), finally, render positive and/or negative ethical views
(“valences”) concerning the numerous matters at hand. In the end, add it all up, and put it
together into one actionable decision, red or green, so to speak.
In the end, you must specify a morally-based recommended course of action. You may
have a complex situation with multiple ethical rationales, which operationally conflict
with one another. In this context, you must suggest some bottom-line oriented ethical
calculus, and provide for a unique, even if imperfect, course of action. Here, to be sure,
the student should apply, wherever appropriate, concepts from the course and its
readings. Also, the student should cite any relevant law.
III. Summary and/or Conclusion
Describe how the situation was or should be resolved. Discuss this resolution in light of
the ethical analysis from section II.
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Term Paper Grading
This assignment is graded based upon how analytically, systematically and thoroughly
the student applies relevant concepts and methods from the course to the situation, in
testing the worth of those concepts and methods in resolving the ethical issues it presents,
and in the clarity and cogency of his/her final position.
Confidentiality
The contents of the term assignment that you submit are held in strict confidence. The
term papers (but not the homework submissions) are not read by anyone other than the
professor, and are not disseminated in any fashion to other persons.
Due Date of Final Assignment
Again, final papers are due, in hard copy, approximately one week after the last session,
as noted above. Please submit your final paper to the professor by way of
attachment to his e-mail address: kb13@nyu.edu.
General length and appearance of the final paper:
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Appropriate cover page;
7-page maximum (may be less - if you think you can get the job done);
Numbered pages;
Typed and double-spaced;
Times New Roman (preferred) font; 12 points.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
TOPICS & ASSIGNMENTS
Note:
It is essential that you prepare the readings, and take notes prior to coming to class, which
you should bring to classroom. Remember, laptops and electronic devices are
impermissible, so please print out any readings and notes that you feel you will wish to
use in the classroom. Expect to be cold-called.
Session #1: October 26th, morning
MARKET FAILURES & PROFESSIONAL DILEMMAS
READINGS
Economic Theories of
Regulation: Normative vs.
Positive
Making an Ethical
Decision
The Invisible Hand:
Trumped by Darwin?
The Price of Lobster
Thermidor
Pollution Case Highlights
Trend to Let Employees
Take the Rap.
Linda N. Edwards &
Franklin R. Edwards
Course Concepts
(market failure)
Terry Halbert & Elaine
Ingulli
Robert H. Frank
Course Concepts
(ethical theories)
Course Concepts
(ethical theories)
Moral Standards Across
Borders
Control By Law
The Economist
Dean Starkman
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Based on the Edwards article, which market failures or imperfections are present in the
“Lobster Thermidor” and the “Pollution” cases? Enumerate each one and explain.
2. Based on the Halbert & Ingulli reading, identify at least one market failure related to your
employment situation and apply the methods of ethical reasoning to this market failure.
3. Why do market failures tend to bring about laws or regulations to counter their effects?
4. How might ethical methodology help an executive or legislator to make more effective
decisions in the presence of market imperfections?
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Session # 2: October 26th, morning
TRUTH & DISCLOSURE
READINGS
Bluffing
Jim T. Priest
Bitter Pill
Ralph T. King, Jr
Familiar Refrain:
Consultant’s Advice on
Diversity was Anything
but Diverse
Today’s Analyst Often
Wears Two Hats
Doctors Paid to Prescribe
Generic Pills
Douglas A. Blackmon
Course Concepts
(business bluffing)
Truth & Disclosure
(“Truth”)
“Truth”
Roger Lowenstein
“Truth”
Vanessa Fuhrmans
“Truth”
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Would a “Bluffer” (Priest) voice any objections to the (i) corporate actions of Boots
described in “Bitter Pill” and (ii) Towers Perrin in the “Familiar Refrain” case? Do
you agree with Priest? Can you identify any market failures in “Bitter Pill” and
“Familiar Refrain”?
2. What are the conflicts, issues, and relevant ethical frameworks pertinent to the
“Today’s Analyst” case? What is your position? How would you assess the situation
and what would you do?
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Session # 3: October 26th, afternoon
GIFTS, SIDE DEALS & CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
READINGS
Neutral Omni-Partial Rule
Making
Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act ("FCPA"). A LayPerson's Guide to the
FCPA
Buynow Stores
Roger Berg
Wall Street and the
Nursery School
Ronald M. Green
--Bruce Buchanan
Ronald M. Green
Gretchen Morgenson & Pat
McGeehan
Course Concepts
Gifts, Side Deals &
Conflicts of Interest
(“Gifts”)
Gifts
Gifts
Gifts
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Make a list of all the gift practices described in Buynow Stores. In your judgment,
which of these, if any, are inappropriate? Use ethical concepts and methods from the
Green, Halbert/Ingulli, and possibly other readings to support your position.
2. Do the Roger Berg and Wall Street Nursery School cases differ materially from
Buynow Stores? Use ethical concepts and methods from the Green and Halbert/Ingulli
readings to support your position.
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Session # 4: October 26th, afternoon
AGENCY & FIDUCIARY DUTY
READINGS
Disloyal Agents
David Cavers
The Hazard of Moral
Hazard
Quality Department Stores
Plasma International
Do Business Schools
Incubate Criminals,
Bloomberg, July 16, 2012
James K. Glassman
(Commentary Magazine)
Lawrence Zicklin
TW. Zimmer & P.L.Preston
This is an optional reading.
Agency & Fiduciary Duty
(“Fiduciary Duty”)
Course Concepts
(Please Google this!)
Fiduciary Duty
Fiduciary Duty
Fiduciary Duty
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Sketch out the relationships between parties described or implied in the case
“Quality Department Stores” Given your analysis, how should the investment manager
vote?
2. Which fiduciary duties might be at issue in “Plasma International”? Is Sol Levin
(“Plasma”) acting properly in terms of shareholder interests and ethical standards?
3. Where in your experience, or in recent corporate history, have you encountered “moral
hazard”? How did it change you or those involved?
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Session # 5: November 2nd, morning
WHISTLE BLOWING & LOYALTY
READINGS
The Return of Qui Tam
Aircraft Brake Scandal
He Told. He Suffered.
Now He’s a Hero
Seeing Red How ExAccountant Added Up To
Trouble for Humbled
Xerox
Moment of Truth: A
Whistleblower’s Dilemma
in the Financial Services
Industry
Blackboard Purple Tab
Priscilla R. Budeiri
Whistle Blowing
Kermit Vandivier
Whistle Blowing
Kurt Eichenwald
Whistle Blowing
James Bandler & Mark
Maremont
Whistle Blowing
Donald Schepers &
Harry Rosen
Whistle Blowing
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Consider the position of Searle Lawson in the “Aircraft Brake Scandal” case.
what point, if any, should he have blown the whistle to someone “outside”?
At
2. Mark Jorgeson (“He Told He Suffered” - Prudential) and James Bingham (“How ExAccountant” - Xerox) worked at major corporations where they tried to bring truthful
accounting numbers to the attention of top management and investors. What personal
risks did they run? How did the outcomes of their cases reflect their different
approaches to whistle blowing?
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Session # 6 (two parts): November 2nd, morning
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
READINGS
Corporate Liability
Exposure and the Potential
Risk of Individual Director
Liability
Our Schizophrenic
Conception of the Business
Corporation
Bankers Reaped Lavish
Bonuses During Bailouts
Amy Onder and Adam J
Siegelheim
Board of Directors
(“Directors”)
(business judgment rule)
William T. Allen
Course Concepts
Louise Story & Eric Dash
Directors
STUDY QUESTIONS:
1. Lay out the nuances and risks relative to the Business Judgment Rule. Provide a practical
example.
2. The nature of a corporation has been defined, in a way, by Allen (“Schizophrenic
Conception”). Is this the way in which you view the corporation? Given the recent the crisis
in corporate governance, do you think the world agrees?
INSIDER TRADING
READINGS
What is Insider Trading?
http://www.sec.gov/answers/
insider.htm
Insider Trading
Note: this reading is lengthy; you may de-emphasize the latter sections concerning the European
Community, Civil vs. Criminal Prohibitions, and Cooperation Among International Authorities.
Choose one of the following cases.
(An Accountant’s) Small
Tom L. Beauchamp
Insider Trading
Time Insider Trading
Raymond Dirks and Equity Roy C. Smith
Insider Trading
Funding of America
Martha Stewart
Roy C. Smith
Insider Trading
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Should the accountant trade on the information he has obtained from Wolff (“Accountant’s Small
Time”)? Use legal theories of insider trading as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission
(“What is Insider Trading?”) and ethical concepts to support your position.
2.
Why was Dirks reprimanded by the SEC but ultimately exonerated by the Supreme Court? How does
fiduciary responsibility come into play? Use legal and ethical concepts to support your position.
3.
What did Martha Stewart do wrong in terms of insider trading? How did they “get” her?
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Session # 7: November 2nd, afternoon
CONTROL BY LAW
READINGS
Living with the
Jeffrey Kaplan, Linda S.
Organizational Sentencing Dakin, Melinda R. Smolin
Guidelines
Pollution Case Highlights Trend To Let Employees Take
the Rap
Former Galleon Trader and Govt Informant, Adam Smith,
Sentenced to Probation, Forbes, Walter Pavlo, June 26,
2012
Control By Law
Control By Law
Control By Law
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. How do you think the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (“Living with the Organizational Sentencing
Guidelines”) has changed corporate behavior?
2. Are the compliance costs of the U.S. sentencing guidelines justified? Would an ethics based approach
make implementation of compliance programs more effective (“The Convergence of Principle and RuleBased Ethics Programs”)?
3. Place the Goldman deal in the context of the sentencing guidelines, the evolution of corporate law, and
today’s ethical and economic contexts.
SALES AND MARKETING
READINGS
Blackboard Purple Tab
Choose one of the following two cases.
Investment
John C. Bogle
Sales & Marketing
Management: Business...
Or Profession…
West Virginia
Ingo Walter
Sales & Marketing
Consolidated Investment
Fund
Choose another one of the following two cases.
The Selling of Breast
Susan Orenstein
Sales & Marketing
Cancer
(Google this one)
Disorders Made to Order
Brendan I. Koerner
Sales & Marketing
STUDY QUESTIONS
1.
In what ways, if any, could we determine that pharmaceutical companies (“Disorders Made to Order”) are ethically responsible
for promoting new disorders in order to boost their profits?
2.
Are companies that support causes such as breast cancer (“Selling of Breast Cancer”) ethically responsible for the manner in
which they market their brand?
3.
In his article, “Investment Management: Business . . . or Profession,” John Bogle implies that much of the mutual fund business
is driven by moral hazards and fiduciary duty problems. Do you agree?
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Session # 8: November 2nd, afternoon
PRODUCT LIABILITY
READINGS
A.H. Robins: Dalkon
Shield
In Breast Implants Scandal,
Where Was Dow
Corning’s Concern for
Women?
Legal Myths: The
McDonald’s Hot Coffee
Case”
In BP’s Record, a History
of Boldness and Costly
Blunders
A. R. Gina & Terry Sullivan
Product Liability
Andrew W. Singer
Product Liability
The Public Citizen
Product Liability
Sarah Lyall
Product Liability
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Should A.H. Robins have introduced the Dalkon Shield when it did (“A.H. Robins”)?
What method of ethical reasoning seems most appropriate to this problem?
2. In your view, what was McDonald’s liability for selling “unreasonably dangerous”
coffee? Be specific and use moral (and ethical and other) reasoning in your argument.
3. What, if any, should be B.P.’s liability? Are there moral hazards present in this case?
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Session # 9: November 9th, morning
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TO STAKEHOLDERS
READINGS
The Social Responsibility
Milton Friedman
Social Responsibility
of Business is to Increase
Its Profits
Our Schizophrenic
William T. Allen
Course Concepts
Conception of the Business
Corporation
Restricted Reasons and
Arthur Isak Applbaum
Course Concepts
Permissible Violation
Choose two of the following cases
Toy Maker Faces Dilemma Joseph Pereira
Social Responsibility
as Water Gun Spurs
Violence
Bally’s Grand Casino, For Heidi Evans
Social Responsibility
Elaine Cohen, Is Her One
True Home
When Good Ethics Aren’t Jeffrey Seglin
Social Responsibility
Good Business
(The New York Times)
(Google this one)
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What advice would you give to the CEO of Larami Corp., manufacturer of the Super
Soaker (“Toymaker Faces Dilemma”)? Use ethical methods and concepts of fiduciary
duty to support your position.
2. If you were the manager of “Bally’s Grand Casino”, would you treat Elaine Cohen any
differently? What would Friedman (“Increase Profits”) or Allen (“Schizophrenic
Conception”) advise the manager to do? Use ethical methods and legal concepts to
support your position.
3. Does outsourcing labor and production violate one’s duty to stakeholders
(“Swaminomics”); and, who exactly are one’s stakeholders? How would Applbaum
(“Restricted Reasons & Permissible Violation”) judge these behaviors?
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Session # 10: November 9th, morning
DISCRIMINATION
READINGS
Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Bring up http://www.eeoc.gov
Discrimination
Foreign Assignment
Thomas Dunfee and Diana
Robertson
Michael Orey
Ann Zimmerman
Discrimination
Michael Powell
Discrimination
Fear of Firing
Can Employers Alter
Hiring Practices to Cut
Health Costs?
Bank Accused of Pushing
Mortgage Deals on Blacks
Discrimination
Discrimination
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. In the “Foreign Assignment” case, how would you judge the actions of Bill
Vitam? Use ethical concepts as well as the law, to justify your position. According to the
EEOC, can the bank (employer) be held liable for sexual harassment created by its
employees? Does the bank have any affirmative defenses according to the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (http://www.eeoc.gov)?
2. Is discouraging unhealthy job applicants a form of discrimination (“Can Employers
Alter Hiring Policies to Cut Health Costs?”)? What about avoiding hiring capable
applicants who fall within a “protected class” due to potential litigation costs (“Fear of
Firing”) or targeting certain racial groups with mortgage deals (“Bank Accused of
Pushing Mortgage Deals”)?
PRIVACY
READINGS
Monday 9:01 A.M.
Ronald Smithies
Blackboard Purple Tab
Privacy
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Is she “nuts” and should she be “fired”? Use ethical and legal concepts and methods to
justify your position. What would you do if someone showed you her wrists?
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Session # 11: November 9th, afternoon
TRADE SECRETS
READINGS
Rights in Employee
Inventions and Ideas
Protecting Trade Secrets:
Using ‘Inevitable
Misappropriation’…
Stockbroker’s Story
Fare Game
Corporate Spies: The Pizza
Plot
Catherine Fisk
Trade Secrets
Michael B. Carlinsky & Lara
Kreiger
Trade Secrets
Bruce Buchanan
William M. Carley
Adam Penenberg & Marc
Barry
Trade Secrets
Trade Secrets
Trade Secrets
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Are customer records, such as those described in “Stockbroker’s Story”, trade secrets
or do they belong to the departing broker? What criteria would Fisk (“Rights in
Employee Inventions”) apply in making this determination?
2. Which practices in “The Pizza Plot” do you judge to be inappropriate? What are your
criteria for saying so? Would Fisk (“Rights in Employee Inventions”) agree with you?
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Session # 12: November 9th, afternoon
MORAL STANDARDS ACROSS BORDERS
READINGS
United States Bill of
Rights
Dalai Lama: Human
Rights on the Eve of the
21st Century
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
The Oil Rig
In Praise of Cheap Labor:
Bad Jobs at Bad Wages…
Lives Held Cheap in
Bangladesh Sweatshops
Nobodies: Annals of Labor
http://www.usinfo.state.gov
Moral Standards
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Moral Standards
http://www.un.org
Moral Standards
Joanne B. Ciulla
Paul Krugman
Moral Standards
Moral Standards
Barry Bearak
Moral Standards
John Bowe
Moral Standards
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. According to the “United States Bill of Rights” and the “Universal Declaration of
Human Rights” have any basic human rights been violated in the “Oil Rig” case? Are the
ex-pats justified in getting better treatment than the Angolans?
2. Are sweatshops unethical according to Krugman (“In Praise of Cheap Labor”) or the
Dalai Lama?
3. Do human rights “exist”? If so, as the CEO of a corporation, how would you apply
these ideas to workers in Bangladesh (“Lives Held Cheap in Bangladesh Sweatshops”)?
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