Business law essay questions

MAKE SURE TO ADD ALL CITING AT THE END OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS AS WELL.

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1-4 : Essay questions with citing.

make sure when the question ask for your opinion, you should say, “after my study of textbook, page # or following site/s, I think, I believe”. In business I feel, I think does not have any place.

1. The Senate recently released a report on wrongdoing at JP Morgan Chase. It found that bank executives lied to investors and the public. Also, traders, with the knowledge of top management, changed risk limits to facilitate more trading and then violated even these higher limits. Executives revalued the bank’s investment portfolio to reduce apparent losses. JP Morgan’s internal investigation failed to find this wrongdoing. Into what ethics traps did these JP Morgan employees fall? What options did the executives and traders have for dealing with this wrongdoing？

2. Located in Bath, Maine, Bath Iron Works builds high tech warships for the Navy. Winning Navy contracts is crucial to the company’s success—it means jobs for the community and profits for the shareholders. Navy officials held a meeting at Bath’s offices with its executives and those of a competitor to review the specs for an upcoming bid. Both companies desperately wanted to win the contract. After the meeting, a Bath worker realized that one of the Navy officials had left a folder on a chair labeled: “Business Sensitive.” It contained information about the competitors’ bid that would be a huge advantage to Bath. William Haggett, the Bath CEO, was notified about the file just as he was walking out the door to give a luncheon speech. What should he do? What pitfalls did he face? What result if he considered Mill, Kant, or the Front Page test?

3. A group of medical schools conducted a study on very premature babies—those born between 24 and 27 weeks of gestation (instead of the normal 40 weeks). These children face a high risk of blindness and death. The goal of the study was to determine which level of oxygen in a baby’s incubator produced the best results. Before enrolling families in the study, the investigators did not tell them that being in the study could increase their child’s risk of blindness or death. The study made some important discoveries: the level at which too much oxygen increased the risk of blindness and level at which too little increased the risk of death. What would Mill and Kant say about this decision not to tell the families?

4. Because Raina processes payroll at her company, she knows how much everyone earns, including the top executives. This information could make for some good gossip, but she has kept it all completely secret. She just found out, however, that her boss knew that it is against company policy for her to do payroll for C-level employees. Yesterday, the CEO went to her boss to confirm that he, the boss, was personally doing the processing for top management. Her boss lied to the CEO and said that he was. Then he begged Raina not to tell the truth if the CEO checked with her. Raina just got a message that the CEO wants to see her. What does she say if he asks about the payroll?

5. YOU BE THE JUDGE WRITING PROBLEM Scott Fane was a CPA licensed to practice in New Jersey and Florida. He built his New Jersey practice by making unsolicited phone calls to executives. When he moved to Florida, the Board of Accountancy there prohibited him (and all CPAs) from personally soliciting new business. Fane sued. Does the First Amendment force Florida to forgo foreclosing Fane’s phoning? Argument for Fane: The Florida regulation violates the First Amendment, which protects commercial speech. Fane was not saying anything false or misleading, but was just trying to secure business. This is an unreasonable regulation, designed to keep newcomers out of the marketplace and maintain steady business and high prices for established CPAs. Argument for the Florida Board of Accountancy: Commercial speech deserves—and gets—a lower level of protection than other speech. This regulation is a reasonable method of ensuring that the level of CPA work in our state remains high. CPAs who personally solicit clients are obviously in need of business. They are more likely to bend legal and ethical rules to obtain clients and keep them happy, and will lower the standards throughout the state.

6. President George H. W. Bush insisted that he had the power to send American troops into combat in the Middle East, without congressional assent. Yet before authorizing force in Operation Desert Storm, he secured congressional authorization. President Bill Clinton statedthathe was preparedtoinvade Haitiwithout a congressionalvote.Yethe bargained hard to avoid an invasion, and ultimately American troops entered without the use of force. Why the seeming doubletalk by both Presidents?

7. In the landmark 1965 case ofGriswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court examined a Connecticut statute that made it a crime for any person to use contraception. The majority declared the law an unconstitutional violation of the right of privacy. Justice Black dissented, saying, “I do not to any extent whatever base my view that this Connecticut law is constitutional on a belief that the law is wise or that its policy is a good one. [It] is every bit as offensive to me as it is to the majority. [There is no criticism by the majority of this law] to which I cannot subscribe—except their conclusion that the evil qualities they see in the law make it unconstitutional.” What legal doctrines are involved here? Why did Justice Black distinguish between his personal views on the statute and the power of the Court to overturn it?

Gilleo opposed American participation in the war in the Persian Gulf. She displayed a large sign on her front lawn that read, “Say No to War in the Persian Gulf, Call Congress Now.” The city of Ladue prohibited signs on front lawns and Gilleo sued. The city claimed that it was regulating “time, place, and manner.” Explain that statement, and decide who should win.

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Ethics: How people ought to act
What is the role of business in society?
Managers should make the company as profitable for shareholders as possible
OR
Managers have an obligation to all stakeholders
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Society as a whole benefits from ethical behavior
People feel better when they behave ethically
Unethical behavior can be very costly
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Utilitarian ethics
Utilitarianism – Written by Englishman John Stuart Mill
Correct decision – To maximize overall happiness and minimize overall pain
Examples – Risk management and cost-benefit analyses
Difficult to measure utility and predict benefit and harm accurately
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Deontological ethics
Deontological: Greek word for obligatory
Duty to do the right thing regardless of the result
Kant’s categorical imperative: An act is only ethical if it would be acceptable for everyone to do the same thing
No decision that treats people as commodities can be considered just

©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Rawlsian justice
Veil of ignorance: Set up a societal system without knowing whether we would personally be one of its winners or losers
Type of society to be set up:
Design a society that provided basic freedoms to everyone
Apply the difference principle
Difference principle: Rawls’ suggestion that society should reward behavior that provides the most benefit to the community as a whole

Money
Can contribute to happiness
Higher income levels actually reduce the ability to appreciate small pleasures
Way of keeping score
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Rationalization
More creative people tend to be less ethical
Better at rationalizing their bad behavior
Conformity
Following orders
Fear of punishment
Belief in authority figures
Ability to rationalize

Euphemisms
In making ethical decisions, it is important to use accurate terminology
Lost in a crowd
In a group:
People are less likely to take responsibility, assuming that someone else will
In a business
Tempting to go with the flow rather than protest the wrongdoing

Intentional deception is tolerated
Consequences can be severe
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Within an organization, every employee has a responsibility to himself or herself to behave ethically
To society
Must avoid doing harm to people or the planet
To its employees
Cannot be successful without good workers
Employees should be treated well
Outsourcing – Cutting jobs at home and relocating operations to another country

To its customers
Treating customers well increases profits and helps shareholders
To overseas contract worker
Higher productivity leads to higher wages
In China – Employees want to work even longer hours to earn more money
Taiwan and South Korea welcomed sweatshops
Companies argue that higher wages lead to increased prices
Drive away customers
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Loyalty – pick your battles
Exit – one option is to choose to leave in the face of unacceptable, unethical behavior
Voice – the other option is to speak out and seek to change unethical behavior
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

CSR: The idea that companies have an obligation to contribute positively to the world
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Constitutional Law

One in a million
Constitution of the United States is the greatest legal document in our legal system
Drafted in 1787, still successful today
No law can conflict with it
Short and easy to read
Permitted interpretation
Versatility

First nation in modern history founded on the idea that:
People could govern themselves democratically
States were governing themselves under the Articles of Confederation – Gave the central government no real power
Framers set out to draft a new document and to create a government
The Constitution is a series of compromises about power

Separation of powers
One method of limiting power:
Create a national government divided into three branches
Executive, legislative, and judicial
Each independent and equal
Individual rights
Bill of rights – First 10 amendments were added to the Constitution

Congressional power
Members create statutes that influence jobs
Article I, section 8 – Lists the 18 types of statutes that Congress is allowed to pass
National government may create currency
Commerce clause: Part of Article I, Section 8, that gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among states

Interstate commerce
Power to bring coordination and fairness to trade among the states
Stop the states from imposing the taxes and regulations that were wrecking the nation’s domestic trade
Substantial effect rule
Congress may regulate any activity that has a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce

Current application: The Affordable Healthcare Act
May result in as many as 30 million uninsured Americans gaining health care coverage
State legislative power
Dormant aspect holds that a state statute which discriminates against interstate commerce is almost always unconstitutional

Supremacy clause: Constitution, and federal statutes and treaties, shall be the supreme law of the land
Conflict between federal and state statutes – Federal law preempts the field
No conflict – Congress demonstrates that it intends to exercise exclusive control over an issue, federal law preempts

Executive power
Article II of the Constitution defines executive power
President’s basic function is to enforce the nation’s laws
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Three of the president’s key powers
Appointment – Administrative agencies play a role in business regulation
President nominates the heads
Legislation – The president and his advisors can propose bills to Congress and the president can veto bills from Congress
Foreign policy – President:
Conducts the nation’s foreign affairs
Coordinates international efforts
Negotiates treaties
Heads the military
May not declare war
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Judicial power
Article III of the Constitution
Creates the Supreme Court
Permits Congress to establish lower courts within the federal court system
Federal courts have two key functions
Adjudicating cases – Federal court system hears criminal and civil cases
Judicial review – Power of federal courts to declare a statute or governmental action unconstitutional and void

Judicial review-refers to the power of federal courts to declare a statute or governmental action unconstitutional
Judicial activism: A court’s willingness to decide issues on constitutional grounds
Judicial restraint: A court’s attitude that it should leave law-making to legislators
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
©2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Constitutional rights protect only against governmental acts
Incorporation: Rights explicitly guaranteed at one level are incorporated into rights that apply at other levels

Political speech
Protected unless it is intended and likely to create imminent lawless action
Government may regulate the time, place, and manner of protected speech
Morality and obscenity
Obscenity has never received constitutional protection

Commercial speech: Communication that has the dominant theme of proposing a business transaction
Government may regulate commercial speech:
Provided that the rules are reasonable and directed to a legitimate goal

Procedural due process: Government must go through procedures to ensure that the result is fair
Steps in analyzing a procedural due process
Is the government attempting to take liberty or property?
How much process is due?
Neutral fact-finder
Attachment of property
Government employment
Academic suspension

The Takings Clause: When the government takes property for public use, it has to pay a fair price
Eminent domain: The power of the government to take private property for public use
Substantive due process: Some rights are so fundamental that the government may not take them from us at all

Equal protection clause: Requires the government to treat people equally

Classifications
Minimal scrutiny: Economic and social regulation
Government actions that classify people or corporations on these bases are almost always upheld
Intermediate scrutiny: Gender
Government classifications are sometimes upheld
Strict scrutiny: Race, ethnicity, and fundamental rights
Classifications based on any of these are almost never upheld

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