Preface |
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xv | |
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1 An Overview of Business Ethics |
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1 | (9) |
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What are business ethics? |
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1 | (1) |
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What do ethics have to do with making money? |
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2 | (1) |
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How are business ethics different from general ethics? |
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3 | (2) |
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What does it mean to have an ethical duty? |
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5 | (1) |
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What types of fiduciary duties exist? |
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6 | (2) |
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To whom (or what) can businesspeople owe ethical duties? |
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8 | (1) |
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Why should I care about business ethics? |
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9 | (1) |
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2 The Benefits of Acting Ethically |
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10 | (20) |
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Being ethical sounds like hard work. What is the upside? |
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10 | (1) |
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Won't I be at a competitive disadvantage if I always act ethically? |
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11 | (3) |
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What are the material advantages of ethical action for individuals? |
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14 | (2) |
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What are the physical and psychological advantages of acting ethically for individuals? |
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16 | (2) |
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What if being ethical means that I make less money---won t that make me unhappy? |
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18 | (2) |
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What can I do to Increase the chances that my ethical behavior will be rewarded? |
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20 | (2) |
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How do organizations benefit when their employees and executives act ethically? |
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22 | (3) |
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How can organizations increase the chances that their ethical behavior will be rewarded? |
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25 | (2) |
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How do societies benefit when individuals and organizations act ethically? |
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27 | (3) |
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3 Moral Philosophical Bases for Business Ethics |
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30 | (14) |
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What are the major schools of philosophical ethical thought? |
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30 | (1) |
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What are the strengths and limits of virtue ethics, such as in Aristotle's writings? |
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31 | (2) |
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What are the strengths and limits of ethics-of-care rationales such as communitarianism? |
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33 | (2) |
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What are the strengths and limits of cost-benefit rationales such as utilitarianism? |
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35 | (2) |
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What are the strengths and limits of rights-and-duties rationales, such as Kant's categorical imperative? |
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37 | (3) |
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What are the strengths and limits of distributive-justice rationales, such as Rawls's principles? |
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40 | (2) |
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Where do the Golden Rule and other common maxims fit in? |
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42 | (2) |
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4 What Does Science Tell Us About Ethical Behavior? |
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44 | (15) |
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Are people innately ethical? |
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44 | (3) |
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How do people develop the capacity to be ethical? |
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47 | (2) |
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What sorts of pressures drive otherwise-ethical people to do unethical things? |
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49 | (2) |
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What sorts of social environments encourage ethical or unethical behavior? |
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51 | (2) |
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Why does "tone at the top" matter so much? |
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53 | (1) |
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How do ethical and unethical individuals influence others? |
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54 | (1) |
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How do incentive plans encourage ethical or unethical behavior? |
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54 | (1) |
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What does where you work say about you? |
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55 | (4) |
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5 Legal Foundations of Business Ethics |
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59 | (28) |
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What is the relationship between law and business ethics? |
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59 | (2) |
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What does it mean to owe a legal duty to a partner or other natural person? |
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61 | (4) |
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What does it mean to owe a legal duty to a corporation or other "legal person"? |
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65 | (3) |
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When do I have a duty of obedience? |
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68 | (2) |
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What does the duty of loyalty mean? |
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70 | (4) |
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When do I have a duty of good faith? |
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74 | (2) |
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When do I have a duty of care? |
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76 | (3) |
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What are duties of confidentiality? |
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79 | (3) |
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When do I have a duty not to lie? |
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82 | (1) |
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What are disclosure duties? |
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83 | (2) |
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Why should businesspeople act more ethically than the law requires? Isn't the law enough? |
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85 | (2) |
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6 Understanding Corporations, LLCs, and Other "Legal Persons" |
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87 | (39) |
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What is a corporation, LLC, or other "legal person"? |
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87 | (7) |
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What is the purpose of a corporation? |
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94 | (6) |
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What is the role of the board of directors? |
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100 | (3) |
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What are the roles of corporate officers and other employees? |
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103 | (2) |
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What is the relationship between the corporation and its shareholders? |
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105 | (5) |
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What can a controlling shareholder do? |
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110 | (2) |
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What is the business judgment rule and why does it matter? |
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112 | (3) |
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What kinds of conflicts of interests are common in corporations and how can they be addressed? |
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115 | (4) |
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What special rules apply to corporations? |
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119 | (4) |
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How can laws be enforced against a "legal person"? |
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123 | (3) |
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7 The Corporation as an Ethical "Person" in Modern Society |
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126 | (26) |
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What role should corporations play in modern society? |
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126 | (3) |
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Are corporate managers required to maximize shareholder value? |
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129 | (2) |
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What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)? |
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131 | (3) |
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Who are the stakeholders in a corporation? |
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134 | (1) |
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Why should corporations act in economic, socially, and environmentally sustainable ways? |
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135 | (4) |
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How should a corporation account for external costs? |
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139 | (2) |
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Why should a corporation want its actions to be transparent? |
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141 | (3) |
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How do sustainability, accountability, and transparency work together in CSR? |
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144 | (3) |
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What authorities have adopted CSR principles, and how are corporations accountable for CSR? |
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147 | (5) |
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8 The Costs of Acting Unethically |
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152 | (13) |
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What are the legal consequences to individuals for unethical business behavior? |
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152 | (2) |
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What are the reputational penalties to individuals for unethical behavior? |
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154 | (2) |
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What are the other consequences to individuals for unethical behavior? |
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156 | (1) |
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What are the legal consequences to organizations for unethical behavior? |
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157 | (3) |
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What are the reputational penalties to organizations for unethical behavior? |
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160 | (3) |
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What if I think that I won't be caught? |
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163 | (2) |
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9 Major Ethical Traps in Modern Business |
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165 | (20) |
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What are some of the most common unethical business behaviors? |
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165 | (1) |
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What patterns do common unethical business behaviors take? |
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166 | (1) |
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How are most unethical behaviors caught? |
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167 | (2) |
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What is the ethical slide? |
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169 | (4) |
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When are you crossing the line into your own ethical slide? |
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173 | (3) |
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How can I handle peer pressure and negative reaction to halting my ethical slide? |
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176 | (3) |
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How do I speak up when I need to challenge unethical behavior? |
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179 | (6) |
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10 Special Issues of Ethics in Leadership |
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185 | (18) |
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Do managers behave less ethically than other employees? |
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185 | (1) |
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186 | (1) |
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What is the effect of pressure to produce results as a manager? |
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187 | (3) |
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How do we deceive ourselves underpressure? |
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190 | (1) |
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How do ill-conceived goals, motivated blindness, and indirect blindness affect managers under pressure? |
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191 | (3) |
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What are the psychological effects of being in a management position itself? |
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194 | (2) |
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What are the consequences of retaining unethical managers in an organization? |
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196 | (2) |
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How can the difference in power between managers and subordinates affect the decisions that businesspeople make? |
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198 | (2) |
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How does business culture affect what ethical decisions businesspeople make? |
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200 | (2) |
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What can employees do to promote ethical environments without leadership support? |
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202 | (1) |
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203 | (15) |
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Why are there special ethical issues in negotiations? |
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203 | (2) |
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What is fraud in negotiations? |
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205 | (2) |
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When is it permissible to lie? |
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207 | (1) |
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When is it permissible to stay silent? |
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208 | (1) |
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What special responsibilities flow from power imbalances in negotiations? |
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209 | (1) |
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What are some special ethical issues in negotiating for someone else, such as a business? |
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210 | (1) |
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What are some special ethical issues in negotiating for a job? |
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211 | (3) |
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What are some special ethical issues in negotiating solely for price? |
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214 | (2) |
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How important are personal relationships in negotiations? |
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216 | (2) |
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12 Specific Liability Questions and Whistleblowing Options |
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218 | (38) |
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How should businesses report ethical violations? |
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218 | (3) |
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How should employees report ethical violations? |
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221 | (1) |
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What are some sources of rules, and who are the enforcement entities? |
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222 | (6) |
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What are some strategies for employee reporting? |
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228 | (5) |
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What are my options if reporting within my organization does not work? |
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233 | (5) |
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What are my options when I report to authorities? |
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238 | (2) |
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To what benefits am I entitled as a whistleblower? |
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240 | (5) |
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What protections will I have as a whistleblower? |
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245 | (7) |
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What else should I know about being a whistleblower? |
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252 | (4) |
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13 How to Institute Best Practices |
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256 | (35) |
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Why do business leaders need to create and promote ethical environments? |
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256 | (1) |
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What does an appropriate compliance and ethics program look like? |
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257 | (3) |
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What guidance has the DOJ given regarding Its interpretation of the Organizational Sentencing Guidelines? |
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260 | (1) |
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Fundamental question one: Is the corporation's compliance program well designed? |
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261 | (3) |
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Fundamental question two: Is the program being applied earnestly and in good faith? |
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264 | (2) |
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Fundamental question three: Does the corporation's compliance program work in practice? |
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266 | (3) |
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What is the value of the DOJ's approach? |
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269 | (1) |
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What are other principles and practices to create high-quality compliance and ethics programs? |
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269 | (1) |
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How does a company set realistic goals for its compliance and ethics program? |
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269 | (5) |
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How should companies use structural behavioral incentives such as nudges? |
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274 | (3) |
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What should an effective code of conduct or ethics include? |
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277 | (3) |
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What other elements should a comprehensive compliance and ethics program contain? |
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280 | (1) |
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What are the practices of the most effective compliance and ethics programs? |
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281 | (3) |
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Why does institutionalizing ethical practices matter? |
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284 | (7) |
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14 Designing an Ethical Culture |
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291 | (31) |
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Why does creating a "speak-up culture" matter? |
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291 | (3) |
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What can be done to better create and reinforce a "speak up culture"? |
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294 | (4) |
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Why does it matter to prevent retaliation against employees who report, and what are some ways to do this? |
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298 | (5) |
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What are the consequences of not addressing internal reports appropriately, and preventing retaliation? |
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303 | (1) |
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What are some specific, helpful ways to reduce retaliation within organizations? |
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303 | (1) |
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What are some problems that larger companies and supply-side companies face? |
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304 | (1) |
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Problem one What ethical challenges do large corporations face when their leaders are removed from front-line employees? |
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305 | (3) |
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Problem two What ethical challenges arise from high-level employees' opportunity and capability to commit fraud? |
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308 | (2) |
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Problem three What ethical challenges do supply-side companies face? |
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310 | (2) |
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What are some ideas for these organizations and others in crisis? |
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312 | (2) |
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What are some of the best compliance and ethics programs in businesses today? |
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314 | (7) |
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What are the lessons that businesses and individuals should learn from our discussion of compliance and ethics? |
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321 | (1) |
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15 How to Respond to Investigations and Protect Your Reputation |
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322 | (25) |
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How much benefit is there to the company from having a compliance and ethics program in place before an investigation? |
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322 | (1) |
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Understanding the narrative: Why does a prosecution's "theory of the case" matter? |
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323 | (3) |
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What does cooperating with a prosecution mean for a business? |
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326 | (3) |
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How, in brief, do businesses conduct internal investigations? |
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329 | (3) |
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What does cooperating with the prosecution mean for an employee? |
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332 | (6) |
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What are the steps of a prosecution? |
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338 | (4) |
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What happens to corporations and individuals who don't resolve allegations and investigations before trial? |
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342 | (2) |
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What lessons should businesses and individuals take away from this closing chapter and this book in general? |
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344 | (3) |
Appendix: Additional Resources And People You Can Reach Out To |
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347 | (18) |
Notes |
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365 | (112) |
Index |
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477 | |