August, 2019 | Homework Nest

approximately normally distributed with mean 1387 grams and standard deviation 161 grams.

What proportion of broilers weigh between 1100 and 1200 grams?

What is the probability that a randomly selected broiler weighs more than 1500 grams?

SHORT QUESTION (ESSAY / CASE STUDY / EXERCISE)
1. Read the two cases of Barbican Bank and Intermarket of Zimbabwe and answer the questions below
Barbican Bank (BB)
Barbican Bank was formed in the late 1990s at the height of a rush into the financial services sector by domestic investors. It was born out of an asset management company. The founder was a flamboyant businessman who was a public figure in the financial services sector. At formation the bank declared its focus would be the elite market. Its products were therefore targeted specifically at the top market. The bank also declared an intention to operate a very small branch network, no more than five branches. Barbican started experiencing liquidity problems in early 2003 and was placed under the curator in March 2003. Before being placed under the curator Barbican had been reporting fabulous profits most of them having come from non interest transactions. According to the Central Bank, Barbican ‘‘was experiencing serious liquidity problems as a result of imprudent banking behaviours. There was no clear separation between various related entities within the group which led to cross funding of operations and excessive risk taking among other shortcomings.’’ The Central Bank also noted that the bank was involved in ‘‘questionable cross-border foreign exchange activities.’’ The bank had shifted funds to South Africa from local operations with the object of establishing a new company in South Africa. During its operation the bank introduced the derivatives (junk bonds) market, which had been non-existent in the country’s financial sector. When liquidity problems besieged Barbican the Central Bank placed the banking division under the curator and the asset management company under liquidation. At the time of taking these measures the Central Bank had injected money into the bank as liquidity support but the bank appeared to be on a serious slide. The bank has since failed to repay on time the loan from the Central bank’s Troubled Bank Fund. On seeing his financial companies in difficulties, the Chief Executive (the founder) skipped the country. Despite problems in the home operations, the founding chief executive was trying to set up another financial services company in South Africa. During his tenure the Chief Executive is said to have been so dominant the board appeared clueless and powerless to restrain him. The bank has now been placed into
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PROGRAMME BACHELOR OF COMMERCE IN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
MODULE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 3F
TOTAL MARKS 20 MARKS
liquidation by the Central Bank. It will be amalgamated into a merger of liquidated banks to form a new bank.
Intermarket (IM)
The founder established Intermarket Holdings during the late 1990s through acquisitions. At the time of inset of financial distress, the founder owned 72 percent of Intermarket Holdings through an investment company called Transnational Holdings. Transnational Holdings comprised companies in banking and insurance among others. Its influence in the financial services sector was in every sphere. Intermarket Banking Corporation one of the subsidiaries of the holding company started showing signs of liquidity problems in early 2004. This was during the period of a cash crisis in the country. Much as all banking institutions were affected by the cash crisis, Intermarket appeared completely outstretched by the crisis. In March 2004 the bank was placed under the management of a curator by the Central Bank when it appeared it could not pay its creditors and depositors on demand. On investigation, the Central Bank discovered that the Executive Chairman had loaned himself Z$90 billion of depositors’ money and the insider loans were not being serviced. The Executive Chairman was said to have been so dominant he had the veto power on everything that took place in the corporation. Investigations by the appointed curator have led to a rise in the figure for insider loans to Z$174 billion. The Executive chairman fled the country when authorities appeared to point at him as the main contributor to financial distress in the institution. Intermarket has been trying to enter into partnership with other banking institutions, in order to shore up its capital, without much success. Instead Finhold, another Zimbabwean financial institution whose banking subsidiary is owed Z$100 billion is positioning itself to take over major shareholding in Intermarket Bank through a combination of cash and debt swap. Finhold’s strategy is an attempt to protect possible collapse of Intermarket since it is a major creditor. Intermarket has to raise its capital base to Z$10 billion before 30 September 2004 as per regulatory authority requirements. Fraud by some IM employees taking advantage of weak management systems has exacerbated financial distress in Intermarket. The curator has however opened the banking division for limited services to depositors.
a) The liquidity problems experience by Barbican Bank and Intermarket bank were as a result of poor risk management. Discuss? (6 marks)
b) Identify the speculative risk that was taken by Barbican Bank? (2 marks)
c) Lack of board independence inadvertently creates an epicentre for corporate governance failures. Discuss using the two cases and outline the ideal role of a board in corporate governance and risk management (4 marks)
Discuss the benefits of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)? (4 marks)
Discuss how an audit committee would have to test the effectiveness of the risk management arrangements in place? (4 marks)

The liquidity problems experience by Barbican Bank and Intermarket bank were as a result of poor risk management. Discuss?

Question 1
Explain how databases help ensure that organizations can maintain data integrity.
Your response should be at least 75 words in length.

Question 2

Compare how the data in transactional databases differs from that in data warehouses?

Your response should be at least 75 words in length.

Question 3
What is the relevance of data mining in organizations?

Your response should be at least 75 words in length.

Imagine that you are hired as a CIO of a quickly growing retail chain with an online presence. You have growing transactional databases but want to build a business intelligence infrastructure. You also have various departments within your company with databases such as marketing, customer service, accounts payable, sales, and accounts receivable. What would your proposed business intelligence infrastructure consist of? Justify your decisions.

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
6. Compare and contrast databases and database management.
6.1 Explain the importance of maintaining data for IT professionals in organizations.
6.2 Describe the capabilities of databases and database management in organizations.
6.3 Explain the principle technologies and their uses when accessing information from databases.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 6: Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management

Unit Lesson
Databases and Management
What do you think is an organization’s most important asset? Some people might argue that employees are the most important asset for any organization, while others would argue that an organization cannot function without its data. Imagine that an organization loses every server and database in its data centers. How would the business know which customers have ordered which products? How would they know what they currently have stocked in their warehouses? How would they know how much they paid for that product or how much they should charge for it going forward? How could they operate without any historical records at all? It would be like starting over as a completely new business, would it not?
Organizations have to be very protective of their data. As an additional point of complexity, organizations have to follow Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) laws, which require data to have integrity at a high level. This basically means that no one can touch a company’s data unless they have an expressed need for it and authorization to do so.
An organization’s data cannot have redundancy. Also, it must be consistent and have integrity. Integrity means that you are ensuring the quality of the data in your database. Integrity deals with the accuracy and reliability of the data. All of this is made possible by relational databases and database management systems (DBMS). Relational databases are designed to store data in a manner that will reduce redundancy and inconsistency. The word reduce is used here because the database engineer, or developer, has to make use of the rules and tools. Otherwise, there could be issues with bad data.
Consider the database as the foundation for business intelligence, data warehousing, and data mining. A DBMS includes the capabilities for organizing, managing, and accessing the data housed in the database (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). Information technology (IT) personnel can use queries and reports for accessing and manipulating that data. The design of the database should be such that it is normalized in order to enforce referential integrity. Data models should be created with relationships between columns in mind.
So, how is database data used for decision making? You may have had a database course before, or you may have had to pull data from a database at work. Your response may be just to query the data. However, doing that would just give you some data. How do you get the right data?
Let us assume you are trying to make decisions about what items to discount in one of your hundred company gas/markets. It would not be too hard to query the sales data from that store for the past hour. You might get a hundred transactions. What can you do with that information? What if you pull the information for the last week or month? You could get thousands to millions of rows of data. At what point do you have too much data to deal with in your database?
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MBA 5401, Management Information Systems 1
UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE
Databases, Information Management, and Business Intelligence
Data like this can be summarized as determining your sale of candy bars and UthNaItTyoxuSsTeUllDaYn GavUeIrDaEge of one hundred candy bars per day. But, how does that help you to make a decision about discounting candy bars?
What you need is a way to store the magnitudes of data in such a way that it is beneficial to the business.
What exactly is business intelligence? Now, go back to our previous example. Not only do you have one store to collect thousands of rows, but you have one hundred stores. There are millions of rows of records that are processed through your operational databases in a given month. You also want to collect data about pricing changes from the vendors and information about marketing trends. Then, you might want to collect information from external sources like your competitor data or demographic data.
How would you store this information? Well, you will store it in a data warehouse. Data warehouses are part of your business intelligence infrastructure. It is through this infrastructure that you can use tools like analytics and data mining to look for patterns in your data that you cannot see by just looking at query or report results.
The first analytical method is online analytical processing (OLAP), which allows the user to view data in different ways using different dimensions. This is commonly referred to as using a data cube. How could this be used for our example? Well, we could pull information on the best-selling candy bar, the average price, the day of the week that we sell the most, and the month of the year. Would that get us closer to knowing what kind of discount offers to put in our stores? Yes, but not close enough.
The next common analytical method is data mining. Data mining is more complex and looks for hidden patterns and relationships. Again, let’s apply this to our previous example. The results of our data mining could show us the best-selling candy bar, the average price, the day of the week, and the month that we sell the most candy bars. It may also tell us that the majority of the time that people buy candy bars is when they also buy a soda or coffee. Aha! Now, what can our marketing department do with that information? They can bundle products together and advertise them in the store windows and at the gas pumps: “Buy a soda and candy bar and get 50 cents off.”
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This is a simple example. Just imagine the rows of data that retailers like Amazon.com have stored in databases and data warehouses! Now, there are Web mining tools that help organizations understand customer’s Internet patterns, including which websites they frequent, what they buy, what they do not buy, and how long they spent on the websites. All of this is large data, and it is valuable data.
Organizations can make big decisions based on this data. They pay a huge amount of money to store and analyze the data that is collected. As an IT professional, it is your job to protect that data and to help ensure data quality and integrity. There are several concepts, other than the ones previously mentioned, that are also important to this field. The most important involve the need for organizations to set effective information policies and to have adequate data governance across the enterprise. We will cover more on these topics in a future lesson.
Reference
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm [VitalSource Bookshelf version] (14th ed.). Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133898309/
Suggested Reading
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The following article presents practical information from top financial executives regarding how they use business intelligence in support of corporate strategies. You are highly encouraged to view this article.
In order to access the resource below, you must first log into the myCSU Student Portal and access the Business Source Ultimate database within the CSU Online Library.
Morio, J. (2014). Linking business intelligence to strategy. Financial Executive, 30(4), 66-69.
MBA 5401, Management Information Systems 2
Title
Learning Activities (Nongraded)
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UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Complete the Management Decision Problem 6-8 on p. 247 in your textbook. Create a one page summary document addressing the question at the end of the problem. In addition to the textbook, you may use external sources or select sources from the CSU Online library. Be sure to reference and cite all sources used with proper APA formatting.
As this is a nongraded activity, this work cannot be uploaded to Blackboard. If you would like your professor’s feedback on your work, send this document to them in an email with a note that you would like to receive feedback on your non-graded activity.
MBA 5401, Management Information Systems 3

Question 5: Finance

For this assignment, you will take the role of a business owner. As the business owner, you will create a case study that includes two parts.
Part I
Describe the type of business you own.
What products and/or services does the business offer?
How long has the business existed?
What kind of community does the business serve?
Part II
You are in an evaluation (or reevaluation) of your business’s needs. You see that you will need to reach out to the following financial institutions to meet their needs: insurance companies, pension funds, and finance companies. Define what each of these financial institutions will offer your business.
What are the major differences between the three financial institutions?
How could each one meet a need in your business? What financial institutions do you finally settle on? What services or products will you use?
Your responses should be submitted in one document and follow APA formatting.
You should have a minimum of three pages of content, one title page, and one reference page for this assignment. Be sure to include two scholarly sources in addition to your textbook.

Health IT Breaking News Assignment

The ground underneath you in health care is changing hourly. As a manager, if you are not tapped into these changes, you will fall behind and not know of a new statute, regulation, or equipment. It is hard to do research every day, so why not have the information come to you?

For this assignment, you will review a minimum of five articles related to health IT and provide a summary of each. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds bring news to you.

You will start by reviewing RSS feeds and scanning for relevant articles. Scan the articles daily for IT news related to electronic health records, HIPAA violations and medical record case reviews, rule changes, ethics, e-prescribing, documentation, billing, security, health IT safety, and many other concepts.

Here are some potential RSS feed addresses to sign up for, but there are many others you may use:

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/rss
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/section/RSS
https://www.healthitoutcomes.com/doc/rss-0001
http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/content/rss-feeds
https://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/ (from Office of National Coordinator)

For this assignment, you will do the following:

Provide a cover page
Number your articles, and start with a reference in standard format to the article. Provide complete information, not just the URL.
Under each reference, provide a complete summary of the article. Do NOT cut and paste any of the article as part of your submission. ALL work must be your own writing.
Provide analysis. What does the article mean? How will this change things? In what way is this breaking news? Provide in-depth analysis. Superficial one-liner comments will not receive credit.
Double space your content

It is expected that you will have a minimum of two complete pages of content. If you do not, then you have chosen insignificant articles, or not provided meaningful analysis.
Question 7: Biology

postulate a reason why so many aliphatic amino acids are “essential”

Question 8: Accounting

Prepare a process documentation that is prepared in a professional manner because it will be the desktop guide used by others.

Question 9: Business

What problem does your business solve?
How does your business generate income?
Which parts of your business are not profitable?
Question 10: Computer Science

I need 3-page paper on
Implementing Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), write a research paper on how ERM is leveraged to minimize risk and create opportunity in your chosen industry. Be sure to provide specific examples.

You can Pick IT industry and do like

1. ERM and IT industry
2.How ERM leverage risk in IT
3.How ERM create opportunity in IT

Question 11: Business

How does the information technology development for video-based businesses differ from traditional businesses?

Question 12: Health Care

Management Plan Assignment

Setting up an EHR or comprehensive patient informatics system is not a one-time event. A person or a team of individuals must oversee getting new employees up to speed, maintain competence of existing employees, and make needed continuous changes to the system. It is a very dynamic process.

In this assignment, you are the head of a team implementing a new EHR system and must address the following areas. Use each one of the below items as a header, and describe how you would resolve issues in each area.

The Role of the Manager Implementing a New System. In this section of the paper, address the following issues related to implementing a new EHR system (10 points):

How the software selection process works
What contract negotiations should involve and include
What will be the role of the IT manager in the department
What role will a Strategic Planner take in the process
How will the system be financed?

Ongoing Maintenance and Upgrades to System. In this section of the paper you address the following issues that occur after the EHR system is up and running (10 points):
How will needed changes come about after the new system is up and running?
What will upgrades and new modules be added to the system?
How does the facility handle suggestions by staff that use the system?
How does the facility train new employees and provide ongoing training program for existing staff?

Use quality peer reviewed literature for each section to support each section and in-text citations. Write in third person only. It is expected this will be a minimum two pages. Have a complete reference page at the end (not just pasted URLs

Question 13: Health Care

Descriptive Analysis Assignment

Many useful sources of statistical data are available in the public domain on the internet. The United States Center for Disease Control, for example, provides online access to their WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) databases of public health data.

For this assignment, you will be using the ad-hoc query and reporting tools provided on this site to summarize cancer mortality rates. Choose a state, and then collect and present information that answers the following questions:
Did cancer deaths in your chosen state increase or decrease from year to year between 1999 and 2005?
How do the 2005 cancer deaths in your chosen state compare to 2005 cancer deaths in four other U.S. states? (You may choose any four states you want for the comparison.)?
How do the 2005 cancer deaths in that state break down according to race?

You can use any state you wish, just use the same state throughout.

To answer each question:

Use the “Request Form” to specify suitable query criteria to get a result set that best answers the question.
Supply a title that accurately describes the data you’re requesting. Submit the query.
Browse the result set and capture screen shots of the:
Result set, and paste it into the assignment document you will be submitting.
Query criteria (at the bottom of the results page) and paste it into the document
Generate a map or a chart to visually present your results. You can select whatever type of chart (e.g. bar chart, pie chart, line chart, map, etc.) you think most clearly presents the data.
Capture a screen shot of the chart and paste it into the assignment document you will be submitting

Watch the video instructions for using the WONDER database. If you need help capturing screenshots, you can get instructions for Windows and Macintosh. You MUST submit ALL of the screenshots described (3 screenshots per question, 9 total) to get credit for each question.

Step One: Select one of the following films to view based on the short descriptions provided below:
French-Language Films:
1. Intouchables (France, directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledo, released 2011): Story of a young black Frenchman who is hired to take care of a wealthy quadriplegic.
2. Amelie (France, directed by Jean-Pierre Jennet, released 2001): Story of a naive girl in Paris who has her own way of helping those around her.
3. L’auberge espagnole (France, directed by Cedric Klapisch, released 2002): Story of a group of European exchange students who shared an apartment in Barcelona, Spain.
German-language Films:
1. The Lives of Others (Germany, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, released 2006 ): Set in East Germany, it portrays the surveillance of a writer by the Stasi (state secret police).
2. The Edukators (Germany, directed by Hans Weingarten, released 2004): Set in reunified Germany in the early twenty-first century, it portrays some young people who develop a new form of protest against what they consider to be the evils of capitalism.
3. Run Lola Run (Germany, directed by Tom Tywer, released 1998)
Spanish-language Films:
1. The Skin I Live In (Spain, directed by Pedro Almodovar, released 2011): A thriller about a doctor who holds an apparently beautiful woman captive.
2. The Motorcycle Diaries (Argentina, directed by Brazilian director Walter Salles, released 2004): Narrates the life of the young Che Guevara who sets out on a road trip to discover the people of South America.
3. Amores Perros (Mexico, directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu, released 2000). A car accident in Mexico City connects the lives of three strangers who are struggling with the reality of daily life.

Step Two: After viewing the film, select a theme/topic addressed in the film that you would like to explore.
Step Three: Write a response to the film’s treatment of the theme or topic that you have selected. This should be in paragraph form, 2-3 pages. Refer to specific scenes, dialog, or images in the film that address your topic. Include questions that you have that you would like to explore further. Conclude your analysis with a restatement of the most important question that you would like to answer regarding the meaning of the film.
Step Four: Provide a tentative bibliography, USING ONLY SOURCES FROM THE MLA BIBLIOGRAPHY. Try to select the sources that match your topic most closely. Include at least 4 sources and utilize the MLA bibliography format.
Step Five:
1. Choose one secondary source from your bibliography to read, preferably an article directly related to the film you are exploring. Read the article carefully and summarize its argument in approximately one page (250-350 words).
2. State how the direction of your research project has changed since your first draft based on the secondary source you read. If you do not see any significant changes in your direction based on the secondary source, state why.

Step 6: Submit all of the above as a Word Document in the TurnItIn Assignment by no later than NOON EST on August 9th.
MAKE SURE YOU KEEP A COPY/FILE OF DRAFT ONE, SINCE DRAFT TWO WILL INVOLVE ADDING ON TO WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE IN DRAFT ONE.

You need to include an introduction, primary discussion, and summary. Include graphs, tables, and images, as necessary, to improve the clarity of your discussion. Your project needs to be both correct and well written. Communication remains a critical component of our modern, technological society. A few notes about format: you MUST use MS Word for your project and use Equation Editor for all mathematical symbols, e.g. 𝑧(𝑡) = sin(𝑡) + 1 ln(𝑡) . Problem 1: Consider the following Initial Value Problem (IVP) where 𝑦 is the dependent variable and 𝑡 is the independent variable: 𝑦 ′ = sin(𝑡) ∗ (1 − 𝑦) with 𝑦(0) = 𝑦0 and 𝑡 ≥ 0 Note: the analytic solution for this IVP is: 𝑦(𝑡) = 1 + (𝑦0 − 1)𝑒 cos(𝑡)−1
Part 1A:
Approximate the solution to the IVP using Euler’s method with the following conditions: Initial condition 𝑦0 = − 1 2 ; time step ℎ = 1 16 ; and time interval 𝑡 ∈ [0,20] + Derive the recursive formula for Euler’s method applied to this IVP + Plot the Euler’s method approximation + Plot the absolute error between the approximation and the exact solution using a semi-log plot
Part 1B:
Approximate the solution to the IVP using the Improved Euler’s method with the following conditions: Initial condition 𝑦0 = − 1 2 ; time step ℎ = 1 16 ; and time interval 𝑡 ∈ [0,20] + Derive the recursive formula for the Improved Euler’s method applied to this IVP + Plot the Improved Euler’s method approximation + Plot the absolute error between the approximation and the exact solution using a semilog plot
Part 1C:
Approximate the solution to the IVP using the RK4 method with the following conditions: Initial condition 𝑦0 = − 1 2 ; time step ℎ = 1 16 ; and time interval 𝑡 ∈ [0,20] + Plot the RK4 method approximation + Plot the absolute error between the approximation and the exact solution using a semilog plot
Problem 2: Consider the following Initial Value Problem (IVP) where 𝑦(𝑡) is the dependent function:
𝑦 ′ = 𝑦 − 𝑦 2 + 1.14 cos(𝑒 𝑡/2 ) with 𝑦(0) = 𝑦0 and 𝑡 ≥ 0

Part 2A:
Approximate the solution to the IVP using the Improved Euler’s method with the following conditions: Initial condition 𝑦0 = 1; time steps ℎ = 1 8 , 1 16 , 1 32 , 1 64 ; and time interval 𝑡 ∈ [0,20]
Plot the Improved Euler’s method approximation for all 4 time steps
Discuss the results of these approximations
Part 2B:
Approximate the solution to the IVP using the RK4 method with the following conditions:
Initial condition 𝑦0 = 1;
time steps ℎ = 1 8 , 1 16 , 1 32 , 1 64 ; and time interval 𝑡 ∈ [0,20]
Plot the RK4 approximation for all 4 time steps
Discuss the results of these approximations
Question 16: Business

Marketers rely heavily on demographics when purchasing media. IMC Perspective 10-1 (p. 350-351) talks about additional factors that may be important. Discuss some of these factors and why they might impact media usage. Explain and justify your viewpoints. (10 points)

Question 17: Biology

What is disease rating?

Question 18: Engineering

How to find the proportional limit of a reloaded bar

A 6.881-g sample containing magnesium chloride and sodium chloride was dissolved in sufficient water to give 500 mL of solution. Analysis for the chloride content of a 50.0-mL aliquot resulted in the formation of 0.5923 g of AgCl. The magnesium in a second 50.0-mL aliquot was precipitated as MgNH⁴PO⁴; on ignition, 0.1796 g of Mg²P²O⁷ was found. Calculate the % of MgCl²•6H²O and of NaCl on the sample.

Instruction
For this Signature Assignment, develop and present a proposal for your intended research using a quantitative design. While the most important elements in any proposal are the fundamentals of the problem, purpose, and research questions, the bulk of the assignment will be the methodology. You will want to organize this by subheadings. The actual headings and information that needs to be included in part depend on the method used to collect the data. In studies involving the collection of primary data, you want to be sure to include the details of your sampling plan, measurement of variables, the actual data collection procedure, plan of analysis, and justification for your decisions. Be sure to include the following information in your proposal: •Introduction •Statement of the Problem •Purpose Statement •Research Questions •Hypotheses: Null and Alternative for each research question •Methodology ◦Research Design: Specific quantitative method to be used and rationale (Ex. experiment, survey, etc.) ◦Operationalization of Variable: Specification of the concepts to be measured, the operationalization of the variable(s) to be used to measure the concepts, the question(s)/scale(s) to be used and the resulting level of measurement. ◦Sample design: Specification of the population, method, sample size, specific procedures, and justification. ◦Data collection procedure: Explanation of how the data will be collected. ◦Intended data analysis: How will you analyze the data to test the hypotheses and provide answers to the research questions, including descriptive and inferential statistics? Provide your rationale. •Limitations: Any recognized limitations of the proposed study. •References In this assignment, you are expected to incorporate all previous instructor feedback. Your prospectus must be in APA format and be of the quality expected of doctoral-level work. All research elements must be in alignment and reflect a cohesive and comprehensive research study. Length: Your paper should be between 13 -15 pages, not including title and reference page. References: Include a minimum of ten (10) scholarly sources. Your presentation should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.

Instruction
Instructions This assignment consists of three parts: (1) Recommend and justify a method of survey administration to be used to meet the quantitative research objectives listed below; (2) develop a list of questions to be used on a questionnaire to meet the objectives listed; (3) Explain the method of survey administration you would use if a survey was conducted in your intended research. a.To determine the effectiveness of advertising of a specific product during the Super Bowl on increasing consumer awareness of the product. b.To determine the level of satisfaction of patients who are admitted to a hospital during the past 6 months. c.To determine if there is a relationship between the decision to pursue a career in law enforcement and gender. d.To determine IT professional’s perceptions of the best preparation for an IT career. Length: Your paper should be between 7-9 pages, not including title and reference page. References: Include a minimum of five (5) scholarly sources. Your presentation should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards

Instruction
Instructions In this assignment, you are being given a number of constructs. Conduct scholarly research that has been published within the past five years that measures each on these. Based on this, provide a conceptual and at least one operational definition of each construct listed below. Based on the operational definitions, provide a measurement for the variable and explain the level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio) that is generated. Once this is completed, provide a conceptual and operational definition of two constructs you will be measuring in your intended dissertation research. Rather than present a traditional paper, organize the document by the following construct. a.Attitude toward new technology b.Customer satisfaction c.Self-concept d.Leadership style e.Organizational commitment f.Constructs you intend to measure Length: Your paper should be between 6-7 pages, not including title and reference page. References: Include a minimum of eight (8) scholarly sources. Your presentation should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards

COMM 480: Seminar: International Advertising (Summer 2019)
Research Proposal
You will work throughout the semester to create a research proposal, in which you propose what you are going to do to test your hypotheses. The purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of social-scientific research. You are NOT going to collect data or analyze data, nor are you going to present results from your study. This paper can build from the research question and articles cited in the annotated bibliography OR you can generate a new research question and annotate relevant articles. The project consists of two parts: a research proposal paper and a research presentation.
Research paper (100 pts.):
Although I do not like to provide a definitive answer about how many pages you will have to write to complete this assignment (because quantity and quality are not inherently related and because the goal of any good paper is to make a compelling, well written argument [regardless of length]), I understand that providing a general estimation of the length of a typical research paper is helpful. Therefore, you can expect to turn in a final product that is somewhere between 12 and 15 pages long (including a title page, abstract, introduction, literature review, methods and discussion, and references) (double-spaced pages, in Times Roman 12 font size, 1 inch margins on all sides). Papers not meeting these formatting requirements will be sent back for revisions. The late submission will result in a 10% deduction per day.
Title page: This is a separate page that includes the title of your proposal (e.g., Identifying global and culture-specific dimensions of humor in advertising: A cross-cultural analysis) and your own name, the course number, and school affiliation.

Abstract: This section should be in a separate page that summarizes the purpose of your study, theories and hypotheses, proposed method, and discussion.
Introduction: In this section, you should introduce your study, and state the significance and the purpose of your study.
Literature review: In this section, you are going to review the existing research on your topic, explain theories adopted for your study, define the variables in your study, provide the rationale behind the hypothesized relationships between variables, and suggest the hypotheses and/or research questions to be addressed.
Method: This section continues from Literature Review. In this section, you are going to state the proposed method (e.g., experiment, survey, content analysis) to test your hypotheses and/or research questions. You need to be specific about research sample (i.e., who will be in the study or what will be analyzed in the study), measures (i.e., what variables will be measured), and procedures of your study (i.e., what will be prepared prior to the study and what will happen in the study).

COMM 480: Seminar: International Advertising (Summer 2019)
Discussion: This section should address what your expected results of research mean in relation to the theoretical body of knowledge on the topic and your profession, and for communication professionals in the field being examined. In other words, what are the study’s theoretical and practical implications? It may be one of the most important sections because it answers the “So what?” question. Also, in this section, you should suggest directions for future research investigations.
References: References should be placed in separate pages following the “Discussion” section. Includes a minimum of seven references of scholarly journals or books. All intext citations must appear in the reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference
list must be cited in your text.
Please consult the sample APA papers I posted on Blackboard and the Purdue site (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/) for formatting questions. In
addition, to help you better understand what a research proposal is, I have post a
sample research proposal, as well as completed research papers, on Blackboard, which may provide you with some ideas as to what a research proposal is.
Research presentation (50 pts.): You will make a presentation of your paper at the end of the semester. Prepare for presentation slides that can be taken up to 15 minutes. Following your presentation, you will provide discussion questions. NO LATE PRESENTATION IS ACCEPTED WITHOUT A PROOF OF OFFICIAL EXCUSE.

Instruction
Produce a report that details Research and recommend strategies the company can take to reduce power consumption An energy audit on two options of a PC, laser printer and server package estimating the CO 2 emissions for these devices in a year and provide a comparison report summarising potential energy savings and financial costs A policy for procurement of equipment from ‘Green Suppliers’, including a disposal plan Project implementation plan highlighting at what stages you will introduce short and long term solutions that will save power immediately and long term List these additions in priority order and approximate the cost of each change

Sustainability Integration: ICT Planning and Design
This assessment is designed to be completed after you have completed your design project and proposal. Ensure you have completed your design project and have had it assessed by your teacher and returned.
Ensure you have completed the Sustainability training before you attempt this assignment
Assignment
You have just designed a solution for an organisation. A late change request has come through from the CEO and she would like some additions to the proposal. She has been reading a lot about how ICT systems are having a large impact on the carbon footprint of business.
Revisit your design, using your new Green IT skills and integrate sustainability elements to it. These elements must include, but are not limited to the following:
Research and recommend strategies the company can take to reduce power consumption
An energy audit on two options of a PC, laser printer and server package estimating the CO 2 emissions for these devices in a year and provide a comparison report summarising potential
energy savings and financial costs
A policy for procurement of equipment from ‘Green Suppliers’, including a disposal plan
Project implementation plan highlighting at what stages you will introduce short and long term
solutions that will save power immediately and long term
List these additions in a priority order and approximate the cost of each change
To complete this assignment you will need access to the internet. Here are some useful links:
http://www.eu-energystar.org/en/en_008.shtml http://www.greenit.org.au/ http://2virtualize.com/index_files/greendatacenter.htm http://42u.com/
http://sustainabledirections.com.au/
Feel free to contact your teacher if you require any assistance.
Submission
Upload your completed documents on the Upskilled Student Portal.

Create a chart with rows and columns to establish the following requirements of discrimination under the law in the following areas at the top:

Title VII Gender Discrimination in Employment Practices
Sexual Harassment Based on Hostile Work Environment
Quid-Pro-Quo Sexual Harassment
Sexual Orientation in the Workplace

Along the left side of the chart, create the following rows:

Requirements to Prove Under the Law
Ways Employers can Minimize Liability
Recent Case Example

Complete the chart for each section.

Explain in 350 to 525 words the requirements of each type of potential gender discrimination.

Explain in 350 to 525 words the specific ways employers can minimize liability for each type of gender discrimination.

Research and include a relevant case to illustrate each type of gender discrimination.

Format your citations and references consistent with APA guidelines.

week 3 discussion
Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
How does one recognize sexual harassment?
Discuss the different types of sexual harassment?
what is required to support a case of sexual harassment in that situation?

Ethical Issue Analysis

Instruction

Instructions are attached

Purpose: In this project, you will assess how two start up companies have come under scrutiny for their actions in operating in today’s business environment. How these companies are operating are pushing the limits or have exceeded the limits of what is considered ethical and legal. In completing this project you will have the opportunity to research the two companies, identify stakeholders influenced by the organization’s decisions and develop and evaluate alternatives, recommend solutions to ensure appropriate business practices and accountability occur

Outcomes met by completing this project:

identify ethical issues that arise in domestic and global business environments using an understanding of ethical concepts and of legal and business principles
develop and evaluate alternatives to, and recommend solutions for, ethical dilemmas, taking into account ethical and legal requirements and the essential mission of the business enterprise
effectively communicate to internal and external business stakeholders the complexities of ethical issues, suggesting and analyzing various solutions in order to ensure appropriate business practices and accountability

Instructions

Use the following steps to complete the project. You will demonstrate an understanding of ethical concepts and of legal business principles and are required to use the course material to support the ideas and conclusions presented.

Step 1: Course Material and Research

You are required to research the two companies to provide a company overview, to identify identify the issues and to identify stakeholders. You will be using the course to address the questions and support the ideas, reasoning and conclusions made. Course material use goes beyond defining terms but is used to explain the ‘why and how’ of a situation. Using one or two in-text citations from the course material and then relying on Internet source material will not earn many points on the project. A variety of source material is expected and what is presented must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed. Avoid merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion by explaining how something happens or why something happens, which focuses on importance and impact. In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and rationally showing an understanding of the logical connections between the ideas presented in a case scenario, the course material and the question(s) being asked.

1.      PayPal opted to deviate from industry standards and build their own custom technology that would better suit their needs. When is it a good idea for companies to take this alternative? What issues factor into that decision? Provide a discussion and some examples.
2.      Although the new system has been quite successful, Pay-Pal has chosen not to license this technology to others, forgoing a potentially important revenue stream given the lack of good solutions to this problem. Why do you think PayPal chose not to sell this technology? Do you really think this can be made into a strategic advantage over their competitors? How easy would it be for their competitors to imitate this accomplishment?
3.      One of the challenges that PayPal faces now that they have managed to overcome the polylingual obstacle is finding the best way to put this functionality in the hands of the business, so that they do not have to go through IT each time. How do you balance this need for responsiveness and flexibility versus IT’s need to keep some degree of control to make sure everything keeps working with everything else? Provide some recommendations to managers who find themselves in this situation.

Most people perceive international public administration to be a set of state structures, institutions, and processes. Opponents of globalization argue that it weakens states, making it difficult for them to sustain social welfare and environmental policies, and create fiscal redistributive initiatives.
According to James Bovard, a libertarian author who focuses on writing about government, proponents and businesses seeking to expand abroad claim there is little or no evidence of national governments’ decline. Congress, along with many policy strategists, seems to think that whatever the effects of globalization on governments, they are likely to be beneficial for long-term economic growth (Bovard, 1987).
Analyze the claims laid out in this controversy, and try to argue the strongest case you can in favor of the view(s) you find most convincing. In doing so, be sure to seriously consider the case that your opponents might make against your position, and why you would reject it. Use the Internet and/or Strayer databases to research evidence that supports your opinion. Determine your point of view on the issue, and support your position with information from at least three reliable, relevant, peer-reviewed references.
Create a PowerPoint presentation that covers the following:
Provide a brief description of the issue. Present evidence that supports both sides of the argument. In the Notes section of each information slide, you must write a narrative of what you would say if presenting in person. Provide at least three reliable, relevant, peer-reviewed references.
Note: Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Your presentation should include a minimum total of 12 slides, with 10 information slides.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
Typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with 1-inch margins on all sides. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow the APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

South University NSG6435 Week 4 Quiz / South University NSG 6435 Week 4 Quiz

NSG6435: Week 4 Quiz

Question 1                          1 / 1 point
A school-age client presents to the clinic to establish care. The child has autism, facial dysmorphia, and growth retardation. The provider suspects the child has what condition?
A.            Down Syndrome
B.            Fetal alcohol syndrome
C.            Prader- Willi syndrome
D.            Turner syndrome
Autism, facial dysmorphia, and growth retardation are differential diagnoses of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Question 2                          1 / 1 point
A 8-year-old client was recently discharged from the hospital following an episode of meningitis. The client presented to the clinic for a follow-up appointment post discharge. The provider understands that the client’s is at increased risk for which complication(s)? (check all that apply)
A.            Hearing Impairment
B.            Paralysis
C.            Loss of Speech
D.            Infertility

Question 3                          1 / 1 point
A client with history of bilateral tympanostomy tube insertion presents to the clinic c/o otorrhea. The provider confirms the complaint. What is the best treatment for this condition?
A.            Combination antibiotic and corticosteroid otic drops
B.            Anaglesics and watchful waiting
C.            Oral antibiotics and antifungal cream
D.            Corticosteroid otic drops

Question 4                          1 / 1 point
The gold standard in diagnosing acute otitis media is:
A.            Immobile ™
B.            Pearly gray TM
C.            Flat TM
D.            Perforated TM
The diagnosis of acute otitis media is based on presence of one or several of the following: bulging TM, decreased translucency of TM, absent or decreased mobility of the TM, air-fluid level behind the TM and otorrhea

Question 5                          1 / 1 point
A provider is caring for a new client whose had recurrent episodes of and failed treatment for acute otitis media. What is the next best intervention?
A.            Refer to audiologist
B.            Refer to an otolaryngology
C.            Prescribe a broad spectrum antibiotic for 30 days
D.            Prescribe an anti- inflammatory

Question 6                          1 / 1 point
A 16 year-old-client presents to your clinic c/o sore throat and 101°F temperature. The provider learns that the client had a sore throat approximately 1 week ago. On exam, client is positive for cervical lymphadenopathy, enlarged left tonsil, edematous pharynx and uvula displacement. What condition does this client most likely have?
A.            Acute uvulitis
B.            Infectious mononucleosis
C.            Mumps
D.            Peritonsillar abscess

Question 7                          1 / 1 point
A 5-year-old client presents to the clinic for an annual physical. While performing the physical exam, the provider attempts to examine the client’s ears. What does the provider do?
A.            Gently pull outer ear down and back **
B.            Gently pull outer ear up and back
C.            Gently pull outer ear down
D.            Gently pull outer ear back
To correctly examine the ear of a child older than 12 months gently pull outer ear down and back

Question 8                          1 / 1 point
What are the most common causes of bacterial pneumonia in neonates (select all that apply)?
A.            Staphylococcus Aureus
B.            Group B Streptococcus **
C.            Listeria Monocytogenes
D.            E. Coli **
The most common organisms responsible for bacterial pneumonia in neonates are still group B streptococcus and Escherichia coli. The next most common causes are coagulase negative Staph and Listeria in the early neonatal period. After four days of age, the differential needs to be expanded to include S. aureus, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Serratia, Candida, Acinetobacter, and anaerobes.
Question 9                          1 / 1 point
An ill appearing 3-month-old-infant is presented to your clinic. The parent reports that their child has a fever, persistent cough, rhinorrhea, wheezing, hypoxemia, and anorexia for 4 days. After the provider’s exam and work-up, the child is diagnosed with Bronchiolitis. What is the most likely treatment option for this infant?
A.            Refer patient for hospitalization
B.            Refer patient for Pulmonologist
C.            Refer patient for Bronchoscopy
D.            Refer patient for Chest X- ray

Bronchiolitis is the term used for an infant seen with wheezing for the very first time and is the leading cause of hospitalizations for infants. It presents with cough, fever, coryza, tachypnea, expiratory wheezing, air trapping, and inspiratory crackles. In mild cases, symptoms can last for 1 to 3 days. In severe cases, cyanosis, air hunger, retractions, and nasal flaring with symptoms of severe respiratory distress within a few hours may be seen. Apnea can occur and may require mechanical ventilation.

Question 10                        1 / 1 point
An ill-appearing child is presented to your clinic with a fever, sore throat, restless behavior, dysphagia, drooling, and inspiratory distress without stridor. The child tests positive for Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). What is the most likely diagnosis?
A.            Tonsillitis
B.            Epiglottitis **
C.            Laryngotracheobronchitis
D.            Retropharyngeal abscess

Write a four to six (4) page paper in which you:Give your opinion on the Mc Donalds greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Choose either a strategy OR tactic the corporation should select to take maximum advantage of its strengths, and the strategy OR tactic the corporation should select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices.Determine the company’s tangible and intangible resources, core capabilities, and core competencies.Choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose. Assess how these segments affect the corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates.Choose two (2) forces of competition that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how well the company has addressed these) forces in the recent past, going back no further than five (5) fiscal years.With the same two (2) forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future.Identify what you consider to be the greatest external threat to this corporation. Discuss how the corporation should address this threat. Justify your explanation.Identify what you consider to be the greatest opportunity presented to the corporation, and discuss how the corporation should take advantage of this opportunity. Justify your explanationUse at least three (3) quality references.

Week 6 Assignment 2
Student Full Name
BUS499 Business Administration Capstone
Due Week 6 and worth 125 points
Using the corporation you chose from Assignment 1, examine its industry. Research the company on its own website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University’s online databases, and any other credible sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.
Read chapters 1 -3 in the course textbook and complete the LEARN E-Activities for Weeks 1-3 as they set the foundation to this assignment. Be sure to cite your sources!
Begin your paper on Page 2 below and write a minimum of four (4) pages. The minimum page count does not include the Title or Source pages.
Week 6 Assignment 2
Write your introduction here. Include one (1) paragraph (not more than 6 lines of text) that explains what your paper will discuss. Much of your introduction may be taken from the assignment instructions (in your own words). Read all assignment resources to understand what should be included in your paper. Be sure to review the assignment instructions in Blackboard, the grading rubric, and the recorded writing workshop to understand the requirements. Do not exceed 6 lines of text in this introduction. There should be no direct quotes in this section.
General Environment
Choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose. Assess how these segments affect the corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates. Hint: see table 2.1. Remember that to assess a concept, you will weigh all aspects to judge the importance or relevance of that concept. Do not simply define the segments.
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Your assessment should demonstrate that you have read, understand, and can apply the selected segments of the general environment concepts covered in the textbook and course resources. Your writing here should thoroughly assess how the selected segments influence your corporation. Do not write about the general environment in general terms. Your assessment should be directly related to your selected corporation. Do not assess all the segments—only assess the two (2) segments that rank highest in influencing your corporation. A thorough assessment is defined as providing a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding every detail of the concepts as described in the course. You will need to apply and incorporate key concepts from the course material to your assessment. Do not Google “segments of the general environment” or provide high-level summaries. You must display, in specific detail, an understanding based on what is studied in this course and an ability to apply the concepts in a real-world assessment of a corporation. Read Chapter 2 in the course textbook. Review the Week 2 Learn video/Lecture for supporting content. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.

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Five Forces of Competition
In this section you will consider the five (5) forces of competition and choose the two (2) that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose. Hint: see figure 2.2 in the textbook. You will then, evaluate how well the company has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past.
Item 1
Choose one (1) of the five (5) forces of competition that you estimate is the most significant for the corporation you chose. Provide a thorough assessment of why you think selected force is significant to your corporation. A thorough assessment is defined as providing a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding every detail of the concept as described in the course. Do not Google “five forces of competition” or simply provide a definition. You will need to apply and incorporate key concepts from the course material in your evaluation. Specifically address the applicable key concepts from the textbook and course material for the selected force. You will need to read the chapters and listen to the lectures to understand the key concepts for each force. Read Chapter 2 in the course textbook and review the Week 2 Learn video Lecture for supporting content. Hint: the five (5) forces of competition is the same as “Porters 5 Forces of Competition”. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.
Item 2
Choose another one (1) of the five (5) forces of competition that you estimate is the most significant for the corporation you chose. This should not be the same force assessed in Item 1 above. Provide a thorough assessment of why you think the selected force is significant to your corporation. A thorough assessment is defined as providing a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding every detail of the concept as described in the course. Do not Google “five forces of competition” or simply provide a definition. You will need to apply and incorporate key concepts from the course material in your assessment. Specifically address the applicable key concepts from the textbook and course material for the selected force. You will need to read the chapters and listen to the lectures to understand the key concepts for each force. Read Chapter 2 in the course textbook and review the Week 2 Learn video Lecture for supporting content. Hint: the five (5) forces of competition is the same as “Porters 5 Forces of Competition”. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.
Evaluation
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Evaluate how well the company has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past. This will require some research. Remember that to evaluate a concept, you will break down all components to determine or analyze facts, value, or views. Your evaluation should demonstrate that you have read, understand, and can apply the concepts covered in the textbook and course resources. Do not write about the selected forces in general terms. Your evaluation should be directly related to your selected corporation and include a thorough evaluation of how the company has addressed the forces recently. You must display an understanding based on what is studied in this course and an ability to apply the concepts in a real-world evaluation of a corporation. Your writing here should provide a thorough evaluation of your chosen corporation. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.
Future Improvements
With the same two (2) forces assessed and evaluated in the sections above, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future. Your writing here should provide a thorough prediction of what the company should do to address impacts from the selected forces. Your prediction should be your own, not predictions from your sources or actions your corporation has taken or plans to take. Remember that a thorough response is defined as providing a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding every detail of the concepts as described in the course. Read Chapter 2 in the course textbook as each chapter provides a solid background and clues that apply to this section. Review the Week 2 Learn video Lecture for supporting content. Cite all sources and there should be no direct quotes in this section.
External Threats and Opportunities
Assess the external threats affecting this corporation and the opportunities available to the corporation. You will need to provide a thorough assessment of both the external threats and the opportunities available to your corporation. Do not choose one or the other. Both the external threats and the opportunities must be assessed. Keep in mind that most companies will have more than just one (1) external threat and more than just one (1) opportunity. Your thorough assessment should identify several of the threats and opportunities. Remember that threats and opportunities are external to the organization (i.e. the external environment). Read Chapter 2 in the course textbook as it provides a solid background and clues for this section. Review the Week 2 Learn video/Lecture for supporting content. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.
Threats and Opportunities Strategies
Give your opinions on how the corporation should deal with the most serious threat and the greatest opportunity. Justify your answer. You will need to provide opinions on both the most serious threat and greatest opportunity. Do not choose one or the other. Both the threat and opportunity must be addressed. Your opinion on what the company should do to address the threat and opportunity should be justified by a sound and thoroughly explained rationale. Your writing here should be your own opinions, not the opinions of your sources. Read Chapter 2 in the course textbook as it provides a solid background and clues for this section. Review the Week 2 Learn video/Lecture for supporting content. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Give your opinion on the corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Keep in mind that strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization (i.e. the internal environment) You will need to address both the greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Do not choose one or the other. Both the greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses must be addressed. Keep in mind that most companies will have more than just one (1) great strength and more than just one (1) significant weakness. Your thorough assessment should identify several of the great strengths and weaknesses. Read Chapter 2 and 3 in the course textbook as it provides a solid background and clues for this section. Review the Week 2 and Week 3 Learn video/Lecture for supporting content. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.
Strategy
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Choose the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to take maximum advantage of its strengths, and the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices. You will need to select a strategy/tactic for both the strengths and for the weakness. Do not choose one or the other. Both the strengths and weakness must be addressed. Your justifications should be sound and thoroughly explained. For example, do not simply state that the corporation should choose a selected strategy, but rather explain why the strategy is a good choice for your corporations’ specific strengths or weakness. Read Chapter 2 and 3 in the course textbook as it provides a solid background and clues for this section. Review the Week 2 and Week 3 Learn video/Lecture for supporting content. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.
Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies
Determine the company’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies. Your determination should include an explanation of the relevance of each resource, capability, and core competency. Do not simply list the resources, capabilities, and core competencies. Remember that a thorough determination will provide a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding every detail of the concept as described in the course. Use your course materials to demonstrate your understanding of the key course concepts regarding resources, capabilities, and core competencies. Do not write in general terms. Your determination should display that you can apply the course concepts to your selected corporation. Read Chapter 3 in the course textbook as it provides a solid background and clues that apply to this section. Review the Week 3 Learn video/Lecture for supporting content. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes.

Sources
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2013). Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competiveness and globalization (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

List your sources on this page and remember to delete the instructions, which are in blue font.
Use at least three (3) quality sources, one of which must be the course textbook to support your ideas/work. Note: Wikipedia and college essay sites do not qualify as academic resources.
Cite your sources throughout your work when you borrow someone else’s words or ideas.
The source page must include all sources used. All sources listed here must be cited in your paper.
Look for a permalink tool for a webpage when possible (especially when an electronic
source requires logging in).
When using SWS remember to organize sources in a numbered list and in order of use throughout the paper; use the original number when citing a source multiple times; and follow this format for all sources:
Author. Publication Date. Title. Page # (written as p. #). How to Find (e.g. web address)
The APA format may also be used for a Reference page.
Online Professional Tutoring meets its match at https://www.homeworknest.com/ . This is by far the tested and most trusted Online College Homework Help /Tutoring Website for College Students in Universities and Colleges across the Globe. Get Online Homework Help, Assignments Help at https://www.homeworknest.com/ . Chat With Your Tutors in Real Time To Get Exam Tutoring Help!

Questions to ask yourself before submitting your paper.
Did I read the required course material and complete the required activities?
Have I deleted the blue font instructions in this template?
Did I leave the provided section headings in place, as provided in this template?
After deleting the blue fonts in this template, have I changed all font to black?
Additional things to keep in mind.
You will be graded on the content of your submission, the quality of your answers, the logic/organization of the report, your language skills, and your writing skills using the grading rubric.
Strayer uses SafeAssign – an automated plagiarism checker. It is advised that you do your own writing and use external resources to support what you have written in your own words.
Question 5: Business

Create a chart with rows and columns to establish the following requirements of discrimination under the law in the following areas at the top:

Title VII Gender Discrimination in Employment Practices
Sexual Harassment Based on Hostile Work Environment
Quid-Pro-Quo Sexual Harassment
Sexual Orientation in the Workplace

Along the left side of the chart, create the following rows:

Requirements to Prove Under the Law
Ways Employers can Minimize Liability
Recent Case Example

Complete the chart for each section.

Explain in 350 to 525 words the requirements of each type of potential gender discrimination.

Explain in 350 to 525 words the specific ways employers can minimize liability for each type of gender discrimination.

Research and include a relevant case to illustrate each type of gender discrimination.

Format your citations and references consistent with APA guidelines.

Question 6: Business

Week 3 Discussion

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
How does one recognize sexual harassment?
Discuss the different types of sexual harassment?
what is required to support a case of sexual harassment in that situation?

Question 7: Business

Total Rewards Plan Worksheet

Instructions: There are 10 positions that have become vacant due to the retirement of the University President. Your task is to recommend a salary range to post, list the benefits that will be provided for these positions, and include a list of perks that may be associated with these positions.

Complete the following table in a total of 525 to 700 words:
Explain in a total of 350 words how you determined the appropriate salary, benefits, and perks for each of these new roles.
Question 8: Business

Walden University NURS 6531 final exam (2019) | Updated
Walden University NURS 6531 final exam (2019) | Updated
Walden University NURS6531 final exam (2019) | Updated

Question 9: Business

NURS 6531 midterm exam revised, NURS 6531 Practice Care of Adults

• Question 1
0 out of 0 points

When completing this quiz, did you comply with Walden University’s Code of Conduct including the expectations for academic integrity?

• Question 2
1 out of 1 points

The most common cancer found on the auricle is:

• Question 3
0 out of 1 points

Which of the following medication classes should be avoided in patients with acute or chronic bronchitis because it will contribute to ventilation-perfusion mismatch in the patient?
• Question 4
0 out of 1 points

A 47 year old male patient presents to the clinic with a single episode of a moderate amount of bright red rectal bleeding. On examination, external hemorrhoids are noted. How should the nurse practitioner proceed?

• Question 5
0 out of 1 points

Which of the following patient characteristics are associated with chronic bronchitis?
Underweight, pink skin, and increased respiratory rate

• Question 6
1 out of 1 points

A 65-year-old female with a past medical history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and polymyalgia rheumatica presents to urgent care with new onset left lower quadrant pain. Her current medications include omeprazole 20 milligrams po daily, lisinopril 20 milligrams po daily, simvastatin 20 milligrams po daily, and prednisone 12 milligrams po daily. The nurse practitioner suspects acute diverticulitis and possibly an abscess. The most appropriate diagnostic test for this patient at this time is:

• Question 7
1 out of 1 points

A patient reports “something flew in my eye” about an hour ago while he was splitting logs. If there were a foreign body in his eye, the nurse practitioner would expect to find all except:
Selected Answer:
Purulent drainage

• Question 8
1 out of 1 points

A 21 year old college student presents to the student health center with copious, markedly purulent discharge from her left eye. The nurse practitioner student should suspect:

• Question 9
0 out of 1 points

A 35 year old man presents with radicular pain followed by the appearance of grouped vesicles consisting of about 15 lesions across 3 different thoracic dermatomes. He complains of pain, burning, and itching. The nurse practitioner should suspect:
• Question 10
0 out of 1 points

Which type of lung cancer has the poorest prognosis?
• Question 11
1 out of 1 points

An 83-year-old female presents to the office complaining of diarrhea for several days. She explains she has even had fecal incontinence one time. She describes loose stools 3–4 times a day for several weeks and denies fever, chills, pain, recent antibiotic use. The history suggests that the patient has:

• Question 12
1 out of 1 points

Margaret, age 32, comes into the office with painful joints and a distinctive rash in a butterfly distribution on her face. The rash has red papules and plaques with a fine scale. What do you suspect?

• Question 13
1 out of 1 points

Antibiotic administration has been demonstrated to be of little benefit to the treatment of which of the following disease processes?

• Question 14
0 out of 1 points

Lisa, age 49, has daily symptoms of asthma. She uses her inhaled short-acting beta-2 agonist daily. Her exacerbations affect her activities and they occur at least twice weekly and may last for days. She is affected more than once weekly during the night with an exacerbation. Which category of asthma severity is Lisa in?
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• Question 15
0 out of 1 points

Which of the following is the most appropriate therapeutic regimen for an adult patient with no known allergies diagnosed with group A B-hemolytic strep?

• Question 16
0 out of 1 points

A cashier complains of dull ache and pressure sensation in her lower legs. It is relieved by leg elevation. She occasionally has edema in her lower legs at the end of the day. What is the most likely cause of these problems?
• Question 17
1 out of 1 points

Which statement below is correct about pertussis?
• Question 18
0 out of 1 points

Which of the following is the most important diagnosis to rule out in the adult patient with acute bronchitis?
• Question 19
1 out of 1 points

A 70 year old patient presents with left lower quadrant (LLQ) abdominal pain, a markedly tender palpable abdominal wall, fever, and leukocytosis. Of the following terms, which correctly describes the suspected condition?

• Question 20
1 out of 1 points

Sylvia, age 83, presents with a 3 day history of pain and burning in the left forehead. This morning she noticed a rash with erythematous papules in that site. What do you suspect?

• Question 21
0 out of 1 points

A 33-year-old female is admitted with acute pancreatitis. The nurse practitioner knows that the most common cause of pancreatitis is:
Selected Answer:

• Question 22
1 out of 1 points

When a patient presents with symptoms of acute gallbladder disease, what is the appropriate nurse practitioner action?

• Question 23
0 out of 1 points

A false-positive result with the fecal occult blood test can result from:

• Question 24
0 out of 1 points

A 76-year-old male complains of weight loss, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping and pain. Physical findings include an abdominal mass and stool positive for occult blood. The nurse practitioner pain suspects a tumor in the small intestine. The best diagnostic test for this patient is:
Selected Answer:
• Question 25
1 out of 1 points

A patient presents to urgent care complaining of dyspnea, fatigue, and lower extremity edema. The echocardiogram reveals and ejection fraction of 38%. The nurse practitioner knows that these findings are consistent with:

• Question 26
1 out of 1 points

Maxine, Age 76, has just been given a diagnosis of pneumonia. Which of the following is an indication that she should be hospitalized?

• Question 27
0 out of 1 points

A 55 year old man is diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. The nurse practitioner correctly tells him:

• Question 28
1 out of 1 points

An 80-year-old male admits to difficulty swallowing during the review of systems. The nurse practitioner recognizes the differential diagnosis for this patient’s dysphagia is:

• Question 30
0 out of 1 points

A 40 year old female with history of frequent sun exposure presents with a multicolored lesion on her back. It has irregular borders and is about 11mm in diameter. What should the nurse practitioner suspect?

• Question 31
1 out of 1 points

Which of the following is not a goal of treatment for the patient with cystic fibrosis?
• Question 32
1 out of 1 points

The nurse practitioner is performing a physical exam on a middle-aged African-American man. Which of the following areas is a common site for melanomas in African-Americans and other dark-skinned individuals?

• Question 33
1 out of 1 points

An adult presents with tinea corporis. Which item below is a risk factor for its development?
• Question 34
0 out of 1 points

A patient has experienced nausea and vomiting, headache, malaise, low grade fever, abdominal cramps, and watery diarrhea for 72 hours. His white count is elevated with a shift to the left. He is requesting medication for diarrhea. What is the most appropriate response?
• Question 35
1 out of 1 points

Janine, age 29, has numerous transient lesions that come and go, and she is diagnosed with urticaria. What do you order?

• Question 36
0 out of 1 points
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Of the following signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF), the earliest clinical manifestation is:
• Question 37
1 out of 1 points

A 16 year old male presents with mild sore throat, fever, fatigue, posterior cervical adenopathy, and palatine petechiae. Without a definitive diagnosis for this patient, what drug would be least appropriate to prescribe?
• Question 38
1 out of 1 points

A 70 year old man who walks 2 miles every day complains of pain in his left calf when he is walking. The problem has gotten gradually worse and now he is unable to complete his 2 mile walk. What question asked during the history, if answered affirmatively, would suggest a diagnosis of arteriosclerosis obliterans?

• Question 39
0 out of 1 points

Which of the following statements about malignant melanomas is true?
• Question 40
1 out of 1 points

Sheila, age 78, presents with a chief complaint of waking up during the night coughing. You examine her and find an S3 heart sound, pulmonary crackles that do not clear with coughing, and peripheral edema. What do you suspect?

• Question 41
0 out of 1 points

Which antibiotic would be the most effective in treating community acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a young adult without any comorbid conditions?
• Question 42
1 out of 1 points

Which of the following dermatologic vehicles are the most effective in absorbing moisture and decreasing friction?
• Question 43
1 out of 1 points

A 70 year old patient presents with a slightly raised, scaly, erythematous patch on her forehead. She admits to having been a “sun worshiper.” The nurse practitioner suspects actinic keratosis. This lesion is a precursor to:
• Question 44
1 out of 1 points
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An elderly patient is being seen in the clinic for complaint of “weak spells” relieved by sitting or lying down. How should the nurse practitioner proceed with the physical examination?

• Question 45
1 out of 1 points

What oral medication might be used to treat chronic cholethiasis in a patient who is a poor candidate for surgery?

• Question 46
0 out of 1 points

A 46-year-old female with a past medical history of diabetes presents with a swollen, erythematous right auricle and is diagnosed with malignant otitis externa. The nurse practitioner knows that the most likely causative organism for this patient’s problem is:

• Question 47
0 out of 1 points

Which of the following is not a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome?
• Question 48
1 out of 1 points

A patient comes in complaining of 1 week of pain in the posterior neck with difficulty turning the head to the right. What additional history is needed?

• Question 49
0 out of 1 points

Marvin, age 56, is a smoker with diabetes. He has just been diagnosed as hypertensive. Which of the following drugs has the potential to cause the development of bronchial asthma and inhibit gluconeogenesis?

• Question 50
1 out of 1 points

The differential diagnosis for a patient complaining of a sore throat includes which of the following?
• Question 51
0 out of 1 points

A patient presents to the primary care provider complaining of a rash on his right forehead that started yesterday and is burning and painful. The physical exam reveals an erythematous, maculopapular rash that extends over the patient’s right eye to his upper right forehead. Based on the history and examination, the most likely cause of this patient’s symptoms is:
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• Question 52
0 out of 1 points

Before initiating an HMG CoA-reductase inhibitor for hyperlipidemia, the nurse practitioner orders liver function studies. The patient’s aminotransferase (ALT) is elevated. What laboratory test(s) should be ordered?
• Question 53
1 out of 1 points

A patient with elevated lipids has been started on lovastatin. After 3 weeks of therapy, he calls to report generalized muscle aches. The nurse practitioner should suspect:
• Question 54
1 out of 1 points

Treatment of acute vertigo includes:

• Question 55
1 out of 1 points

Treatment of H.pylori includes which of the following?
Question 56
1 out of 1 points

Carl, age 78, is brought to the office by his son, who states that his father has been unable to see clearly since last night. Carl reports that his vision is “like looking through a veil.” He also sees floaters and flashing lights but is not having any pain. What do you suspect?

• Question 57
1 out of 1 points

In order to decrease deaths from lung cancer:
• &nbs
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Question 10: Business

South University – NSG 6020 NSG 6420 MIDTERM
South University – NSG 6020NSG 6420 MIDTERM
South University – NSG 6020NSG 6420 MIDTERM
Question 11: Business

South University, Savannah NSG 6020Week 6 PV Integ Study Guide
You are assessing a 59-year-old gas station owner for atherosclerosis in the lower extremities. In which of the following locations would the patient’s pain make you concerned for this disease process?

A 57-year-old maintenance worker comes to your office for evaluation of pain in his legs. He has smoked two packs per day since the age of 16, but he is otherwise healthy. You are concerned that he may have peripheral vascular disease. Which of the following is part of common or concerning symptoms for the peripheral vascular system?

A patient has bilateral pitting edema of the feet. While assessing the peripheral vascular system, the nurse’s primary focus should be:

A patient has a positive Homans’ sign. The nurse knows that a positive Homans’ sign may indicate:

The major artery that supplies blood to arm

To assess the dorsalis pedis artery, the nurse would palpate
lateral to the extensor tendon of the great toe. The dorsalis pedis artery is located on the dorsum of the foot. Palpate just lateral to and parallel with the extensor tendon of the big toe.

The nurse is reviewing an assessment of a patient’s peripheral pulses and notices that the documentation states that the radial pulses are “2+.” The nurse recognizes that this reading indicates what type ofpulse?
A.Bounding
B.Normal
C.Weak
D.Absent

Which of the following assessment findings is most consistent with clubbing of the fingernails?
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During an assessment, the nurse notes that a patient’s left arm is swollen from the shoulder down to the fingers, with nonpitting edema. The right arm is normal. The patient had a mastectomy 1 year ago. The nurse suspects which problem?
Which of the following statements is true regarding the arterial system?

When assessing a patient the nurse practitioner documents the left femoral pulse as 0/0-4+. Which of the following findings would the nurse practitioner expect at the dorsalis pedis pulse?

Which of the following veins are responsible for most of the venous return in the arm?
1.Deep veins
2.Ulnar veins
3.Subclavian veins
4.Superficial veins

Which of the following statements is true regarding assessment of the ankle-brachial index (ABI)?

A 70-year-old patient is scheduled for open-heart surgery. The surgeon plans to use the great saphenous vein for the coronary bypass grafts. The patient asks, “What happens to my circulation when the veins are removed?” The nurse should reply:

A 72-year-old teacher comes to your clinic for an annual examination. She is concerned about her risk for peripheral vascular disease and states that there is a place in town that does tests to let her know her if she has this or not. Which of the following disease processes is a risk factor for peripheral vascular disease?

A 68-year-old retired truck driver comes to your office for evaluation of swelling in his legs. He is a smoker and has been taking medications to control his hypertension for the past 25 years. You are concerned about his risk for peripheral vascular disease. Which of the following tests are appropriate to order to initially evaluate for this condition?

A 55-year-old secretary with a recent history of breast cancer, for which she underwent surgery and radiation therapy, and a history of hypertension comes to your office for a routine checkup. Which of the following aspects of the physical are important to note when assessing the patient for peripheral vascular disease in the arms?

You are a student in the clinic. You are asked to perform a physical examination on a patient with known peripheral vascular disease in the legs. Which of the following aspects is important to note when you perform your examination?

You are assessing a patient for peripheral vascular disease in the arms, secondary to a complaint of increased weakness and a history of coronary artery disease and diabetes. You assess the brachial and radial pulses and note that they are bounding. What does that translate to on a scale of 0 to 4?

You are assessing a 59-year-old gas station owner for atherosclerosis in the lower extremities. In which of the following locations would the patient’s pain make you concerned for this disease process?

You are performing a routine check-up on an 81-year-old retired cotton farmer in the clinic. You note that he has a history of chronic arterial insufficiency. Which of the following physical examination findings in the lower extremities would be expected with this disease?

A 77-year-old retired nurse has an ulcer on a lower extremity that you are asked to evaluate when you do your weekly rounds at a local long-term care facility. All of the following are responsible for causing ulcers in the lower extremities except for which condition?

As the internal diameter of a blood vessel changes, the resistance changes as well. Which of the following descriptions depicts this relationship?

Mr. Edwards complains of cramps and difficulties with walking. The cramps occur in his calves consistently after walking about 100 yards. After a period of rest, he can start to walk again, but after 100 yards these same symptoms recur. Which of the following would suggest spinal stenosis as a cause of this pain?
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Asymmetric BPs are seen in which of the following conditions?

Diminished radial pulses may be seen in patients with which of the following?

When assessing temperature of the skin, which portion of your hand should be used?

You note a painful ulcerative lesion near the medial malleolus, with accompanying hyperpigmentation. Which of the following etiologies is most likely?
An 8-year-old girl comes with her mother for evaluation of hair loss. She denies pulling or twisting her hair, and her mother has not noted this behavior at all. She does not put her hair in braids. On physical examination, you note a clearly demarcated, round patch of hair loss without visible scaling or inflammation. There are

A mother brings her 11 month old to you because her mother-in-law and others have told her that her baby is jaundiced. She is eating and growing well and performing the developmental milestones she should for her age. On examination you indeed notice a yellow tone to her skin from head to toe. Her sclerae are white. To which area should your next questions be related?

You are examining an unconscious patient from another region and notice Beau’s lines, a transverse groove across all of her nails, about 1 cm from the proximal nail fold. What would you do next?

Dakota is a 14-year-old boy who just noticed a rash at his ankles. There is no history of exposure to ill people or other agents in the environment. He has a slight fever in the office. The rash consists of small, bright red marks. When they are pressed, the red color remains. What should you do?

A young man comes to you with an extremely pruritic rash over his knees and elbows which has come and gone for several years. It seems to be worse in the winter and improves with some sun exposure. On examination, you notice scabbing and crusting with some silvery scale, and you are observant enough to notice small “pits” in his nails. What would account for these findings?

Mrs. Anderson presents with an itchy rash which is raised and appears and disappears in various locations. Each lesion lasts for many minutes. What most likely accounts for this rash?

Which of the following is true regarding breast self-examination?
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Which of the following lymph node groups is most commonly involved in breast cancer?

51-year-old cook comes to your office for consultation. She recently found out that her 44-year-old sister with premenopausal breast cancer is positive for the BRCA1 gene. Your patient has been doing research on the Internet and saw that her chance of having also inherited the BRCA1 gene is 50%. She is interested in knowing what her risk of developing breast cancer would be if she were positive for the gene. She denies any lumps in her breasts and has had normal mammograms. She has had no weight loss, fever, or night sweats. Her mother is healthy and her father has prostate cancer. Two of her paternal aunts died of breast cancer. She is married. She denies using tobacco or illegal drugs and rarely drinks alcohol. Her breast and axilla examinations are unremarkable. At her age, what is her risk of getting breast cancer if she has the BRCA1 gene?

You ask a patient to draw a clock. He fills in all the numbers on the right half of the circle. What do you suspect?

A 67-year-old retired janitor comes to the clinic with his wife. She brought him in because she is concerned about his weight loss. He has a history of smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day for 30 years, for a total of 90 pack-years. He has noticed a daily cough for the past several years, which he states is productive of sputum. He came into the clinic approximately 1 year ago, and at that time his weight was 140 pounds. Today, his weight is 110 pounds. Which one of the following questions would be the most important to ask if you suspect that he has lung cancer?

An 18-year-old college freshman presents to the clinic for evaluation of gastroenteritis. You measure the patient’s temperature and it is 104 degrees Fahrenheit. What type of pulse would you expect to feel during his initial examination?

A 25-year-old type 1 diabetic clerk presents with shortness of breath and states that his blood sugar was 605 at home. He was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis. What is the expected pattern of breathing?

Mrs. Lenzo weighs herself every day with a very accurate balance-type scale. She has noticed that over the past 2 days she has gained 4 pounds. How would you best explain this?

Mr. Curtiss has a history of obesity, diabetes, osteoarthritis of the knees, HTN, and obstructive sleep apnea. His BMI is 43 and he has been discouraged by his difficulty in losing weight. He is also discouraged that his goal weight is 158 pounds away. What would you tell him?

You are seeing an older patient who has not had medical care for many years. Her vital signs taken by your office are: T 98.6, HR 78, BP 118/92, and RR 14, and she denies pain. You noticed that she had had some hypertensive changes in her retinas and mild proteinuria on a urine test on prior medical records. You expected the BP to be higher. She is not on any medications. What do you think is causing this BP reading, which doesn’t correlate with the other findings?

You are observing a patient with heart failure and notice that there are pauses in his breathing. On closer examination, you notice that after the pauses the patient takes progressively deeper breaths and then progressively shallower breaths, which are followed by another apneic spell. The patient is not in any distress. You make the diagnosis of:

Mr. Garcia comes to your office for a rash on his chest associated with a burning pain. Even a light touch causes this burning sensation to worsen. On examination, you note a rash with small blisters (vesicles) on a background of reddened skin. The rash overlies an entire rib on his right side. What type of pain is this?
Neuropathic pain

A patient presents with a left-sided facial droop. On further testing, you note that he is unable to wrinkle his forehead on the left and has decreased taste. Which of the following is true?
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Ms. Wright comes to your office, complaining of palpitations. While checking her pulse you notice an irregular rhythm. When you listen to her heart, every fourth beat sounds different. It sounds like a triplet rather than the usual “lub dup.” How would you document your examination?
A 37-year-old insurance agent comes to your office, complaining of trembling hands. She says that for the past 3 months when she tries to use her hands to fix her hair or cook they shake badly. She says she doesn’t feel particularly nervous when this occurs but she worries that other people will think she has an anxiety disorder or that she’s a drinker. She admits to having some recent fatigue, trouble with vision, and difficulty maintaining bladder control. Her past medical history is remarkable for hypothyroidism. Her mother has lupus and her father is healthy. She has an older brother with type 1 diabetes. She is married and has three children. She denies tobacco, alcohol, or drug use. On examination, when she tries to reach for a pencil to fill out the health form she has obvious tremors in her dominant hand.

unsteady hands. He says that for the past 6 months, when his hands are resting in his lap they shake uncontrollably. He says when he holds them out in front of his body the shaking diminishes, and when he uses his hands the shaking is also better. He also complains of some difficulty getting up out of his chair and walking around. He denies any recent illnesses or injuries. His past medical history is significant for high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, requiring a stent in the past. He has been married for over 50 years and has five children and 12 grandchildren. He denies any tobacco, alcohol, or drug use. His mother died of a stroke in her 70s and his father died of a heart attack in his 60s. He has a younger sister who has arthritis problems. His children are all essentially healthy. On examination you see a fine, pill-rolling tremor of his left hand. His right shows less movement. His cranial nerve examination is normal. He has some difficulty rising from his chair, his gait is slow, and it takes him time to turn around to walk back toward you. He has almost no “arm swing” with his gait. What type of tremor is he most likely to have?

A 48-year-old grocery store manager comes to your clinic, complaining of her head being “stuck” to one side. She says that today she was doing her normal routine when it suddenly felt like her head was being moved to her left and then it just stuck that way. She says it is somewhat painful because she cannot get it moved back to normal. She denies any recent neck trauma. Her past medical history consists of type 2 diabetes and gastroparesis (slow-moving peristalsis in the digestive tract, seen in diabetes). She is on oral medication for each. She is married and has three children. She denies tobacco, alcohol, or drug use. Her father has diabetes and her mother passed away from breast cancer. Her children are healthy. On examination you see a slightly overweight Hispanic woman appearing her stated age. Her head is twisted grotesquely to her left but otherwise her examination is normal. What form of involuntary movement does she have?

A 41-year-old real estate agent comes to your office, complaining that he feels like his face is paralyzed on the left. He states that last week he felt his left eyelid was drowsy and as the day progressed he was unable to close his eyelid all the way. Later he felt like his smile became affected also. He denies any recent injuries but had an upper respiratory viral infection last month. His past medical history is unremarkable. He is divorced and has one child. He smokes one pack of cigarettes a day, occasionally drinks alcohol, and denies any illegal drug use. His mother has high blood pressure and his father has sarcoidosis. On examination you ask him to close his eyes. He is unable to close his left eye. You ask him to open his eyes and raise his eyebrows. His right forehead furrows but his left remains flat. You then ask him to give you a big smile. The right corner of his mouth raises but the left side of his mouth remains the same. What type of facial paralysis does he have?

A 60-year-old retired seamstress comes to your office, complaining of decreased sensation in her hands and feet. She states that she began to have the problems in her feet a year ago but now it has started in her hands also. She also complains of some weakness in her grip. She has had no recent illnesses or injuries. Her past medical history consists of having type 2 diabetes for 20 years. She now takes insulin and oral medications for her diabetes. She has been married for 40 years. She has two healthy children. Her mother has Alzheimer’s disease and coronary artery disease. Her father died of a stroke and also had diabetes. She denies any tobacco, alcohol, or drug use. On examination she has decreased deep tendon reflexes in the patellar and Achilles tendons. She has decreased sensation of fine touch, pressure, and vibration on both feet. She has decreased two-point discrimination on her hands. Her grip strength is decreased and her plantar and dorsiflexion strength is decreased. Where is the disorder of the peripheral nervous system in this patient?

Question 12: Business

South University NSG 6020 Final exam study guide
South University NSG 6020Final exam study guide
A 65-year-old patient remarks that she just can’t believe that her breasts sag so much. She states it must
be from lack of exercise. What explanation should the nurse offer her?

The mother of a 10-year-old boy asks the nurse to discuss the recognition of puberty. The nurse should reply by saying:
“Puberty usually begins about age fifteen.”
“The first sign of puberty is enlargement of the testes.”
“Penis size does not increase until about the age of sixteen.”
“The development of pubic hair precedes testicular or penis enlargement.”

A patient has bilateral pitting edema of the feet. While assessing the peripheral vascular system, the nurse’s primary focus should be:
The correct answer is: Venous function of the lower extremities

During an examination, the nurse notes severe nystagmus in both eyes of a patient. Which of the following conclusions is correct?
1.This is a normal occurrence.
2.This may indicate disease of the cerebellum or brainstem.
3.This is a sign that the patient is nervous about the examination.
4.This indicates a visual problem and a referral to an ophthalmologist is indicated.
End-point nystagmus at an extreme lateral gaze occurs normally. Assess any other nystagmus carefully. Severe nystagmus occurs with disease of the vestibular system, cerebellum, or brainstem.

When performing a musculoskeletal assessment, the nurse knows the correct approach for the examination should be:
proximal to distal

A 43-year-old woman is at the clinic for a routine examination. She reports that she has had a breast lump in her right breast for years. Recently, it has begun to change in consistency and is becoming harder. She reports that 5 years ago her physician evaluated the lump and determined that it “was nothing to worry about.” The examination validates the presence of a mass in the right upper outer quadrant at 1 o’clock, approximately 5 cm from the nipple. It is firm, mobile, nontender, with borders that are not well defined. The nurse’s recommendation to her is:
“Because of the change in consistency of the lump, it should be further evaluated by a physician.”

The nurse practitioner is examining a 3-month-old infant. While holding the thumbs on the infant’s inner–mid-thighs and the fingers outside on the hips, touching the greater trochanter, the nurse practitioner adducts the legs until the nurse practitioner’s thumbs touch and then abducts the legs until the infant’s knees touch the table. The nurse practitioner does not note any “clunking” sounds and is confident to record a:
Negative Ortolani’s sign.

A patient’s mother has noticed that her son, who has been to a new babysitter, has some blisters and scabs on his face and buttocks. On examination, the nurse notices moist, thin-roofed vesicles with a thin erythematous base and suspects:
Impetigo

The nurse is testing superficial reflexes on an adult patient. When stroking up the lateral side of the sole and across the ball of the foot, the nurse notices the plantar flexion of the toes. How would the nurse document this finding?
1.Positive Babinski sign
2.Plantar reflex abnormal
3.Plantar reflex present
4.Plantar reflex “2+” on a scale from “0 to 4+”
With the same instrument, draw a light stroke up the lateral side of the sole of the foot and across the ball of the foot, like an upside-down “J.” The normal response is plantar flexion of the toes and sometimes of the whole foot.
A woman is in the family planning clinic seeking birth control information. She states that herbreasts “change all month long” and that she is worried that this is unusual. What is the nurse’s bestresponse?
Tell her that, because of the changing hormones during the monthly menstrualcycle, cyclic breast changes are common.

A patient states during the interview that she noticed a new breast lump in the shower a few days ago. It was on her left breast near her axilla. The RN should plan to:
palpate the unaffected breast first

A 16-yr-old girl is being seen at clinic for gastrointestinal complaints+weight loss. Nurse determines that many of her complaints may be related to erratic eating patterns, eating predominantly fast foods, + high caffeine intake. In this situation, which is most appropriate when collecting current dietary intake information?
•1. Schedule a time for direct observation of the adolescent during meals.
•2. Ask the patient for a 24-hour diet recall and assume this is reflective of a typical day for her.
3. Have the patient complete a food diary for 3 days=2 weekdays + 1 weekend day
Fooddiaries require the individual to write down everything consumed for a certaintime period. Because of the erratic eating patterns of this individual,assessing dietary intake over a few days would produce more accurateinformation regarding eating patterns. Direct observation is best used withyoung children or older adults.

To assess the head control of a 4-month-old infant, the nurse lifts the infant up in a prone position while supporting his chest. The nurse looks for what normal response?
1.Raises head and arches back.
2.Extends arms and drops head down.
3.Flexes knees and elbows with back straight.
4.Holds head at 45 degrees and keeps back straight.
At 3 months of age, the baby raises the head and arches the back as if in a swan dive. This is the Landau reflex, which persists until 11/2 years of age.
A patient has a positive Homans’ sign. The nurse knows that a positive Homans’ sign may indicate:
deep vein thrombosis.

The nurse is discussing breast self-examination with a postmenopausal woman. The best time forpostmenopausal women to perform breast self-examination is:
A=the same day every month.

A 15-year-old boy is seen in the clinic for complaints of “dull pain and pulling” in the scrotal area. On examination the nurse palpates a soft, irregular mass posterior to and above the testis on the left. This mass collapses when the patient is supine and refills when he is upright. This description is consistent with:
varicocele

The nurse is bathing an 80-year-old man and notices that his skin is wrinkled,thin, lax, and dry. This finding would be related to which factor?
An increased loss of elastin and a decrease in subcutaneous fat in the elderly

A woman who is 22 weeks pregnant has a vaginal infection. She tells the nurse that she is afraid that this infection will hurt the fetus. The nurse knows that which of these statements is true?
A thick mucus plug forms that protects the fetus from infection.

In assessment of 1-month-old, nurse notes a lack of response to noise or stimulation. mother reports that in the last week he has been sleeping all the time + when awake all he does is cry. nurse hears that infant’s cries are very high pitched and shrill. What would be nurse’s appropriate response?
1.Refer the infant for further testing.
2.Talk with the mother about eating habits.
3.Nothing; these are expected findings for an infant this age.
4.Tell the mother to bring the baby back in a week for a recheck.
A high-pitched shrill cry or cat-sounding screech occurs with central nervous system damage. Lethargy, hyporeactivity, hyperirritability, and parent’s report of significant change in behavior all warrant referral.

A female patient is 8 months pregnant. She comments that she has noticed a change in posture and is having lower back pain. The nurse tells her that during pregnancy women have a posture shift to compensate for the enlarging fetus. This shift in posture is:
lordosis

A 14-year-old girl is anxious about not having reached menarche. When taking the history, the nurse should ascertain which of the following?The age:
she began to develop breasts

A 9-year-old girl is in the clinic for a sports physical. After some initial shyness she finally asks,“Am I normal? I don’t seem to need a bra yet, but I have some friends who do. What if I never getbreasts?” The nurse’s best response would be:
“I understand that it is hard to feel different from your friends. Breasts usually develop between 8 and 10 years of age.”

During an examination, the nurse notes a supernumerary nipple just under the patient’s left breast.The patient tells the nurse that she always thought it was a mole. Which statement about this findingis correct?
It is a normal variation and not a significant finding

The major artery that supplies blood to arm
brachial artery

The nurse is testing the function of cranial nerve XI. Which of these best describes the response the nurse should expect if the nerve is intact? The patient
moves head and shoulder against resistance w/equal strength

In a person with an upper motor neuron lesion such as a cerebrovascular accident, which of the following physical assessment findings would the nurse expect to see?
1.Hyperreflexia
2.Fasciculations
3.Loss of muscle tone and flaccidity
4.Atrophy and wasting of the muscles
Hyperreflexia, diminished or absent superficial reflexes, increased muscle tone or spasticity can be expected with upper motor neuron lesions.

A few days after a summer hiking trip, a 25-year-old man comes to the clinic with a rash. On examination, the nurse notes that the rash is red, macular, with a bull’s eye pattern across his midriff and behind his knees. The nurse suspects:
Lyme Disease

To assess the dorsalis pedis artery, the nurse would palpate
lateral to the extensor tendon of the great toe.The dorsalis pedis artery is located on the dorsum of the foot. Palpate just lateral to and parallel with the extensor tendon of the big toe.

The nurse is performing a neurologic assessment on a 41-year-old woman with a history of diabetes. When testing her ability to feel the vibrations of a tuning fork, the nurse notes the following: unable to feel vibrations on the great toe or ankle bilaterally; is able to feel vibrations on both patellae. Given this information, what would the nurse suspect?
1.Hyperalgesia
2.Hyperesthesia
3.Peripheral neuropathy
4.Lesion of sensory cortex
Loss of vibration sense occurs with peripheral neuropathy (e.g., diabetes and alcoholism). Peripheral neuropathy is worse at the feet and gradually improves as you move up leg, as opposed to a specific nerve lesion, which has a clear zone of deficit for its dermatome

During an examination, you note that a male patient has a red, round, superficial ulcer with a yellowish-serous discharge on his penis. Upon palpation, you note a nontender base that feels like a small button between your thumb and fingers. At this point you suspect that this patient has:
syphilitic chancre

During an interview, a patient reveals that she is pregnant. She states that she is not sure whether shewill breastfeed her baby and asks for some information about this. Which of these statements by the nurse is accurate with regard to breastfeeding?
“Breastfeeding provides the perfect food and antibodies for your baby.”
or Breast-feeding may reduce the risk of breast cancer.

To palpate the temporomandibular joint, the nurse’s finger should be placed in the depression of the ear.
anterior to the tragus

The nurse practitioner is examining only the rectal area of a woman and should place the woman in what position?
The nurse should place the female patient in lithotomy position if examining genitalia as well; use the left lateral decubitus position for the rectal area alone.
The nurse is performing a genitourinary assessment on a 50-year-old obese male laborer. On examination the nurse notices a painless round swelling close to the pubis in the area of the internal inguinal ring that is easily reduced when the individual is supine. These findings are most consistent with a(n) _____ hernia.
Direct inguinal

The nurse is conducting a class about breast self-examination (BSE). Which of these statementsindicates proper BSE technique?
C)The best time to perform BSE is 4 to 7 days after the first day of the menstrual
period.

A man found wandering in park at 2AM has been brought to emergency department for examination because he said he fell+hit head. During examination, nurse asks him to use his index finger to touch nurse’s finger, then own nose, then nurse’s finger again (moved to a different location). patient is clumsy, unable to follow the instructions, +overshoots mark, missing finger. nurse suspects…
1.Cerebral injury
2.Cerebrovascular accident
3.Acute alcohol intoxication
4.Peripheral neuropathy
During the finger-to-finger test, if the person has clumsy movement with overshooting the mark, either a cerebellar disorders or acute alcohol intoxication should be suspected.

Which of the following assessment findings is most consistent with clubbing of the fingernails?
An angle of the nail base of 180 degrees or greater with a nail base that feels spongy

A 45-year-old mother of two children is seen at the clinic for complaints of “losing my urine when I sneeze.” The nurse documents that she is experiencing:
stress incontinence

A patient calls the clinic for instructions before having a Papanicolaou (Pap) smear. The most appropriate instructions from the nurse are:
“Avoid intercourse, inserting anything into the vagina, or douching within 24 hours of your appointment.”

Which of the following statements is true regarding the penis?
The corpus spongiosum expends into a cone of erectile tissue called the glans

When performing the bimanual examination, the nurse notices that the cervix feels smooth and firm, is round, and is fixed in place (does not move). When cervical palpation is performed, the patient complains of some pain. The nurse’s interpretation of these results should be which of these?
The cervix should move when palpated; an immobile cervix may indicate malignancy.

You are examining a 6 month old baby. You place the baby’s feet flat on the table and flex his knees up. you note that the right knee is significantly lower than the left. Which of the following is true of this finding?
This is a positive Allis sign and suggests hip dislocation

A 75-year-old woman who has a history of diabetes and peripheral vascular disease has been trying to remove a corn on the bottom of her foot with a pair of scissors. The nurse will encourage her to stop trying to remove the corn with scissors because:
the woman could be at increased risk for infection and lesions because of her chronic disease
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You are examining Mr. O, and when you ask him to bend forward from the waist, you notice lateral tilting; when you raise his leg straight up, he complains of a pain going down his buttock into his leg. You suspect:
herniated nucleus pulposus

The assessment of an 80-year-old patient, the nurse notes that his hands show tremors when he reaches for something and that his head is always nodding. There is no associated rigidity with movement. Which of the following statements is most accurate?
these findings are normal

Which of the following statements is true regarding the arterial system?
The arterial system is a high-pressure system.

A patient who is visiting the clinic complains of having “stomach pains for 2 weeks” and describes his stools as being “soft and black” for about the last 10 days. He denies taking any medications. The NP is aware that these symptoms are most indicative of:
occult blood resulting from gastrointestinal bleeding.

During an internal examination of a woman’s genitalia, the nurse will use which technique for proper insertion of the speculum?
Instruct the woman to bear down, turn the width of the blades horizontally, and insert the speculum at a 45-degree angle downward toward the small of the woman’s back.
During an internal examination of a woman’s genitalia, the nurse practitioner will use which technique for proper insertion of the speculum?
Insert the blades of the speculum on a horizontal plane, turning them to a 45-degree angle while continuing to insert them. Ask the woman to bear down to ease insertion.
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When assessing a patient the nurse practitioner documents the left femoral pulse as 0/0-4+. Which of the following findings would the nurse practitioner expect at the dorsalis pedis pulse?
0/0-4+Pulsations are graded on a four-point scale: 0, absent; 1+, weak; 2+, normal; 3+, increased; 4+, bounding. If a pulse is absent at the femoral site, one would expect the dorsalis pedis pulse to be absent also.

A 2-year-old boy has been diagnosed with “physiologic cryptorchidism.” Given this diagnosis, during assessment the nurse will most likely observe:
An absence of the testis in the scrotum, but the testis can be milked down

The nurse practitioner is doing an assessment on a 29-year-old woman who visits the clinic complaining of “always dropping things and falling down.” While testing rapid alternating movements, the nurse practitioner notices that the woman is unable to pat both her knees. Her response is very slow and she misses frequently. What might the nurse practitioner suspect?
Dysfunction of the cerebellum
In rapid, alternating movements, slow, clumsy, and sloppy response occurs with cerebellar disease.

The wife of a 65 year old man tells the nurse that she is concerned because she has noted a change in her husband’s personality and ability to understand. He also cries and becomes angry very easily. The nurse recalls that the cerebral lobe responsible for these behaviors is which of the following?
Frontal

A male patient with possible fertility problems asks the nurse where sperm is produced. The nurse knows that sperm production occurs in the:
testes.

Which of the following statements reflects the best approach to teaching a woman about breast self-examination (BSE)?
“BSE on a monthly basis will help you feel familiar with your own breasts and their normal variations.”
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When assessing a patient’s pulse, the nurse practitioner notes that the amplitude is weaker during inspiration and stronger during expiration. When the nurse practitioner measures the blood pressure, the reading decreases 20 mm Hg during inspiration and increases with expiration. This patient is experiencing:
pulsusparadoxus.

A patient has had a “terrible itch” for several months that he has been scratching continuously. On examination, the nurse might expect to find:
lichenification

During an annual physical exam, a 43-year-old patient states that she doesn’t perform monthly breast self-examination (BSE). She tells the nurse that she believes that mammograms “do a much better job than I ever could to find a lump.” The nurse should explain to her that:
BSEs may detect lumps that appear between mammograms./ mammography may not detect all palpable lumps.

A patient’s annual physical examination reveals a lateral curvature of the thoracic and lumbar segments of his spine; however, this curvature disappears with forward bending. This abnormality of the spine would be called:
Functional scoliosis
Assessment of a 60-yr-old patient has taken longer than anticipated. in testing pain perception nurse decides to complete the test as quickly as possible. When nurse applies sharp point of pin on his arm several times, he is only able to identify these as one ‘very sharp prick.’ most accurate explanation?
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1.has hyperesthesia as a result of aging process
2.most likely the result of the summation effect.
3.The nurse was probably not poking hard enough with the pin in the other areas.
4.The patient most likely has analgesia in some areas of arm and hyperalgesia in others.
ANS: 2Let at least 2 seconds elapse between each stimulus to avoid summation. With summation, frequent consecutive stimuli are perceived as one strong stimulus.

Assessing a 7-month-old infant you make a loud noise and note the following response: Abduction and flexion of arms and legs; fanning of fingers and curling of index finger and thumb in C-position; followed by infant bringing in arms and legs to body. What do you know about this?
1.This could indicate brachial nerve palsy
2.This is an expected startle response at this age
3.This reflex should disappear between 1 and 4 months of age
4.It is normal as long as movements are symmetrical bilaterally

The nurse is assessing a 75-year-old man. As the nurse beings the mental status portion of the assessment, the nurse expects that this patient:
may take a little longer to respond, but his general knowledge and abilities should not have declined.

During an external genitalia examination of a woman, the nurse notices several lesions around the vulva. The lesions are pink, moist, soft, and pointed papules. The patient states that she is not aware ofany problems in that area. The nurse recognizes that these lesions may be:
HPV or genital WARTs

A 40-year-old woman reports a change in mole size, accompanied by color changes, itching, burning, and bleeding over the past month. She has a dark complexion and has no family history of skin cancer, but she has had many blistering sunburns in the past. The nurse would:
Refer the patient because of the suspicion of melanoma on the basis of her symptoms.

Which of the following veins are responsible for most of the venous return in the arm?
1.Deep veins
2.Ulnar veins
3.Subclavian veins
4.Superficial veins

A man who has had gout for several years comes to the clinic with a “problem with my toe.” On examination, the nurse practitioner notes the presence of hard, painless nodules over the great toe; one had burst open with a chalky discharge. This finding is known as:
Tophi are collections of sodium urate crystals resulting from chronic gout in and around the joint that cause extreme swelling and joint deformity. They appear as hard, painless nodules (tophi) over the metatarsophalangeal joint of the first toe and they sometimes burst with a chalky discharge
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The nurse is performing a well-child assessment on a 3-year-old child. The child’s vital signs are normal. Capillary refill time is 5 seconds. The nurse would:
1.ask the parent if the child has had frostbite in the past.
2.suspect that the child has a venous insufficiency problem.
3.consider this a delayed capillary refill time and investigate further.
4.consider this a normal capillary refill time that requires no further assessment.
Normal capillary refill time is less than 1 to 2 seconds. Note that these conditions can skew your findings: a cool room, decreased body temperature, cigarette smoking, peripheral edema, and anemia.
A 70-year-old patient is scheduled for open-heart surgery. The surgeon plans to use the great saphenous vein for the coronary bypass grafts. The patient asks, “What happens to my circulation when the veins are removed?” The nurse should reply:
“Because the deeper veins in your leg are in good condition, this vein can be removed without harming your circulation.”

When observing the vestibule, the nurse practitioner should be able to see the:
Urethral meatus and vaginal orifice

When the nurse is conducting sexual history from a male adolescent, which statement would be most appropriate to use at the beginning of the interview?
Often boys your age have questions about sexual activity

The nurse practitioner is palpating the abdomen of a woman who is 35 weeks’ pregnant and notes that the fetal head is facing downward toward the pelvis. The nurse practitioner would document this as:
B) Fetal presentation
Fetal presentation describes the part of the fetus that is entering the pelvis first. Fetal lie is orientation of the fetal spine to the maternal spine. Attitude is the position of the fetal parts in relation to each other, and fetal variety is the location of the fetal back to the maternal pelvis.

Which of the following factors is most likely to affect the nutritional status of an 82-year-old person?
Socioeconomic conditions frequently have the greatest effect on the nutritional status of the aging adult; these factors should be closely evaluated. Physical limitations, income, and social isolation are frequent problems and can obviously interfere with the acquisition of a balanced diet.

When performing a genital examination on a 25-year-old man, the nurse notices deeply pigmented, wrinkled scrotal skin with large sebaceous follicles. On the basis of this information the nurse would:
consider this a normal finding and proceed with the examination.
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Mrs. A has had arthritis for years and is starting to notice that her fingers are drifting to this side. This is commonly referred to as:
ulnar deviation

A nurse is assessing a patient’s risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI). An appropriate question to ask would be:
“Do you use a condom with each episode of sexual intercourse?”

A 14-year-old boy who has been diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease reports painful swelling just below the knee for the past 5 months. Which response by the nurse practitioner is appropriate?
“Your disease is due to repeated stress on the patellar tendon. It is usually self-limited, and your symptoms should resolve with rest.”

Which of the following is considered a normal and expected finding when the nurse practitioner is performing a physical examination on a pregnant woman?

A 54-year-old woman who has just completed menopause is in the clinic today for a yearly physical examination. Which of these statements should the nurse include in patient education? “A postmenopausal woman:
should be aware that she is at increased risk for dyspareunia because of decreased vaginal secretions.”

The nurse practitioner has completed the musculoskeletal examination of a patient’s knee and has found a positive bulge sign. The nurse suspects:
Swelling from fluid in the suprapatellar pouch

Which of the following statements is true with regard to the history of a postmenopausal woman?

When performing a genital assessment on a middle-aged man, the nurse notices multiple soft, moist, painless papules in the shape of cauliflower-like patches scattered across the shaft of the penis. These lesions are characteristic of:
genital warts.

During a physical examination, a 45-year-old woman states that she has had a crusty, itchy rash on her breast for about 2 weeks. In trying to find the cause of the rash, which of these would beimportant for the nurse to determine?
Where did it first appear—on the nipple, the areola, or the surrounding skin?

Which of the following statements is true regarding assessment of the ankle-brachial index (ABI)?
ABI = highest ankle pressure divided by the highest brachial pressure

The patient is in her first trimester of pregnancy. She complains of feeling nauseated and has vomited on occasion. She tells the nurse that she did not have this with her first pregnancy. She asks the nurse, “What is causing this and when will it end?” How should the nurse respond?

The nausea is caused by elevated levels of progesterone and estrogen, and the nausea should end once her body adjusts to the increased hormone levels.

A professional tennis player comes in complaining of a sore elbow. You suspect that he has tenderness at:
the medial and lateral epicondyle

During a bimanual examination, the nurse detects a solid tumor on the ovary that is heavy and fixed,with a poorly defined mass. This finding is suggestive of:
ovarian cancer

When doing the history on a patient with a seizure disorder, the nurse assesses whether the patient has an aura. Which of the following would be the best question for obtaining this information?
Do you have any warning sign before your seizure starts?

Feedback: Aura is a subjective sensation that precedes a seizure; it could be auditory, visual, or motor.

The nurse practitioner is assessing a 1-week-old infant and testing his muscle strength. The nurse practitioner lifts the infant with hands under the axillae and notes that the infant starts to “slip” between the hands. The nurse practitioner should:
Suspect that the infant may have weakness of the shoulder muscles

In examining a 70-year-old male patient, the nurse notices that he has bilateral gynecomastia. Whichof the following describes the nurse’s best course of action?
Explain that this condition may be the result of hormonal changes and recommendthat he see his physician.
While the nurse practitioner is taking the history of a 68-year-old patient who sustained a head injury 3 days earlier, he tells the nurse practitioner that he is on a cruise ship and is 30 years old. The nurse practitioner knows that this finding is indicative of:
Decreased level of consciousness.

A woman has just been diagnosed with HPV, or genital warts. The nurse should counsel her to receive regular examinations because this virus makes her at a higher risk for _____ cancer.
cervical

During an annual check-up of a 55 y/o patient, the nurse discusses the early detection measures for colon cancer. The nurse should mention the need for a
colonoscopy every 10 years

What are the two main parts of the nervous system?
Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

While obtaining a history of a 3-month old infant from the mother, the nurse practitioner asks about the baby’s ability to suck and grasp the mother’s finger. What is the nurse practitioner assessing?

The nurse practitioner auscultates a functional systolic murmur, grade II/IV, on a woman in week 30 of her pregnancy. The remainder of her physical assessment is within normal limits. The nurse practitioner would:

The nurse practitioner knows that classic symptoms associated with preeclampsia include:

Question 13: Business

Analyze the case study titled “Who’s the World’s Top Retailer? Walmart and Amazon Duke It Out” on pp.
116-118 of your textbook.
For this assignment, you will need to:
1. analyze the case study comparing Walmart and Amazon’s business models and business strategies,
2. explain the role that information technology plays in each of these businesses and describe the role of the various
IT professionals involved in this case,
3. explain how IT helps influence Walmart and Amazon’s organizational strategies, and
4. summarize your findings in a two- to three-page paper.

Instructions
There are several standardized training events in large organizations that are required annually or biannually. One of these is often sexual harassment. For this assignment, write a training plan for all employees in your firm to educate and develop their awareness of sexual harassment and understanding of legal and organizational policies. Be sure to include training aspects of planning, design, implementation, and evaluation.
This plan should be in narrative form with a minimum requirement of 500 words. Discuss the following guidelines to complete your plan.
Planning: Should all employees be trained at once? If not, who should be trained first? What are the anticipated outcomes or terminal learning objectives of the training?
Design: In what format should the training be given, and why? What modalities will be used for employees on multiple shifts or in multiple locations? What are the core elements of the training that will align with the learning objectives?
Implementation: Who will lead the training, and how will it be implemented? Will you be training for knowledge or behavior change? How will you conduct the actual training to account for knowledge and/or behavioral change?
Evaluation: How will you know if the training was successful? What measures will you use to know if employees 1) learned from the training, 2) behaved differently after the training, and 3) the training has a bottom line impact to the firm?
Any sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations in APA format.

“State of Estates” is a national estate planning firm with 2,500 employees in eight states.

Prepare a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation with speaker notes for upper management at “State of Estates” to address the following areas:
An overview of Title VII as applied to race and national origin discrimination
Ways “State of Estates” can minimize liability for race and national origin discrimination in its employment practices
The three types of affirmative action
Whether any type of affirmative action is required or recommended for the firm

Include visual interest in the form of relevant photos, clip art, and/or graphics.

Format your presentation consistent with APA guidelines and include both an introduction slide and reference slide.

Assignment #3: Inferential Statistics Analysis and Write up
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to develop and carry out an inferential statistics analysis plan and write up the findings. There are two main parts to this assignment: ● Part A: Inferential Statistics Data Plan and Analysis ● Part B: Write up of Results
Part A: Prepare Data Plan, Analyze Data, and Complete Part A of the Assignment #3 Template ➢ Task 1: Select Variables. Review the variables you used for assignments #1 and #2. Select your qualitative socioeconomic variable as your grouping variable and the two expenditure variables from the variables used in these previous assignments. Fill in Table 1: Variables Selected for Analysis with name, description, and type of variable (i.e., qualitative or quantitative). ➢ Task 2: Select and Run a One Sample Confidence Interval Analysis. For one expenditure
variable, select and run the appropriate method for estimating a parameter, based on a statistic
(i.e., confidence interval method). Complete Table 2: Confidence Interval Information and
Results, which follows the format outlined by Kozak and the course’s problem-solving approach,
including:
○ Random variable stated in words ○ Confidence interval method, including rationale and assumptions ○ Method used for analyzing data (i.e., web applets, Excel, TI calculator, etc.). ○ Results obtained ○ Interpretation
➢ Task 3: Select Two Sample Hypothesis Test. Using the second expenditure variable (with the
socioeconomic variable as the grouping variable), select and run the appropriate method for
making decisions about two parameters relative to observed statistics (i.e., two sample
STAT200: Assignment #3 – Inferential Statistics Analysis and Writeup – Instructions Page 2 of 5
hypothesis test method). Complete Table 3: Two Sample Hypothesis Test Analysis, which
follows the format outlined by Kozak and the course’s problem-solving approach, including:
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○ Hypotheses (null and alternative). ○ Two sample hypothesis testing method, including rationale and assumptions ○ Method used for analyzing data (i.e., web applets, Excel, TI calculator, etc.). ○ Results obtained. ○ Interpretation (i.e., Reject the null hypothesis OR Fail to reject null hypothesis)
Step 2: Write Up Results and Complete Part B of the Assignment #3 Template
For this 1 to 2 page section, refer to the inferential statistics data plan and computations done for Part A of this assignment. Address the following area: ➢ Introduction. Based on the scenario you submitted for the second assignment, provide a brief description of scenario, including the variables that were used in this analysis. Include a completed “Table 1: Variables Selected for Analysis to show the variables you selected for analysis. ➢ Data Set Description and Method Used for Analysis. Briefly describe the data set, using information provided with data set and write up in Assignment #2. Also describe what method(s) (i.e., free web applets, Excel, TI Calculator) you used to analyze the data. ➢ Results. In this section, you will report the results of your inferential statistics data analysis.
For the Confidence Interval Analysis, write one paragraph that includes: o Statistical method used, including rationale and whether assumptions were met. o Statistical Interpretation. The statistical interpretation is that the confidence interval has a probability (1−α, where α is the complement of the confidence level) of containing the population parameter. o Real World Interpretation. Explain the results in everyday language. Recommend reviewing the text and information from the classroom for examples on how to report results in everyday language.

STAT200: Assignment #3 – Inferential Statistics Analysis and Writeup – Instructions Page 3 of 5
For the Two Sample Hypothesis Test Analysis, write one paragraph that includes: o Hypotheses that were assessed. See below table for example format: Examples Format for Writing Null and Alternative Hypotheses, in Words
Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in [insert variable name] between [insert group 1 name] and [insert group 2 name] households.
Alternative Hypothesis:
➢ For two-tailed (≠): There is a significant difference in [insert variable name] between [insert group 1 name] and [insert group 2 name] households.
➢ For one-tailed (>): [Insert group 1 name] has statistically significantly higher [insert variable name] than [insert group 2 name].
➢ For one-tailed (<): [Insert group 1 name] has statistically significantly lower [insert variable name] than [insert group 2 name].
o Statistical method used, including rationale and whether assumptions were met. See below table for example format: Example Format for Writing Statistical Method with Rationale
To determine whether the there was a difference in [insert household expenditure]
between [insert names of two groups), a [insert name of hypothesis test used] was
used. It was the appropriate statistical method, because [insert rationale]. The
assumptions were assessed [insert information about the assumptions assessed and
whether they were met].
o Conclusion from the Results. This is where you state whether to reject Ho or fail to reject Ho including the p-value that was obtained. The rule is: if the p-value < α, then reject Ho. If the p-value ≥α, then fail to reject Ho.
STAT200: Assignment #3 – Inferential Statistics Analysis and Writeup – Instructions Page 4 of 5
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o Real World Interpretation. Explain, in everyday language, the results. If any of the assumptions were not met, describe how it might affect conclusions. Address issues of Type I and/or Type II Error, where appropriate. Recommend reviewing the text and information from the classroom for examples on how to report results in everyday language.
➢ Discussion– Write one paragraph that summarizes the results of your findings and how they may be helpful to the person described in the scenario, when making a household budget

ECON 205 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

Exam #1

1. A resource is anything that:
A)can be used in production.
B) you pay for.
C) is in scarce supply.
D) can be consumed.

2. Scarcity in economics means:
A)not having sufficient resources to produce all the goods and service we want.
B) the wants of people are limited.
C) there must be poor people in rich countries.
D) economics are clearly not doing their jobs.

3. Opportunity cost is:
A) about half of the monetary cost of a product.
B) the dollar payment for a product.
C) the benefit derived from a product.
D)the value of the best alternative forgone in making any choice.

4. Margo spends $10,000 on one year’s college tuition. The opportunity cost of spending one year in college for Margo is:
A) $10,000
B) whatever she would have purchased with the $10,000 instead.
C) whatever she would have earned had she not been in college.
D)whatever she would have purchased with the $10,000 instead and whatever she would have earned had she not been in college.

5. We are forced to make choices because of:
A) exploitation.
B) efficiency.
C)scarcity.
D) the margin.

6. A choice made ________ is a choice whether to do a little more or a little less of something.
A) at the fringe
B) in the beginning
C)at the margin
D) after the fact

7. A production possibility frontier illustrates the ______ facing an economy that ______ only two goods.
A) prices; sells
B)trade-offs; produces
C) trade-offs; consumes
D) shortages; produces
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8. When moving along a production possibility frontier, the opportunity cost to society of getting more of one good:
A) is constant.
B) is measured in dollar terms.
C)is measured by the amount of the good that must be given up.
D) usually decreases.

Use the following to answer questions 9-11:
Figure: Guns and Butter

9.
(Figure: Guns and Butter) On this figure, points A, B, E,and F:
A)indicate combinations of guns and butter that society can produce using all of its factor efficiently.
B) show that the opportunity cost of more guns increases, but that of more butter decreases.
C) indicate that society wants butter more than it wants guns.
D) indicate constant costs for guns and increasing costs for butter.

10. (Figure: Guns and Butter) This possibility frontier is:
A)bowed out from the origin because of increasing opportunity costs.
B) bowed in toward the origin because of increasing opportunity costs.
C) bowed in toward the origin because of constant costs of guns and butter.
D) linear because of constant costs.

11. (Figure: Guns and Butter) If the economy were operating at point B, producing 16 units of guns and 12 units of butter per period, a decision to move to point E and produce 18 units of butter:
A) indicates you can have more butter and guns simultaneously.
B) makes it clear that this economy experiences decreasing opportunity costs.
C)involves a loss of 8 units of guns per period.
D) involves a loss of 4 units of guns per period.

12. An economy is said to have a comparative advantage in the production of one good if it:
A) can produce more of all goods than another country.
B) can produce less of all goods than another country.
C) has the highest opportunity cost for producing a particular good.
D)has the lowest opportunity cost for producing a particular good.

13. In one hour, the United States can produce 25 tons of steel or 250 automobiles. In one hour, Japan can produce 30 tons of steel or 275 automobiles. This information implies that:
A) Japan has a comparative advantage in the production of automobiles.
B) the Unites States has an absolute advantage in the production of steel.
C) Japan has a comparative advantage in the production of both goods.
D) the United States has a comparative advantage in the production of automobiles.

14. Free trade between countries:
A) should be based on absolute advantage.
B) will allow wealthy countries to exploit less developed nations.
C) will shift the domestic production possibility frontier to the right.
D)will allow for greater levels of consumption than without trade.

Use the following to answer questions 15-17:

Figure: Comparative Advantage
Eastland and Westland produce only two goods, peaches and oranges, and this figure shows each nation’s production possibility frontier for the two foods.

15. (Figure: Comparative Advantage) The opportunity cost of producing 1 unit of peaches for Westland is:
A) 1 unit of oranges.
B) ¼ unit of oranges.
C) 4 units of oranges.
D) 10 units of oranges

16. (Figure: Comparative Advantage) Westland has an absolute advantage in producing:
A) oranges only.
B)peaches only.
C) both oranges and peaches.
D) neither oranges or peaches.

17. (Figure: Comparative Advantage) Eastland has a comparative advantage in producing:
A)oranges only.
B) peaches only.
C) both oranges and peaches.
D) neither oranges or peaches.

18. The economy’s factors of production are not equally suitable for producing different types of goods. The principle generates:
A) economic growth.
B) technical efficiency.
C) resource underutilization.
D)the law of increasing opportunity cost.

19. Economists generally believe that a country should specialize in the production of a good or service if:
A) the production possibility frontier is larger than that of any other country.
B) the production possibility frontier is smaller than that of any other country.
C) the country can produce the product using fewer resources than any other country.
D)the country can produce the product while forgoing fewer alternative products than any other country.

20. The demand curve for videos has shifted to the right. What could have caused it?
A) a fall in the price of videos
B) an increase in the price of videos
C) an increase in the supply of videos
D)an increase in the incomes of buyers

21. The law of demand states other things equal:
A) as the price increases, the quantity demanded will increase.

B) as the price decreases, the demand curve will shift to the right.
C) as the price increases, the demand will decrease.
D)as the price increases, the quantity demanded will decrease.

22. A shift of the demand curve for Luis’s Pizza would not be caused by a change in the:
A) buyer’s incomes.
B)price of Luis’s Pizza.
C) price of Humberto’s Pizza.
D) popularity of Luis’s Pizza.

23. If goods A and B are substitutes, a decrease in the price of good B will:
A) increase the demand for good A.
B) increase the demand for good B.
C) decrease the demand for good A.
D) increase the demand for good B and decrease the demand for good A.

Use the following to answer questions 24-25:

Figure: Demand for Coconuts

24. (Figure: Demand for Coconuts) If a coconut is a normal good and the price of coconuts increases, then the movement that would take place in the model could be:
A) A to B.
B) B to A.
C) C to A.
D) E to B.

25. (Figure Demand for Coconuts) If coconuts are considered a normal good and there is an expectation on the part of consumers that the prices of coconuts will rise significantly in the near future, then the movement that would take place in the model could be:
A) C to A.
B) A to B.
C) B to E.
D)E to B.

26. When the price of gas goes up and the demand for tires goes down, this means tires and gas are:
A) substitutes.
B)complements.
C) both expensive.
D) both inexpensive.

27. Which of the following would shift the demand curve for new textbook to the right?
A) a decrease in the price of paper
B) a fall in the price of used textbooks
C)an increase in college enrollments
D) a fall in the price of new textbooks

28. A good is normal if:
A) when income increases, the demand remains unchanged.
B) when income increases, the demand decreases.
C)when income increases, the demand increases.
D) income and the demand are unrelated.

Exam #2

1. The typical supply curve illustrates that:
A) other things equal, the quantity supplied for a good is inversely related to the price of a good.
B) other things equal, the supply of the good created its own demand for the good.
C)other things equal, the quantity supplied for a good is positively related to the price of a good.
D)price and quantity supplied are unrelated.

2. Which of the following is not a determinant of supply?
A) expectations regarding future prices
B) the technology of production
C) the cost of production
D) consumer tastes

Use the following to answer questions 3-5:

Figure: Supply of Coconuts

3. (Figure: Supply of Coconuts) If the price of coconuts decreases, then the movement that would take place in the model could be:
A)A to B
B) B to A
C) C to A
D) E to B
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4. (Figure: Supply of Coconuts) If the prices of inputs (e.g. labor, fertilizer, and fuel) used to produce and transport coconuts are increasing, then the movement in the model could be:
A) A to B
B) B to A
C)C to A
D) E to B

5. (Figure: Supply of Coconuts)If there is an improvement in the technology used to harvest coconuts (e.g. a faster, less expensive coconut picker), then the movement in the model could be:
A)A to C
B) B to A
C) C to A
D) Bto E

6. The market for soybeans is initially in equilibrium. Because of “mad cow disease,” cattle feed producers decided to replace bone meal with soybeans in cattle feed. The likely effect is that:
A)the equilibrium price and quantity of soybeans will rise.
B) the equilibrium price and quantity of soybeans will fall.
C) the equilibrium quantity of soybeans will rise, but we can’t determine what will happen to the equilibrium price.
D)the equilibrium price of soybeans will rise, but we can’t determine what will happen to the equilibrium quantity.

7. Excess supply occurs when:
A) the price is above the equilibrium price.
B) the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied.
C) the price is below equilibrium price.
D) the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied and when the price is below the equilibrium quantity.

8. The market for milk is initially in equilibrium. Milk producers now engage in a costly advertising program to encourage milk drinking. Assume that the advertising campaign succeeds in shifting consumer tastes toward drinking milk and that milk producers provide more milk to the market. More milk producers enter the market. Standard demand and supply analysis tells us that:
A) the equilibrium price and quantity of milk will rise.
B) the equilibrium price and quantity of milk will fall.
C)the equilibrium quantity of milk will rise, but we can’t determine how the equilibrium price will be affected.
D) )the equilibrium price of milk will rise, but we can’t determine how the equilibrium quantity will be affected.

Use the following to answer question 9:

Figure: DVD Market

9. (Figure: DVD Market) At a rental price of $3, there will be
A) equilibrium in the rental market for DVDs.
B) an increase in demand.
C) an excess supply of 40 DVD rentals.
D)an excess demand of 40 DVD rentals.

10. In the market for corn tortilla chips, what would cause a price increase?
A) Your doctor tells you that you cannot have junk food anymore.
B) There is a technological advancement in the tortilla chip production process.
C) There is a fungus that kills much of the corn crop in Nebraska.
D) The price of salsa triples.

11. Consumer surplus for an individual buyer is equal to:
A)the consumer’s willingness to pay for the good, minus the marginal cost of producing the good.
B)the price of the good, minus the marginal cost od producing the good.
C)the consumer’s willingness to pay for the good, minus the price of the good.
D)the marginal cost of the good, minus the consumer’s willingness to pay for the good.

12. Along a given demand curve, an increase in the price of a good will cause consumer surplus to:
A)increase.
B)decrease.
C)not change.
D)cannot be determined without information about the supply curve.

Use the following to answer questions 13-14:

Figure: Consumer Surplus II

13. (Figure: Consumer Surplus II) At a price of P1, consumer surplus equals the area:
A) ABP2
B) AFP1
C) BGF
D) P1P2BF

14. (Figure: Consumer Surplus II) If the price rises from P1 to P2, consumer surplus decreases by the area:
A) ABP2
B) AFP1
C) BGF
D) P1P2BF

15. The price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of the change in:
A)quantity demanded to a change in price.
B)price to a change in quantity demanded.
C)the slope of the demand curve to a change in price.
D)the slope of the demand curve to a change in quantity demanded.

16. Suppose the price elasticity of demand for cheeseburgers equals 0.37. This means the overall demand for cheeseburgers is:
A)price elastic.
B)price inelastic.
C)price unit-elastic.
D)perfectly price inelastic.

Use the following to answer question 17:

Figure: Consumer Surplus III

17. (Figure Consumer Surplus III) If the price of the good is $2, consumer surplus will equal:
A) $30.
B) $45.
C) $60.
D) $90.

18. Suppose at a price of $10 the quantity demanded is 100. When the price falls to $8, the quantity demanded increases to 130. The price elasticity of demand between the priced of $10 and $8, using the midpoint method, is approximately:
A) 1.17
B) 1.50
C) 0.85
D) 1.00

19. The publisher of an economics textbook finds that when the book’s price is lowered from $70 to $60, sales rise from 10,000 to 15,000. Using the midpoint method, you can calculate that the price elasticity of demand is:
A) 500
B) 50%
C) 3.5
D) 2.6
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20. If total revenue goes down when price falls, the price elasticity of demand is said to be:
A)price-inelastic
B)price unit-elastic
C)price-elastic
D)positive

21. To say that two goods are complements, their cross-price elasticity’s of demand should be:
A)less than 0
B)equal to 0
C)positive, yet almost equal to 0
D)greater than 0

22. A perfectly elastic supply curve is:
A)horizontal
B)downward-sloping
C)upward-sloping
D)vertical

23. The income elasticity of demand of a normal good is:
A)between 1 and 0
B)less than 0
C)equal to 0
D) greater than 0

24. To maximize her grade in economics, Stacey should study until:
A)her marginal cost of studying begins to increase.
B)her marginal benefit of studying begins to decrease.
C)her marginal benefit of studying equals her marginal cost of studying.
D)her marginal cost of studying reaches zero.

25. According to the optimal output rule, if marginal benefit:
A)exceeds marginal cost, an activity should be reduced.
B)is less than marginal cost, an activity should be reduced.
C)is equal to marginal cost, an activity should be reduced.
D)exceeds marginal cost, net benefit is maximized.

26. To maximize total net benefit, consumers and firms evaluate each activity at the:
A)average.
B)top.
C)margin.
D)end.
Use the following to answer question 27:

Figure: Marginal Cost Curve

27. (Figure: Marginal Cost Curve) Using the marginal cost curve in the figure provided, we can determine that the total cost of mowing five lawns is approximately:
A) $68.50
B) $100
C) $50
D) $10
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28. If the marginal benefit received from a good is greater than the marginal cost of production, then:
A)society’s well-being can be improved if production increases.
B)society’s well-being can be improved if production decreases.
C)society’s well-being cannot be improved by changing production.
D)the market is producing too much of the good.

Exam #3

1. The amount by which an additional unit of a good or service increases a consumer’s total utility, all other things unchanged, is:
A) marginal utility
B) maximum utility
C) average utility
D) required utility

2. The principle of diminishing marginal utility means that when Sarah eats pizza, her satisfaction from the second slice of pizza is probably:
A) greater than that from the first.
B) equal to that from the first.
C) less than that from the first.
D) not comparable to that of the first.

3. Assume that the marginal utilities for the first three units of a good consumed are 200,150, and 125, respectively. The total utility when two units are consumed is:
A) 150
B) 200
C) 350
D) 475

4. Suzy knows she has maximized her utility, because she is on her budget constraint and:
A) consumption of Good X equals consumption of God Y
B) what is sent on Good X equals what is spent on Good Y
C) MUx/Px = MUy/Py
D) MUx = MUy

5. Joesph consumes pizza and soda. He is currently consuming three units of pizza and two units of soda. The price of pizza is $5 and the price of soda is $1. If he is consuming the optimal consumption bundle and his marginal utility of pizza is 50, then his marginal utility of soda is:
A) 50
B) 10
C) 5
D) impossible to determine unless you know Joseph’s income.

6. While at the grocery store, Sidney sees that the price of Grape-Nuts is twice that of Cheerios. If Sidney buys both goods, then Sidney must:
A) get twice as much marginal utility from Grape-Nuts as from Cheerios.
B) get twice as much marginal utility from Cheerios as from Grape-Nuts.
C) not be maximizing her utility.
D) buy twice as much Cheerios.

Use the following to anser questions 7-8:

Figure: Budget Lines for Oranges and Apples

7. (Figure: Budget Lines for Oranges and Apples) For some time, Sylvester has had $5 per month to spend on oranges and apples. The price of an orange is $0.50 and the price of an apple is $.025. Which of the charts shows what will happen to his budget line if his income decreases to $2.50?
A) Chart A
B) Chart B
C) Chart C
D) Chart D

8. (Figure: Budget Lines for Oranges and Apples) For some time, Sylvester has had $5 per month to spend on oranges and apples. The price of an orange is $0.50 and the price of an apple is $.025. Which of the charts shows what will happen to his budget line if the price of an orange falls to $0.25?
A) Chart A
B) Chart B
C) Chart C
D) Chart D

Use the following to answer questions 9-10:

Table: Total Product and Marginal Product

9. (Table: Total Product and Marginal Product) The marginal product of the second worker is:
A) 10
B) 15
C) 20
D) 30

10. (Table: Total Product and Marginal Product) Negative marginal returns begin when the _______ worker is added.
A) fifth
B) sixth
C) seventh
D) eighth

11. A planning period during which all of a firm’s resources are variable is the:
A) long run
B) fixed run
C) short run
D) nominal run

Use the following to answer question 15:

Figure: Short-Run Costs

15. (Figure: Short-Run Costs) A is the _______ cost curve.
A) average total
B) average variable
C) marginal
D) total

16. If marginal cost is greater than average total cost, then:
A) average total cost is increasing.
B) average total cost is decreasing.
C) average total cost is unchanged.
D) marginal cost is decreasing.

17. A firm’s marginal cost is:
A) the ratio of the change in fixed cost to the change in the quantity of output.
B) the slope of the total cost curve.
C) the slope of the average variable cost curve.
D) the ratio of the change in total output to the change in the quantity of labor.

18. When an increase in the firm’s output reduces its long-run average total cost, it experiences:
A) economies of scale
B) diseconomies of scale
C) constant returns to scale
D) variable returns to scale

19. In the model of perfect competition:
A) the consumer is at the mercy of powerful firms that can set prices wherever they prefer.
B) individual firms can influence the price, but only slightly.
C) no individual or firm has enough power to have any impact on price.
D) the price is determined by how many years are left in the product’s patent.

Use the following to answer question 20:

Figure: Short-Run Costs

20. (Figure: Short-Run Costs) At the given price, the most profitable level of output occurs at quantity:
A) N
B) P
C) S
D) T

21. In perfect competition, the assumption of easy entry and exit implies that:
A) in the long run all firms in the industry will earn zero economic profits.
B) in the short run all firms in the industry will earn positive economic profits.
C) in the short run all firms in the industry will earn zero economic profits.
D) in the long run all firms in the industry will earn zero economic profits and in the short run all firms in the industry will earn positive economic profits.

22. If a perfectly competitive firm is producing a quantity that generates P > MC, then profit:
A) is maximized
B) can be decreased by increasing price.
C) can be increased by decreasing price.
D) can be increased by increasing production.

Use the following to answer question 23:

Figure: A Perfectly Competitive Firm in the Short Run

23. (Figure: A Perfectly Competitive Firm in the Short Run) The firm’s total economic profit at its most profitable level of output is:
A) 0GHB
B) EFJS
C) EGHS
D) FGLK

24. If it produces, a perfectly competitive firm will maximize profits by producing at the quantity at which:
A) marginal revenue equals marginal cost.
B) marginal revenue equals price.
C) price equals average total cost.
D) price exceeds marginal cost.

25. Compared to a perfectly competitive market, a monopolist will produce _______ and change a _______ price.
A) less; higher
B) less; lower
C) more; higher
D) more; lower

Use the following to answer question 26:

Figure: Monopoly Model

26 (Figure: Monopoly Model) The profit maximizing quantity is the one indicated by the distance:
A) W
B) J
C) K
D) L

27. A natural monopoly exists whenever a single firm:
A) is owned and operated by the federal or local government.
B) is invertor-owned but has been granted the exclusive right by the government to operate in a market.
C) experiences economics of scale over the entire range of production that is relevant to its market.
D)has gained control over a strategic input of an important production process.

28. Compared to perfect competition:
A)monopoly produces more at a lower price.
B)monopoly produces where MR > MC and a perfectly competitively firm produces where P = MC.
C)monopoly may have economic profits in the long run, but in perfect competition in the long run economic profits are zero.
D)perfect competition may have zero economic profits in the long run, but in monopoly the long run economic profits are zero.

Answer these questions in essay format, using the instructions provided in the Assignment Instructions folder. Review the Essay 3 Grading Rubric to see how your essay will be graded.

Each essay must be at least 2 pages—roughly half a page per question. Answer the questions using the concepts from the lessons and reading assignments. You may use any books, notes, or materials, but you must do the work alone. There is no need to retype the questions in your essay, but you should continually refer back to each to ensure that you stay on topic. APA format.

Discuss and contrast extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation. Give an example of each type of motivation from your personal experience.

2. Describe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Provide an example of a deficiency need overpowering the need for growth.

3. Attributions can be described in terms of Locus (“place”), temporal stability, and controllability. Give an example of a time you were not able to perform well on a difficult task (a race, a test, etc.). Analyze 2 attributions you made about the situation in terms of locus, stability, and controllability. Explain your answers.
4. List and define the 7 motivational strategies that are listed in the mnemonic TARGETS. Select 3 of these strategies and give an example of how a teacher would incorporate each into classroom practice to motivate s

My reference page is attached. References need to be listed in alphabetical order.
You will write a Research Paper that will compare Behavioral Learning Theories and Cognitive Learning Theories. You will include a title page, a 150–250-word abstract, an 8-page body, and a reference page. The body will include an introduction, 6 sections, and a conclusion. The paper must be written in current APA format. Current APA Level 1 sub-headings must be used throughout the paper. The 6 main sections of the paper will address the following topics:

1. Historical Development of Each Theory—For each theory, discuss prominent persons and their corresponding historic research. Include how the theory has been developed over time. Have there been significant changes from its development to what current researchers in the area believe?

2. Key Concepts of Each Theory—This section will focus on the major points of each theory. How is new information acquired? What are the goals of learning? What is unique about each theory?

3. Research Support for Each Theory—This section will include a review of 4 peer-reviewed scholarly research articles. The first 2 articles will address research in which Behavior Learning Theory has been applied. The other 2 articles will use Cognitive Learning Theory in the research. Each article must show the effectiveness of the learning theory it addresses.

4. Educational Implications—This section will discuss the implications for how learning takes place in the classroom. Discuss the benefits and applications of each theory. How would each theory say people learn in a classroom setting? What are the benefits to teaching new information utilizing each theory?

5. Biblical Worldview—Discuss what the Bible says regarding learning behavior in humans. How would a biblical worldview impact a learner? Include chapter and verse when citing the Bible.

6. Most Effective Theory of Learning—Select which theory of learning (Behavioral or Cognitive) you believe is most effective. Substantiate your decision with research support citing journal articles and your textbook.

Reference Requirements

Required sources for this paper include the Bible, your textbook, 4 peer-reviewed journal articles, and at least 2 additional scholarly sources. Remaining sources must address educational implications, historical context, and/or biblical worldview topics related to Behavioral and Cognitive Learning Theories. At least 4 of the sources (the peer-reviewed journal articles) must have been published within the last 10 years. Popular writing and web pages are NOT acceptable sources for this paper. Refer to the provided grading rubric to fully understand the requirements for this assignment.
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Behavioral and Cognitive Learning Theories

Liberty University
Behavioral and Cognitive Learning Theories
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Answer these questions in essay format, using the instructions provided in the Assignment Instructions folder. Review the Essay 2 Grading Rubric to see how your essay will be graded.

**************Make sure to include all labels, as per the instructions.) Each response should be about a half-page in length*****************************

1. Think of a class outside of your major. Using the Gestalt principle, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” describe your preconceived perception of the class, 3 details that you now know are different from that initial perception, and your continuing perception in spite of the details.

2. In church and in other settings, announcements are made that affect you. Label and describe 4 techniques covered in the textbook which the speaker could use to keep your attention.

3. You have gone through stages of Piaget’s cognitive development, in your professional beliefs and in your theological beliefs. Name and trace the development of any 1 of your beliefs through all 4 stages. Give at least 1 specific characteristic for each stage and use terms from Piaget’s theory. Though you may not remember your cognitive development at every stage, trace what must have happened to you in each stage to allow your current functioning. In relation to this belief, what is the best stage for you to be in now, and why?

4. Think of classes in your major. Name 3 concepts from Vygotsky’s theory and provide examples of how they could help to boost your zone of proximal development (ZPD) for learning in those classes.

This assignment is due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 6.
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NSG6005 Final Exam South University | Complete Solution

An ACE inhibitor and what other class of drug may reduce proteinuria in patients with diabetes better than either drug alone?

A. Beta blockers
B. Diuretics
C. Nondihydropyridine calcium channel blockers
D. Angiotensin II receptor blockers

Adam has type I diabetes and plays tennis for his university. He exhibits knowledge deficit about his insulin and his diagnosis. He should be taught that:

A. He should increase his increase his carbohydrate intake during times of exercise intake during times of exercise.
B. Each brand of insulin is equal in bioavailability, so buy the least expensive.
C. Alcohol produces hypoglycemia and can help control his diabetes when taken in small amounts.
D. If he does not want to learn to give himself injections, he may substitute an oral hypoglycemic to control his diabetes.
Age is a factor in different responses to pain. Which of the following age-related statements about pain is not true?

A. Preterm and newborn infants do not yet have functional pain pathways.
B. Painful experiences and prolonged exposure to analgesic drugs during pregnancy may permanently alter neuronal organization in the child.
C. Increases in pain threshold in older adults may be related to peripheral neuropathies and changes in skin thickness.
D. Decreases in pain tolerance are evident in older adults.
Alterations in drug metabolism among Asians may lead to:

A. Slower metabolism of antidepressants, requiring lower doses
B. Faster metabolism of neuroleptics, requiring higher doses
C. Altered metabolism of omeprazole, requiring higher doses
D. Slower metabolism of alcohol, requiring higher doses

Amiodarone has been prescribed in a patient with a supraventricular dysrhythmia. Patient teaching should include all of the following except:

A. Notify your healthcare provider immediately if you have visual change.
B. Monitor your own blood pressure and pulse daily.
C. Take a hot shower or bath if you feel dizzy.
D. Use a sunscreen on exposed body surfaces.
Anticholinergic agents, such as benztropine (Cogentin), may be given with a phenothiazine to:

A. Reduce the chance of tardive dyskinesia.
B. Potentiate the effects of the drug.
C. Reduce the tolerance that tends to occur.
D. Increase CNS depression.
An appropriate drug for the treatment of depression with anxiety would be:

A. Alprazolam (Xanax)
B. Escitalopram (Lexapro)
C. Buspirone (Buspar)
D. Amitriptyline (Elavil)
Cara is taking levetiracetam (Keppra) to treat seizures. Routine education for levetiracetam includes reminding her:

A. To not abruptly discontinue levetiracetam due to the risk of withdrawal seizures
B. To wear a sunscreen due to photosensitivity from levetiracetam
C. To get an annual eye exam while on levetiracetam
D. To report weight loss if it occurs
Cecilia presents with depression associated with complaints of fatigue, sleeping all the time, and lack of motivation. An appropriate initial antidepressant for her would be:

A. Fluoxetine (Prozac)
B. Paroxetine (Paxil)
C. Amitriptyline (Elavil)
D. Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
Chemical dependency assessment is integral to the initial assessment of chronic pain. Which of the following raises a “red flag” about potential chemical dependency?

A. Use of more than one drug to treat the pain
B. Multiple times when prescriptions are lost with requests to refill
C. Preferences for treatments that include alternative medicines
D. Presence of a family member who has abused drugs
Common mistakes practitioners make in treating anxiety disorders include:

A. Switching medications after an eight-week trial to a twelve-week trial
B. Maximizing dosing of antianxiety medications
C. Encouraging exercise and relaxation therapy before starting medication
D. Thinking a partial response to medication is acceptable
David presents to clinic with symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis. He is prescribed cromolyn sodium (Opticrom) eyedrops. The education regarding using cromolyn eyedrops includes which one of the following tips?
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A. He should not wear his soft contacts while using the cromolyn eyedrops.
B. Cromolyn drops are instilled once a day to prevent allergy symptoms.
C. Long-term use of the eyedrop may cause glaucoma.
D. He may experience bradycardia as an adverse effect.
The DEA:

A. Registers manufacturers and prescribes controlled substances
B. Regulates NP prescribing at the state level
C. Sanctions providers who prescribe drugs off-label
D. Provides prescribers with a number they can use for insurance billing
Diagnostic criteria for diabetes include:

A. Fasting blood glucose greater than 140 mg/dl on two occasions
B. Postprandial blood glucose greater than 140 mg/dl
C. Fasting blood glucose 100 to 125 mg/dl on two occasions
D. Symptoms of diabetes plus a casual blood glucose greater than 200 mg/dl
Disease states in addition to hypertension in which beta blockade is a compelling indication for the use of beta blockers include:

A. Heart failure
B. Angina
C. MI
D. Dyslipidemia
The drug of choice for type II diabetics is metformin. Metformin:

A. Decreases glycogenolysis by the liver
B. Increases the release of insulin from beta cells
C. Increases intestinal uptake of glucose
D. Prevents weight gain associated with hyperglycemia
The drug recommended as primary prevention of osteoporosis in men over seventy years is:

A. Alendronate (Fosamax)
B. Ibandronate (Boniva)
C. Calcium carbonate
D. Raloxifene (Evista)

The drug recommended as primary prevention of osteoporosis in women over seventy years old is:

A. Alendronate (Fosamax)
B. Ibandronate (Boniva)
C. Calcium carbonate
D. Raloxifene (Evista)
The drugs recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for use in children with diabetes (depending upon type of diabetes) are:

A. Metformin and insulin
B. Sulfonylureas and insulin glargine
C. Split-mixed dose insulin and GLP-1 agonists
D. Biguanides and insulin lispro
Drugs that have a significant first-pass effect:

A. Must be given by the enteral (oral) route only
B. Bypass the hepatic circulation
C. Are rapidly metabolized by the liver and may have little if any desired action
D. Are converted by the liver to more active and fat-soluble forms
Dwayne has classic tinea capitis. Treatment for tinea on the scalp is:

A. Rubbing in miconazole cream well for four weeks
B. Intake of oral griseofulvin for six to eight weeks
C. Shampooing with ketoconazole shampoo daily for six weeks
D. Using ciclopirox cream daily for four weeks
Dwayne was recently started on carbamazepine to treat seizures. He comes to see you, and you note that while his carbamazepine levels had been in the therapeutic range, they are now low. The possible cause for the low carbamazepine levels is:

A. Dwayne hasn’t been taking his carbamazepine because it causes insomnia.
B. Carbamazepine auto-induces metabolism, leading to lower levels in spite of good compliance.
C. Dwayne was not originally prescribed the correct amount of carbamazepine.
D. Carbamazepine is probably not the right antiseizure medication for Dwayne.
Erik presents with a golden-crusted lesion at the site of an insect bite consistent with impetigo. His parents have limited finances and request the least expensive treatment. Which medication would be the best choice for treatment?

A. Mupirocin (Bactroban)
B. Bacitracin and polymixin B (generic double antibiotic ointment)
C. Retapamulin (Altabax)
D. Oral cephalexin (Keflex)
First-line therapy for hyperlipidemia is:

A. Statins
B. Niacin
C. Lifestyle changes
D. Bile acid-binding resins
First-line therapy for treating topical fungal infections such as tinea corporis (ringworm) or tinea pedis (athlete’s foot) would be:

A. OTC topical azole (clotrimazole, miconazole)
B. Oral terbinafine
C. Oral griseofulvin microsize
D. Nystatin cream or ointment
Furosemide is added to a treatment regimen for heart failure, which includes digoxin. Monitoring for this combination includes:

A. Hemoglobin
B. Serum potassium
C. Blood urea nitrogen
D. Serum glucose
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Genetic polymorphisms account for differences in metabolism, including:

A. Poor metabolizers (PMs) that lack a working enzyme
B. Intermediate metabolizers (IMs) that have one working, wild-type allele and one mutant allele
C. Extensive metabolizers (EMs), with two normally functioning alleles
D. All of the above
Genetic testing for VCORC1 mutation to assess potential warfarin resistance is required prior to prescribing warfarin.

A. True
B. False
Goals of treatment when treating hypothyroidism with thyroid replacement include:

A. Normal TSH and free T4 levels
B. Resolution of fatigue
C. Weight loss to baseline
D. All of the above

Heart failure is a chronic condition that can be adequately managed in primary care. However, consultation with or referral to a cardiologist is appropriate when:

A. Symptoms markedly worsen or the patient becomes hypotensive and has syncope.
B. There is evidence of progressive renal insufficiency or failure.
C. The patient remains symptomatic on optimal doses of an ACE inhibitor, a beta blocker, and a diuretic.
D. All the above options are correct.
Hypoglycemia can result from the action of either insulin or an oral hypoglycemic. Signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia include:

A. “Fruity” breath odor and rapid respiration
B. Diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, and hypertension
C. Dizziness, confusion, diaphoresis, and tachycardia
D. Easy bruising, palpitations, cardiac dysrhythmias, and coma
If a patient with H. pylori positive PUD fails first-line therapy, the second-line treatment is:

A. A PPI BID plus metronidazole plus tetracycline plus bismuth subsalicylate for fourteen days
B. Testing H. pylori for resistance to common treatment regimens
C. A PPI plus clarithromycin plus amoxicillin for fourteen days
D. A PPI and levofloxacin for fourteen days
In addition to methimazole, a symptomatic patient with hyperthyroidism may need a prescription for:

A. A calcium channel blocker
B. A beta blocker
C. Liothyronine
D. An alpha blocker
Inadequate vitamin D intake can contribute to the development of osteoporosis by:

A. Increasing calcitonin production
B. Increasing calcium absorption from the intestine
C. Altering calcium metabolism
D. Stimulating bone formation
Incorporating IT into a patient encounter takes skill and tact. During the encounter, the provider can make the patient more comfortable with the IT the provider is using by:

A. Turning the screen around so the patient can see material being recorded
B. Not placing the computer screen between the provider and the patient
C. Both A and B
D. Neither A nor B
Infants with reflux are initially treated with:

A. Histamine 2 receptor antagonist (ranitidine)
B. A PPI (omeprazole)
C. Antireflux maneuvers (elevate the head of the bed)
D. Prokinetic (metoclopramide)
In five- to eleven-year-old children, mild-persistent asthma is diagnosed when asthma symptoms occur:

A. At nighttime one to two times a month
B. At nighttime three to four times a month
C. Less than twice a week
D. Daily
Jack, eight years old, has attention deficit disorder (ADD) and is prescribed methylphenidate (Ritalin). He and his parents should be educated about the side effects of methylphenidate, which are:

A. Slurred speech and insomnia
B. Bradycardia and confusion
C. Dizziness and orthostatic hypotension
D. Insomnia and decreased appetite
Janie presents to clinic with hard ear wax in both ear canals. Instructions regarding home removal of hard cerumen includes:

A. Moistening a cotton swab (Q-tip) and swabbing the ear canals twice daily
B. Instilling tap water in both ears while bathing
C. Squirting hydrogen peroxide into ears with each bath
D. Instilling carbamide peroxide (Debrox) twice daily until the ear canals are clear
Jim presents with complaints of “heart burn” that is minimally relieved with Tums (calcium carbonate) and is diagnosed with GERD. An appropriate first step therapy would be:

A. Omeprazole (Prilosec) twice a day
B. Ranitidine (Zantac) twice a day
C. Famotidine (Pepcid) once a day
D. Metoclopramide (Reglan) four times a day
Jim presents with fungal infection of two of his toenails (onychomycosis). Treatment for fungal infections of the nail includes:

A. Miconazole cream
B. Ketoconazole cream
C. Oral griseofulvin
D. Mupirocin cream
Josie is a five-year-old who presents to the clinic with a forty-eight-hour history of nausea, vomiting, and some diarrhea. She is unable to keep fluids down, and her weight is 4 pounds less than her last recorded weight. Besides intravenous (IV) fluids, her exam warrants the use of an antinausea medication. Which of the following would be the appropriate drug to order for Josie?
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A. Prochlorperazine (Compazine)
B. Meclizine (Antivert)
C. Promethazine (Phenergan)
D. Ondansetron (Zofran)

Kirk sprained his ankle and is asking for pain medication for his mild-to-moderate pain. The appropriate first-line medication would be __________.

A. ibuprofen (Advil)
B. acetaminophen with hydrocodone (Vicodin)
C. oxycodone (OxyContin)
D. oral morphine (Roxanol)

Liza is breastfeeding her two-month-old son, and she has an infection that requires an antibiotic. What drug factors influence the effect of the drug on the infant?

A. Maternal drug levels
B. Half-life
C. Lipid solubility
D. All of the above
Long-acting beta-agonists received a black box warning from the US Food and Drug Administration due to the:

A. Risk of life-threatening dermatological reactions
B. Increased incidence of cardiac events when long-acting beta-agonists are used
C. Increased risk of asthma-related deaths when long-acting beta-agonists are used
D. Risk for life-threatening alterations in electrolytes
Long-term treatment of moderate atopic dermatitis includes:

A. Topical corticosteroids and emollients
B. Topical corticosteroids alone
C. Topical antipruritics
D. Oral corticosteroids for exacerbations of atopic dermatitis
Medications used in the management of patients with COPD include:

A. Inhaled beta 2 agonists
B. Inhaled anticholinergics (ipratropium)
C. Inhaled corticosteroids
D. All of the above
Monitoring for a child on methylphenidate for ADHD includes:

A. ADHD symptoms
B. Routine height and weight checks
C. Amount of methylphenidate being used
D. All of the above
Narcotics are exogenous opiates. They act by ______.

A. inhibiting pain transmission in the spinal cord
B. attaching to receptors in the afferent neuron to inhibit the release of substance P
C. blocking neurotransmitters in the midbrain
D. increasing beta-lipoprotein excretion from the pituitary
A nineteen-year-old male was started on risperidone. Monitoring for risperidone includes observing for common side effects, including:

A. Bradykinesia, akathisia, and agitation
B. Excessive weight gain
C. Hypertension
D. Potentially fatal agranulocytosis
Nonadherence is especially common in drugs that treat asymptomatic conditions, such as hypertension. One way to reduce the likelihood of nonadherence to these drugs is to prescribe a drug that:
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A. Has a short half-life so that missing one dose has limited effect
B. Requires several dosage titrations so that missed doses can be replaced with lower doses to keep costs down
C. Has a tolerability profile with less of the adverse effects that are considered “irritating,” such as nausea and dizziness
D. Must be taken no more than twice a day
Off-Label prescribing is:

A. Regulated by the FDA
B. Illegal by NPs in all states (provinces)
C. Legal if there is scientific evidence for the use
D. Regulated by the DEA
One goal of asthma management in children is:

A. They should independently manage their asthma.
B. They should participate in school and sports activities.
C. There should be no exacerbations.
D. The use of inhaled corticosteroids should be minimal.
The ongoing monitoring of patients over the age sixty-five years taking alendronate (Fosamax) or any other bisphosphonate is:

A. Annual dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans
B. Annual vitamin D level
C. Annual renal function evaluation
D. Electrolytes every three month
A patient has been prescribed silver sulfadiazine (Silvadene) cream to treat burns on his or her leg. Normal adverse effects of silver sulfadiazine cream include:

A. Transient leukopenia on days two to four that should resolve
B. Worsening of burn symptoms briefly before resolution
C. A red, scaly rash that will resolve with continued use
D. Hypercalcemia
Patients who are on or who will be starting chronic corticosteroid therapy need monitoring of __________.

A. serum glucose
B. stool culture
C. folate levels
D. vitamin B12
Patients who have angina, regardless of class, who are also diabetic should be on:

A. Nitrates
B. Beta blockers
C. ACE inhibitors
D. Calcium channel blockers
Patients with psychiatric illnesses have adherence rates to their drug regimen between 35% and 60%. To improve adherence in this population, prescribe drugs:
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A. With a longer half-life so that missed doses produce a longer taper on the drug curve
B. In oral formulations that are more easily taken
C. That do not require frequent monitoring
D. Combined with patient education about the need to adhere even when symptoms are absent
A patient with a COPD exacerbation may require:

A. Doubling of inhaled corticosteroid dose
B. Systemic corticosteroid burst
C. Continuous inhaled beta 2 agonists
D. Leukotriene therapy
Pharmacokinetics among Asians are universal to all the Asian ethnic groups.

A. True
B. False
A potentially life-threatening adverse response to ACE inhibitors is angioedema. Which of the following statements is true about this adverse response?

A. Swelling of the tongue and hoarseness are the most common symptoms.
B. It appears to be related to a decrease in aldosterone production.
C. The presence of a dry, hacky cough indicates a high risk for this adverse response.
D. Because it takes time to build up a blood level, it occurs after being on the drug for about one week.
Prescribing for women during their childbearing years requires constant awareness of the possibility of:

A. Pregnancy unless the women is on birth control
B. Risk for silent bacterial or viral infections of the genitalia
C. High risk for developmental disorders in their infants
D. Decreased risk for abuse during this time
Prior to prescribing metformin, the provider should:

A. Draw a serum creatinine to assess renal function.
B. Try the patient on insulin.
C. Tell the patient to increase iodine intake.
D. Have the patient stop taking any sulfonylurea to avoid dangerous drug interactions.
Progesterone-only pills are recommended for women who:

A. Are breastfeeding
B. Have a history of migraine
C. Have a medical history that contradicts the use of estrogen
D. All of the above
Sadie is a seventy-two-year-old who takes omeprazole for her chronic GERD. Chronic long-term omeprazole use places her at increased risk for:

A Megaloblastic anemia
B. Osteoporosis
C. Hypertension
D. Strokes
Sarah, a forty-two-year-old female, requests a prescription for an anorexiant to treat her obesity. A trial of phentermine is prescribed. Prescribing precautions include understanding that:

A. Obesity is a contraindication to prescribing phentermine.
B. Anorexiants may cause tolerance and should only be prescribed for six months.
C. Patients should be monitored for postural hypotension.
D. Renal function should be monitored closely while the patient is on anorexiants.
Scott is presenting for follow-up on his lipid panel. He had elevated total cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, and an LDL of 122 mg/dL. He has already implemented diet changes and increased physical activity. He has mildly elevated liver studies. An appropriate next step for therapy would be:

A. Atorvastatin (Lipitor)
B. Niacin (Niaspan)
C. Simvastatin and ezetimibe (Vytorin)
D. Gemfibrozil (Lopid)
Second-generation antihistamines such as loratadine (Claritin) are prescribed for seasonal allergies because they:

A. Are more effective than first-generation antihistamines
B. Are less sedating than first-generation antihistamines
C. Are prescription products and, therefore, are covered by insurance
D. Can be taken with CNS sedatives, such as alcohol
Severe contact dermatitis caused by poison ivy or poison oak exposure often requires treatment with:

A. Topical antipruritics
B. Oral corticosteroids for two to three weeks
C. Thickly applied topical intermediate-dose corticosteroids
D. Isolation of the patient to prevent spread of the dermatitis
Sitagliptin has been approved for:

A. Monotherapy in once-daily doses
B. Combination therapy with metformin
C. Both A and B
D. Neither A nor B
A sixty-six-year-old male was prescribed phenelzine (Nardil) while in an acute psychiatric unit for recalcitrant depression. The nurse practitioner managing his primary healthcare needs to understand the following regarding phenelzine and other monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs):

A. He should not be prescribed any serotonergic drug such as sumatriptan (Imitrex).
B. MAOIs interact with many common foods, including yogurt, sour cream, and soy sauce.
C. Symptoms of hypertensive crisis (headache, tachycardia, sweating, etc.) require immediate treatment.
D. All the above options are correct.

Six-year-old Lucy has recently been started on ethosuximide (Zarontin) for seizures. She should be monitored for:

A. Increased seizure activity as this drug may auto-induce seizures
B. Altered renal function, including renal failure
C. Blood dyscrasias, which are uncommon but possible
D. CNS excitement, leading to insomnia

Stage C patients usually require a combination of three to four drugs to manage their heart failure. In addition to ACE inhibitors and beta blockers, diuretics may be added. Which of the following statements about diuretics is not true?

A. Diuretics reduce preload associated with fluid retention.
B. Diuretics can be used earlier than Stage C when the goal is control of hypertension.
C. Diuretics may produce problems with electrolyte imbalances and abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism.
D. Diuretics from the potassium-sparing class should be used when using an ARB.
A stepwise approach to the pharmacologic management of asthma:

A. Begins with determining the severity of the asthma and assessing asthma control
B. Is used when the asthma is severe and requires daily steroids
C. Allows for each provider to determine his or her personal approach to the care of asthmatic patients
D. Provides a framework for the management of severe asthmatics but is not as helpful when patients have intermittent asthma
Studies have shown that control targets that reduce the hemoglobin A1c to less than 7% are associated with fewer long-term complications of diabetes. Patients who should have such a target include:

A. Those with long-standing diabetes
B. Older adults
C. Those with no significant cardiovascular disease
D. Young children who are early in their disease
Tiotropium bromide (Spiriva) is an inhaled anticholinergic:

A. Used for the treatment of COPD
B. Used in the treatment of asthma
C. Combined with albuterol for the treatment of asthma exacerbations
D. Combined with fluticasone for the treatment of persistent asthma
To reduce mortality, all patients with angina, regardless of class, should be on:

A. Aspirin 81 to 325 mg/d
B. Nitroglycerin sublingually for chest pain
C. ACE inhibitors or ARBs
D. Digoxin
The treatment for vitamin B12 deficiency is:

A. 1,000 mcg daily of oral cobalamin
B. 2 gm/day of oral cobalamin
C. 100 mcg/day vitamin B12 IM
D. 500 mcg/dose nasal cyanocobalamin two sprays once a week
Treatment of a patient with hypothyroidism and cardiovascular disease consists of:

A. Levothyroxine
B. Liothyronine
C. Liotrix
D. Methimazole
The trial period to determine effective anti-inflammatory activity when starting a patient on aspirin for RA is _____.

A. forty-eight hours
B. four to six days
C. four weeks
D. two months
A twenty-four-year-old male received multiple fractures in a motor vehicle accident that required significant amounts of opioid medication to treat his pain. He is at risk for Type __ ADR when he no longer requires the opioids.

A. A
B. C
C. E
D. G

The type of ADR that is the result of an unwanted but otherwise normal pharmacological action of a drug given in the usual therapeutic doses is:

A. Type A
B. Type B
C. Type C
D. Type D
Unlike most type II diabetics where obesity is a major issue, older adults with low body weight have higher risks for morbidity and mortality. The most reliable indicator of poor nutritional status in older adults is:

A. Weight loss in previously overweight persons
B. Involuntary loss of 10% of body weight in less than six months
C. Decline in lean body mass over a twelve-month period
D. Increase in central versus peripheral body adiposity
Vicky, age fifty-six years, comes to clinic requesting a refill of her Fiorinal (aspirin and butalbital) that she takes for migraines. She has been taking this medication for over two years for migraine and states one dose usually works to abort her migraine. What is the best care for her?

A. Switch her to sumatriptan (Imitrex) to treat her migraines.
B. Assess how often she is using Fiorinal and refill medication.
C. Switch her to a beta-blocker such as propranolol to prevent her migraine.
D. Request her to return to the original prescriber of Fiorinal as you do not prescribe butalbital for migraines
Warfarin resistance may be seen in patients with VCORC1 mutation, leading to:

A. Toxic levels of warfarin building up
B. Decreased response to warfarin
C. Increased risk for significant drug interactions with warfarin
D. Less risk of drug interactions with warfarin
What impact does developmental variation in renal function has on prescribing for infants and children?

A. Lower doses of renally excreted drugs may be prescribed to infants younger than six months
B. Higher doses of water-soluble drugs may need to be prescribed due to increased renal excretion
C. Renal excretion rates have no impact on prescribing
D. Parents need to be instructed on whether drugs are renally excreted or not
When a patient is on selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors:

A. The complete blood count must be monitored every three to four months
B. Therapeutic blood levels must be monitored every six months after a steady state is achieved.
C. Blood glucose must be monitored every three to four months.
D. There is no laboratory monitoring required.
When obtaining a drug history from Harold, he gives you a complete list of his prescription medications. He denies taking any other drugs, but you find that he occasionally takes aspirin for his arthritis flare-ups. This is an example of:

A. His appropriately only telling you about his regularly prescribed medications
B. His hiding information regarding his inappropriate use of aspirin from you
C. A common misconception that intermittently taken OTC medications are not an important part of his drug history
D. A common misuse of OTC aspirin
When prescribing any headache therapy, appropriate use of medications needs to be discussed to prevent medication-overuse headaches. The clinical characteristics of medication-overuse headaches include ________.

A. headaches increasing in frequency
B. headaches increasing in intensity
C. headaches recurring when medication wears off
D. headaches beginning to “cluster” into a pattern
When Sam used clotrimazole (Lotrimin AF) for athlete’s foot, he developed a red, itchy rash consistent with a hypersensitivity reaction. He now has athlete’s foot again. What would be a good choice of antifungal for Sam?

A. Miconazole (Micatin) powder
B. Ketoconazole (Nizoral) cream
C. Terbinafine (Lamisil) cream
D. Griseofulvin (Grifulvin V) suspension
When starting a patient with hypothyroidism on thyroid replacement hormones, patient education would include the following:

A. He or she should feel symptomatic improvement in one to two weeks.
B. Drug-related adverse effects such as lethargy and dry skin may occur.
C. It may take four to eight weeks to get to euthyroid symptomatically and by lab testing.
D. Due to the short half-life of levothyroxine, its doses should not be missed.
Which of the following adverse effects may occur due to a dihydropyridine-type calcium channel blocker?

A. Bradycardia
B. Hepatic impairment
C. Increased contractility
D. Edema of the hands and feet
Which of the following classes of drugs is contraindicated in heart failure?

A. Nitrates
B. Long-acting dihydropyridines
C. Calcium channel blockers
D. Alpha-beta blockers
Which of the following disease processes could be made worse by taking a nonselective beta blocker?

A. Asthma might worsen.
B. Diabetes might worsen.
C. Both might worsen.
D. Beta blockade does not affect these disorders.
Which of the following factors may adversely affect a patient’s adherence to a therapeutic drug regimen?

A. Complexity of the drug regimen
B. Patient’s perception of the potential adverse effects of the drugs
C. Both A and B
D. Neither A nor B
Which of the following is the goal of treatment of acute pain?

A. Pain at a tolerable level where patient may return to activities of daily living
B. Reduction of pain with a minimum of drug adverse effects
C. Reduction or elimination of pain with minimum adverse reactions
D. Adequate pain relief without constipation or nausea from the drugs
Which of the following is the mechanism of action of oral combined contraceptives that prevent pregnancy?

A. Estrogen prevents the LH surge necessary for ovulation.
B. Progestins thicken cervical mucous and slow tubal motility.
C. Estrogen thins the endometrium, making implantation difficult.
D. Progestin suppresses FSH release.
Which of the following statements is true about age and pain?

A. Use of drugs that depend heavily on the renal system for excretion may require dosage adjustments in very young children.
B. Among the NSAIDs, indomethacin is the preferred drug because of lower adverse effects profiles than other NSAIDs.
C. Older adults who have dementia probably do not experience much pain due to loss of pain receptors in the brain.
D. Acetaminophen is especially useful in both children and adults because it has no effect on platelets and has fewer adverse effects than NSAIDs.

A woman who has migraine with aura:

A. Should not be prescribed estrogen due to the interaction between triptans and estrogen, limiting migraine therapy choices
B. Should not be prescribed estrogen due to an increased incidence of migraines with the use of estrogen
C. Should not be prescribed estrogen due to an increased risk of stroke occurring with estrogen use
D. May be prescribed estrogen without any concerns
A woman with an intact uterus should not be prescribed:

A. Estrogen/progesterone combination
B. Intramuscular (IM) medroxyprogesterone (Depo Provera)
C. Estrogen alone
D. Androgens
Question 22: Education

W3 Lab Prohibited Use
Overview:

You are the Information Security Officer of Mahtmarg Manufacturing a small manufacturing company worth approximately $5 Million who provides fiber

W3 Lab: “Prohibited Use”
Overview:

You are the Information Security Officer of Mahtmarg Manufacturing a small manufacturing company worth approximately $5 Million who provides fiber cable to local businesses, individual customers and to government organizations. In the course of the next eight weeks you will be creating your Information Security Plan (Issue-Specific Security Policy in Table 4-3 of the textbook) step by step using this scenario.
Your Task

Step 3: Develop the Prohibited Use section of your ISP
In this week’s Lab you will develop the section on Prohibited Use of your company’s information system (IS) in the Information Security Plan to include:
Prohibition of illegal conduct
System and Network Activity restrictions
Copyright infringement
Proprietary information disclosure
Unauthorized use for personal business
Malicious programs
Account disclosure
Email and Communication Activity restrictions
Unsolicited emails
Harassment
Chain letters
Spam
Blogging and Social Media Activity restrictions
Representation of the company on blogs or social media
Separation of personal and professional comments

Assignment: Course Project: Assessment of Diversity Proficiencies
The Assignment for this module is an assessment of your diversity proficiencies. As local, state, national, and global communities continue to reflect increasing diversity, it is essential for effective leaders of learning to routinely assure active and effective responsiveness to the diverse needs represented. In the context of this course, active and effective responsiveness often takes the form of individuals pursuing constructive action to change ideas and attitudes through leadership, advocacy, policy, and law. To assist you in this process, your Walden University program has included diversity proficiencies to guide your development. For this Course Project, you must successfully demonstrate personal development and connection of your learning in this course about leadership, advocacy, policy, and law to each of the Walden Diversity Proficiencies, as well as the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)’s Advanced Role Content Standards 1a, 1b, and 5a.
To prepare:
·         Review all Learning Resources for this module.
·         Review the Assessment of Diversity Proficiencies Guidelines.
·         Ask yourself the following: How have the concepts, resources, and activities of this course influenced my learning so that I might support the creation of educational opportunities that adapt to diverse learners and remove barriers that inhibit learning for students with diverse learning needs?
·         Think about examples from your educational and professional experiences that you can use to demonstrate your knowledge of the key diversity proficiencies. How might those experiences support the fact that you are a leader and advocate who is able to create educational opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners and that remove barriers that inhibit learning?
The components of your Module 6 Assignment are as follows: however, review the “Assessment of Diversity Proficiencies Guidelines” document in the Learning Resources for more details.
Section 1: Introduction (2–3 pages)
Interpret how EACH of the following course concepts support the creation of educational opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners and remove barriers that inhibit learning:
·         Leadership
·         Advocacy
·         Policy
·         Law
Section 2: Diversity Professional Development (9–12 slides plus title and reference slides inserted into the final paper)
Create a professional development presentation to inform the staff in your school building or district regarding how to meet the needs of learners from diverse backgrounds.
Using evidence based practices and course resources, create a PowerPoint presentation (a minimum of 3 or 4 slides on each topic) to inform your staff of ways to better meet the needs of diverse students. At least one of your slides must discuss technology. Your professional development should specifically address each of the three following Walden Diversity Proficiencies:
Understanding the Learner
Learning Environment
Planning, Instruction, and Assessment

Section 3: Diversity Self-Reflection (3–4 pages)
Write a self-reflection paper that addresses the final two Walden Diversity Dispositions:
·         Awareness of Self
·         Professional Practice
Also, reference the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Standards, what you learned from the working with the Case Study of Jamal from the Grand City Community (West Ridge Middle School) , and Walden’s Mission and Vision Statement to help support your reflection.
·         Reflection Component 1: Using the bulleted points on Walden’s Diversity Proficiencies, personally reflect on your knowledge and skills for the “Awareness of Self” and “Professional Practice” indicators. Cite at least one relevant, research-based reading or media element to support this component.
·         Reflection Component 2: Connect your personal reflection, to course content, including the Case Study, CEC standards, and Walden’s mission for Social Change. Cite at least one relevant, research-based reading or media element to support each of these components.
Your final document must include the following:
·         Title Page
·         Section1: 2–3 pages
·         Section 2: 3–4 pages
·         Reference pages
Note: For this Assignment and all scholarly writing in this course and throughout your program, you will be required to use APA style (6th edition). Please use the Walden Writing Center as a resource as you complete assignments.
Required Readings
Council for Exceptional Children. (2012). CEC special education specialist advanced preparation standards. Retrieved from https://www.cec.sped.org/~/media/Files/Standards/Professional%20Preparation%20Standards/Advanced%20Preparation%20Standards%20with%20Elaborations.pdf
DeMatthews, D. (2014). Deconstructing systems of segregation: Leadership challenges in an urban school. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 17(1), 17–31
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
This article gives a case study of a principal in an urban school who was charged with a directive to raise test scores and increase inclusion in a building with a history of segregation.
Document: Assessment of Diversity Proficiencies Guidelines (PDF)
Document: SMART Goals Graphic (PDF)
Document: Walden Diversity Proficiencies (PDF)
Document: Walden Professional Dispositions (PDF)
Walden University (2015). Social change. Retrieved from http://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change
Media
Grand City Community
·         Laureate Education (Producer). (2012b). The teacher’s lounge [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Go to the Grand City Community and click into West Ridge Middle School. Review the following scenario: The Teacher’s Lounge.

Question 24: Health Care

Walden University NURSING 6650 final exam
Question 1
1 out of 1 points
In a group therapy session for adolescents, a 15-year-old patient says he has trouble making conversation with people he does not know well. Based on the principle of development of socializing techniques, what explicit approach might the PMHNP take?
·         Question 2
1 out of 1 points
One group member is identified by the PMHNP as the monopolist of the group. Which behavior does the PMHNP believe this member is most likely to display?
·         Question 3
1 out of 1 points
During a first group therapy session, a member is outgoing and participates actively. Based on this information, what is an appropriate prediction about this group member by the PMHNP?
·         Question 4
1 out of 1 points
A 21-year-old client with narcissistic traits is noted to continuously disrupt the group by speaking while others are speaking. It becomes evident that the client is purposely disrupting the group and decreasing the group’s productivity. What does the PMHNP identify as a cause of the client’s behavior?
·         Question 5
1 out of 1 points
Harold Wyman is a 74-year-old man who is trying to mend a relationship with his adult daughter. Based on his intake assessment, the PMHNP believes that the father has depression. The daughter and Harold meet with the PMNHP, and the daughter explains that her father always appears mopey and withdrawn and refuses to do anything about it. When asked, the father reports feeling sad all the time. Which action will the PMNHP employ with Harold using the interpersonal psychotherapy approach throughout the various sessions?
·         Question 6
1 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is leading a group therapy session for patients with substance abuse problems. After a productive session in which all members participated, the following week was not as productive. In order to help the group members assume responsibility for evaluating the meeting, what is an appropriate comment for the PMHNP to make?
·         Question 7
1 out of 1 points
During the “mid-group debrief” the clinical supervisor focused on the following areas with the two counselors except:
·         Question 8
1 out of 1 points
The social microcosm theory is a theory that relates to group composition. In accordance with this theory, the PMHNP is aware that the group must consist of which of the following?
·         Question 9
0 out of 1 points
Peter, a successful businessman, is introduced to the group during the twelfth week. Following Peter’s introduction, Joseph, a long-term member in the group, begins to lead the group and discuss all of the things that he has personally accomplished. In what way does the PMHNP correctly interpret Joseph’s behavior?
·         Question 10
0 out of 1 points
The PMHNP conducts a specialized individual interview with a patient named Sandy. During this interview, Sandy expresses her want of the other members to like her, and she has a deep dread for the first group meeting. How does the PMHNP correctly interpret Sandy’s interpersonal circumplex?
·         Question 11
1 out of 1 points
When discussing the role of the consultant in the parenting group session, Dr. Carlson explains that the consultant should use several skills in order to help keep the group going and should enable group members to become very engaged with one another. The consultant should use all of the following skills to achieve this, except:
·         Question 12
1 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is meeting with parents and their 10-year-old child. The child is having trouble paying attention at school and has been getting easily frustrated at home when doing homework, which often results in everyone arguing. What step might the PMHNP take as part of a family-centered, solution-oriented approach?
·         Question 13
0 out of 1 points
The PMHNP is meeting with an adult woman and her father, who is 85 years old. The father stays quiet most of the session. The daughter explains he is mad at her for “bringing him to a see a shrink.” The daughter reports that things have been tense in the house since her father moved in. The father has a history of depression, though he does not take any medication for it. In addition, lately the father seems to never sleep. “I hear him rummaging around in the kitchen, the garage, the living room, at all hours of the night. Sometimes he’ll nap during the day, but not much. This is putting a strain on my marriage, because my husband can’t sleep with all of this going on.” Which therapeutic approach does the PMHNP identify as most appropriate for the 85-year-old father?
·         Question 14
1 out of 1 points
During an initial meeting, a PMHNP spends time speaking with a patient who suffers from social anxiety. The therapist finds the patient extremely loud and overbearing. The PMHNP’s negative feelings continue no matter how hard he or she tries to feel differently toward the patient. What is the most appropriate next step by the PMHNP?
·         Question 15
1 out of 1 points
A patient has had a problem with substance use and has been receiving treatment for addiction. Which additional step might the PMHMP suggest to help the patient maintain abstinence from drugs during and after treatment?
Selected Answer:

A.
Narcotics Anonymous
·         Question 16
0 out of 1 points
The leader begins a group meeting by doing the “names activity.” At the completion of the activity, the leader explains that the activity is useful for all of the following reasons, except:
·         Question 17
1 out of 1 points
A 36-year-old client attends group therapy regularly but is consistently tardy. The client explains that job and family obligations interfere with attendance to the group. What is the most appropriate intervention by the PMHNP?
·         Question 18
0 out of 1 points
Group participation is an important aspect of how successful group therapy will be. The PMHNP recognizes that the gender of group participants can play a role in the likelihood of group participation. Which statement about gender and group composition does the PMHNP take into account?
·         Question 19
0 out of 1 points
When the counselor discussed assertiveness with the group members, she began the session by providing definitions and asking group members to line up consistent with where they feel they are currently in terms of assertiveness. Why did she do this?
Selected Answer:
A.
To encourage individuals to adjust where they are in terms of assertiveness by having less assertive people change their spot in line
·         Question 20
1 out of 1 points
A patient in group therapy named Ted shares personal information for the first time. He seems nervous but continues to talk. How might the PMHNP use nonverbal positive reinforcement to support Ted’s feeling more comfortable?
Selected Answer:
C.
Leaning forward and nodding as Ted shares his story
·         Question 21
1 out of 1 points
Members of a therapy group have been meeting for several months. During group therapy, a patient is bossy and controlling. During this week’s session, she is confronted by another group member about her behavior and replies, “This is not how I normally act. You are not my family and friends. I don’t act the same way around them.” What can the PMHNP deduce from her behavior?
Selected Answer:
B.
She is displaying her true interpersonal behavior.
·         Question 22
1 out of 1 points
A PNHNP is holding a group therapy session for a father and his 10-year-old son, whom the father explains has been acting out lately. The son says, “He is always telling me what to do and never listens when I have an idea.” Which solution would the PMHNP most likely suggest as an approach to the problem?
·         Question 23
0 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is treating a patient in individual therapy and thinks the patient may be a good candidate for group therapy. The patient is motivated to start group therapy, which meets twice a month. Then the patient adds, “I can come to the first two meetings, but then will be away on business for at least a month, maybe longer. But then I can come to the at least one meeting before my next trip.” Based on this information, what is the most likely recommendation by the PMHNP?
·         Question 24
1 out of 1 points
Members of a therapy group have been meeting for several weeks. While a member named Margaret is talking about how her spouse ignores her when she tries to tell him what to do, another member named Nicole interrupts and says, “Maybe he thinks you are being bossy.” Margaret replies by saying, “At least I’m not an alcoholic like you are!” What is an appropriate response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 25
1 out of 1 points
A 9-year-old child who witnessed a fatal car accident has come to therapy with her parents to get treatment. The child has been irritable since the event and has not wanted to talk about it. Utilizing a trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT) approach, the PMHNP has reviewed skills that the parents may use to help their child at home. Based on the PMHNP’s suggestion, which is a statement the parents might make after the child has a temper tantrum?
·         Question 26
0 out of 1 points
During the first group meeting, a client states, “I am here because I am very shy. I don’t mesh well with others and I rarely get invitations to go anywhere.” Which statement about the client’s reason for seeking help and treatment best applies?
·         Question 27
1 out of 1 points
A client is observed discussing many problems and complaints during group therapy. However, when other group members attempt to offer advice, the client does not accept it. Based on this observation, what can the PMHNP determine about the client?
·         Question 28
1 out of 1 points
During a group therapy session, a member comments that another member named Ted had no compassion. Ted replies, “Why does it matter if I care one way or another. I can’t solve their problems.” The other member starts crying and blames Ted for this. He shrugs and answers, “I don’t understand why you are crying.” Based on this information, what is the most likely determination the PMHNP can make about Ted?
·         Question 29

1 out of 1 points
Jane has been attending group therapy for the past year; she and the therapist have determined that she has met her goals. Jane has been arriving to group late or not coming to group at all. How does the PMHNP correctly interpret Jane’s behavior?
·         Question 30
1 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is treating an 8-year-old child who was at a cousin’s house during a domestic violence situation. Using a common factors model, the PMHNP wants to pay attention to cultivating the relationship with the parents and child. After the child talks about how nervous he or she has been since witnessing the trauma, what is an appropriate response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 31
1 out of 1 points
The PMHNP is meeting with a married couple. The husband is 81 years old, and the wife is 78 years old. They tell the PMHNP that many of their friends have passed away over the last couple of years, and it’s making them feel sentimental about their lives and the fact that they are getting older. Hearing this, the PMHNP uses a life review approach with the couple. What action will the PMHNP employ?
·         Question 32
0 out of 1 points
A patient in group therapy for people dealing with panic disorder is describing a recent panic attack. He says, “During this attack, I felt like I was dying.” What is an appropriate response by the PMHNP using didactic instruction?
·         Question 33
1 out of 1 points
A patient in group therapy discloses her concern about feeling suicidal again in the future. Using the principle of universality, what is an appropriate step by the PMHNP?
·         Question 34
0 out of 1 points
The PMHNP recognizes that extra group behavior involves behavior that occurs outside of the group or during subgrouping. Which statement best describes extra group behavior as it pertains to group therapy?
·         Question 35
1 out of 1 points
In a group therapy session for patients with anxiety problems, a patient named Eve was afraid to disclose to the other members that she was a victim of sexual abuse. She kept the secret for months, although she hinted at it to other members. During a meeting, another member tried to pressure Eve to disclose her secret, but she was flustered and not ready to share. What is an appropriate response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 36
1 out of 1 points
During his second group therapy session, a member, who was quiet the previous week, becomes very judgmental. He criticizes another member by saying, “Mary, you are always late because you don’t respect our group.” Then he adds, “In fact, all of you are disrespectful and uncaring.” What is an appropriate step by the PMHNP?
·         Question 37
1 out of 1 points
A patient who has been depressed is seeing a PMHNP for individual therapy. The patient explains that he has been avoiding most social activities for the past few months. He is divorced and has joint custody of his 10-year-old daughter. Based on this information, what recommendation by the PMHNP would most benefit the patient?
·         Question 38
1 out of 1 points
Following the PMHNP’s cancellation of a group session, he or she notices a decrease in compliance and attendance within the group. What does the PMHNP identify as the group’s reason for noncompliance?
·         Question 39
1 out of 1 points
A PNHNP is holding a group therapy session. Today, several members have expressed fears about being unlovable. Based on this information, what is an appropriate step by the PMHNP to raise the members’ self-esteem?
·         Question 40
0 out of 1 points
A patient named Tyrone was nervous sharing personal information with the group. To compensate, he makes comments on other members’ problems as if he were the therapist. Another member of the group asked him, “Do you think you’re better than everyone here?” What might the PMHNP help Tyrone gain from this exchange?
·         Question 41
0 out of 1 points

A PMHNP is creating a therapy group and is including a patient with borderline personality disorder. Which action would most likely reduce the patient’s chance of separation anxiety?
·         Question 42
0 out of 1 points
The anticipation of the first meeting among psychotherapy group attendees may cause feelings of dread and uneasiness among clients. How does the PMHNP demonstrate awareness and promote the success of this first psychotherapy meeting?
·         Question 43
1 out of 1 points
For several months, a patient in group therapy always participated in conversation but only shared positive stories about her own life. During the next session, she finally confessed that she has been depressed and cutting herself. What is the best response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 44
0 out of 1 points
Two PMHNPs are in charge of a therapy group that has experienced several maladaptive interpersonal dramas lately. One of the patients has been described by other members as argumentative. After a particularly awkward session, one of the therapists feels that his own interpersonal distortion of the session may be clouding his observation. What is an appropriate step by that PMHNP?
·         Question 45
0 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is treating a 7-year-old child exhibiting signs of aggression and attention problems. Before suggesting an intervention using a common elements approach, what may the PMHNP consider?
·         Question 46
0 out of 1 points
The homogenous mode of composition involves a theory that relates to group composition. When applying this theory, the PMHNP is aware that the group will most likely consist of which of the following?
·         Question 47
0 out of 1 points
A patient has attended three group therapy sessions and has remained silent throughout each. The patient has, however, been listening to the other members. When the therapist makes eye contact with the patient, he or she forces a smile but has clenched fists. What is the most appropriate response by the PMHNP to help the patient?
·         Question 48
1 out of 1 points
The PMHNP is meeting with an older married couple. The couple reports having concerns about becoming dependent on their adult children someday, since several of their other friends have had to move in with their kids. They make it clear to the PMHNP that they aren’t keen on therapy or taking medicine but would be willing to try some alternative therapies. What does the PMHNP suggest for evidence-based CAM modalities?
·         Question 49
0 out of 1 points
The PMHNP explains during a discussion that subgrouping has the potential to make group therapy more complicated and less rewarding. Tara, a member of the group, angrily states, “Well, Jack and I have been meeting outside of the group for weeks now.” What is the PMHNP’s most appropriate response?
·         Question 50
0 out of 1 points
Gregory is a middle-aged veteran participant in a group led by the PMHNP. Since Gregory has been attending group, he frequently interrupts others and seems to take much of the group time for himself. The PMHNP identifies Gregory as a monopolist and confronts him. She explains that she does not want him to talk less; instead, she actually encourages him to talk more. What is the likely cause of the PMHNP’s explanation?
·         Question 51
1 out of 1 points
The PMHNP understands that conflicts within the psychotherapy group can be troublesome for clients and have the potential to reduce the effectiveness of the group process. As it pertains to group meetings, the PMHNP understands which statement to be true about conflict?
·         Question 52
1 out of 1 points
One member of a therapy group had been quiet for the first several sessions. The member revealed to the other members feeling of depression and emptiness. This week, the member was full of energy and talking very quickly. The member became irritated with another member tried to interrupt, started yelling, and then broke into a fit of laughter. Based on the situation, what can the PMHNP determine about the member?
·         Question 53
1 out of 1 points
A group member who suffers from depression and anxiety says during the session, “I don’t see how any of this is going to help. I am still too anxious to leave the house and do the things I want to do.” What is an appropriate response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 54
0 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is leading a group therapy session for patients with substance abuse problems. After one member shares a problem, other members offer support, concern, and observations. The PMHNP points out that the group is offering many truthful reactions and helpful feedback. Which principle does this illustrate?
·         Question 55
0 out of 1 points
The PMHNP provides cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to an older adult patient with depression. The patient’s 41-year-old daughter and 32-year-old son attend one of his sessions with the PMHNP so that they can learn more about how to help their father. What does the PMHNP say to the daughter and son about the goals of their father’s CBT?
·         Question 56
0 out of 1 points
The PMHNP recognizes that hostility is unavoidable in a group and acknowledges that a frequent source of hostility can be parataxic distortions. Which situation is likely to present a parataxic distortion within the group?
·         Question 57
1 out of 1 points
Members of group therapy have been meeting for several weeks. The PMHNP often starts sentences with a thank you or compliment such as, “Good observation.” The PMHNP notices that some of the group members having been starting their statements with compliments. To which principle can the PMHNP attribute this process?
·         Question 58
1 out of 1 points
A client diagnosed with depression has begun to feel despair and expresses a desire to leave the group because he or she does not believe it is helpful. Which action by the PMHNP will most likely contribute to the client staying in the group?
·         Question 59
1 out of 1 points
A 14-year-old girl named Laura and her parents are meeting with a PMHNP. The parents explain why they are there by saying, “Laura has been unhappy since she moved to a new school. She has been moody and often talks back to us.” Laura sits quietly and looks uncomfortable. Which is the best response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 60
1 out of 1 points
Many key principles assist with composing intensive interactional psychotherapy groups. When composing a psychotherapy group, utilizing the intensive interactional approach, which key principle does the PMHNP identify as being false?
·         Question 61
1 out of 1 points
A PMHNP notices that adolescents in a therapy group have not been getting along. They are divided into two main groups and each automatically dislikes members of the other group. What is an appropriate step for the PMHNP to take?
·         Question 62
0 out of 1 points
During an initial screening session, the PMHNP is considering a patient for group therapy. The patient is recently divorced and says he is lonely and depressed. What is the best referral by the PMHNP?
·         Question 63
0 out of 1 points
During an initial meeting, a patient who has been discussing suicide says to the PMHNP, “I’m so depressed that I don’t want to leave my house. All I want to do is stay in bed.” What type of therapy would the PMHNP most likely recommend to this patient?
·         Question 64
0 out of 1 points
A member in group therapy named Tom asked others for suggestions to a problem he was having. He did not think a suggestion by a member named Steve would work, and for the rest of session, the group took sides arguing why the idea would work or would not work. The session ended with Tom agreeing to try the suggestion and report back to the group the following week. Based on this session, what is an appropriate step by the PMHNP?
·         Question 65
1 out of 1 points
The PMHNP is working with an older adult woman and her adult children. The children report that the mother was diagnosed with dementia, and they are all concerned about her welfare. The plan is for the mother to move in with one of the children, but they are still worried about how the mother will manage during the day when she is left alone. What does the PMHNP identify as the focus of the family therapy?
·         Question 66
1 out of 1 points
During a group session, a member turns to the PMHNP and says, “I need some advice. My manager asked me to take on an extra project, and now I’m overwhelmed. I don’t want to seem incompetent, so I agreed to the extra work. What do you recommend I do?” What is the best response by the PMHNP in order to shape group behavior?
·         Question 67
0 out of 1 points
During a group therapy session, a member shares that she often feels lonely and depressed. She has been turning down invitations to spend time with friends lately, because she does not want to leave the house. What is an appropriate step for the PMHNP to take?
Selected Answer:
A.
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Assign homework to have the patient work on improving interpersonal communication
·         Question 68
1 out of 1 points
Self-disclosure is a very important part of group therapy. Which of the following conditions does the PMHNP identify in his or her own life as a possible hindrance to self-disclosure?
·         Question 69
1 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is meeting with the mother of a 10-year-old boy named Malik, who has been depressed since his parents’ divorce. The mother explains that her goal for treatment is to help Malik feel better so he can become his “usual outgoing self.” She insists that she does not want him on medication. Which is the best response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 70
1 out of 1 points
A client has attended five group therapy sessions yet has not engaged verbally with others in the group. The PMHNP has identified the client as a “silent member.” Which statement is true about silent members as related to group therapy?
·         Question 71
1 out of 1 points
A narcissistic patient was unhappy that other members did not seem concerned about his or her dating problems, which the patient spent half the session talking about. The patient confronted the group by saying, “All of you are rude and uncaring!” When group members ignored this comment, the patient said, “And no one said anything nice about my new haircut either!” What is an appropriate response by the PMHNP?
·         Question 72
1 out of 1 points
According to Dr. Carlson, since Adler talked about how the social setting in which we live influences our lives, the best way parents can change their children’s behavior is to change:
·         Question 73
1 out of 1 points
In the parent consultation session, the parent discusses her son “Blake” who has changed since his 13th birthday. Dr. Carlson discusses the power conflict that the parent appears to be getting into with her son. When they discuss approaches they can use to help Blake experience increased responsibility, Dr. Carlson explains that the parent must make a commitment with her son by agreeing to:
·         Question 74
0 out of 1 points
A PMHNP is evaluating a patient who has problems with authority and has trouble accepting criticism. The patient is aware of these problems and wants to change. Based on this, what is an appropriate action by the PMHNP?
·         Question 75
1 out of 1 points
A PMHNP has a therapy group in which many members have been dropping out over the past several weeks. Members have complained that they do not feel part of the group. What is an appropriate step for the PMHNP to take?
·         Question 76
0 out of 0 points
When completing this exam, did you comply with Walden University’s Code of Conduct including the expectations for academic integrity?

NURS 6512 Week 6 Midterm Exam: Advanced Health Assessment: Walden University (Already Graded A)
NURS 6512 Week 6 Midterm Exam: Advanced Health Assessment: Walden University (Already Graded A)

Question 26: Health care.

NSG6435 Week 5 Assignment 4 Midterm Exam NSG 6435 Week 5 Midterm Exam

Question 27: Health care

Walden University NURS 6531 6531 Wk6 midterm review questions

Walden University NURS 6531wk6 NURS 6531 Week 6 midterm review questions

WK6
Week 6- Quiz

Question 1
1 out of 1 points

A 25-year-old female presents to urgent care complaining of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea for 24 hours. Important physical exam components for this patient include

Question 2
1 out of 1 points

Which of the following disorders is associated with obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia?

Question 3
1 out of 1 points

Which of the following disorders can be associated with anal fissures?

Question 4
1 out of 1 points

A 33-year-old female is admitted with acute pancreatitis. The nurse practitioner knows that the most common cause of pancreatitis is:

Question 5
1 out of 1 points

An AST that is more than twice the level of ALT is suggestive of:

Question 6
1 out of 1 points

Question 7
1 out of 1 points

Which of the following is considered a functional gastrointestinal disorder?

Question 8
1 out of 1 points

Question 9
1 out of 1 points

Potential causes of diarrhea include which of the following:

Question 10
0 out of 1 points

An 80-year-old male admits to difficulty swallowing during the review of systems. The nurse practitioner recognizes the differential diagnosis for this patient’s dysphagia is:

Choices: Chest pain; GERD; esophageal cancer; GERD & esophageal cancer; or all of the above
I chose all of the above (incorrect)
Possibly just A & C is the answer (GERD and cancer)

week 6 quiz

question 1
Which of the following disorders is associated with obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia?
A.            Autoimmune hepatitis
B.            Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis
C.            Hemochromatosis
D.            Wilson’s disease
Question 2
Which of the following is considered a functional gastrointestinal disorder?

A. Crohn’s disease

B. Ulcerative colitis

C. Constipation

D. Irritable bowel syndrome
Question 3
Which of the following describes a third degree internal hemorrhoid?

A. Bulge, but not prolapsed through anal orifice

B. Prolapsed during defecation requiring manual reinsertion

C. Prolapsed during defecation and reduce spontaneously

D. Less likely to bleed, but positive edema and pain
Question 4
A 65-year-old female with a past medical history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and polymyalgia rheumatica presents to urgent care with new onset left lower quadrant pain. Her current medications include omeprazole 20 milligrams po daily, lisinopril 20 milligrams po daily, simvastatin 20 milligrams po daily, and prednisone 12 milligrams po daily. The nurse practitioner suspects acute diverticulitis and possibly an abscess. The most appropriate diagnostic test for this patient at this time is:

A. CBC/diff

B. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate

C. Abdominal ultrasound

D. CT scan

Question 5
A 58-year-old man is diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus after an endoscopy. He has no known allergies. Which of the following medications is MOST appropriate to treat this patient’s disorder?

A. Omeprazole

B. Ranitidine

C. An antacid

D. None of the above
Question 6
Risk factor(s) associated with inflammatory bowel disease include:

A. Smoking

B. Alcohol ingestion

C. Greek heritage

D. None of the above
Question 7
Treatment of H.pylori includes which of the following?

A. Proton pump inhibitor

B. Antibiotic therapy

C. Bismuth subsalicylate

D. A and B

E. A, B, and C
Question 8
An AST that is more than twice the level of ALT is suggestive of:

A. A hemolytic disorder

B. Cholestasis

C. Infiltrative liver disease

D. Alcoholic liver injury
Question 9
Pruritus ani is related to

A. Corynebacterium minutissimum

B. Pinworm infestation

C. Stahphylococcus aureus

D. B only

E. A, B, and C
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A. Acute diarrhea

B. Chronic diarrhea

C. Irritable bowel

D. Functional bowel disease

•Question 1
1 out of 1 points

An 80-year-old male admits to difficulty swallowing during the review of systems. The nurse practitioner recognizes the differential diagnosis for this patient’s dysphagia is:

GERD and Cancer

•Question 2
1 out of 1 points

Which of the following describes a third degree internal hemorrhoid?
A.            Bulge, but not prolapsed through anal orifice
B.            Prolapsed during defecation requiring manual reinsertion
C.            Prolapsed during defecation and reduce spontaneously
D.            Less likely to bleed, but positive edema and pain

•Question 3
1 out of 1 points

CT scan

•Question 4
1 out of 1 points

Answer: short-bowel follow through

•Question 5
1 out of 1 points

Potential causes of diarrhea include which of the following:
All of the above: meds, infection, constipation

•Question 6
1 out of 1 points

Which of the following disorders is associated with obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia?

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

•Question 7
1 out of 1 points

Chronic Diarrhea

•Question 8
1 out of 1 points

A 33-year-old female is admitted with acute pancreatitis. The nurse practitioner knows that the most common cause of pancreatitis is:

Gallstones

•Question 9
1 out of 1 points

Treatment of H.pylori includes which of the following?

A, B, C : bismuth, PPI, and antibiotic

•Question 10
1 out of 1 points

A 58-year-old man is diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus after an endoscopy. He has no known allergies. Which of the following medications is MOST appropriate to treat this patient’s disorder?

Omeprazole

Question 28: Health care

Esther Park Shadow Health Assignment
Esther Park Shadow Health Assignment
Esther Park Shadow Health Assignment

Question 29: Health care

NURS 6660 Final Exam Walden University
NURS 6660 Final Exam Walden University
NURS 6660 Final Exam Walden University

Question 30: Health Care

A baccalaureate nurse understands, relates, and values the fundamental elements of research, process, and designs as a foundation for an evidence-based practice (AACN, 2008; QSEN, 2018).
Purpose:
This assignment provides a learning activity for students to demonstrate understanding of quantitative and qualitative research, the purpose and importance of designs, and how research is critical for creating a credible evidence-based nursing practice.
Course Outcomes:
This assignment enables the student to meet the following Course Outcomes.
CO 1: Examine the sources of evidence that contribute to professional nursing practice. (PO 7)
CO 2: Apply research principles to the interpretation of the content of published research studies. (PO 4 & 8)
CO 5: Recognize the role of research findings in evidence-based practice. (PO 7 & 8)
Due Date
Submit the completed Research Designs Assignment by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 5.
Points
This assignment is worth 225 points.
Directions for Preparing the Scholarly Paper:
Read each of these instructions.
Read the assignment grading rubric criteria.
This assignment is completed as an APA paper. APA resources can be found in your Resources Tab. You are required to complete the paper using the productivity tools required by Chamberlain University, which is Microsoft Office Word 2013 (or later version), or Windows and Office 2011 (or later version) for MAC. You must save the file in the “.docx” format. Do NOT save as Word Pad. A later version of the productivity tool includes Office 365, which is available to Chamberlain students for FREE by downloading from the student portal at http://my.chamberlain.edu (Links to an external site.) . Click on the envelope at the top of the page.
You are required to use the grading rubric criteria to ensure you are meeting all grading requirements of the paper.
The guideline below is a recommended outline only and does not substitute for your assignment grading rubric; your paper will be graded using the assignment grading rubric criteria.
For the introduction paragraph section, summarize your learning using mostly your own words (see the grading rubric for details):
The need for nursing research.
The importance for nurses to understand the basic principles of research.
The purpose of your paper.
For the quantitative research section, summarize your learning using mostly your own words (see the grading rubric for details):
The importance of quantitative research.
One type of quantitative design; explain one important feature of this type of design.
How quantitative research can help improve nursing practice.
For the qualitative research section, your learning using mostly your own words (see the grading rubric for details):
The importance of qualitative research.
One type of qualitative design; explain one important feature of this type of design.
How qualitative research can help improve nursing practice.
For the research sampling section, your learning using mostly your own words (see the grading rubric for details):
What is sampling and why is sampling important.
One sampling strategy used in quantitative research.
One other sampling strategy that you learned.
For the credible nursing practice section, your learning using mostly your own words (see the grading rubric for details):
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search can help to make nursing practice safer.
Why research is critical for creating an evidence-based nursing practice.
For the conclusion section, summarize your learning using mostly your own words (see the grading rubric for details):
Short, concise, thorough summary of the main points of the paper.
Double check your work with the grading rubric to ensure you have met all grading criteria for this assignment.
Two or more supporting scholarly references are required. Textbooks are not allowed and should not be used as a scholarly source. Use the Chamberlain Library to locate relevant, scholarly sources.
No more than two direct quotes are allowed. You should be using mostly your own words to demonstrate your understanding of the topics/criteria for this assignment. Citations and references must be included.
This is a short, scholarly paper. The assignment should be 3-4 pages in length not including the title page and references page.
Submit the completed assignment on the Week 5: Assignment page.
**Academic Integrity Reminder**
Chamberlain College of Nursing values honesty and integrity. All students should be aware of the Academic Integrity policy and follow it in all discussions and assignments.
By submitting this assignment, I pledge on my honor that all content contained is my own original work except as quoted and cited appropriately. I have not received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment.
Note: Please use your browser’s File menu to save or print this page.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nurses (AACN). (2008). Executive summary: The essentials of baccalaureate education for professional nursing practice(2008). Retrieved from http://www.aacnnursing.org/Education-Resources/AACN-Essentials
Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN). (2018). QSEN knowledge, skills, and attitude competencies. Retrieved from http://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/
Rubric

NR439 Research Designs Assignment Rubric
NR439 Research Designs Assignment Rubric
Criteria
Ratings
Pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Introduction
Write a paragraph introduction incorporating your learning and using mostly your own words to summarize: a) The need for nursing research. b) The importance for nurses to understand the basic principles of research. c) The purpose of your paper.
32.0 pts
Thoroughly summarizes criteria in the first column. Excellent details are provided.
28.0 pts
Mostly summarizes criteria in the first column or one criteria lacks details or is missing.
25.0 pts
Minimally summarizes criteria from first the column or two criteria lack details or is missing.
11.0 pts
Poorly summarizes criteria from the first column or all criteria lack details.
0.0 pts
All criteria from the first column are missing.
32.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Quantitative Research
Write a paragraph incorporating your learning and using mostly your own words to summarize: a) The importance of quantitative research. b) One type of quantitative design; explain one important feature of this type of design. c) How quantitative research can help improve nursing practice.
34.0 pts
Thoroughly summarizes criteria in the first column. Excellent details are provided.
30.0 pts
Mostly summarizes criteria in the first column or one criteria lacks details or is missing.
27.0 pts
Minimally summarizes criteria from first the column or two criteria lack details or is missing.
13.0 pts
Poorly summarizes criteria from the first column or all criteria lack details.
0.0 pts
All criteria from the first column are missing.
34.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Qualitative Research
Write a paragraph incorporating your learning and using mostly your own words to summarize: a) The importance of qualitative research. b) One type of qualitative design; explain one important feature of this type of design. c) How qualitative research can help improve nursing practice.
34.0 pts
Thoroughly summarizes criteria in the first column. Excellent details are provided.
30.0 pts
Mostly summarizes criteria in the first column or one criteria lacks details or is missing.
27.0 pts
Minimally summarizes criteria from first the column or two criteria lack details or is missing.
13.0 pts
Poorly summarizes criteria from the first column or all criteria lack details.
0.0 pts
All criteria from the first column are missing.
34.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Research Sampling
Write a paragraph incorporating your learning and using mostly your own words to summarize: a) What is sampling and why is sampling important. b) One sampling strategy used in quantitative research. c) One other sampling strategy that you learned.
34.0 pts
Thoroughly summarizes all criteria in the first column. Thorough details are provided.
30.0 pts
Mostly summarizes criteria in the first column or one criteria lacks details or is missing.
27.0 pts
Minimally summarizes criteria from the first column or two criteria lack details or is missing.
13.0 pts
Vaguely summarizes all criteria from the first column or all criteria lack details.
0.0 pts
All criteria from the first column are missing.
34.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Credible Nursing Practice
Write a paragraph incorporating your learning and using mostly your own words to summarize: a) How research can help to make nursing practice safer. b) Why research is critical for creating an evidence-based nursing practice.
34.0 pts
Thoroughly summarizes criteria in the first column. Thorough details are provided.
30.0 pts
Mostly summarizes criteria in the first column. Good details.
27.0 pts
Minimally summarizes criteria in the first column or one criteria lack details or is missing.
13.0 pts
Poorly summarizes criteria from the first column or both criteria lack details.
0.0 pts
Both criteria from the first column are missing.
34.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Conclusion
Write a short, concise, thorough summary of the main points of the paper.
32.0 pts
Summarizes a short, concise, thorough summary of the main points of the paper.
28.0 pts
Mostly summarizes the main points of the paper. Good details.
25.0 pts
Writes a vague summary of the paper. Fair details.
11.0 pts
Writes a poor summary of the paper. Poor details.

0.0 pts
Did not sufficiently provide any of the conclusion criteria or conclusion not discussed.
32.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Scholarly Writing, Mechanics, Organization, Spelling, Sentence Structure, Grammar.
8.0 pts
Excellent scholarly writing, mechanics, organization, spelling, sentence structure, grammar. No errors noted.
6.0 pts
Good writing, mechanics, organization, spelling, sentence structure, grammar. A few errors.
3.0 pts
Fair writing, mechanics, organization, Spelling, sentence structure, grammar. Some errors noted.
2.0 pts
Poor writing, mechanics, organization, spelling sentence structure, grammar. Many errors noted.
0.0 pts
Very poor writing, mechanics, and organization. Errors throughout are noted. Writing is difficult to understand or follow.
8.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome APA Formatting
8.0 pts
Excellent APA formatting with no errors. Uses mostly own words. No more than 2 direct quotes used.
6.0 pts
Good APA formatting with a few errors noted. Three direct quotes used.
3.0 pts
Fair APA formatting with some errors noted. Four direct quotes used.
2.0 pts
Poor APA formatting with many errors noted. Five or more direct quotes used.
0.0 pts
Very poor APA with errors noted throughout.
8.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Supporting Evidence
Uses 2 or more relevant scholarly sources to support writing. Textbooks should not be used.
9.0 pts
Uses 2 or more relevant scholarly sources to support writing. Textbooks are not used.
5.0 pts
Uses at least 1 relevant scholarly source to support writing.
0.0 pts
No relevant scholarly sources provided.
9.0 pts
Total Points: 225.0

Step 2: Silicon Valley Startup Companies

Read the following articles about Silicon Valley startup companies (Focus on Theranos and Zenefits ). Each company discussed in the articles listed below eventually came under scrutiny for ethical and/or legal issues.

Griffith, E. (2017, December 16). The other tech bubble. Wired. Retrieved fromhttps://www.wired.com/story/the-other-tech-bubble/

Griffith, E. (2017, December 28). The ugly unethical underside of Silicon Valley. Fortune. Retrieved from https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/28/the-ugly-unethical-underside-of-silicon-valley/

Hartmans, A. (2018, September 5). The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes, who started Theranos when she was 19 and became the world’s youngest female billionaire before it all came crashing down. Business Insider Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/theranos-founder-ceo-elizabeth-holmes-life-story-bio-2018-4

Suddath, C. and Newcomer, E. (2016, May 9). Zenefits was the perfect startup. Then it self-disrupted. Bloomberg. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-zenefits/

Step 3: Overview of Companies

Provide a company overview for Zenefits and Theranos. Describe the purpose(s) for the founding of the company; i.e., what problems was it formed to solve and/or opportunities it was formed to exploit, who are the founders, home country or state, management, etc.

Step 4: Ethical or Legal Issues

You will research each company to establish the facts of each situation. Once you have established the facts surrounding the decisions made by Theranos and Zenefits:

Identify and discuss the ethical issues associated with each company.
Identify and discuss the legal issues associated with each company.
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Step 5: Stakeholders

Identify the stakeholders associated with each company and explain the impact of the company’s decisions on the specific stakeholders.
Discuss how the stakeholders reacted to the decision(s) made by each company.

Step 6: Generate Alternatives

From what you have read, the startup culture poses a host of temptations creating a never-ending series of ethical choices and dilemmas. Companies are faced with the challenges of venture investors who expect hyper-growth and quick results. For privately-held companies, self-reporting, unaudited financials is an option as is not reporting, and the media serves to promote an attractive opportunity. Lastly, it is easy to rationalize behavior when the expectation is that entrepreneurs set the world on fire with innovative, disruptive technologies that promote overlooking rules and one’s moral compass.

Like many business people, some Silicon Valley decision makers need help in recognizing the ethical dilemmas they face when doing business and understanding the need for following rules and setting ethical standards. You will:

Generate and discuss at least three viable alternatives to help Silicon Valley startup companies operate and behave ethically. In doing so, it is necessary to consider the ethical and legal requirements.

Step 7: Evaluate Each Alternative

Examine the benefits and drawbacks of each proposed alternative. Provide careful consideration to the factors that influence the outcome of each alternative.

Step 8: Recommend the Best Alternative

Once you have evaluated each alternative, recommend the best alternative that ensure appropriate business practices and accountability.
Explain how Silicon Valley startup companies will effectively communicate this change to internal and external business stakeholders.

Step 9: Review the Paper

Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present. Use the grading rubric to ensure that you gain the most points possible for this assignment.

Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical issues, and third person writing.

Read the paper aloud as a first measure;
Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a second measure;
Have someone who has excellent English skills proofread the paper;
Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC). The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.

Step 10: Submit the paper in the Assignment Folder (The assignment submitted to the Assignment Folder will be considered the student’s final product and therefore ready for grading by the instructor. It is incumbent upon the student to verify the assignment is the correct submission. No exceptions will be considered by the instructor).

How to Set Up the Paper

Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is double-spaced, 12-point font. The final product will be between 6-8 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page. Write clearly and concisely.

Completing the Paper

In order to complete this project, you will want to first read the module, Learn How to Support What You Write, as this assignment requires you to use the course material to support what you write. Also,

Read and use the grading rubric while completing the exercise to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
Third person writing is required. Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.
Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them.
Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks. Paraphrase means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document. Instead put a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document. Not using direct quotation marks means that there should be no passages with quotation marks and instead the source material is paraphrased as stated above. Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. You may not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, as doing so would require direct quotation marks. Changing words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having quotation marks. If more than four consecutive words are used from source documents, this material will not be included in the grade and could lead to allegations of academic dishonesty.
You are expected to use the case scenarios and weekly course material to develop the analysis and support the reasoning. There should be a robust use of the course material and case scenario facts. Material used from a source document must be cited and referenced. A reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. Changing words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having quotation marks. If more than four consecutive words are used from source documents, this material will not be included in the grade and could lead to allegations of academic dishonesty.
Use in-text citations and provide a reference list that contains the reference associated with each in-text citation.
The only book you may use is the course eBook. You may not use a dictionary or Wikipedia.
Provide the page or paragraph number in every in-text citation presented. If the eBook does not have pages, provide the chapter title and topic heading.

Self-Plagiarism: Self-plagiarism is the act of reusing significant, identical or nearly identical portions of one’s own work. You cannot re-use any portion of a paper or other graded work that was submitted to another class even if you are retaking this course. You also will not reuse any portion of previously submitted work in this class. A zero will be assigned to the assignment if self-plagiarized. Faculty do not have the discretion to accept self-plagiarized work.

https://www.thoughtco.com/kantian-ethics-moral-philosophy-immanuel-kant-4045398

This link, as well as the links that are attached inside of the instructions.

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org

This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative

Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License without

attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee.

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org

Preface

Ethics is about determining value; it’s deciding what’s worth doing and what doesn’t matter so much.

Business ethics is the way we decide what kind of career to pursue, what choices we make on the job,

which companies we want to work with, and what kind of economic world we want to live in and then

leave behind for those coming after. There are no perfect answers to these questions, but there’s a

difference between thinking them through and winging it. The Business Ethics Workshop provides a

framework for identifying, analyzing, and resolving ethical dilemmas encountered through working life.

This text’s principles:

 It’s your call. Some of the book’s case studies ask for defenses of ethical positions that few agree with

(for example, the claim that a drug dealer’s job is better than a police officer’s). Exercises like this align

with the textbook’s aim: provoking reasoning freed from customary divisions between right and wrong. In

the end, no one completely resists their own habits of thinking or society’s broad pressures, but testing the

limits sharpens the tools of ethical analysis. These tools can be relied on later on when you face decisions

that you alone have to make. The aim of this book is to help make those decisions with coherent,

defensible reasoning.

 Keep it mostly real. Ethics is an everyday activity. It’s not mysterious, head-in-the-clouds ruminating

but determining the worth of things around us: Working at an advertising agency is exciting—actors,

lights, cameras, and TV commercials—but do I really want to hock sugary breakfast cereals to children?

Should I risk my reputation by hiring my college roommate, the one who’s habits of showing up late and

erratically to class have carried over to working life? These are the immediate questions of business ethics,

and while any textbook on the subject must address broad, impersonal questions including the

responsibilities of massive corporations in modern societies, this book’s focus stays as often as possible on

ordinary people in normal but difficult circumstances.

 Be current. The rules of ethical thinking don’t change much, but the world is a constant revolution. The

textbook and its cases follow along as closely as possible, citing from blog posts and recent news stories.

As a note here, to facilitate reading some of these citations have been slightly and silently modified.

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org

 Let’s talk about our problem. Case studies are the most important components of this text because it

was written for a discussion-intensive class. Ethics isn’t something we know; it’s something we do, and

trying out our reasoning is the best way to confirm that it’s actually working.

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org

Chapter 1

What Is Business Ethics?

Chapter Overview

Chapter 1 “What Is Business Ethics?” defines business ethics and sketches how debates within the field

happen. The history of the discipline is also considered, along with the overlap between business and

personal ethics.

1.1 What Is Business Ethics?

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

Define the components of business ethics.
Outline how business ethics works.

Captive Customers

Ann Marie Wagoner studies at the University of Alabama (UA). She pays $1,200 a year for books, which is

exasperating, but what really ticks her off is the text for her composition class. Called A Writer’s Reference

(Custom Publication for the University of Alabama), it’s the same Writer’s Reference sold everywhere

else, with slight modifications: there are thirty-two extra pages describing the school’s particular writing

program, the Alabama A is emblazoned on the front cover, there’s an extra $6 on the price tag (compared

with the price of the standard version when purchased new), and there’s an added sentence on the back:

“This book may not be bought or sold used.” The modifications are a collective budget wrecker. Because

she’s forced to buy a new copy of the customized Alabama text, she ends up paying about twice what she’d

pay for a used copy of the standard, not-customized book that’s available at Chegg.com and similar usedbook

dealers.

For the extra money, Wagoner doesn’t get much—a few additional text pages and a school spirit cover.

Worse, those extra pages are posted free on the English department’s website, so the cover’s the only

unambiguous benefit. Even there, though, it’d be cheaper to just buy a UA bumper sticker and paste it

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org

across the front. It’s hard to see, finally, any good reason for the University of Alabama English

Department to snare its own students with a textbook costing so much.

Things clear up when you look closely at the six-dollar difference between the standard new book cost and

the customized UA version. Only half that money stays with the publisher to cover specialized printing

costs. The other part kicks back to the university’s writing program, the one requiring the book in the first

place. It turns out there’s a quiet moneymaking scheme at work here: the English department gets some

straight revenue, and most students, busy with their lives, don’t notice the royalty details. They get their

books, roll their eyes at the cash register, and get on with things.

Wagoner noticed, though. According to an extensive article in the Wall Street Journal, she calls the cost

of new custom books “ridiculous.” She’s also more than a little suspicious about why students aren’t more

openly informed about the royalty arrangement: “They’re hiding it so there isn’t a huge uproar.” [1]

While it may be true that the Tuscaloosa University is hiding what’s going on, they’re definitely not doing

a very good job since the story ended up splattered across the Wall Street Journal. One reason the story

reached one of the United States’ largest circulation dailies is that a lot of universities are starting to get in

on the cash. Printing textbooks within the kickback model is, according to the article, the fastest growing

slice of the $3.5 billion college textbook market.

The money’s there, but not everyone is eager to grab it. James Koch, an economist and former president

of Old Dominion University and the University of Montana, advises schools to think carefully before

tapping into customized-textbook dollars because, he says, the whole idea “treads right on the edge of

what I would call unethical behavior. I’m not sure it passes the smell test.” [2]

What Is Business Ethics?

What does it mean to say a business practice doesn’t “pass the smell test”? And what would happen if

someone read the article and said, “Well, to me it smells all right”? If no substance fills out the idea, if

there’s no elaboration, then there probably wouldn’t be much more to say. The two would agree to

disagree and move on. Normally, that’s OK; no one has time to debate everything. But if you want to get

involved—if you’re like Wagoner who sounds angry about what’s going on and maybe wants to change it—

you’ll need to do more than make comments about how things hit the nose.

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org

Doing business ethics means providing reasons for how things ought to be in the economic world. This

requires the following:

 Arranging values to guide decisions. There needs to be a clearly defined and well-justified set of

priorities about what’s worth seeking and protecting and what other things we’re willing to compromise or

give up. For example, what’s more important and valuable: consumers (in this case students paying for an

education) getting their books cheaply or protecting the right of the university to run the business side of

its operation as it sees fit?

 Understanding the facts. To effectively apply a set of values to any situation, the situation itself must be

carefully defined. Who, for example, is involved in the textbook conflict? Students, clearly, as well as

university administrators. What about parents who frequently subsidize their college children? Are they

participants or just spectators? What about those childless men and women in Alabama whose taxes go to

the university? Are they involved? And how much money are we talking about? Where does it go? Why?

How and when did all this get started?

 Constructing arguments. This shows how, given the facts, one action serves our values better than other

actions. While the complexities of real life frequently disallow absolute proofs, there remains an absolute

requirement of comprehensible reasoning. Arguments need to make sense to outside observers. In simple,

practical terms, the test of an ethical argument resembles the test of a recipe for a cook: others need to be

able to follow it and come to the same result. There may remain disagreements about facts and values at

the end of an argument in ethics, but others need to understand the reasoning marking each step taken on

the way to your conclusion.

Finally, the last word in ethics is a determination about right and wrong. This actual result, however, is

secondary to the process: the verdict is only the remainder of forming and debating arguments. That’s

why doing ethics isn’t brainwashing. Conclusions are only taken seriously if composed from clear values,

recognized facts, and solid arguments.

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Bringing Ethics to Kickback Textbooks

The Wall Street Journal article on textbooks and kickbacks to the university is a mix of facts, values, and

arguments. They can be sorted out; an opportunity to do the sorting is provided by one of the article’s

more direct assertions:

Royalty arrangements involving specially made books may violate colleges’ conflict-of-interest

rules because they appear to benefit universities more than students.

A conflict of interest occurs when a university pledges to serve the interest of students but finds that its

own interest is served by not doing that. It doesn’t sound like this is a good thing (in the language of the

article, it smells bad). But to reach that conclusion in ethical terms, the specific values, facts, and

arguments surrounding this conflict need to be defined.

Start with the values. The priorities and convictions underneath the conflict-of-interest accusation are

clear. When university takes tuition money from a student and promises to do the best job possible in

providing an education to the student, then it better do that. The truth matters. When you make a

promise, you’ve got to fulfill it. Now, this fundamental value is what makes a conflict of interest

worrisome. If we didn’t care about the truth at all, then a university promising one thing and doing

something else wouldn’t seem objectionable. In the world of poker, for example, when a player makes a

grand show of holding a strong hand by betting a pile of chips, no one calls him a liar when it’s later

revealed that the hand was weak. The truth isn’t expected in poker, and bluffing is perfectly acceptable.

Universities aren’t poker tables, though. Many students come to school expecting honesty from their

institution and fidelity to agreements. To the extent these values are applied, a conflict of interest becomes

both possible and objectionable.

With the core value of honesty established, what are the facts? The “who’s involved?” question brings in

the students buying the textbooks, the company making the textbooks (Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston),

and the University of Alabama. As drawn from the UA web page, here’s the school’s purpose, the reason it

exists in the first place: “The University of Alabama is a student-centered research university and an

academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.”

Moving to the financial side, specific dollar amounts should be listed (the textbook’s cost, the cost for the

non-customized version). Also, it may be important to note the financial context of those involved: in the

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case of the students, some are comfortably wealthy or have parents paying for everything, while others

live closer to their bank accounts edge and are working their way through school.

Finally, the actual book-selling operation should be clearly described. In essence, what’s going on is that

the UA English Department is making a deal with the Bedford/St. Martin’s textbook company. The

university proposes, “If you give us a cut of the money you make selling textbooks, we’ll let you make

more money off our students.” Because the textbooks are customized, the price goes up while the supply

of cheap used copies (that usually can be purchased through the Internet from stores across the nation)

goes way down. It’s much harder for UA students to find used copies, forcing many to buy a new version.

This is a huge windfall for Bedford/St. Martin’s because, for them, every time a textbook is resold used,

they lose a sale. On the other side, students end up shelling out the maximum money for each book

because they have to buy new instead of just recycling someone else’s from the previous year. Finally, at

the end of the line there is the enabler of this operation, the English department that both requires the

book for a class and has the book customized to reduce used-copy sales. They get a small percentage of

Bedford/St. Martin’s extra revenue.

With values and facts established, an argument against kickback textbooks at Alabama can be drawn up.

By customizing texts and making them mandatory, UA is forcing students to pay extra money to take a

class: they have to spend about thirty dollars extra, which is the difference between the cost of a new,

customized textbook and the standard version purchased, used. Students generally don’t have a lot of

money, and while some pass through school on the parental scholarship, others scrape by and have to

work a Mc Job to make ends meet. So for at least some students, that thirty dollars directly equals time

that could be spent studying, but that instead goes to flipping burgers. The customized textbooks,

consequently, hurt these students’ academic learning in a measurable way. Against that reality there’s the

university’s own claim to be a “student-centered” institution. Those words appear untrue, however, if the

university is dragging its own students out of the library and forcing them to work extra hours. To comply

with its own stated ideals—to serve the students’ interests—UA should suspend the kickback textbook

practice. It’s important to do that, finally, because fulfilling promises is valuable; it’s something worth

doing.

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Argument and Counterargument

The conclusion that kickback textbooks turn universities into liars doesn’t end debate on the question. In

fact, because well-developed ethical positions expose their reasoning so openly (as opposed to “it doesn’t

smell right”), they tend to invite responses. One characteristic, in other words, of good ethical arguments

is that, paradoxically but not contradictorily, they tend to provoke counterarguments.

Broadly, there are three ways to dispute an argument in ethics. You can attack the

facts,
values,
reasoning,

In the textbook case, disputing the facts might involve showing that students who need to work a few

extra hours to afford their books don’t subtract that time from their studying; actually, they subtract it

from late-night hours pounding beers in dank campus bars. The academic damage done, therefore, by

kickback textbooks is zero. Pressing this further, if it’s true that increased textbook prices translate into

less student partying, the case could probably be made that the university actually serves students’

interests—at least those who drink too much beer—by jacking up the prices.

The values supporting an argument about kickback textbooks may, like the facts, be disputed. Virginia

Tech, for example, runs a text-customization program like Alabama’s. According to Tech’s English

Department chair Carolyn Rude, the customized books published by Pearson net the department about

$20,000 a year. Some of that cash goes to pay for instructors’ travel stipends. These aren’t luxury retreats

to Las Vegas or Miami; they’re gatherings of earnest professors in dull places for discussions that reliably

put a few listeners to sleep. When instructors—who are frequently graduate students—attend, they’re

looking to burnish their curriculum vitae and get some public responses to their work. Possibly, the trip

will help them get a better academic job later on. Regardless, it won’t do much for the undergraduates at

Virginia Tech. In essence, the undergrads are being asked to pay a bit extra for books to help graduate

students hone their ideas and advance professionally.

Can that tradeoff be justified? With the right values, yes. It must be conceded that Virginia Tech is

probably rupturing a commitment to serve the undergrads’ interest. Therefore, it’s true that a certain

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amount of dishonesty shadows the process of inflating textbook costs. If, however, there’s a higher value

than truth, that won’t matter so much. Take this possibility: what’s right and wrong isn’t determined by

honesty and fidelity to commitments, but the general welfare. The argument here is that while it’s true

that undergrads suffer a bit because they pay extra, the instructors receiving the travel stipends benefit a

lot. Their knowledge grows, their career prospects improve, and in sum, they benefit so much that it

entirely outweighs the harm done to the undergrads. As long as this value—the greatest total good—

frames the assessment of kickback textbooks, the way is clear for Tech or Alabama to continue the

practice. It’s even recommendable.

The final ground on which an ethical argument can be refuted is the reasoning. Here, the facts are

accepted, as well as the value that universities are duty bound to serve the interests of the tuition-paying

undergraduate students since that’s the commitment they make on their web pages. What can still be

debated, however, is the extent to which those students may actually be benefitted by customizing

textbooks. Looking at the Wall Street Journal article, several partially developed arguments are presented

on this front. For example, at Alabama, part of the money collected from the customized texts underwrites

teaching awards, and that, presumably, motivates instructors to perform better in the classroom, which

ends up serving the students’ educational interests. Similarly, at Virginia Tech, part of the revenue is

apportioned to bring in guest speakers, which should advance the undergraduate educational cause. The

broader argument is that while it’s true that the students are paying more for their books than peers at

other universities, the sequence of reasoning doesn’t necessarily lead from that fact to the conclusion that

there’s a reproachable conflict of interest. It can also reach the verdict that students’ educational

experience is improved; instead of a conflict of interest, there’s an elevated commitment to student

welfare inherent in the kickback practice.

Conclusion. There’s no irrefutable answer to the question about whether universities ought to get involved

in kickback textbooks. What is clear, however, is that there’s a difference between responding to them by

asserting that something doesn’t smell right, and responding by uniting facts, values, and reasoning to

produce a substantial ethical argument.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Business ethics deals with values, facts, and arguments.

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 Well-reasoned arguments, by reason of their clarity, invite counterarguments.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. What is the difference between brainwashing and an argument?

2. What does it mean to dispute an argument on the basis of the facts?

3. What does it mean to dispute an argument on the basis of the values?

4. What does it mean to dispute an argument on the basis of the reasoning?

[1] John Hechinger, “As Textbooks Go ‘Custom,’ Students Pay: Colleges Receive Royalties for School-Specific

Editions; Barrier to Secondhand Sales,” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2008, accessed May 11,

2011,http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121565135185141235.html.

[2] John Hechinger, “As Textbooks Go ‘Custom,’ Students Pay: Colleges Receive Royalties for School-Specific

Editions; Barrier to Secondhand Sales,” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2008, accessed May 11,

2011,http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121565135185141235.html.

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1.2 The Place of Business Ethics

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Distinguish the place of business ethics within the larger field of decision making.

2. Sketch the historical development of business ethics as a coherent discipline.

The Boundaries and History of Business Ethics

Though both economic life and ethics are as old as history, business ethics as a formal area of study is

relatively new. Delineating the specific place of today’s business ethics involves

 distinguishing morality, ethics, and meta-ethics;

 dividing normative from descriptive ethics;

 comparing ethics against other forms of decision making;

 sketching some inflection points in the histories of ethics and business ethics.

Morality, Ethics, and Meta-ethics: What’s the Difference?

The back and forth of debates about kickback textbooks occurs on one of the three distinct levels of

consideration about right and wrong. Morals occupy the lowest level; they’re the direct rules we ought to

follow. Two of the most common moral dictates are don’t lie and don’t steal. Generally, the question to ask

about a moral directive is whether it was obeyed. Specifically in the case of university textbooks, the

debate about whether customized textbooks are a good idea isn’t morality. It’s not because morality

doesn’t involve debates. Morality only involves specific guidelines that should be followed; it only begins

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when someone walks into a school bookstore, locates a book needed for a class, strips out the little

magnetic tag hidden in the spine, and heads for the exit.

Above all morality there’s the broader question about exactly what specific rules should be instituted and

followed. Answering this question is ethics. Ethics is the morality factory, the production of guidelines

that later may be obeyed or violated. It’s not clear today, for example, whether there should be moral rule

prohibiting kickback textbooks. There are good arguments for the prohibition (universities are betraying

their duty to serve students’ interests) and good arguments against (schools are finding innovative sources

of revenue that can be put to good use). For that reason, it’s perfectly legitimate for someone like Ann

Marie Wagoner to stand up at the University of Alabama and decry the practice as wrong. But she’d be

going too far if she accused university administrators of being thieves or immoral. They’re not; they’re on

the other side of an ethical conflict, not a moral one.

Above both morality and ethics there are debates about meta-ethics. These are the most abstract and

theoretical discussions surrounding right and wrong. The questions asked on this level include the

following: Where do ethics come from? Why do we have ethical and moral categories in the first place? To

whom do the rules apply? Babies, for example, steal from each other all the time and no one accuses them

of being immoral or insufficiently ethical. Why is that? Or putting the same question in the longer terms

of human history, at some point somewhere in the past someone must have had a light bulb turn on in

their mind and asked, “Wait, is stealing wrong?” How and why, those interested in meta-ethics ask, did

that happen? Some believe that morality is transcendent in nature—that the rules of right and wrong

come from beyond you and me and that our only job is to receive, learn, and obey them. Divine command

theory, for example, understands earthly morality as a reflection of God. Others postulate that ethics is

very human and social in nature—that it’s something we invented to help us live together in communities.

Others believe there’s something deeply personal in it. When I look at another individual I see in the

depth of their difference from myself a requirement to respect that other person and his or her

uniqueness, and from there, ethics and morality unwind. These kinds of meta-ethical questions, finally,

are customarily studied in philosophy departments.

Conclusion. Morality is the rules, ethics is the making of rules, and meta-ethics concerns the origin of the

entire discussion. In common conversation, the words morality and ethics often overlap. It’s hard to

change the way people talk and, in a practical field like business ethics, fostering the skill of debating

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arguments is more important than being a stickler for words, but it’s always possible to keep in mind that,

strictly speaking, morality and ethics hold distinct meanings.

What’s the Difference between Normative Ethics and Descriptive Ethics?

Business ethics is normative, which means it concerns how people ought to act. Descriptive ethics depicts

how people actually are acting.

At the University of Alabama, Virginia Tech, and anywhere kickback textbooks are being sold, there are

probably a few students who check their bank accounts, find that the number is low, and decide to mount

their own kickback scheme: refund the entire textbook cost to themselves by sneaking a copy out of the

store. Trying to make a decision about whether that’s justified—does economic necessity license theft in

some cases?—is normative ethics. By contrast, investigating to determine the exact number of students

walking out with free books is descriptive. So too is tallying the reasons for the theft: How many steal

because they don’t have the money to pay? How many accuse the university of acting dishonestly in the

first place and say that licenses theft? How many question the entire idea of private property?

The fields of descriptive ethics are many and varied. Historians trace the way penalties imposed for theft

have changed over time. Anthropologists look at the way different cultures respond to thievery.

Sociologists study the way publications, including Abbie Hoffman’s incendiary book titled Steal This

Book, have changed public attitudes about the ethics of theft. Psychologists are curious about the

subconscious forces motivating criminals. Economists ask whether there’s a correlation between

individual wealth and the kind of moral rules subscribed to. None of this depends on the question about

whether stealing may actually be justifiable, but all of it depends on stealing actually happening.

Ethics versus Other Forms of Decision

When students stand in the bookstore flipping through the pages of a budget buster, it’s going to cross a

few minds to stick it in the backpack and do a runner. Should they? Clear-headed ethical reflection may

provide an answer to the question, but that’s not the only way we make decisions in the world. Even in the

face of screaming ethical issues, it’s perfectly possible and frequently reasonable to make choices based on

other factors. They include:

 The law

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 Prudence (practicality)

 Religion

 Authority figures

 Peer pressure

 Custom

 Conscience

When the temptation is there, one way to decide whether to steal a book is legal: if the law says I can’t, I

won’t. Frequently, legal prohibitions overlap with commonly accepted moral rules: few legislators want to

sponsor laws that most believe to be unjust. Still, there are unjust laws. Think of downloading a text (or

music, or a video) from the web. One day the downloading may be perfectly legal and the next, after a bill

is passed by a legislature, it’s illegal. So the law reverses, but there’s no reason to think the ethics—the

values and arguments guiding decisions about downloading—changed in that short time. If the ethics

didn’t change, at least one of the two laws must be ethically wrong. That means any necessary connection

between ethics and the law is broken. Even so, there are clear advantages to making decisions based on

the law. Besides the obvious one that it’ll keep you out of jail, legal rules are frequently cleaner and more

direct than ethical determinations, and that clarity may provide justification for approving (or

disapproving) actions with legal dictates instead of ethical ones. The reality remains, however, that the

two ways of deciding are as distinct as their mechanisms of determination. The law results from the votes

of legislators, the interpretations of judges, and the understanding of a policeman on the scene. Ethical

conclusions result from applied values and arguments.

Religion may also provide a solution to the question about textbook theft. The Ten Commandments, for

example, provide clear guidance. Like the law, most mainstream religious dictates overlap with generally

accepted ethical views, but that doesn’t change the fact that the rules of religion trace back to beliefs and

faith, while ethics goes back to arguments.

Prudence, in the sense of practical concern for your own well-being, may also weigh in and finally guide a

decision. With respect to stealing, regardless of what you may believe about ethics or law or religion, the

possibility of going to jail strongly motivates most people to pay for what they carry out of stores. If that’s

the motivation determining what’s done, then personal comfort and welfare are guiding the decision more

than sweeping ethical arguments.

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Authority figures may be relied on to make decisions: instead of asking whether it’s right to steal a book,

someone may ask themselves, “What would my parents say I should do? Or the soccer coach? Or a movie

star? Or the president?” While it’s not clear how great the overlap is between decisions based on authority

and those coming from ethics, it is certain that following authority implies respecting the experience and

judgment of others, while depending on ethics means relying on your own careful thinking and

determinations.

Urges to conformity and peer pressure also guide decisions. As depicted by the startling and funny Asch

experiments (see Video Clip 1.1), most of us palpably fear being labeled a deviant or just differing from

those around us. So powerful is the attraction of conformity that we’ll deny things clearly seen with our

own eyes before being forced to stand out as distinct from everyone else.

Custom, tradition, and habit all also guide decisions. If you’re standing in the bookstore and you’ve never

stolen a thing in your life, the possibility of appropriating the text may not even occur to you or, if it does,

may seem prohibitively strange. The great advantage of custom or tradition or just doing what we’ve

always done is that it lets us take action without thinking. Without that ability for thoughtlessness, we’d

be paralyzed. No one would make it out of the house in the morning: the entire day would be spent

wondering about the meaning of life and so on. Habits—and the decisions flowing from them—allow us to

get on with things. Ethical decisions, by contrast, tend to slow us down. In exchange, we receive the

assurance that we actually believe in what we’re doing, but in practical terms, no one’s decisions can be

ethically justified all the time.

Finally, the conscience may tilt decisions in one direction or another. This is the gut feeling we have about

whether swiping the textbook is the way to go, coupled with the expectation that the wrong decision will

leave us remorseful, suffering palpable regret about choosing to do what we did. Conscience,

fundamentally, is a feeling; it starts as an intuition and ends as a tugging, almost sickening sensation in

the stomach. As opposed to those private sensations, ethics starts from facts and ends with a reasoned

argument that can be publicly displayed and compared with the arguments others present. It’s not clear,

even to experts who study the subject, exactly where the conscience comes from, how we develop it, and

what, if any, limits it should place on our actions. Could, for example, a society come into existence where

people stole all the time and the decision to not shoplift a textbook carries with it the pang of remorse? It’s

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hard to know for sure. It’s clear, however, that ethics is fundamentally social: it’s about right and wrong as

those words emerge from real debates, not inner feelings.

History and Ethics

Conflicts, along with everything necessary to approach them ethically (mainly the ability to generate and

articulate reasoned thoughts), are as old as the first time someone was tempted to take something from

another. For that reason, there’s no strict historical advance to the study: there’s no reason to confidently

assert that the way we do ethics today is superior to the way we did it in the past. In that way, ethics isn’t

like the physical sciences where we can at least suspect that knowledge of the world yields technology

allowing more understanding, which would’ve been impossible to attain earlier on. There appears to be, in

other words, marching progress in science. Ethics doesn’t have that. Still, a number of critical historical

moments in ethics’ history can be spotted.

In ancient Greece, Plato presented the theory that we could attain a general knowledge of justice that

would allow a clear resolution to every specific ethical dilemma. He meant something like this: Most of us

know what a chair is, but it’s hard to pin down. Is something a chair if it has four legs? No, beds have four

legs and some chairs (barstools) have only three. Is it a chair if you sit on it? No, that would make the

porch steps in front of a house a chair. Nonetheless, because we have the general idea of a chair in our

mind, we can enter just about any room in any home and know immediately where we should sit. What

Plato proposed is that justice works like that. We have—or at least we can work toward getting—a general

idea of right and wrong, and when we have the idea, we can walk into a concrete situation and correctly

judge what the right course of action is.

Moving this over to the case of Ann Marie Wagoner, the University of Alabama student who’s outraged by

her university’s kickback textbooks, she may feel tempted, standing there in the bookstore, to make off

with a copy. The answer to the question of whether she ought to do that will be answered by the general

sense of justice she’s been able to develop and clarify in her mind.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a distinct idea of fundamental ethics took hold: natural

rights. The proposal here is that individuals are naturally and undeniably endowed with rights to their

own lives, their freedom, and to pursue happiness as they see fit. As opposed to the notion that certain

acts are firmly right or wrong, proponents of this theory—including John Locke and framers of the new

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American nation—proposed that individuals may sort things out as they please as long as their decisions

and actions don’t interfere with the right of others to do the same. Frequently understood as a theory of

freedom maximization, the proposition is that your freedom is only limited by the freedoms others

possess.

For Wagoner, this way of understanding right and wrong provides little immediate hope for changing

textbook practices at the University of Alabama. It’s difficult to see how the university’s decision to assign

a certain book at a certain price interferes with Wagoner’s freedom. She can always choose to not

purchase the book, to buy one of the standard versions at Amazon, or to drop the class. What she

probably can’t justify choosing, within this theory, is responding to the kickback textbooks by stealing a

copy. Were she to do that, it would violate another’s freedom, in this case, the right of the university (in

agreement with a publisher) to offer a product for sale at a price they determine.

A third important historical direction in the history of ethics originated with the proposal that what you

do doesn’t matter so much as the effects of what you do. Right and wrong are found in the consequences

following an action, not in the action itself. In the 1800s John Stuart Mill and others advocated the idea

that any act benefitting the general welfare was recommendable and ethically respectable.

Correspondingly, any act harming a community’s general happiness should be avoided. Decisions

about good or bad, that means, don’t focus on what happens now but what comes later, and they’re not

about the one person making the decision but the consequences as they envelop a larger community.

For someone like Wagoner who’s angry about the kickback money hidden in her book costs, this

consequence-centered theory opens the door to a dramatic action. She may decide to steal a book from the

bookstore and, after alerting a reporter from the student newspaper of her plan, promptly turn herself

into the authorities as a form of protest. “I stole this book,” she could say, “but that’s nothing compared

with the theft happening every day on this campus by our university.” This plan of action may work out—

or maybe not. But in terms of ethics, the focus should be on the theft’s results, not the fact that she

sneaked a book past security. The ethical verdict here is not about whether robbery is right or wrong but

whether the protest stunt will ultimately improve university life. If it does, we can say that the original

theft was good.

Finally, ethics is like most fields of study in that it has been accompanied from the beginning by skeptics,

by people suspecting that either there is no real right and wrong or, even if there is, we’ll never have much

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luck figuring out the difference. The twentieth century has been influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche’s

affirmation that moral codes (and everything else, actually) are just interpretations of reality that may be

accepted now, but there’s no guarantee things will remain that way tomorrow. Is stealing a textbook right

or wrong? According to this view, the answer always is, “It depends.” It depends on the circumstances, on

the people involved and how well they can convince others to accept one or another verdict. In practical

terms, this view translates into a theory of cultural or contextual relativism. What’s right and wrong only

reflects what a particular person or community decides to believe at a certain moment, and little more.

The Historical Development of Business Ethics

The long philosophical tradition of ethical thought contains the subfield of business ethics. Business

ethics, in turn, divides between ethics practiced by people who happen to be in business and business

ethics as a coherent and well-defined academic pursuit.

People in business, like everyone else, have ethical dimensions to their lives. For example, the company

W. R. Grace was portrayed in the John Travolta movie A Civil Action as a model of bad corporate

behavior. [1] What not so many people know, however, is that the corporation’s founder, the man named

W. R. Grace, came to America in the nineteenth century, found success, and dedicated a significant

percentage of his profits to a free school for immigrants that still operates today.

Even though questions stretch deep into the past about what responsibilities companies and their leaders

may have besides generating profits, the academic world began seriously concentrating on the subject

only very recently. The first full-scale professional conference on academic business ethics occurred in

1974 at the University of Kansas. A textbook was derived from the meeting, and courses began appearing

soon after at some schools.

By 1980 some form of a unified business ethics course was offered at many of the nation’s colleges and

universities.

Academic discussion of ethical issues in business was fostered by the appearance of several specialized

journals, and by the mid-1990s, the field had reached maturity. University classes were widespread,

allowing new people to enter the study easily. A core set of ideas, approaches, and debates had been

established as central to the subject, and professional societies and publications allowed for advanced

research in and intellectual growth of the field.

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The development of business ethics inside universities corresponded with increasing public awareness of

problems associated with modern economic activity, especially on environmental and financial fronts. In

the late 1970s, the calamity in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York, focused

international attention on questions about a company’s responsibility to those living in the surrounding

community and to the health of the natural world. The Love Canal’s infamy began when a chemical

company dumped tons of toxic waste into the ground before moving away. Despite the company’s

warnings about the land’s toxicity, residential development spread over the area. Birth defects and similar

maladies eventually devastated the families. Not long afterward and on the financial front, an insider

trading scandal involving the Wall Street titan Ivan Boesky made front pages, which led John Shad,

former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to donate $20 million to his business school

alma mater for the purpose of ethics education. Parallel (though usually more modest) money infusions

went to university philosophy departments. As a discipline, business ethics naturally bridges the two

divisions of study since the theory and tools for resolving ethical problems come from philosophy, but the

problems for solving belong to the real economic world.

Today, the most glamorous issues of business ethics involve massively powerful corporations and

swashbuckling financiers. Power and celebrity get people’s attention. Other, more tangible issues don’t

appear in so many headlines, but they’re just as important to study since they directly reach so many of

us: What kind of career is worth pursuing? Should I lie on my résumé? How important is money?

The Personal History of Ethics

Moving from academics to individual people, almost every adult does business ethics. Every time people

shake their exhausted heads in the morning, eye the clock, and decide whether they’ll go to work or just

pull up the covers, they’re making a decision about what values guide their economic reality. The way

ethics is done, however, changes from person to person and for all of us through our lives. There’s no

single history of ethics as individuals live it, but there’s a broad consensus that for many people, the

development of their ethical side progresses in a way not too far off from a general scheme proposed by

the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg.

Pre-conventional behavior—displayed by children, but not only by them—is about people calculating to

get what they want efficiently: decisions are made in accordance with raw self-interest. That’s why many

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children really do behave better near the end of December. It’s not that they’ve suddenly been struck by

respect for others and the importance of social rules; they just figure they’ll get more and better presents.

Moving up through the conventional stages, the idea of what you’ll do separates from what you want.

First, there are immediate conventions that may pull against personal desires; they include standards and

pressures applied by family and friends. Next, more abstract conventions—the law and mass social

customs—assert influence.

Continuing upward, the critical stages of moral development go from recognizing abstract conventions to

actively and effectively comparing them. The study of business ethics belongs on this high level of

individual maturity. Value systems are held up side by side, and reasons are erected for selecting one over

another. This is the ethics of full adulthood; it requires good reasoning and experience in the real world.

Coextensive with the development of ideas about what we ought to do are notions about responsibility—

about justifiably blaming people for what they’ve done. Responsibility at the lowest level is physical. The

person who stole the book is responsible because they took it. More abstractly, responsibility attaches to

notions of causing others to do a wrong (enticing someone else to steal a book) and not doing something

that could have prevented a wrong (not acting to dissuade another who’s considering theft is, ultimately, a

way of acting). A mature assignment of responsibility is normally taken to require that the following

considerations hold:

 The person is able to understand right and wrong.

 The person acts to cause—or fails to act to prevent—a wrong.

 The person acts knowing what they’re doing.

 The person acts from their own free will.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Morality is the set of rules defining what ought to be done; ethics is the debate about what the rules

should be; meta-ethics investigates the origin of the entire field.

 Normative ethics concerns what should be done, not what is done.

 Ethics is only one of a number of ways of making decisions.

 Business ethics as an academic study is a recent development in the long history of ethical reflection.

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 With respect to individuals, the development of ethical thought may be studied, as well as notions of

responsibility.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. List two basic questions belonging to the field of morality.

2. List two basic questions belonging to the field of ethics.

3. What is one basic question belonging to the field of meta-ethics?

4. What is an example of normative ethics? And descriptive ethics?

5. Explain the difference between a decision based on ethics and one based on the law.

6. Explain the difference between a decision based on ethics and one based on religion.

7. List two factors explaining the recent development and growth of business ethics as a coherent discipline.

[1] Steven Zaillian (director), A Civil Action (New York: Scott Rudin, 1998), film.

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1.3 Is Business Ethics Necessary?

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Articulate two extreme views of business ethics.

2. Describe the sense in which business ethics is inevitable.

Two Extreme Views of the Business World

At the boundaries of the question about whether business ethics is necessary, there are conflicting and

extreme perceptions of the business world. In graphic terms, these are the views:

 Business needs policing because it’s a dirty enterprise featuring people who get ahead by being selfish

liars.

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 Successful businesses work well to enrich society, and business ethicists are interfering and annoying

scolds threatening to ruin our economic welfare.

A 1987 New York Times article titled “Suddenly, Business Schools Tackle Ethics” begins this way:

“Insider-trading scandals in the last year have badly tarnished the reputations of some of the nation’s

most prominent financial institutions. Nor has Wall Street been the only area engulfed in scandal;

manufacturers of products from contraceptives to military weapons have all come under public scrutiny

recently for questionable—if not actionable—behavior.” [1]

Slimy dealing verging on the illegal, the message is, stains the economic world from one end to the other.

A little further into the article, the author possibly gives away her deepest feelings about business when

she cracks that business ethics is “an oxymoron.”

What will business leaders—and anyone else for that matter—do when confronted with the accusation of

sliminess? Possibly embrace it—an attitude facilitated by an infamous article originally published in

the Harvard Business Review. In “Is Business Bluffing Ethical?” the author suggests businessmen and

women should double down on the strategy of getting ahead through deceit because if you’re in business,

then everyone already knows you’re a liar anyway. And since that’s common knowledge, taking liberties

with the truth doesn’t even count as lying: there’s no moral problem because that’s just the way the

business game is played. In the author’s words, “Falsehood ceases to be falsehood when it is understood

on all sides that the truth is not expected to be spoken—an exact description of bluffing in poker,

diplomacy, and business.” [2]

The basic argument is strong. Ethically, dishonesty stops being reproachable—it stops being an attempt to

mislead—when everyone knows that you’re not telling the truth. If it weren’t for that loophole, it’d be

difficult to enjoy movies. Spiderman swinging through New York City skyscrapers isn’t a lie, it’s just fun

because everyone agrees from the beginning that the truth doesn’t matter on the screen.

The problem with applying this logic to the world of commerce, however, is that the original agreement

isn’t there. It’s not true that in business everyone knows there’s lying and accepts it. In poker, presumably,

the players choosing to sit down at the table have familiarized themselves with the rules and techniques of

the game and, yes, do expect others to fake a good hand from time to time. It’s easy to show, however, that

the expectation doesn’t generally hold in office buildings, stores, showrooms, and sales pitches. Take, for

example, a car advertisement claiming a certain model has a higher resale value, has a lower sticker price,

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or can go from zero to sixty faster than its competition. People in the market for a new car take those

claims seriously. If they’re prudent, they’ll check just to make sure (an economic form of “trust but

verify”), but it’s pretty rare that someone sitting in front of the TV at home chuckles and calls the claim

absurd. In poker, on the other hand, if another player makes a comparable claim (“I have the highest hand

at the table!”), people just laugh and tell the guy to keep drinking. Poker isn’t like business.

The argument that bluffing—lying—in business is acceptable because everyone does it and everyone

knows everyone’s doing it doesn’t hold up. However, the fact that someone could seriously make the

argument (and get it published in the Harvard Business Review no less) certainly provides heavy

ammunition for those who believe that most high-level businesspeople—like those who read the Harvard

Business Review—should have a hard time looking at themselves in the mirror in the morning.

Opposing the view that business life is corrupt and needs serious ethical policing, there’s the view that

economic enterprises provide wealth for our society while correcting their own excesses and problems

internally. How does the correction work? Through the marketplace. The pressures of demanding

consumers force companies into reputable behavior. If a car manufacturer lies about its product, there

may be a brief uptick in sales, but eventually people will figure out what’s going on, spread the word at the

water cooler and on Facebook, and in the end the company’s sales will collapse. Similarly, bosses that

abuse and mistreat subordinates will soon find that no one wants to work for them. Workers who cheat on

expense reports or pocket money from the till will eventually get caught and fired. Of course it must be

admitted that some people sometimes do get away with something, but over the long run, the forces of the

economic world inexorably correct abuses.

If this vision of business reality is correct, then adding another layer of academic ethics onto what’s

already going on in the real world isn’t necessary. More, those who insist on standing outside corporate

offices and factory buildings preaching the need for oversight and remedial classes in morality become

annoying nags. That’s especially true if the critics aren’t directly doing business themselves. If they’re

ensconced in university towers and gloomy libraries, there may even be a suspicion that what really drives

the call to ethics is a burning resentment of all the money Wall Street stars and captains of industry seem

to make, along with their flashy cars, palatial homes, and luxurious vacations.

An issue of the Cato Institute’s Policy Report from 2000 carries an article titled “Business Ethics Gone

Wrong.” It asserts that some proponents of business ethics aren’t only bothersome envious—their

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resentment-fueled scolding actually threatens our collective economic welfare. Business ethics, according

to the author, “is fundamentally antagonistic to capitalist enterprise, viewing both firm and manager as

social parasites in need of a strong reformative hand.”[3]

These reforms—burdensome regulations, prying investigations, and similar ethical interventions—

threaten to gum up the capitalist engine: “If the market economy and its cornerstone, the shareholderoriented

firm, are in no danger of being dealt a decisive blow, they at least risk death by a thousand

cuts.” [4]

There’s a problem with this perspective on the business world. Even if, for the sake of argument, it’s

acknowledged that economic forces effectively police commerce, that doesn’t mean business ethics is

unnecessary or a threat to the market economy. The opposite is the case: the view that the marketplace

solves most problems is an ethics. It’s a form of egoism, a theory to be developed in later chapters but with

values and rules that can be rapidly sketched here. What are most valued from this perspective is our

individual welfare and the freedom to pursue it without guilt or remorse. With that freedom, however,

comes a responsibility to acknowledge that others may be guided by the same rules and therefore we’re all

bound by the responsibility to look out for ourselves and actively protect our own interests since no one

will be doing it for us. This isn’t to confirm that all businesspeople are despicable liars, but it does mean

asserting that the collective force of self-interest produces an ethically respectable reality. Right and

wrong comes to be defined by the combined force of cautious, self-interested producers and consumers.

In the face of this argument defending a free-for-all economic reality where everyone is doing the best

they can for themselves while protecting against others doing the same, objections may be constructed. It

could be argued, for example, that the modern world is too complex for consumers to adequately protect

their own interests all the time. No matter how that issue gets resolved, however, the larger fact remains

that trusting in the marketplace is a reasonable and defensible ethical posture; it’s a commitment to a set

of values and facts and their combination in an argument affirming that the free market works to

effectively resolve its own problems.

Conclusion. It’s not true that doing business equals being deceitful, so it’s false to assert that business

ethics is necessary to cure the ills of commerce. It is true that the business world may be left to control its

own excesses through marketplace pressure, but that doesn’t mean business escapes ethics.

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Business Ethics Is Inevitable

Business ethics is not about scolding, moralizing, or telling people to be nice. Ethics doesn’t have to be

annoying or intrusive. On the other hand, it can’t just be dismissed altogether because ethics in business is

unavoidable. The values guiding our desires and aspirations are there whether they’re revealed or not.

They must be because no one can do anything without first wanting something. If you don’t have a goal,

something you’re trying to achieve or get, then you won’t have anything to do when you get out of bed in

the morning. Getting up in the morning and going, consequently, mean that you’ve already selected

something as desirable, valuable, and worth pursuing. And that’s doing ethics; it’s establishing values.

The only real and durable difference, therefore, between those who understand ethics and those who don’t

is that the former achieve a level of self-understanding about what they want: they’ve compared their

values with other possibilities and molded their actions to their decisions. The latter are doing the same

thing, just without fully realizing it. The question about whether ethics is necessary, finally, becomes a

false one. You can choose to not understand the ethics you’re doing (you can always drop this class), but

you can’t choose to not do ethics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Views about the ethical nature of the business vary widely.

 Because ethics is the arrangement of values guiding our aspirations and actions, some form of ethics is

unavoidable for anyone acting in the economic world.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. Why might someone believe the business world needs exterior ethical monitoring and correction?

2. What is the argument that the business world can regulate itself, and why is that an ethics?

3. In your own words, why is business ethics unavoidable?

[1] Sandra Salmans, “Suddenly, Business Schools Tackle Ethics,” New York Times, August 2, 1987, accessed May 11,

2011, http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/02/education/suddenly-business-schools-tackle-ethics.html.

[2] Albert Carr, “Is Business Bluffing Ethical?,” Harvard Business Review 46 (January–February, 1968), 143–53.

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[3] Alexei M. Marcoux, “Business Ethics Gone Wrong,” Cato Policy Report 22, no. 3 (May/June 2000), accessed May

11, 2011,http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v22n3/cpr-22n3.html.

[4] Alexei M. Marcoux, “Business Ethics Gone Wrong,” Cato Policy Report 22, no. 3 (May/June 2000), accessed May

11, 2011,http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v22n3/cpr-22n3.html.

1.4 Facebook and the Unavoidability of Business Ethics

L EARNING OBJECTIVE

1. Show how business ethics stretches beyond working life.

The Facebook Firing

Business ethics in some form is inescapable inside factories, office buildings, and other places where work

gets done. The application of business ethics principles and guidance doesn’t stop, though, when the

workday ends or outside the company door. Because our economic lives mingle so intimately with our

private existences, the decisions and reasoning shaping our laboring eventually shape our lives generally.

Business ethics, as the problems bedeviling Dawnmarie Souza show, provides a way to examine and make

sense of a large segment of our time, both on and off the job.

Souza’s problems started when the ambulance she worked on picked up a “17.” That’s code for a

psychiatric case. This particular 17, as it happened, wasn’t too crazy to form and submit a complaint about

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the treatment received from Souza. Since this was the second grievance the ambulance service had

received on Souza in only ten days, she sensed that she’d be getting a suspension. “Looks like,” she wrote

on her Facebook page later that day, “I’m getting some time off. Love how the company allows a 17 to be a

supervisor.” She also referred to her real supervisor with some choice four-letter words.

A number of coworkers responded to her post with their own supportive and agreeing comments.

Management responded by firing her.

The termination decision came easily to the ambulance service, American Medical Response of

Connecticut, since their policy explicitly prohibited employees from identifying or discussing the company

or other employees in the uncontrolled public forum that is the Internet. Around the water cooler, at

home, or during weekend parties, people can say what they like. Given the semi-permanent record that is

the web, however, and the ambulance service’s natural inclination to protect its public image, posting

there was out of bounds.

But, Souza responded, there’s no difference. If people can talk at the water cooler and parties, why can’t

they post on Facebook? She’s not claiming to speak for the company, she’s just venting with a keypad

instead of vocal chords.

The celebrity blogger and Facebook addict Perez Hilton came down on the company’s side: “We think

Dawnmarie should be fired, and we support the company’s decision to let her go. When you post things

online, it’s out there for the public to see, and it’s a sign of disloyalty and disrespect to deal with a workrelated

grievance in such a manner.” [1]

The Reach of Business Ethics

When someone like Perez Hilton—a blogger most comfortable deriding celebrities’ bad hair days—finds

himself wrapped in a business ethics debate, you’ve got to figure the discipline is pretty much

unavoidable. Regardless, the Souza episode displays many of the ways business ethics connects with our

nonworking existence, whether we like it or not:

 It doesn’t sound like Souza displayed any great passion about her job. Maybe she really doesn’t care that

she got fired. Or maybe she cares but only because it means a lost paycheck. On the other hand, it may

just have been a bad day; it’s possible that she usually gets up in the morning eager to mount the

ambulance. It’s hard to know, but it’s certain that this—the decision about what we want to do with our

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professional lives—is business ethics. When choosing a job, what has value? The money it provides?

Satisfaction from helping others? Status? Or do you just want something that gives you the most free time

possible? There are no rights or wrong answers, but these are all ethical decisions tangling your personal

and professional lives together.

 The mix between the personal and professional on the question of one’s job tends to link tighter as people

get older. Many of us define who we and others are through work. When finding out about someone new,

the question—embraced by some and dreaded by others—inevitably comes up. When meeting a woman at

a party, when being sent on a blind date, or when discussing old high school friends or the guy who just

moved into the next-door apartment, the question hums just below the surface, and it’s never long until

someone comes out and asks. Of course, for collegians and young people working part-time jobs, it

doesn’t matter so much because everyone knows that where you work isn’t where you’ll end up working.

Once someone hits the mid-twenties, though, the question “what do you do?” starts to press and it won’t

let up.

 Perez Hilton wrote that Souza displayed disloyalty to her company when she trashed the management on

Facebook. The following questions are raised: What is loyalty? What is it worth? When should you feel it?

When do you have a right to demand it from others? Is there any difference among loyalty to the

company, to family, and to friends?

 One of Hilton’s readers posted a pithy response to Hilton in the web page’s comments section: “I bet if she

were gay, and did the same exact thing, you would be singing a different tune!” Perez Hilton, it’s widely

known, is about as exuberantly gay as they come. As it happens, in his line of work that orientation isn’t

professionally harmful. For others, however, the revelation may be career damaging. Hilton, in fact, is

despised by some in Hollywood for his habit of outing gay celebrities, people who hide part of themselves

in the name of furthering their career. The business ethics question here is also a life one. Would you hide

who you are to facilitate things at work? Should you? Doesn’t everyone do that to some extent and in some

ways?

 Another reader posted this comment: “In the US, your employer owns you. I mean they can make you piss

in a cup to check and see what you did over the weekend.” Should employers be able to change what you

do over the weekend?

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 A number of readers defended Souza by upholding the right to free speech—she should be able to say

whatever she wants wherever she wants without fear of retribution. In response to those assertions, this

was posted, “Of course we have freedom of speech. Employers also have the freedom to employ whoever

they wish. Your decision is whether whatever is on your mind is more important than your job.” Does

freedom of speech—or any other basic liberty—end or get conditioned when the workday begins?

 One commenter wrote, “I’m going to have to agree with the company on this one. An employer expects

proper business demeanor even while off the clock.” What is “proper demeanor”? Who decides? On the

basis of what?

 Many people spend eight (or more) hours a day on the job. There’s no shortage of women who see their

boss more than their husband, of men who remember the birthday of the guy in the next cubicle before

their own child’s. Parties tend to include workmates; companies invite clients to ball games. The sheer

hours spent at work, along with the large overlaps between professional and social relationships, make

separating the ethics of the office and the home nearly impossible.

 This comment is aimed right at Perez Hilton and his Internet gossip column, which wins few points for

checking and confirming claims but definitely gets the juicy and embarrassing rumors out about the

private lives of celebrities: “Are you insane? All you did for God knows how long is put nasty stuff up

about people for the public to see as a sign of disloyalty and disrespect.” Assuming that’s a reasonable

depiction of Hilton’s work, the question his career raises is: what are you willing to do to the lives of

others to get yourself ahead at work?

Underlining all these questions is a distinction that’s easy to make in theory but difficult to maintain in

real life. It’s one betweeninstitutional business ethics and personal business ethics. Institutional ethics in

business deals with large questions in generic and anonymous terms. The rules and discussions apply to

most organizations and to individuals who could be anyone. Should companies be allowed to pollute the

air? What counts as a firing offense? The personal level, by contrast, fills with questions for specific people

enmeshed in the details of their particular lives. If Perez Hilton has gotten rich dishing dirt on others, is

he allowed to assert that others must treat their employers respectfully?

KEY TAKEAWAY

 The questions pursued by business ethics cross back and forth between professional and personal lives.

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REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. What are two reasons business ethics decisions tend to affect lives outside work?

2. What are two ways business ethics decisions may affect lives outside work?

[1] “Facebook-Related Firing Sparks Legal Drama!,” PerezHilton.com (blog), accessed May 11,

2011, http://perezhilton.com/2010-11-09-woman-fired-over-comments- she-made-about-her-boss-on-facebookbrings-

about-court-case#respond.

1.5 Overview of The Business Ethics Workshop

This textbook is organized into three clusters of chapters. The first group develops and explains the main

theories guiding thought in business ethics. The goals are to clarify the theoretical tools that may be used

to make decisions and to display how arguments can be built in favor of one stance and against others.

The questions driving the chapters include the following:

 Are there fundamental rules for action that directly tell us what we ought to do? If so, are the imperatives

very specific, including dictates like “don’t lie”? Or are they more flexible, more like rules broadly

requiring fairness and beneficence to others?

 Are fundamental rights—especially the conviction that we’re all free to pursue the destinies we choose—

the key to thinking about ethics? If we have these rights, what happens when my free pursuit of happiness

conflicts with yours?

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 Could it be that what we do doesn’t matter so much as the effects of what’s done? How can a framework

for decisions be constructed around the idea that we ought to undertake whatever action is necessary

(even lying or stealing) in order to bring about a positive end, something like the greater happiness of

society overall?

 To what extent are perspectives on right and wrong only expressions of the particular culture we live in?

Does it makes sense to say that certain acts—say bribery—are OK in some countries but wrong in others?

The second cluster of chapters investigates business ethics on the level of the individual. The goal is to

show how the tools of ethical reasoning may be applied to personal decisions made in connection with our

nine-to-five lives. The questions driving the chapters include the following:

 What values come into play when a career path is selected?

 Can I justify lying on my résumé? How far am I willing to go to get a raise or promotion?

 Besides a paycheck, what benefits will I seek at work? Money from a kickback? An office romance?

 What do I owe my employer? Is there loyalty in business, or is there nothing more than the money I’m

paid and the duties I’m assigned according to my work contract?

 Do I have an obligation to report on someone else doing something I think is wrong?

 If people work for me, what responsibilities do I have toward them inside and outside the office?

 What values govern the way I hire, promote, and fire workers?

The third cluster of chapters considers institutional business ethics. These are general and sweeping

issues typically involving corporations, the work environments they promote, and the actions they take in

the economic world. Guiding questions include the following:

 What counts as condemnable discrimination in the workplace, and what remedies ought to be tried?

 Which attitudes, requirements, and restrictions should attach to sex and drugs in the workplace?

 Should there be limits to marketing techniques and strategies? Is there anything wrong with creating

consumer needs? What relationships should corporations form with their consumers?

 Do corporations hold ethical responsibilities to the larger community in which they operate, to the people

who aren’t employees or consumers but live nearby?

 Is there a corporate responsibility to defend the planet’s environmental health?

 Should the economic world be structured to produce individually successful stars or to protect the welfare

of laboring collectives?

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1.6 Case Studies

Gray Matters

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Source: Photo courtesy of Sasha Wolff, http://www.flickr.com/photos/sashawolff/3388815964.

To foster ethical discussion and understanding in the workplace, the Lockheed Martin Company

developed a quiz for employees called “Gray Matters.” The quiz is multiple choices, with a range of points

awarded (or subtracted) depending on the response. Subsequently, the approach has been adopted by a

wide range of corporations. Here’s a typical question matched with its possible answers and the

corresponding points:

Six months after you hired an assistant accountant who has been working competently and

responsibly, you learn that she departed from the truth on her employment application: she

claimed she had a college degree when she didn’t. You’re her manager; what should you do?

1. Nothing because she’s doing her job just fine. (–10 points)

2. Bring the issue to the human resources department to determine exactly how company policy

determines the situation should be handled. (10 points)

3. Fire her for lying. (5 points)

4. Carefully weigh her work performance, her length of service, and her potential benefit to the

company before informing anyone of what happened or making any recommendations. (0

points)

QUE STIONS

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1. The three principle components of business ethics are facts, values, and arguments. What are the facts

pertinent to an ethical evaluation of this case? Is there any information not contained in the question that

you’d like to have before making a decision about what should be done?

2. From the facts and information provided, can you sketch a set of values and chain of reasoning justifying

the answer that the quiz’s original authors sanctioned as the right one? (Leave the decision in the hands of

the HR department and existing company policy.)

3. You get some points for C (firing her). What values and reasoning may lead to that determination?

4. According to the quiz authors, the worst answer is A. Maybe they’re wrong, though. What values and

reasoning may lead to the conclusion that doing “nothing because she’s doing her job just fine” is an

excellent response?

5. One of the most important questions about a situation’s facts is “who’s involved?”

o Would it be reasonable to say that, ethically, this is an issue just between you and the woman who

you hired after she lied on her résumé?

o If you expand the answer about who’s involved to include other workmates at the company, as

well as the company’s clients and shareholders, does that change the ethical perspective you have

on what should be done with the lying (but capable) coworker?

6. What’s the difference between morality and ethics?

o Would you categorize response B (bring the issue to HR to determine exactly how company policy

determines the situation should be handled) as leading to a decision more based on morality or

more based on ethics? Explain.

o Would you categorize response D (carefully weigh her work performance, her length of service,

and her potential benefit to the company before informing anyone of what happened or making

any recommendations) as leading to a decision more based on morality or ethics? Explain.

Who made your iPhone?

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Source: Photo courtesy of Tobias Myrstrand Leander, http://www.flickr.com/photos/s8an/5207806926/.

Connie Guglielmo, a reporter for Bloomberg news services, begins an article on Apple this way: “Apple

Inc. said three of its suppliers hired 11 underage workers to help build the iPhone, iPod and Macintosh

computer last year, a violation it uncovered as part of its onsite audit of 102 factories.” [1]

Her story adds details. The underage workers were fifteen in places where the minimum legal age for

employment is sixteen. She wasn’t able to discover the specific countries, but learned the infractions

occurred in one or more of the following: China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the

Czech Republic, and the Philippines.

Following the discovery, the employees were released, and disciplinary action was taken against a number

of the foreign suppliers. In one case, Apple stopped contracting with the company entirely.

The story closes with this: “Apple raised $2.62 to $204.62 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The

shares more than doubled last year.”

QUE STIONS

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1. The ethical question is whether Apple ought to contract (through suppliers) fifteen-year-olds to work on

factory floors. Is the fact that the stock price has been zooming up a pertinent fact, or does it not affect

the ethics? Explain.

2. From the information given and reasonable assumptions about these factories and the living conditions of

people working inside them, sketch an ethical argument against Apple enforcing the age workplace rule.

What fundamental values underwrite the argument?

3. From the information given and reasonable assumptions about these factories and the living conditions of

people working inside them, sketch an argument in favor of Apple enforcing the age workplace rule. What

fundamental values underwrite the argument?

4. Within the context of the Apple situation, what’s the difference between making a decision in terms of the

law and in terms of ethics?

5. Assume that in the countries where fifteen-year-olds were working, it’s customary for children

even younger to earn an adult-type living.

o What is an advantage of following the local customs when making economic decisions like the one

confronting Apple?

o Does the custom of employing young workers in some countries change your ethical consideration

of the practice in those places? Why or why not?

6. Attributing responsibility—blaming another for doing wrong—requires that the following

conditions hold:

o The person is able to understand right and wrong.

o The person acts to cause (or fails to act to prevent) a wrong.

o The person acts knowing what they’re doing.

o The person acts from their own free will.

Assuming it’s unethical for fifteen-year-olds to work factory shifts making iPhones, who bears

responsibility for the wrong?

o Do the fifteen-year-olds bear some responsibility? Explain.

o Does Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple? Explain.

o Are shareholders guilty? Explain.

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o Do people who use iPhones bear responsibility? Explain.

I Swear

Since 2006, students at the Columbia Business School have been required to pledge “I adhere to the

principles of truth, integrity, and respect. I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”

This is a substantial promise, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll create too many tremendous burdens or require

huge sacrifices.

A somewhat more demanding pledge solidified in 2010 when a group of business school students from

Columbia, Duke Fuqua, Harvard, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Rensselaer Lally, Thunderbird, UNC Kenan-

Flagler, and Yale met to formalize the following MBA Oath:

As a business leader I recognize my role in society.

 My purpose is to lead people and manage resources to create value that no single individual can

create alone.

 My decisions affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and

tomorrow.

Therefore, I promise that:

 I will manage my enterprise with loyalty and care, and will not advance my personal interests at

the expense of my enterprise or society.

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 I will understand and uphold, in letter and spirit, the laws and contracts governing my conduct

and that of my enterprise.

 I will refrain from corruption, unfair competition, or business practices harmful to society.

 I will protect the human rights and dignity of all people affected by my enterprise, and I will

oppose discrimination and exploitation.

 I will protect the right of future generations to advance their standard of living and enjoy a

healthy planet.

 I will report the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly.

 I will invest in developing myself and others, helping the management profession continue to

advance and create sustainable and inclusive prosperity.

In exercising my professional duties according to these principles, I recognize that my behavior

must set an example of integrity, eliciting trust and esteem from those I serve. I will remain

accountable to my peers and to society for my actions and for upholding these standards. [2]

QUE STIONS

1. The second introductory clause of the MBA Oath is “My decisions affect the well-being of individuals inside

and outside my enterprise, today and tomorrow.” [3] What’s the difference between seeing this as a

positive ethical stand in favor of a broad social responsibility held by those in business, and seeing it as

arrogance?

2. Looking at the MBA Oath, can you list a set of values that are probably shared by those responsible for its

creation?

3. All this pledging and oathing suddenly popping up at business schools drew the attention of

the New York Times, and soon after, an article appeared: “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of

Immorality.”[4] Many of the readers’ comments at the end are interesting. The commenter paulnyc

writes that “most students go to MBA programs to advance their careers and to earn more

money, pure and simple, and there is nothing wrong with it.” [5]

o What values underlie paulnyc’s perspective?

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o How is paulnyc’s vision different from the one espoused in the oath?

4. The commenter JerryNY wrote, “Greed IS good as long as it is paired with the spirit of fairness.

Virtually all of the major advances in science and technology were made with greed as one of the

motivating factors. Gugliemo [sic] Marconi, Alexander Graham Bell, Bill Gates, Henry Ford and

Steve Jobs would not have given us the life changing technological advances of our time were it

not for personal greed. Remove that element, and your class is destined for mediocrity.” [6]

Is it plausible to assert that JerryNY shares most of the values of those who wrote the MBA Oath,

it’s just that he sees a different business attitude as the best way to serve those values? If so,

explain. If not, why not?

5. Eric writes,

I would refuse to take that oath…on principle. The idea that an individual’s proper motive

should be to serve “the greater good” is highly questionable. This altruistic ethic is what

supported the collectivist of communism and National Socialism. If my life belongs first and

foremost to “the greater good,” it follows that the greatest virtue is to live as a slave. A

slave’s existence, after all, is devoted primarily for the benefit of his master. The master can

be a plantation owner or a King or an oligarchy or a society that demands your servitude.

The only oath I’d be willing to take is, “I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never

live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” [7]

In your own words, contrast the values the MBA Oath supporters espouse with the values the

commenter Eric espouses.

6. The commenter Clyde Wynant is skeptical. He writes this about those who take the MBA Oath:

“Call me hyper-cynical, but I can’t help wondering if a lot of these kids aren’t hoping that having

this ‘pledge’ on their résumé might help them look good.” [8]

Is it unethical to take the pledge without expecting to adhere to it simply because you think it will

help in your job search, or is that strategy just a different kind of ethics? Explain.

7. The commenter Mikhail is skeptical. He writes, “Give me a break…With the next upswing of the

economy, these leeches will be sucking the lifeblood out of our collective economies like the

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champions they truly are!!! Yes, perhaps opportunistic parasites every last one of them—but

really, it’s not their fault—they’re just programmed that way.” [9]

When he says business school students are programmed, what does he mean? If someone is

programmed to be an opportunistic parasite in business, can we blame them for what they do? If

so, how? If not, who should be blamed?

8. The commenter as is skeptical. He writes, “Don’t make me laugh. If they are so concerned about

the ‘greater good,’ go into teaching and nursing.” [10]

Assume the MBA Oath does stress the importance of the greater good, and you too are going into

the economic world with that as a privileged value. How could you respond to the argument that

you really should be doing nursing or something more obviously serving the general good?

9. According to the Times, B-schoolers aren’t lining up for the MBA Oath: only about 20 percent take the

pledge. How could you convince the other 80 percent to sign on?

I.M.P. (It’s My Party)

“Look at them!” he said, his eyes dancing. “That’s what it’s all about, the way the people feel. It’s

not about the sellout performances and the caliber of the bands that appear here. It’s about the

people who buy tickets, having a good time.” [11]

Source: Photo courtesy of Kevin Dooley, http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/4530723795/.

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That’s Seth Hurwitz quoted in the Washington Post, talking about his 9:30 Club, a small venue playing

over-the-hill bands on the way down, and fresh acts scratching their way up.

The story’s curious detail is that even though Hurwitz calls his company I.M.P. (It’s My Party), he doesn’t

spend much time at his club. In fact, he’s almost never there. Part of the reason is that his workday begins

at 6 a.m., so he’s actually back in bed preparing for the next day before his enterprise gets going in earnest

each night. His job is straightforward: sitting in the second floor office of his suburban DC home, he

scrutinizes the music publications and statistics, probing for bands that people want to see and that won’t

charge too much to appear. He told the Post that he won’t book an act as a favor, and he won’t flatter a

group into playing his club to keep them away from the competition by overpaying them. “I don’t

subscribe,” he says, “to doing shows that will lose money.”

Hurwitz has been connected with music in one way or another for almost as long as he can remember.

The Post relates some of his early memories:

He rigged a system to broadcast radio from his basement to his parents and brothers in the living

room. “I used to bring my singles into class and play them,” Hurwitz said. When he was 16, he

decided he wanted to be a deejay and got his chance when alternative rock station WHFS gave

him a spot. “It was from 7:45 to 8—fifteen minutes,” he said, laughing. “But that was okay

because I wanted to be on the radio, and I had my own show, as a high school student.” He said

he was fired “for being too progressive.” [12]

It’s a long way from getting fired for playing music too obscure for alternative radio to where Hurwitz is

now: putting on concerts by bands selected because they’ll make money.

QUE STIONS

1. Hurwitz is brutally honest about the fact that he’ll only contract bands capable of turning a profit.

When he was younger and a deejay, he insisted on playing the music he judged best no matter

how many people turned off the radio when his show came on (an attitude that cost him the job).

o What, if anything, is Hurwitz the older concert promoter compromising to get ahead? Is there an

ethical objection that could be raised here? If so, what? If not, why not?

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o When Hurwitz was a deejay, he played records that led people to change the station. Then the

station changed him. Is this an example of business regulating itself? Is there an ethical side to

this, or is it just the way money works? Explain.

o From the information given, would you judge that Hurwitz is successful in business? Why or why

not?

o Are all these questions part of institutional business ethics or personal business ethics? Explain.

2. Hurwitz says that he doesn’t book bands as favors. Presumably at least some of the favors he’s

talking about would be to friends.

o Do people who run their own company have an ethical responsibility to separate friends from

business?

3. One nice thing about Hurwitz working upstairs in his own house is that he can show up for work in the

morning in his pajamas. Should all places of business be like that—with people free to wear whatever they

want for work? Explain your answer from an ethical perspective.

4. Most of Hurwitz’s shows are on weeknights. Some concertgoers may have such a good time that

they can’t make it in to work the next day.

o If you go to a concert on a Wednesday and are too hung over to make it to work on Thursday,

what should you tell your boss on Friday? That you were hung over? That your car broke down?

Something else? Justify.

o Should Hurwitz accept some responsibility and blame for absent employees? Explain.

[1] Connie Guglielmo, “Apple Says Children Were Used to Build iPhone, iPod (Update1),” Bloomberg,

February 27, 2010, accessed May 11, 2011,

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aiEeeQNHkrOY.

[2] “The MBA Oath,” MBA Oath, accessed May 11, 2011, http://mbaoath.org/about/the-mba-oath.

[3] “The MBA Oath,” MBA Oath, accessed May 11, 2011, http://mbaoath.org/about/the-mba-oath.

[4] Leslie Wayne, “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of Immorality,” New York Times, May 29, 2009,

accessed May 11, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html.

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org

[5] paulnyc, May 30, 2009 (10:58 a.m.), comment on Leslie Wayne, “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of

Immorality,” New York Times, May 29, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011,

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?sort

=oldest.

[6] JerryNY, May 30, 2009 (10:51 a.m.), comment on Leslie Wayne, “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of

Immorality,” New York Times, May 29, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011,

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?sort

=oldest.

[7] Eric, May 30, 2009 (10:35 a.m.), comment on Leslie Wayne, “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of

Immorality,” New York Times, May 29, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011,

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?sort

=oldest.

[8] Clyde Wynant, May 30, 2009 (10:55 a.m.), comment on Leslie Wayne, “A Promise to Be Ethical in an

Era of Immorality,” New York Times, May 29, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011,

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?sort

=oldest.

[9] Mikhail, May 30, 2009 (10:35 a.m.), comment on Leslie Wayne, “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of

Immorality,” New York Times, May 29, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011,

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?sort

=oldest.

[10] as, May 30, 2009 (10:35 a.m.), comment on Leslie Wayne, “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of

Immorality,” New York Times, May 29, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011,

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?sort

=oldest.

[11] Avis Thomas-Lester, “A Club Owner’s Mojo,” Washington Post, December 28, 2009, accessed May

11, 2011, http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-success/what-it-takes/2009/12/seth_hurwitz.html.

[12] Avis Thomas-Lester, “A Club Owner’s Mojo,” Washington Post, December 28, 2009, accessed May

11, 2011, http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-success/what-it-takes/2009/12/seth_hurwitz.html.

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Chapter 2

Theories of Duties and Rights: Traditional Tools for

Making Decisions in Business When the Means Justify

the Ends

Chapter Overview

Chapter 2 “Theories of Duties and Rights: Traditional Tools for Making Decisions in Business When the

Means Justify the Ends” examines some theories guiding ethical decisions in business. It considers ethics

defined by duties and rights.

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2.1 The Means Justify the Ends versus the Ends Justify the

Means

L EARNING OBJECTIVE

1. Distinguish ethical theory centered on means from theory centered on ends.

A Foundational Question

In business ethics, do the means justify the ends, or do the ends justify the means? Is it better to have a set

of rules telling you what you ought to do in any particular situation and then let the chips fall where they

may, or should you worry more about how things are going to end up and do whatever’s necessary to

reach that goal?

Until recently, Eddy Lepp ran an organic medicine business in Northern California. His herbal product

soothed nausea and remedied vomiting, especially as suffered by chemo patients. He had a problem,

though. While his business had been OK’d by California regulators, federal agencies hadn’t approved: on

the national level, selling his drug was breaking the law. On the other hand, not selling his remedy had a

significant downside: it was consigning his clients to debilitating suffering. So when federal agents came

knocking on his door, he had to make a decision.

If the means justify the ends—if you should follow the rules no matter the consequences—then when the

agents ask Lepp point blank whether he’s selling the medicine, the ethical action is to admit it. He should

tell the truth even though that will mean the end of his business. On the other hand, if the ends justify the

means—if your ethical interest focuses on the consequences of an act instead of what you actually do—

then the ethics change. If there are a law forcing people to suffer unnecessarily, it should be broken. And

when the agents ask him whether he’s selling, he’s going to have an ethical reason to lie.

Across the entire field of traditional ethics, this is a foundational distinction. Is it what you do that

matters, or the consequences? It’s hard to get oriented in ethics without making a preliminary decision

between these two. No one can make the decision for you, but before anyone can make it, an

understanding of how each works should be reached. This chapter will consider ethics as focusing on the

specific act and not the consequences. Theories of duties and rights center discussion.

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Chapter 3 “Theories of Consequence Ethics: Traditional Tools for Making Decisions in Business when the

Ends Justify the Means” is about ethics as looking at the consequences instead of the act.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 When the means justify the ends, ethical consideration focuses on what you do, not the consequences of

what you’ve done.

 Traditionally, focusing on means instead of ends leads to an ethics based on duties or rights.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. Your mother is ill with diabetes, and you can’t afford her medicine. In the pharmacy one day, you notice

the previous customer forgot that same prescription on the counter when she left. Why might the premise

that the ends justify the means lead you to steal the pills?

2. Why might the premise that the means justify the ends lead you to return the pills?

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2.2 Perennial Duties

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Define an ethical duty.

2. Distinguish specific duties.

3. Show how ethical duties work in business.

4. Consider advantages and drawbacks of an ethics based on duties.

Duties

“Should I steal that?”

“No, stealing’s wrong.”

Basic ethics. There are things that are right and others that are wrong, and the discussion ends. This level

of clarity and solidity is the main strength of an ethics based on duties. We all have a duty not to steal, so

we shouldn’t do it. More broadly, when we’re making moral decisions, the key to deciding well is

understanding what our duties are and obeying them. An ethics based on duties is one where certain rules

tell us what we ought to do, and it’s our responsibility to know and follow those rules.

The Madoff Family

If we’re supposed to obey our duties, then what exactly are they? That’s a question Andrew Madoff faced

in December 2008 when he learned that some—maybe most, maybe all—of the money he and his family

had been donating to the charitable Lymphoma Research Foundation and similar medical investigation

enterprises was, in fact, stolen.

It was big money—in the millions—channeled to dedicated researchers hot on the trail of a remedy for

lymphoma, a deadly cancer. Andrew, it should be noted, wasn’t only a cancer altruist; he was also a

victim, and the charitable money started flowing to the researchers soon after he was diagnosed.

It’s unclear whether Andrew knew the money was stolen, but there’s no doubt that his dad did. Dad—

Bernard “Bernie” Madoff—was the one who took it. The largest Ponzi scheme in history, they call it.

A Ponzi scheme—named after the famous perpetrator Charles Ponzi—makes suckers of investors by

briefly delivering artificially high returns on their money. The idea is simple: You take $100 from client A,

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promising to invest the money cleverly and get a massive profit. You spend $50 on yourself, and at the

end of the year, you send the other $50 back to the client along with a note saying that the original $100

investment is getting excellent results and another $50 should come in next year and every year from then

on. Happy client A recommends friends, who become clients B, C, and D. They bring in a total of $300, so

it’s easy to make good on the original promise to send a $50 return the next year to client A. And you’ve

now got $250 remaining from these three new clients, $150 of which you will soon return to them ($50

for each of the three new clients), leaving you with $100 to spend on yourself. The process repeats, and it’s

not long before people are lining up to hand over their money. Everyone makes off like bandits.

Bandit is the right term for Madoff, who ran his Ponzi empire for around fifteen years. So many people

handed over so much cash, and the paper trail of fake stock-purchase receipts and the rest grew so

complicated that it’s impossible to determine exact numbers of victims and losses. Federal authorities

have estimated the victims were around five thousand and the losses around $65 billion, which works out

to about $13 million squeezed from each client.

Madoff had, obviously, rich clients. He met them at his home in New York City; at his mansion

in hyperwealthy

Palm Beach, Florida; or on his fifty-five-foot yacht cleverly named Bull. He impressed them with a

calm demeanor and serious knowledge. While it’s true that he was mostly taking clients’ money and

sticking it in his wallet, the investments he claimed to engineer were actually quite sophisticated; they had

to do with buying stock in tandem with options to buy and sell that same stock on the futures market. He

threw in technical words like “put” and “call” and left everyone thinking he was either crazy or a genius.

Since he was apparently making money, “genius” seemed the more likely reality. People also found him

trustworthy. He sat on the boards of several Wall Street professional organizations and was known on the

charity circuit as a generous benefactor. Health research was a favorite, especially after Andrew’s cancer

was diagnosed.

Exactly how much money Madoff channeled to Andrew and other family members isn’t clear. By late

2008, however, Andrew knew that his father’s investment company had hit a rough patch. The stock

market was crashing, investors wanted their money back, and Madoff was having trouble rounding up the

cash, which explains why Andrew was surprised when his father called him in and said he’d decided to

distribute about $200 million in bonuses to family members and employees.

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It didn’t make sense. How could there be a cash-flow crisis but still enough cash to pay out giant bonuses?

The blunt question—according to the Madoff family—broke Madoff down. He spilled the truth: there was

little money left; it was all a giant lie.

The next day, Andrew reported the situation to the authorities.

Madoff sits in jail now. He’ll be there for the rest of his life. He claims his scheme was his project alone

and his children had no knowledge or participation in it, despite the fact that they were high executives in

his fraudulent company. Stubbornly, he has refused to cooperate with prosecutors interested in

determining the extent to which the children may have been involved. His estate has been seized. His

wife, though, was left with a small sum—$2.5 million—to meet her day-to-day living expenses. Bilked

investors got nearly nothing.

One of those investors, according to ABC News, was Sheryl Weinstein. She and her family are now looking

for a place to live because after investing everything with Madoff and losing it, they were unable to make

their house payments. At Madoff’s sentencing hearing, and with her husband seated beside her, she spoke

passionately about their plight and called Madoff a “beast.” The hearing concluded with the judge calling

Madoff “evil.” [1]

Weinstein was well remembered by Madoff’s longtime secretary, Eleanor Squillari. Squillari reported that

Weinstein would often call Madoff and that “he would roll his eyes and then they’d go meet at a hotel.”

Their affair lasted twenty years, right up until the finance empire collapsed.

What Do I Owe Myself? Historically Accumulated Duties to the Self

Over centuries of thought and investigation by philosophers, clergy, politicians, entrepreneurs, parents,

students—by just about everyone who cares about how we live together in a shared world—a limited

number of duties have recurred persistently. Called perennial duties, these are basic obligations we have

as human beings; they’re the fundamental rules telling us how we should act. If we embrace them, we can

be confident that in difficult situations we’ll make morally respectable decisions.

Broadly, this group of perennial duties falls into two sorts:

1. Duties to ourselves

2. Duties to others

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Duties to the self-begin with our responsibility to develop our abilities and talents. The abilities we find

within us, the idea is, aren’t just gifts; it’s not only a strike of luck that some of us are born with a knack

for math, or an ear for music, or the ability to shepherd conflicts between people into agreements. All

these skills are also responsibilities. When we receive them, they come with the duty to develop them, to

not let them go to waste in front of the TV or on a pointless job.

Most of us have a feeling for this. It’s one thing if a vaguely clumsy girl in a ballet class decides to not sign

up the next semester and instead use the time trying to boost her GPA, but if someone who’s really good—

who’s strong, and elegant, and a natural—decides to just walk away, of course the coach and friends are

going to encourage her to think about it again. She has something that so few have, it’s a shame to waste

it; it’s a kind of betrayal of her own uniqueness. This is the spot where the ethics come in: the idea is that

she really should continue her development; it’s a responsibility she has to herself because she really can

develop.

What about Andrew Madoff, the cancer sufferer? He not only donated money to cancer research charities

but also dedicated his time, serving as chairman of the Lymphoma Research Foundation (until his dad

was arrested). This dedication does seem like a duty because of his unique situation: as a sufferer, he

perfectly understood the misery caused by the disease, and as a wealthy person, he could muster a serious

force against the suffering. When he did, he fulfilled the duty to exploit his particular abilities.

The other significant duty to oneself is nearly a corollary of the first: the duty to do ourselves no harm. At

root, this means we have a responsibility to maintain ourselves healthily in the world. It doesn’t do any

good to dedicate hours training the body to dance beautifully if the rest of the hours are dedicated to

alcoholism and Xanax. Similarly, Andrew should not only fight cancer publicly by advocating for medical

research but also fight privately by adhering to his treatment regime.

At the extreme, this duty also prohibits suicide, a possibility that no doubt crosses Bernie Madoff’s mind

from time to time as he contemplates spending the rest of his life in a jail cell.

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What Do I Owe Others? Historically Accumulated Duties to Others

The duties we have to ourselves be the most immediate, but the most commonly referenced duties are

those we have to others.

Avoid wronging others are the guiding duty to those around us. It’s difficult, however, to know exactly

what it means to wrong another in every particular case. It does seem clear that Madoff wronged his

clients when he pocketed their money. The case of his wife is blurrier, though. She was allowed to keep

more than $2 million after her husband’s sentencing. She claims she has a right to it because she never

knew what her husband was doing, and anyway, at least that much money came to her from other

perfectly legal investment initiatives her husband undertook. So she can make a case that the money is

hers to keep and she’s not wronging anyone by holding onto it. Still, it’s hard not to wonder about

investors here, especially ones like Sheryl Weinstein, who lost everything, including their homes.

Honesty is the duty to tell the truth and not leave anything important out. On this front, obviously, Madoff

wronged his investors by misleading them about what was happening with their money.

Respect others are the duty to treat others as equals in human terms. This doesn’t mean treating everyone

the same way. When a four-year-old asks where babies come from, the stork is a fine answer. When adult

investors asked Madoff where the profits came from, what they got was more or less a fairy tale. Now, the

first case is an example of respect: it demonstrates an understanding of another’s capacity to comprehend

the world and an attempt to provide an explanation matching that ability. The second is a lie; but more

than that, it’s a sting of disrespect. When Madoff invented stories about where the money came from, he

disdained his investors as beneath him, treating them as unworthy of the truth.

Beneficence is the duty to promote the welfare of others; it’s the Good Samaritan side of ethical duties.

With respect to his own family members, Madoff certainly fulfilled this obligation: every one of them

received constant and lavish amounts of cash. There’s also beneficence in Andrew’s work for charitable

causes, even if there’s a self-serving element, too. By contrast, Madoff displayed little beneficence for his

clients.

Gratitude is the duty to thank and remember those who help us. One of the curious parts of Madoff’s last

chapter is that in the end, at the sentencing hearing, a parade of witnesses stood up to berate him. But

even though Madoff had donated millions of dollars to charities over the years, not a single person or

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representative of a charitable organization stood up to say something on his behalf. That’s ingratitude, no

doubt.

But there’s more here than ingratitude; there’s also an important point about all ethics guided by basic

duties: the duties don’t exist alone. They’re all part of a single fabric, and sometimes they pull against each

other. In this case, the duty Madoff’s beneficiaries probably felt to a man who’d given them so much was

overwhelmed by the demand of another duty: the duty to respect others, specifically those who lost

everything to Madoff. It’s difficult to imagine a way to treat people more disdainfully than to thank the

criminal who stole their money for being so generous. Those who received charitable contributions from

Madoff were tugged in one direction by gratitude to him and in another by respect for his many victims.

All the receivers opted, finally, to respect the victims.

Fidelity is the duty to keep our promises and hold up our end of agreements. The Madoff case is littered

with abuses on this front. On the professional side, there’s the financier who didn’t invest his clients’

money as he’d promised; on the personal side, there’s Madoff and Weinstein staining their wedding vows.

From one end to the other in terms of fidelity, this is an ugly case.

Reparation is the duty to compensate others when we harm them. Madoff’s wife, Ruth, obviously didn’t

feel much of this. She walked away with $2.5 million.

The judge overseeing the case, on the other hand, filled in some of what Ruth lacked. To pay back bilked

investors, the court seized her jewelry, her art, and her mink and sable coats. Those things, along with the

couple’s three multimillion-dollar homes, the limousines, and the yacht, were all sold at public auction.

The Concept of Fairness

The final duty to be considered—fairness—requires more development than those already listed because

of its complexity.

According to Aristotle, fairness is treating equals equally and un-equals unequally. The treat equals

equally part means, for a professional investor like Madoff, that all his clients get the same deal: those

who invest equal amounts of money at about the same time should get an equal return. So even though

Madoff was sleeping with one of his investors, this shouldn’t allow him to treat her account distinctly from

the ones belonging to the rest. Impartiality must govern the operation.

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The other side of fairness is the requirement to treat un-equals unequally. Where there’s a meaningful

difference between investors—which means a difference pertaining to the investment and not something

extraneous like a romantic involvement—there should correspond a proportional difference in what

investors receive. Under this clause, Madoff could find justification for allowing two distinct rates of

return for his clients. Those that put up money at the beginning when everything seemed riskier could

justifiably receive a higher payout than the one yielded to more recent participants. Similarly, in any

company, if layoffs are necessary, it might make sense to say that those who’ve been working in the

organization longest should be the last ones to lose their jobs. In either case, the important point is

that fairness doesn’t mean everyone gets the same treatment; it means that rules for treating people

must be applied equally. If a corporate executive decides on layoffs according to a last-in-first-out

process, that’s fine, but it would be unfair to make exceptions.

One of the unique aspects of the idea of fairness as a duty is its hybrid status between duties to the self

and duties to others. While it would seem strange to say that we have a duty of gratitude or fidelity to

ourselves, it clearly makes sense to assert that we should be fair to ourselves. Impartiality—the rule of no

exceptions—means no exceptions. So a stock investor who puts his own money into a general fund he runs

should receive the same return as everyone else. A poor investment that loses 10 percent should cost him

no more than 10 percent (he has to be fair to himself), and one that gains 10 percent shouldn’t net him

any more than what the others receive (he has to be fair to others).

Modern Fairness: Rawls

The recent American philosopher John Rawls proposes a veil of ignorance as a way of testing for fairness,

especially with respect to the distribution of wealth in general terms. For example, in society as Madoff

knew it, vast inequalities of wealth weren’t only allowed, they were honored: being richer than anyone else

was something to be proud of, and Madoff lived that reality full tilt. Now, if you asked Madoff whether

we should allow some members of society to be much wealthier than others, he might say that’s fair:

everyone is allowed to get rich in America, and that’s just what he did. However, the guy coming into

Madoff’s office at 3 a.m. to mop up and empty the trash might see things differently. He may claim to

work just as hard as Madoff, but without getting fancy cars or Palm Springs mansions. People making the

big bucks, the suggestion could follow, should get hit with bigger taxes and the money used to provide

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educational programs allowing guys from the cleaning crew to get a better chance at climbing the income

ladder. Now, given these two perspectives, is there a way to decide what’s really fair when it comes to

wealth and taxes?

Rawls proposes that we try to re-imagine society without knowing what our place in it would be. In the

case of Madoff, he may like things as they are, but would he stick with the idea that everything’s fair if he

were told that a rearrangement was coming and he was going to get stuck back into the business world at

random? He might hesitate there, seeing that he could get dealt a bad hand and, yes, end up being the guy

who cleans offices. And that guy who cleans offices might figure that if he got a break, then he’d be the rich

one, and so he’s no longer so sure about raising taxes. The veil of ignorance is the idea that when you set

up the rules, you don’t get to know beforehand where you’ll fall inside them, which is going to force you to

construct things in a way that is really balanced and fair.

As a note here, nearly all children know the veil of ignorance perfectly. When two friends together buy a

candy bar to split, they’ll frequently have one person break it, and the other choose a half. If you’re the

breaker, you’re under the veil of ignorance since you don’t know which half you’re going to get. The result

is you break it fairly, as close to the middle as you can.

Balancing the Duties

Duties include those to

 develop abilities and talents,

 do ourselves no harm,

 avoid wronging others,

 honesty,

 respect others,

 beneficence,

 gratitude,

 fidelity,

 reparation,

 fairness,

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Taken on their own, each of these plugs into normal experience without significant problems. Real

troubles come, though, when more than one duty seems applicable and they’re pulling in different

directions.

Take Andrew Madoff, for example. Lying in bed at night and taking his ethical duties seriously, what

should he do in the wake of the revelation that his family business was in essence a giant theft? On one

side, there’s an argument that he should just keep on keeping on by maintaining his life as a New York

financier. The route to justifying that decision starts with a duty to him:

 Develop abilities and talents. As an expert in finance, someone with both knowledge of and

experience in the field, Andrew should continue cultivating and perfecting his talents, at least those he

had acquired on the legitimate side of the family’s dealings.

Beyond the duty to himself, Andrew can further buttress his decision to keep his current life going by

referencing a duty to others:

 Beneficence. This may demand that Andrew continue along the lines he’d already established because

they enabled his involvement with cancer research. He’s got money to donate to the cause and his very

personal experience with the disease allows rare insight into what can be done to help sufferers. To the

extent that’s true, beneficence supports Andrew’s decision to go on living as he had been.

On the other side, what’s the duty-based argument in favor of Andrew taking a different path by breaking

away from his old lifestyle and dedicating all his energy and time to doing what he can for the jilted

investors the family business left behind?

 Respect. The duty to treat others as equals demands that Andrew take seriously the abilities and lives of

all those who lost everything. Why should they be reduced to powerlessness and poverty while he

continues maximizing his potential as a stock buyer and nonprofit leader? Respecting others and their

losses may mean leaving his profession and helping them get back on their feet.



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 Reparation. This duty advances as the proposal for Andrew to liquidate his assets and divide the money

as fairly as possible among the ruined investors. It may be that Andrew didn’t orchestrate the family Ponzi

scheme, but wittingly or not, he participated and that opens the way to the duty to repayment.

So which path should Andrew follow? There’s no certain answer. What duties do allow Andrew—or

anyone considering his situation—to achieve is a solid footing for making a reasonable and defendable

decision. From there, the ethical task is to weigh the various duties and choose which ones pull harder and

make the stronger demand.

Where Do Duties Come From?

The question about the origin of duties belongs to meta-ethics, to purified discussions about the theory of

ethics as opposed to its application, so it falls outside this book’s focus. Still, two commonly cited sources

of duties can be quickly noted.

One standard explanation is that duties are written into the nature of the universe; they’re part of the way

things are. In a sense, they’re a moral complement to the laws of physics. We know that scientists form

mathematical formulas to explain how far arrows will travel when shot at a certain speed; these formulas

describe the way the natural world is. So too in the realm of ethics: duties are the rules describing how the

world is in moral terms. On this account, ethics isn’t so different from science; it’s just that scientists

explore physical reality and ethicists explore moral reality. In both cases, however, the reality is already

there; we’re just trying to understand it.

Another possible source for the duties is humanity in the sense that part of what it means to be human is

to have this particular sense of right and wrong. Under this logic, a computer-guided robot may beat

humans in chess, but no machine will ever understand what a child does when mom asks, “Did you break

the vase? Tell me the truth.” Maybe this moral spark children are taken to feel is written into their genetic

code, or maybe it’s something ineffable, like a soul. Whichever, the reason it comes naturally is because

it’s part of our nature.

What Are the Advantages and Drawbacks of an Ethics Based on Duties?

One of the principal advantages of working with an ethics of duties is simplicity: duties are fairly easy to

understand and work with. We all use them every day. For many of us these duties are the first thing

coming to mind when we hear the word ethics. Straightforward rules about honesty, gratitude, and

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keeping up our ends of agreements—these are the components of a common education in ethics, and most

of us are well experienced in their use.

The problem, though, comes when the duties pull against each other: when one says yes and the other

says no. Unfortunately, there’s no hard-and-fast rule for deciding which duties should take precedence

over the others.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Duties include responsibilities to one self and to others.

 Duties do not exist in isolation but in a network, and they sometimes pull against each other.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. Bernie Madoff was a very good—though obviously not a perfect—fraudster. He got away with a lot for a

long time. How could the duty to develop one’s own abilities be mustered to support his decision to

become a criminal?

2. In the Madoff case, what duties could be mustered to refute the conclusion that he did the right thing by

engaging in fraud?

3. Madoff gave up most of his money and possessions and went to jail for his crimes. Is there anything else

he should have done to satisfy the ethical duty of reparation?

4. In your own words, what does it mean to treat equals equally and un-equals unequally?

[1] Brian Ross, Anna Schecter, and Kate McCarthy, “Bernie Madoff’s Other Secret: His Hadassah CFO

Mistress,” ABCNews.com, April 16, 2011, accessed May 11,

2011,http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Madoff/story?id=8319695&page=1.

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2.3 Immanuel Kant: The Duties of the Categorical Imperative

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Define Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative.

2. Show how the categorical imperative functions in business.

3. Consider advantages and drawbacks of an ethics based on the categorical imperative.

Kant

German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) accepted the basic proposition that a theory of duties—

a set of rules telling us what we’re obligated to do in any particular situation—was the right approach to

ethical problems. What he set out to add, though, was a stricter mechanism for the use of duties in our

everyday experience. He wanted a way to get all these duties we’ve been talking about to work together, to

produce a unified recommendation, instead of leaving us confused between loyalty to one principle and

another. At least on some basic issues, Kant set out to produce ethical certainty.

Lying is about as primary as issues get in ethics, and the Madoff case is shot through with it:

 Bernie Madoff always claimed that the Ponzi scheme wasn’t the original idea. He sought money from

investors planning to score big with complicated financial maneuvers. He took a few losses early on,

though, and faced the possibility of everyone just taking their cash and going home. That’s when he

started channeling money from new investors to older ones, claiming the funds were the fruit of his

excellent stock dealing. He always intended, Madoff says, to get the money back, score some huge

successes, and they’d let him get on the straight and narrow again. It never happened. But that doesn’t

change the fact that Madoff thought it would. He was lying temporarily, and for the good of everyone in

the long run.

 Sheryl Weinstein had a twenty-year affair with Madoff. She also invested her family’s life savings with

him. When the Ponzi scheme came undone, she lost everything. To get some money back, she considered

writing a tell-all, and that led to a heart-wrenching decision between money and her personal life. Her

twenty-year dalliance was not widely known, and things could have remained that way: her husband and

son could’ve gone on without the whole world knowing that the husband was a cuckold and the son the

product of a poisoned family. But they needed money because they’d lost everything, including their

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home, in Madoff’s scam. So does she keep up the false story or does she turn the truth into a profit

opportunity?

What does Kant say about all this? The answer is his categorical imperative. An imperative is something

you need to do. A hypothetical imperative is something you need to do, but only in certain circumstances;

for example, I have to eat, but only in those circumstances where I’m hungry. A categorical imperative, by

contrast, is something you need to do all the time: there are ethical rules that don’t depend on the

circumstances, and it’s the job of the categorical imperative to tell us what they are. Here, we will consider

two distinct expressions of Kant’s categorical imperative, two ways that guidance is provided.

First Version of the Categorical Imperative

The first version or expression of the categorical imperative: Act in a way that the rule for your action

could be universalized. When you’re thinking about doing something, this means you should imagine

that everyone did it all the time. Now, can this make sense? Can it happen? Is there a world you can

imagine where everyone does this thing that you’re considering at every opportunity? Take the case of

Madoff asking himself, “Should I lie to keep investor money flowing in?” What we need to do is imagine

this act as universalized: everyone lies all the time. Just imagine that. You ask someone whether it’s sunny

outside. It is sunny, but they say, “No, it’s raining.” The next day you ask someone else. Again, it’s sunny,

but they say, “No, it’s snowing.” This goes on day after day. Pretty soon, wouldn’t you just give up listening

to what people say? Here’s the larger point: if everyone lies all the time, pretty soon people are going to

stop listening to anyone. And if no one’s listening, is it possible to lie to them?

What Kant’s categorical imperative shows is that lying cannot be universalized. The act of lying can’t

survive in a world where everyone’s just making stuff up all the time. Since no one will be taking anyone

else seriously, you may try to sell a false story but no one will be buying.

Something similar happens in comic books. No one accuses authors and illustrators of lying when Batman

kicks some bad guys into the next universe and then strips off his mask and his hair is perfect. That’s not a

lie; it’s fiction. And fictional stories can’t lie because no one expects they’ll tell the truth. No one asks

whether it’s real or fake, only whether it’s entertaining. The same would go in the real world if everyone

lied all the time. Reality would be like a comic: it might be fun, or maybe not, but accusing someone of

lying would definitely be absurd.

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Bringing this back to Madoff, as Kant sees it he has to make a basic decision: should I lie to investors to

keep my operation afloat? The answer is no. According to the categorical imperative, it must be no, not

because lying is directly immoral, but because lying cannot be universalized and therefore it’s immoral.

The same goes for Sheryl Weinstein as she wonders whether she should keep the lid on her familywrecking

affair. The answer is no because the answer is always no when the question is whether I should

lie. You might want to respond by insisting, “She’s already done the deed and Bernie’s in jail so it’s not

going to happen again. The best thing at this point would be for her to just keep her mouth shut and hold

her family together as

as best she can.” That’s a fair argument. But for Kant it’s also a loser because the

categorical imperative gives the last word. There’s no appeal. There’s no lying, no matter what.

One more point about the universalization of acts: even if you insist that a world could exist where

everyone lied all the time, would you really want to live there? Most of us don’t mind lying so much as

long as we’re the ones getting away with it. But if everyone’s doing it, that’s different. Most of us might

agree that if we had a choice between living in a place where everyone told the truth and one where

everyone lied, we’d go for the honest reality. It just makes sense: lying will help you only if you’re the sole

liar, but if everyone’s busy taking advantage of everyone else, then there’s nothing in it for you, and you

might just as well join everyone in telling the truth.

Conclusion. The first expression of the categorical imperative—act in such a way that the rule for your

action could be universalized—is a consistency principle. Like the golden rule (treat others as you’d like to

be treated), it forces you to ask how things would work if everyone else did what you’re considering doing.

Objections to the First Version of the Categorical Imperative

One of the objections to this ethical guidance is that a reality without lying can be awfully uncomfortable.

If your boss shows up for work on a Friday wearing one of those designer dresses that looks great on a

supermodel and ridiculous everywhere else, and she asks what you think, what are you going to say?

“Hideous”? Telling the truth no matter what, whether we’re at work or anywhere else, is one of those

things that sounds good in the abstract but is almost impossible to actually live by.

Then the problem gets worse. A deranged addict storms into your office announcing that he’s just received

a message from the heavens. While chewing manically on dirty fingernails, he relates that he’s supposed

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to attack someone named Jones—anyone named Jones. “What,” he suddenly demands, “is your name?”

Unfortunately, you happen to be named Sam Jones. Now what?

Second Version of the Categorical Imperative

The second expression of the categorical imperative is: Treat people as an end, and never as a means to an

end. To treat people as ends, not means is to never use anyone to get something else. People can’t be tools

or instruments; they can’t be things you employ to get to what you really want. A simple example of using

another as a means would be striking up a friendship with Chris because you really want to meet his wife

who happens to be a manager at the advertising company you desperately want to work for.

It’d be hard to imagine a clearer case of this principle being broken than that of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

He used the money from each new investor to pay off the last one. That means every investor was nothing

but a means to an end: everyone was nothing more than a way to keep the old investors happy and attract

new ones.

Madoff’s case of direct theft is clear cut, but others aren’t quite so easy. If Weinstein goes ahead and writes

her tell-all about life in bed with Madoff, is she using him as a means to her end (which is making

money)? Is she using book buyers? What about her husband and the suffering he would endure? It can be

difficult to be sure in every case exactly what it means to “use” another person.

Another example comes from Madoff’s son, Andrew, who donated time and money to the cause of treating

cancer. On one hand, this seems like a generous and beneficial treatment of others. It looks like he’s

valuing them as worthwhile and good people who deserve to be saved from a disease. On the other hand,

though, when you keep in mind that Andrew too had cancer, you wonder whether he’s just using other

peoples’ suffering to promote research so that he can be saved.

Summarizing, where the first of the categorical imperative’s expressions was a consistency principle (treat

others the way you want to be treated), this is a dignity principle: treat others with respect and as holding

value in themselves. You will act ethically, according to Kant, as long as you never accept the temptation

to treat others as a way to get something else.

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Objections to the Second Version of the Categorical Imperative

The principal objection to this aspect of Kant’s theory is that, like the previous, it sounds good in the

abstract, but when you think about how it would actually work, things become difficult.

Almost all businesses require treating people as means and not as ends. In the grocery store, the cashier

isn’t waiting there to receive your respectful attention. She’s there to run your items through the scanner

and that’s it. The same goes for the guy in the produce section setting up the banana display. Really,

just paying someone to do a job—no matter what the job might be—is treating them as a means to an end,

as little more than a way to get the work done.

If that’s right, then you’re not going too far by wondering whether the entire modern world of jobs and

money would unravel if we all suddenly became Kantians. Paying a janitor to clean up after hours, a

paralegal to proofread a lawyer’s briefs, a day-care worker to keep peace among children at recess, all

these treatments of others seem to fail Kant’s test.

Defenders of Kant understand all this perfectly and can respond. One argument is that providing someone

with a job is not treating them as a means to your ends; instead, by allowing them the opportunity to earn

a living, you’re actually supporting their projects and happiness. Seen this way, hiring people is not

denigrating them, it’s enabling. And far from being immoral in the Kantian sense, it’s ethically

recommendable.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 The first expression of Kant’s categorical imperative requires that ethical decisions be universalizable.

 The second expression of Kant’s categorical imperative requires that ethical decisions treat others as ends

and not means.

 Kant’s conception of ethical duties can provide clear guidance but at the cost of inflexibility: it can be hard

to make the categorical imperative work in everyday life.

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REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. Imagine Madoff lied to attain his clients’ money as he did, but instead of living the high life, he donated

everything to charity. For Kant, does this remove the ethical stain from his name? Why not?

2. Think back to your first job, whatever it was. Did you feel like you were used by the organization, or did

you feel like they were doing you a favor, giving you the job? How does the experience relate to the

imperative to treat others as an end and not a means?

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2.4 Rights

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Define an ethical right.

2. Distinguish specific rights.

3. Show how ethical rights work in business.

4. Consider advantages and drawbacks of an ethics based on rights.

Rights

An ethics based on rights is similar to an ethics based on duties. In both cases specific principles provide

ethical guidance for your acts, and those principles are to be obeyed regardless of the consequences

further down the line. Unlike duties, however, rights-based ethics concentrate their force in delineating

your possibilities. The question isn’t so much What are you morally required to do; it’s more about

defining exactly where and when you’re free to do whatever you want and then deciding where you need

to stop and make room for other people to be free too. Stated slightly differently, duties tend to be ethics

as what you can’t do, and rights tend to be about what you can do.

My Property, My Religion, My Nonprofit Organization, My Health Care, My

Grass

Charles Edward “Eddy” Lepp is in jail now, in a prison not too far away from the site of the business that

got him in trouble: Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens and Ministry. What was Eddy Lepp the gardener and

minister up to on his twenty-acre property near a lake in California, about a hundred miles north from

San Francisco? Here are the highlights:

 Ministry. Lepp claims—and there doesn’t seem to be anyone who disputes him—that he’s an authentic

Rastafarian reverend.

 Rastafarianism. Developed over the last century in Africa and the Caribbean, the religion works within

the basic structure of Christianity but contains important innovations. Haile Selassie I was the emperor of

Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 and, according to the faith, was also the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

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Further, marijuana—called ganja by believers—accompanies religious meetings and ceremonies; it brings

adherents closer to God.

 Lepp’s Medicinal Gardens. In fact, this wasn’t a garden so much as a collective farm. Lepp oversaw

the work of volunteers—their numbers totaling about two hundred—and did some harvesting and

planting himself. Many of the farm’s marijuana leaves were smoked by the 2,500 members of his zonkedout

church as part of Rastafarian celebrations and meetings, and the rest was, according to Lepp,

distributed to individuals with serious health problems.

 Marijuana and health care. Studies indicate that in some patients marijuana may alleviate nausea

and vomiting, especially as connected with chemotherapy. There’s also a list of further symptoms and

maladies the drug could relieve, according to some evidence. It should be noted here that many suspect

the persons conducting these studies (not to mention the patients receiving the testing) are favorably

predisposed toward marijuana in the first place, and the prejudice may contaminate conclusions. What’s

certain is that from a strictly medical perspective, the question about marijuana’s utility remains

controversial. Among those who are convinced, however, smoking is a good remedy. That’s why in

California patients have been granted a legal right to possess and use marijuana medicinally, as long as

they’ve got a doctor’s approval. Unfortunately for Lepp, California law can’t bar federal prosecutions, and

it was the US Drug Enforcement Administration from all the way out in Washington, DC, that eventually

came after him. [1]

About retirement age now, Eddy Lepp is one of those guys who never really left Woodstock. Before being

incarcerated, he slumped around in tie-dyes and jeans. He liked wearing a hat emblazoned with the

marijuana leaf. Out on his semirural farm, he passed the days smoking joints and listening to Bob Marley

music.

Everyone seems to like the guy. A longtime activist for the legalization of marijuana, he’s even something

of a folk hero in Northern California. At his sentencing, the crowd (chanting “free Eddy!”) spilled out into

the courthouse hallways. The judge didn’t seem to mind the spectacle, and she went out of her way to say

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she didn’t want to hit him with ten years of jail time, but federal guidelines gave her no choice. Now

there’s talk of a pardon.

Like Bernie Madoff, Lepp was touched by cancer. Madoff’s son Andrew was stricken and so was Lepp’s

wife. She died. Also, like Madoff, Lepp was a businessman. Madoff made millions and lived in luxury

while robbing investors; Lepp made enough to scrape by from his ministry and farming enterprises.

What’s a Right?

One definition of a right in ethics is a justified claim against others. I have the right to launch a gardening

business or a church enterprise or both on my property, and you’re not allowed to simply storm in and

ruin things. You do have the right, however, to produce your own garden company and church on your

property. On my side, I have the right to free speech, to say whatever I want no matter how outrageous

and you can’t stop me. You can, however, say whatever you want, too; you can respond to my words with

whatever comes into your head or just ignore me completely. A right, in sum, is something you may do if

you wish, and others are morally obligated to permit your action.

Duties tend to be protective in nature; they’re about assuring that people aren’t mistreated. Rights are the

flip side; they’re liberating in nature, they’re about assuring that you’re as free as possible.

Because rights theory maximizes choices in the name of ethics, it’s not surprising that Lepp built his court

defense on that ground. Lepp fought the law by maintaining that his medical gardens business and church

operations involved his land and his religion. It wasn’t that he had a right to grow pot or pray to a specific

God; that had nothing to do with it. The point is he had a right to do whatever he wanted on that land,

and believe in whatever he wanted in his mind. That’s what rights are about. As opposed to duties that fix

on specific acts, rights ethics declares that there are places (like my land) where the acts don’t matter. As

long as no one else’s rights are being infringed on, I’m free.

Finally, duties tend to be community oriented: they’re about how we get along with others. Rights tend to

center on the individual and what he or she can do regardless of whether anyone else is around or not.

That explains why a duty-based ethics coheres more easily with a scene like the one Madoff provoked, a

situation that involves winners and losers, criminals and victims. On the other side, an ethics based on

rights is more convenient for Lepp and his gardening and religious enterprises. Though he ended up in

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jail, there were no obvious victims of his crimes; at least no one complained that they’d been mistreated or

victimized as individuals.

What Are the Characteristics of Rights?

English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) maintained that rights are

 Universal. The fundamental rights don’t transform as you move from place to place or change with the

years.

 Equal. They’re the same for all, men and women, young and old.

 Inalienable. They can’t be taken, they can’t be sold, and they can’t be given away. We can’t not have

them. This leads to a curious paradox at the heart of rights theory. Freedom is a bedrock right, but

we’re not free to sell ourselves into slavery. We can’t because freedom is the way we are; since freedom is

part of my essence, it can’t go away without me disappearing too.

What Rights Do I Have?

The right to life is just what it sounds like: Lepp, you, and I should be able to go through our days without

worrying about someone terminating our existence. This right is so deeply embedded in our culture that it

almost seems unnecessary to state, but we don’t need to stretch too far away from our time and place to

find scenes of the right’s trampling. Between the world wars, Ukraine struggled for independence from

Joseph Stalin’s neighboring Russia. Stalin sealed the borders and sent troops to destroy all food in the

country. Millions died from starvation. Less dramatically but more contemporaneously, the right to life

has been cited as an argument against capital punishment.

The right to freedom guarantees individuals that they may do as they please, assuming their actions don’t

encroach on the freedom of others. In a business environment, this assures entrepreneurs like Lepp and

Madoff that they may mount whatever business operation they choose. Lepp’s garden and ministry were

surely unorthodox, but that can’t be a reason for its prohibition.

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Similarly, within a company, the right to freedom protects individuals against abuse. No boss can demand

more from an employee than what that employee has freely agreed—frequently through a signed

contract—to provide.

On the other side, however, there are questions about how deeply this basic right extends through day-today

working life. For example, the freewheeling Lepp probably wasn’t too concerned about the clothes his

volunteer workers chose to wear out in the garden, but what about clothes in Madoff’s investment house?

He was serving wealthy, urban clients in suits and ties. What would their reaction be to a junior

investment advisor just out of college who shows up for a meeting in a tie-dye and jeans? Some clients, it’s

safe to say, would head for the exit. Now, what recourse does boss Madoff have when the casual employee

says, “Look, it’s a free country; I can wear whatever I want”? Within a rights theory of ethics, it must be

conceded that the employee is correct. It’s also true, however, that Madoff has rights too—specifically, the

freedom to fire the guy. What can be taken from this is that, as a general rule, the enabling side of a right

ethics is that you can do whatever you want, but the limiting and controlling side is that the same goes for

everyone else.

From the right to freedom, other rights seem to derive naturally. The right to free speech is tremendously

important in the commercial world. Lepp’s messages to his Rasta flock may have provoked skepticism in

some listeners, but no one doubts that he had a right to voice his ideas. The same goes for Madoff’s

exuberant claims concerning his investing strategy. Crucially, the same also goes for those on the other

side of Madoff’s claims; the same freedom Madoff enjoyed also allowed whistle-blowers to answer back

that it’s impossible to legitimately realize such constant and high profits. In fact, in the case of Madoff’s

investment company, whistle-blowers did say that, repeatedly. No one listened, though. The right of free

speech doesn’t guarantee a hearing.

The right to religious expression also follows from basic freedom. It guaranteed Lepp the space he needed

to pioneer his particular brand of gardening Rastafarianism in Northern California. His is, obviously, a

weird case, but the right works in more traditional workplaces, too. USA Today [2] reported a case where

Muslim workers were fired from their jobs in several meatpacking plants in the Midwest because they left

the production line in the middle of the day without authorization to go outside and pray. The workers’

response? They filed a lawsuit claiming their right to religious expression had been violated.

No doubt it had been.

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But the company’s response is also weighty. According to the article, “The problem with the Muslim

prayer request is that it’s not one day or annual, it’s every day and multiple times. Further, those times

shift over the course of the year based on the sun’s position.”

The result, according to the company, is that scheduling becomes very difficult, and those who aren’t

Muslim find it nearly impossible to keep working when they’re getting abandoned so frequently during

the day. Here we’re confronted with a very basic conflict of rights. While no one doubts that freedom

exists to practice a religion, isn’t it also true that the company—or the company owners if we want to cast

this in personal terms—have a right to set up a business in whatever manner they choose, with breaks

scheduled for certain times and worker responsibilities strictly defined? In the end, the question about

Muslim workers leaving the work floor to pray isn’t about one kind of religion or another; it’s not

Christians against Muslims or something similar. The question is about which right takes precedence: the

owners’ right to set up and run a company as they wish or the employees’ right to express their beliefs how

and when they choose.

From an ethical perspective—which doesn’t necessarily correlate with a legal one—the resolution to this

dilemma and any clash about conflicting rights runs through the question of whether there’s a way to

protect the basic rights of both groups. It runs that way because rights are fundamentally about that,

about maximizing freedom. In this case, it seems that firing the workers does achieve that goal. The

owners’ initiative inside their company is protected, and the workers are now able to pray when they

desire.

To be sure, other ethical approaches will yield different outcomes, but in the midst of rights theory where

individual liberty is the guiding rule and the maximization of freedom is the overriding goal, it’s difficult

for other concerns to get traction. So it may be that the community as a whole is better served by looking

for a solution that allows Muslims to maintain their prayer schedule while also allowing the plant to

continue functioning in a normal way. Even if that’s true, however, it’s not going to affect a rights-theory

resolution very much because this kind of ethics privileges what you and I can do over what we can do

together. It’s an ethics of individualism.

The right to pursue happiness sits beside the right to life and the right to freedom at the foundation of

rights ethics. The pursuit gives final direction and meaning to the broad theory. Here’s how: it doesn’t do

much good to be alive if you’re not free, so freedom orients the right to life. It also doesn’t do much good

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to be free if you can’t pursue happiness, so the right to pursue happiness orients freedom. That’s the

organizing reasoning of ethical rights; it’s how the theory holds together. This reasoning leaves behind,

however, the difficult question as to exactly where the pursuit of happiness leads.

In an economic context, one way of concretizing the pursuit of happiness is quite important: it’s

our right to possessions and the fruits of our work. What’s ours, along with what we make or earn, we

have a right to keep and use as we wish. Among rights theorists, this particular right attracts a staunch

group of advocates. Called libertarians, they understand liberty as especially reflected in the right to

dominion over what’s ours.

Libertarianism is arguably the most muscular area of rights theory, and it’s the one where most conflicts—

and most stands in the name of personal rights and the pursuit of happiness—take place. This is definitely

where Lepp made his stand. A frequently viewed YouTube video reveals exactly what standing up for

libertarian rights looks like. In the clip, police have been called to Lepp’s Medicinal Gardens. The squad

car pulls up the long dirt road, and Lepp goes out to stop it. This is their conversation:

Lepp:

I am demanding that if you do not have a warrant that you leave. You are illegally on my

property and I am demanding that you leave!

Police

officer: (Into his radio) Can I get some help up here?

Lepp: This is private property. This is a church function. Again, I am asking, if you do not—

Police

officer: You can ask all you want, Mr. Lepp, but I’m not leaving.

Lepp:

Please leave my property! Under what authority are you standing here? Sir, I am demanding

that you tell me under what authority are you violating my rights!

Police

officer:

Under no authority, Mr. Lepp. As soon as my sergeant gets here, he’ll advise you of whatever he

wants to advise you of.

Lepp: Fine, then I suggests you go down and wait for him at the bottom of my property!

The officer stands there silently.

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This is the kind of scene that makes libertarians’ blood boil. Lepp, decked out in a t-shirt emblazoned with

a marijuana leaf, actually stays fairly mellow, but he makes his point. He makes two points actually, and

they need to be distinguished. The first is a legal point; it’s the question about whether the officer has a

warrant. The officer doesn’t, but the second point—“under what authority are you violating my rights”—

goes beyond the legal and into the ethical. Lepp believes the land is his and he’s not infringing on anyone

else’s freedoms, and therefore, he can do what he wants and the police should leave him alone.

The officer isn’t quite sure how to reply to this, which is understandable. It is because this case displays a

clear separation between the law on one side and an ethical reality on the other. Moreover, the two appear

not only separate but also incompatible; it’s difficult to see any way to bring them together. With respect

to the law, the case is clear: Lepp was growing massive amounts of marijuana on his farm and growing it

for distribution. Federal law explicitly prohibits both the growing and the distributing. It’s unambiguous.

It’s also clear that Lepp was doing it since you could see the crop from the public highway passing by his

fields. Everyone saw that marijuana was growing, that people were harvesting it, and that they were

planting more. As far as the law goes, Lepp really had no leg to stand on. Once the DEA found out about

him, they didn’t have any choice but to bring him in. But ethically—and in terms of rights theory—there

seems to be equal clarity going in the other direction. There were few complaints about Lepp’s activities.

No one was hurt, and it was his land. It’s hard to see within a libertarian perspective any way to justify the

police harassment, the legal proceedings, or the jail term Lepp ended up getting. This doesn’t mean Lepp

was treated unjustly; it only means that whatever justice was served on him, it wasn’t libertarian.

Libertarianism in the Economic World

Lepp wasn’t a big-time businessman. His medicinal garden enterprise produced enough income to get

him through the day and little more. When he went to court, he needed a public assistance attorney (not

that it would’ve made any difference). But the issues he brings forward reverberate through the business

world. Here are a few hypothetical scenarios where libertarian ethics comes into play:

 A massive brewery is constructed upstream from farmland and soaks up most of the water to make beer,

leaving the downstream farms with almost nothing for irrigation. It’s the brewery’s land, so can’t the

owners do what they want with the water running through it?

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A strong libertarian argument offers a reason to say yes. Even though it’s true that others will be severely

harmed by the act, an ethics that begins with the freedom to have what’s mine doesn’t buckle before the

demands of others. Now, compare this outcome with the guidance offered by Kant’s categorical

imperative, the idea that any act must be universalized. Within this framework the opposite conclusion is

reached because if everyone just dammed up the water channeling through his or her land, then the

brewer wouldn’t even have the choice: no water would be flowing across the land in the first place. So a

duty-oriented ethics leads toward a solution that is more favorable for the larger community, where a

rights-based perspective leaves more room for individuality but at the cost of the interests of others.

 Bernie Madoff didn’t start off rich. His father was a plumber in Queens. Even before launching his Ponzi

scheme, he became wealthy by working hard, being smart, and investing wisely. He grew an investment

house from scratch to being among the most prominent in New York. His annual income hit the millions

even without the Ponzi stuff. Possibly, there was an administrative assistant of some kind there with him

from the beginning. She was hired at, say, $32,000 annually. Years later, Madoff is rich, and she’s at

$36,000. She still arrives at work in her beater car while Madoff gets the limousine treatment. Is this fair?

A strong libertarian position gives Madoff a reason to say yes. The wealth did accumulate from his efforts,

not hers. If Madoff hadn’t been there the money wouldn’t have come in, but, if she’d quit on the first day,

he would’ve hired someone else and the end result probably wouldn’t have been much different. The

money, in other words, grew because of Madoff’s efforts, therefore it’s his, and therefore there’s no ethical

obligation to spread it around.

On the other hand, a duty-based orientation would generate concerns about gratitude and respect. These

perennial duties leave room for wealth redistribution. The argument is that Madoff owes the assistant a

higher wage not because of her work performance but as a show of gratitude for her contribution over the

years. Similarly, the duty of respect for others doesn’t demand that everyone be treated equally. It doesn’t

mean everyone should get the same wage, but it does demand that people be respected as equals. This

implies taking into account that the assistant’s efforts were prolonged and significant, just like Madoff’s,

and therefore she should receive a salary more commensurate with his.

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Negative and Positive Rights

The ethics of rights can be categorized as negative rights and positive rights. Negative rights are

fundamental. They require others to not interfere with me and whatever I’m doing. The right to life is the

requirement that others not harm me, the right to freedom is the requirement that others not interfere

with me, the right to speech requires that others not silence me, the right to my possessions and the fruits

of my labors require that others let me keep and use what’s mine.

Positive rights, by contrast, are closer to traditional duties. They’re obligations others have to help protect

and preserve my basic, negative rights. For example, the right to life doesn’t only require (negatively) that

people not harm me, but it also requires (positively) that they come to my aid in life-threatening

situations. If I’m in a car wreck, my right to life requires bystanders to call an ambulance. So if an

individual with a rights-based philosophy and an individual with a duty-based philosophy both arrive on a

crash scene, they’ll do the same thing—just for different reasons. The rights person calls for help to protect

the victim’s right to life; the duties person calls to fulfill the duty to beneficence, the duty to look out for

the welfare of others.

Positive rights can be drawn out to great lengths. For example, the argument is sometimes made that my

basic right to freedom is worthless if I don’t have my health and basic abilities to operate in the world.

This may lead a rights theorist to claim that society owes its member’s health care, education, housing,

and even money in the case of unemployment. Typically, these positive rights are called welfare rights.

Welfare, in this context, doesn’t mean government handouts but minimal social conditions that allow the

members to fully use their intrinsic liberty and pursue happiness with some reasonable hope for success.

The hard question accompanying positive rights is: where’s the line? At what point does my responsibility

to promote the rights of others impinge on my own freedom, my own pursuit of happiness, and my own

life projects?

Rights in Conflict

The deepest internal problems with rights ethics arise when rights conflict. Abortion is a quick, hot-button

example. On one side (pro-life), support comes from the initial principle: a human being, born or not, has

a right to life, which may not be breached. On the other side (pro-choice), every person’s original freedom

over themselves and their bodies ends all discussion. Now, one of the reasons this debate is so intractable

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is that both sides find equally strong support within the same basic ethical framework. There’s no way to

decide without infringing on one right or the other.

A complementary case arose around Lepp’s Rasta religious gatherings. Though many of his neighbors

didn’t care, there were a few who objected to having what was essentially mini-Woodstock on the land

next door. It was impossible, of course, for Lepp to entirely contain the noise, the smoke from fires, the

traffic congestion, and the rest entirely on his property. The question is when does my right to do what I

want on my land need to be curtailed so that your right to dominion over yours isn’t soiled?

Broadening further, there’s the question about Lepp growing marijuana for medicinal purposes. On one

side, a rights theory supports his inclination to grow what he wants on his land and sell the fruits of his

labors to other adults for their consenting use. His is a farming business like any other. But on the other

side, a theory of rights can extend into the realm of positive requirements. The right to the pursuit of

happiness implies a right to health, and this may require government oversight of medical products so

that society as a whole may be protected from fraudulent claims or harmful substances. The question of

marijuana shoots up right here. What happens when socially sanctioned entities like the US Food and

Drug Administration decide that marijuana is harmful and should therefore be prohibited? Which rights

trump the others, the negative right to freedom or the positive right to oversee medical substances?

A similar question comes up between Madoff and his investors. A pure libertarian may say that

individuals have the unfettered right to do as they choose, so if Bernie Madoff lies about investing

strategies and his clients go along with it, well, that’s their problem. As long as they weren’t forced, they’re

free to do whatever they wish with their money, even if that means turning it over to a charlatan. Again

here, however, a broader view of rights theory answers that in the complex world of finance and

investment, the right to the pursuit of happiness is also a right to some governmental oversight designed

to make sure that everyone involved in the financial industry is playing by a single set of rules, ones

prohibiting Ponzi schemes and similar frauds.

Examples multiply easily. I have the right to free speech, but if I falsely yell “fire!” in a crowded theater

and set off a life-threatening stampede, what’s happening to everyone else’s negative right to life and

positive right to health? Leaving the specifics aside, the conclusion is that, in general, problems with

rights theory occur in one of two places:

1. I have negative rights to life, freedom, and my possessions but they infringe on your rights to the same.

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2. I have a right to freedom and to do what I want but that right clashes with larger, society-level protections

put into place to assure everyone a reasonable shot at pursuing their happiness.

What Justifies a Right?

One justification for an ethics of rights is comparable with the earlier-noted idea about duties being part

of the logic of the universe. Both duties and rights exist because that’s the way things are in the moral

world. Just like the laws of physics tell us how far a ball will fly when thrown at a certain speed, so too the

rules of rights tell us what ought to happen and not happen in ethical reality. The English philosopher

John Locke subscribed to this view when he called our rights “natural.” He meant that they’re part of who

we are and what we do and just by living we incarnate them.

Another justification for an ethics of rights is to derive them from the idea of duties. Kant reappears here,

especially his imperative to treat others as ends and not as means to ends. If we are ends in ourselves, if

we possess basic dignity, then that dignity must be reflected somehow: it must have some content, some

meaning, and the case can be made that the content is our possession of certain autonomous rights.

Advantages and Drawbacks of an Ethics Based on Rights

Because of its emphasis on individual liberties, rights theory is very attractive to open-roaders and

individualists. One of the central advantages of a rights ethics is that it clears a broad space for you and

me and everyone else to be ourselves or make ourselves in any way we choose. On the other side of that

strength, however, there’s a disadvantage: centering ethics on the individual leaves little space of

agreement about how we can live together. An ethics of rights doesn’t do a lot to help us resolve our

differences, it does little to promote tolerance, and it offers few guarantees that if I do something

beneficial for you now, you’ll do something beneficial for me later on.

Another strong advantage associated with an ethics of rights is simplicity in the sense that basic rights are

fairly easy to understand and apply. The problem, however, with these blunt and comprehensible rights

comes when two or more of them conflict. In those circumstances it’s hard to know which rights trump

the others. In the case of Lepp’s business—the Medicinal Gardens—it’s hard to be sure when his use of his

land infringed on the rights of neighbors to enjoy their land, and it’s difficult to know when the health

product he offered—marijuana—should be prohibited in the name of the larger right to health for all

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individuals in a society. Most generally, it’s difficult to adjudicate between claims of freedom: where does

mine stop and yours begin?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Rights are universal and inalienable.

 Basic rights include those to life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness.

 Rights theory divides negative from positive rights.

 Ethical rights provide for individual freedom but allow few guidelines for individuals living and working

together in a business or in society

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. How does the right to pursue happiness license Lepp’s Medicinal Gardens?

2. What is a libertarian argument against imprisoning Lepp?

3. One justification Lepp cited for his farm was the health benefits marijuana could provide. Assuming Lepp

was right about those benefits, how could they be combined with a rights-based ethics to justify his

activities?

4. How could the rights to freedom and the pursuit of happiness be set against Lepp’s business?

5. What are positive rights and how could they be mustered against Lepp’s farm?

6. If someone drives away from Lepp’s farm high as a kite and soon after drives off the road and into a tree,

does Lepp bear any ethical responsibility for this within a rights ethics?

[1] Elizabeth Larson, “Lepp Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Marijuana Case, “Lake County News, May

18, 2009, accessed May 11, 2011,http://lakeconews.com/content/view/8703/764/; Bob Egelko, “Medical Pot

Grower Eddy Lepp Gets 10 Years,” Cannabis Culture Magazine, May 18, 2009, accessed May 11,

2011,http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/medical-pot-grower-eddy-lepp-gets-10-years.

[2] Emily Bazar, “Prayer Leads to Work Disputes,” USA Today, October 16, 2008, accessed May 11,

2011, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-15-Muslim_N.htm.

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2.5 Case Studies

Skin and Money

Source: Leslie Adams, http://www.ugo.com/the-goods/calculator-tattoo.

In the mid-1980s in Los Angeles, Somen “Steve” Banerjee and his friend Nick DeNoia pooled money to

start a new kind of strip club: men baring it for women. Since they had no idea what they were doing, it

didn’t go well. What finally helped were a couple of showmen from Las Vegas. Steve Merrit and his

partner (professional and romantic) Mark Donnelly came aboard and hatched the idea of a Vegas-type

song-and-dance show wrapped around the disrobing.

To find performers, they cruised the muscle beaches outside LA. They brought the guys back to a studio,

applied some Village People–style outfits (policeman, fireman, construction worker, and so on), and ran

the group through a line-dancing routine.

Their idea was simple but innovative: sex sells; but instead of making the show lustful, they made it

entertaining. Drawing on their Las Vegas experience, Merrit and Donnelly understood how to do it, how

to produce a fun theatrical fantasy instead of a crude flesh show. The general concept made sense and the

execution was professional, but on opening night, no one knew what would happen.

Chippendales exploded. Women went crazy for the performances, first in the United States, then Europe,

and then everywhere as Banerjee and DeNoia rushed to form multiple traveling versions of their

production. The time they didn’t spend together mounting the shows they spent in court fighting over who

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was entitled to how much of the profits and who really owned the suddenly very valuable Chippendales

name and concept. The dispute ended in 1987 after DeNoia was shot dead in his office.

One major problem Chippendales faced is that it wasn’t a hard show to copy. Get some muscled guys,

some uniform-store costumes, a pop music soundtrack, and pound it all together into a dance routine

with a little teasing; you don’t need a genius to do it. So others started.

Michael Fullington was a junior choreographer for Chippendales. He struck up a friendship with some of

the show guys, and they split away into a group called Club Adonis. The original choreographers—Merrit

and Donnelly—also got in on the act, forming their own traveling revue called Night Dreams.

Unhappy with these copycat acts, Banerjee hired a hit man to go around killing the whole bunch. The hit

man, it turned out, was an FBI informant. Banerjee ended up in jail. The ensuing investigation led to more

charges. There was arson (he’d burned down one of his own clubs for the insurance money some time

back) and also another count of conspiracy to murder since it was Banerjee who’d arranged to have his

original partner shot.

The case never got to trial. Banerjee agreed to plead guilty, absorb a twenty-six-year sentence, and give up

his rights to Chippendales along with nearly all his money and real estate holdings.

While the lawyers worked out the details, Banerjee’s wife Irene worked feverishly to organize a group of

character witnesses. By bringing a parade of people to testify about her husband’s good side at the

sentencing hearing, she was hoping to get the jail time reduced a little bit. Or maybe she was hoping to

hold on to more of the money and real estate they’d accumulated.

No one got the chance to testify. On the morning of the hearing, Banerjee hung himself in his cell.

Because the trial was never completed, the plea deal never went into effect. And because the guilty man

was dead, there was no one left to charge with any crime. Chippendales and all the money and property

associated with it went to Banerjee’s wife Irene.

QUE STIONS

1. Is being a Chippendale’s dancer honorable work?

o How could the perennial ethical duties to the self—develop our abilities and talents and do

ourselves no harm—be mustered to support the idea that these men should be proud of what

they do?

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o Ethically, how does this job compare with working for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, an

outfit that calls itself “a vibrant home for the world’s most creative and talented artists working in

opera”?

2. Is hiring and training a Chippendale’s dancer honorable? Imagine you were one of the original

choreographers cruising California beaches in search of beefcake and dance talent. You bring the

guys in, choreograph their routine, and send them up on stage.

o Thinking just of the perennial duties to the self is hiring and training them honorable? Under what

conditions?

o Thinking just of the perennial duties to others—avoiding wrongful actions toward others, honesty,

respect, beneficence (promoting the welfare of others), gratitude, fidelity (keeping promises,

honor agreements), and reparation (compensating others when we harm them)—is hiring and

training them honorable? Why or why not?

3. With respect to the ethics of duties, is Chippendales a respectable company in terms of how it treats its

clients? How does this company compare with the Metropolitan Opera’s treatment of its clients (note that

the Met occasionally replaces the word clients with the more flattering patrons)?

4. Leaving aside the legal issues and using only the perennial duties, what ethical case could be made

in favor of Banerjee getting a hit man to eliminate the people who were copying his show?

o Should he have hired someone or done the job himself? Explain.

o What’s the difference between hiring a hit man and hiring a beefcake dancer?

o How would Kant respond to these questions?

5. The Club Adonis group worked for Chippendales before splitting to do the same thing elsewhere. Use

Kant’s categorical imperative to show that their action was wrong.

6. According to the perennial duties, did Banerjee do the right thing hanging him in the end?

7. According to Kant, did Banerjee do the right thing hanging him?

8. When Banerjee hung himself, he lost his life, but he did manage to preserves his life’s property and wealth

for his wife. Can a libertarian ethics be used to show that Banerjee did the right thing?

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Two at the Same Time

Source: Photo courtesy of Robert Fairchild, http://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeego/3545289824.

On a real estate discussion board, [1] someone with the sign-in name BriGuy23 asks, “Does anyone on here

find any issue with submitting two offers to buy two different apartments at the same time? My friend

thinks that it’s unfair due to the fact that one of the offers is definitely going to not go through which

means they’re tying up the seller’s time (and money in a way). From a seller’s standpoint I think I would

be annoyed but I really don’t see anything wrong with it from a buyer’s perspective. Thoughts?”

A response comes from middle-aged mom: “Sellers can negotiate multiple offers so there is no reason why

a buyer could not make multiple offers on different places. Assuming you are represented by a buyer’s

agent, I would use the same agent to make both offers. Make certain that your contract gives you an out in

the unlikely event both are accepted.”

QUE STIONS

1. What does BriGuy23 suspect might be unethical about submitting two offers to buy two different

apartments at the same time? Can you wrap this suspicion in the language of the duties?

2. Is middle-aged mom appealing to the concept of fairness to justify making multiple offers at the same

time? If she is, then how? If she isn’t, what is her reasoning?

3. If Kant decided to make a contribution to this discussion board, what do you think he would write?

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4. Middle-aged mom writes, “Make certain that your contract gives you an out in the unlikely event both are

accepted.” She means that when you make an offer to buy, you actually offer a signed contract to buy the

apartment; but there’s a catch, an escape clause that lets you pull out if you choose. Is that ethical,

offering a signed contract offering to buy a property that includes an “out”?

5. You need a date for Saturday night.

o Would you have any problem with inviting two different people at the same time (by, say, leaving

a message on both their phones)? Why or why not?

o Would you leave yourself an out in case both answers were yes? If not, why not? If so, what would

it be and how could it be justified ethically?

Working at American Apparel

Photo courtesy of Natalia Rivera, http://www.flickr.com/photos/96952704@N00/317531326/.

Dov Charney is an American immigrant success story, but he’s not exactly a “Give me your tired, your

poor” kind of immigrant. He’s a Canadian who came to America to attend an expensive private university.

He ended up founding American Apparel (AA), a clothing manufacturer producing trendy t-shirts and

basics selling mainly to a young, edgy crowd.

Based in Los Angeles, their factory is among the biggest clothes-making operations in the nation. It

employs almost five thousand workers. Those workers are well known for a number of reasons:

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 Just having workers sets AA apart. Nearly all US clothing manufacturers outsource their cutting and

sewing to poor countries. From Mexico to China, you can find factories paying locals fifty cents an hour to

do the same kind of work they do at AA. The difference is the sewers working in Los Angeles typically get

around fifteen dollars an hour. That’s not a lot in Southern California, but it’s enough to make them—

according to AA—the best paid garment workers in the world.

 The workers don’t report to bosses so much as each other. They organize as independent teams paid a

base wage of eight dollars an hour. On top of that they receive a bonus depending on how much they

produce. So they get together, set their own targets, and go for them. This liberating of the workforce led

to nearly a tripling of output and was matched by about a doubling of wages.

 The company features a generous stock options program to help workers buy shares in the enterprise.

 On its own initiative, the company provides basic health-care services through a clinic tucked into a

factory corner. It provides bikes to employees, helping them zip through the downtown traffic morass

without adding pollution to the infamous city smog. There are free telephones in the factory for employees

to use to call family members at home.

 Many of those employees’ family members are in other countries; AA has a very large immigrant

workforce.

 Many of those immigrants are in the country illegally, which partially explains why the company has been

on the forefront of amnesty campaigns, organizing public rallies and media events of all kinds for the

undocumented. Called Legalize LA, the campaign’s title references the fact that a tremendous number of

Southern Californians outside AA are also illegal immigrants.

 In 2009, the federal government indicated to AA that 1,800 of its workers were using Social Security

numbers and other identifying documents that had been purchased, stolen, or just plain invented. In any

case, they didn’t match up. The company was forced to fire the employees.

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QUE STIONS

1. Workers at Charney’s America Apparel are the highest-paid mass-production sewers in the world.

o In terms of Charney’s duties to the self, what ethical case can be made in favor of this high pay?

o In terms of Charney’s duties to others, what ethical case can be made in favor of this high pay?

o Are these wages fair? Why or why not?

2. In terms of duties—either the perennial duties or Kant’s categorical imperative—which is more

recommendable: keeping the AA plant where and how it is, or moving it to Mexico and cutting the

workers’ wages in half? Why is the decision you’ve made the better of the two?

A few factors to consider:

o In Mexico, the workers’ real pay in terms of local buying power would be much higher, even

though the actual amount is less than what they receive here.

o Many of the workers are illegal immigrants from Mexico; their legal situation would obviously be

remedied and proximity to family would increase.

o The national Mexican economy would benefit more from AA’s presence than does the US

economy.

3. Kant’s categorical imperative requires that others be treated as ends and never as means.

o In what way could the argument be made that the employees at AA are being treated as means,

and therefore Charney’s plant is unethical no matter how high his salaries may be?

o Besides high pay, the company provides workers with considerable freedom to set their own work

pace and schedule. The company also provides a stock purchase program. Do either or both of

these factors alleviate the charge that the workers are treated as means and not end? Why or why

not?

4. Eighteen hundreds of AA’s five thousand workers were using false papers and Social Security

numbers to get their job. Charney knew all about that but chose to overlook it.

o Leaving the law aside, how can that overlooking be justified ethically?

o Leaving the law aside, how can Kant are used to cast that action as ethically wrong in terms of

lying? In terms of stealing? In terms of using people as means instead of ends?

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o Charney and AA support illegal immigrants in two ways: by giving them jobs and by organizing

popular protests in favor of their legalization. Ethically, are these two activities recommendable or

not? Or is one recommendable and the other not?

5. Assuming it’s wrong for illegal immigrants to be working in America, who deserves the sterner ethical

reprobation, Charney or the illegal workers? Explain in ethical terms.

6. The basic and natural rights of mainstream rights theory include the following:

o Life

o Freedom

o Free speech

o Religious expression

o The pursuit of happiness

o Possessions and the fruits of our work

o How can these rights be mustered to support Charney’s hiring and keeping workers he knows are

in the country illegally?

o How can these rights be mustered to ethically denounce Charney for hiring and keeping workers

he knows are in the country illegally?

o Thinking about those workers, do these rights give them an ethical license to use false Social

Security numbers and identifying documents? Why or why not?

7. Eddy Lepp ended up in jail for his medicinal marijuana garden, yet Charney sleeps in a million-dollar beach

house. Is this fair?

Pirates

Source: Photo courtesy of Marco Gomes, http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcogomes/1346283989.

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The following is from an online discussion: [2]

overstand:

I’ve been having problems with copying cds and trying to burn them…when the copy process

gets to 4% the used read buffer will go down to zero and continue fluctuating…will someone

let me know the procedures on fixing this.

Retarded

chicken:

May I ask what CDs are you copying? Usually big companies put copy protection on their CDs

so people don’t ILLEGALLY copy their CDs.

-=iNsAnE=-:

why do people post worthless crap like this? its none of your business what cd’s he’s

copying…don’t accuse him of making illegal copies of cd’s…maybe try posting something

useful next time

Flipside:

It’s not worthless crap mongloid…Copyright protection does prevent the copying of some

disks especially in main-stream programs such as Nero. Try using Clone CD—you may have

better luck with a pure duplication program (No fuss).

QUE STIONS

1. The unanswered question here is whether the CD being copied is copyright protected, in other words,

whether this is a piracy case. Assume it is. If retarded chicken had to fill out an ethical argument against CD

piracy that relied on either the perennial duties or Kant, what could he say?

2. While overstand may be pirating, no one doubts that the original disc is legitimately his. Maybe he bought

it or maybe someone gave it to him; either way, what’s the libertarian argument against retarded chicken?

How could a libertarian justify overstand’s copying?

3. Would a libertarian believe that the company producing the disc has a right to lace it with code that makes

duplication impossible? Explain.

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4. It sounds like Clone CD is specifically made to help pirates get around the copyright protections

manufacturers put on their discs.

o What’s the Kantian case for condemning Clone CD for their project?

o What’s the libertarian case for congratulating them?

Which of the two cases is stronger? Why?

5. Retarded chicken implies that overstand is a thief and -=iNsAnE=- calls retarded chicken’s post

“worthless crap.” Flipside calls -=iNsAnE=- a “mongloid.”

o Is there an ethical case that can be made against the tone of this discussion?

o Does online interaction foster this tone? If so, can an ethical case be made against the existence of

Internet discussion boards?

Gun Shop under Attack

Source: Photo courtesy of jaqian, http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaqian/478574894/.

The headline from a local Oakland newspaper reported that a gun shop is closing due to unfair

taxes. [3] The gun shop’s name was Siegle’s Guns. Closing was inevitable, according to owner Mara Siegle,

after Oakland residents passed Measure D, which levied a huge tax on gun dealers. They had to pay $24

for every $1,000 earned, in comparison to the $1.20 per $1,000 that all the other retailers in Oakland fork

over. “No one can stay in business paying that kind of tax,” Siegle said while preparing her going-out-ofbusiness

sale. “And that’s exactly what Oakland wanted.”

No one disputes the point.

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The disputes are about whether Oakland should want that and whether it’s fair for the city to use taxes as

a weapon.

 Tracy Salkowitz says yes to both. “Except for hunting rifles, the sole purpose of weapons is to kill people.”

Getting rid of gun shops, the logic follows, is a public welfare concern. And about the taxes that brought

the store down? She’s “delighted” by them.

 Mara Siegle’s opinion is that people who don’t hunt and shoot for recreation don’t understand that guns

are a legitimate pastime. “They don’t see this side,” she says, “because they don’t try to.” Further, she

asserts, over the years gun owners have told her that they own guns to defend themselves.

 Outside the store, mingling customers agreed with Siegle. They said closing gun stores was the wrong way

to fight crime and then cursed the city for the unjust taxes.

Amid the winners and losers, Mara Siegle certainly got the rottenest part of the deal. She has two sons,

fifteen and seventeen, and she doesn’t know what she’ll do for income. “I need a job,” she said.

A hand-lettered sign posted in the store’s backroom for the benefit of Siegle’s five full-time employees

displayed the phone number of the unemployment office. The sign said, “You paid for it, use it.”

QUE STIONS

1. With an eye on the concept of fairness, form an argument in favor of the drastically higher taxes imposed

on gun shops.

2. Kant’s categorical imperative prohibits killing. Can it be transformed into an argument against a gun shop

in Oakland?

3. Would an ethics of duties or an ethics of rights work better for Siegle as she defends her business? Why?

What might her argument look like?

4. Unemployment benefits are the result of unemployment insurance, which is not optional.

Workers are forced to pay a bit out of each paycheck to the federal government, and if they lose

their job, they get a biweekly check partially covering lost wages.

o Would a libertarian approve of the unemployment insurance program?

o Would it be right for a libertarian gun shop owner—someone defending her business on

libertarian grounds—to accept unemployment benefits after her shop is forced out of business by

extreme taxes? Explain.

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[1] “Ethical dilemma with submitting two offers at once? (contingency, clause, agent),” City-Data, accessed May

11, 2011, http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/710433-ethical-dilemma-submitting-two-offers-once.html.

[2] “My cd-burner won’t let me copy the cd…why…,” Hard forum, accessed May 11,

2011,http://www.hardforum.com/archive/index.php/t-711331.html.

[3] Alexandra J. Wall, “Jewish Gun shop Owner Closing Store; Cites Unfair Taxes,” Jweekly, July 21, 2000, accessed

May 11, 2011,http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/13657/jewish-gunshop-owner-closing-store-cites-unfair-taxes.

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Chapter 3

Theories of Consequence Ethics: Traditional Tools for

Making Decisions in Business when the Ends Justify

the Means

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Chapter Overview

Chapter 3 “Theories of Consequence Ethics: Traditional Tools for Making Decisions in Business when the

Ends Justify the Means” examines some theories guiding ethical decisions in business. It considers ethics

that focuses on the consequences of what is done instead of prohibiting or allowing specific acts.

3.1 What Is Consequentialism?

L EARNING OBJECTIVE

1. Define consequentialism in ethics.

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Consequentialism Defined

What’s more important in ethics—what you do or what happens afterward because of what you did?

People who believe ethics should be about what happens afterward are labeled consequentialists. They

don’t care so much about your act; they want to know about the consequences.

If someone asks, “Should I lie?,” one answer is, “No, lying’s wrong. We all have a duty not to lie and

therefore you shouldn’t do it, no matter what.” That’s not the consequentialist answer, though.

Consequentialists will want to know about the effects. If the lie is about Bernie Madoff assuring everyone

that he’s investing clients’ money in stocks when really he plans to steal it, that’s wrong. But if a

defrauded, livid, and pistol-waving client tracks Madoff down on a crowded street and demands to know

whether he’s Bernie Madoff, the ethically recommendable response might be, “People say I look like him,

but really I’m Bill Martin.” The question, finally, for a consequentialist isn’t whether or not I should lie,

it’s what happens if I do and if I don’t?

Since consequentialists are more worried about the outcome than the action, the central ethical concern

is what kind of outcome should I want? Traditionally, there are three kinds of answers: the utilitarian,

the altruist, and the egoist. Each one will be considered in this chapter.

KEY TAKEAWAY

 Consequentialist ethicists focus on the results of what you do, not what you do.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. Under what scenario could a consequentialist defend the act of stealing?

2. Could a consequentialist recommend that a toy company lie about the age level a toy is designed for?

What would be an example?

3.2 Utilitarianism: The Greater Good

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Define utilitarian ethics.

2. Show how utilitarianism works in business.

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3. Distinguish forms of utilitarianism.

4. Consider advantages and drawbacks of utilitarianism.

The College Board and Karen Dillard

“Have you seen,” the blog post reads, “their parking lot on a Saturday?” [1] Its packed. The lot belongs to

Karen Dillard College Prep (KDCP), a test-preparation company in Dallas. Like the Princeton Review,

they offer high schoolers courses designed to boost performance on the SAT. Very little real learning goes

on in these classrooms; they’re more about techniques and tricks for maximizing scores. Test takers

should know, for example, whether a test penalizes incorrect answers. If it doesn’t, you should take a few

minutes at each section’s end to go through and just fill in a random bubble for all the questions you

couldn’t reach so you’ll get some cheap points. If there is a penalty, though, then you should use your time

to patiently work forward as far as you can go. Knowing the right strategy here can significantly boost

your score. It’s a waste of brain space, though, for anything else in your life.

Some participants in KDCP—who paid as much as $2,300 for the lessons—definitely got some score

boosting for their money. It was unfair boosting, however; at least that’s the charge of the College Board,

the company that produces and administers the SAT.

Here’s what happened. A KDCP employee’s brother was a high school principal, and he was there when

the SATs were administered. At the end of those tests, everyone knows what test takers are instructed to

do: stack the bubble sheets in one pile and the test booklets in the other and leave. The administrators

then wrap everything up and send both the answer sheets and the booklets back to the College Board for

scoring. The principal, though, was pulling a few test booklets out of the stack and sending them over to

his brother’s company, KDCP. As it turns out, some of these pilfered tests were “live”—that is, sections of

them were going to be used again in future tests. Now, you can see how getting a look at those booklets

would be helpful for someone taking those future tests.

Other stolen booklets had been “retired,” meaning the specific questions inside were on their final

application the day the principal grabbed them. So at least in these cases, students taking the test-prep

course couldn’t count on seeing the very same questions come exam day. Even so, the College Board

didn’t like this theft much better because they sell those retired tests to prep companies for good money.

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When the College Board discovered the light-fingered principal and the KDCP advantage, they launched a

lawsuit for infringement of copyright. Probably figuring they had nothing to lose, KDCP sued back. [2]

College Board also threatened—and this is what produced headlines in the local newspaper—to cancel the

scores of the students who they determined had received an unfair advantage from the KDCP course.

As Denton Record-Chronicle reported (and as you can imagine), the students and their families freaked

out. [3] The scores and full application packages had already been delivered to colleges across the country,

and score cancellation would have amounted to application cancellation. And since many of the students

applied only to schools requiring the SAT, the threat amounted to at least temporary college cancellation.

“I hope the College Board thinks this through,” said David Miller, a Plano attorney whose son was

apparently on the blacklist. “If they have a problem with Karen Dillard, that’s one thing. But I hope they

don’t punish kids who wanted to work hard.”

Predictably, the episode crescendo with everyone lawyered up and suits threatened in all directions. In the

end, the scores weren’t canceled. KDCP accepted a settlement calling for them to pay $600,000 directly to

the College Board and provide $400,000 in free classes for high schoolers who’d otherwise be unable to

afford the service. As for the principal who’d been lifting the test booklets, he got to keep his job, which

pays about $87,000 a year. The CEO of College Board, by the way, gets around $830,000. [4] KDCP is a

private company, so we don’t know how much Karen Dillard or her employees make. We do know they

could absorb a million-dollar lawsuit without going into bankruptcy. Finally, the Plano school district in

Texas—a well-to-do suburb north of Dallas—continues to produce some of the nation’s highest SAT score

averages.

One Thief, Three Verdicts

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethics—the outcome matters, not the act. Among those who focus on

outcomes, the utilitarian’s distinguishing belief is that we should pursue the greatest good for the

greatest number. So we can act in whatever way we choose—we can be generous or miserly, honest or

dishonest—but whatever we do, to get the utilitarian’s approval, the result should be more people happier.

If that is the result, then the utilitarian needs to know nothing more to label the act ethically

recommendable. (Note: Utility is a general term for usefulness and benefit, thus the theory’s name. In

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everyday language, however, we don’t talk about creating a greater utility but instead a greater good or

happiness.)

In rudimentary terms, utilitarianism is a happiness calculation. When you’re considering doing

something, you take each person who’ll be affected and ask whether they’ll end up happier, sadder, or it

won’t make any difference. Now, those who won’t change don’t need to be counted. Next, for each person

who’s happier, ask, how much happier? Put that amount on one side. For each who’s sadder, ask, how

much sadder? That amount goes on the other side. Finally, add up each column and the greater sum

indicates the ethically recommendable decision.

Utilitarian ethics function especially well in cases like this: You’re on the way to take the SAT, which will

determine how the college application process goes (and, it feels like, more or less your entire life). Your

car breaks down and you get there very late and the monitor is closing the door and you remember

that…you forgot your required number 2 pencils. On a desk in the hall you notice a pencil. It’s gnawed and

abandoned but not yours. Do you steal it? Someone who believes it’s an ethical duty to not steal will

hesitate. But if you’re a utilitarian you’ll ask: Does taking it serve the greater good? It definitely helps you

a lot, so there’s positive happiness accumulated on that side. What about the victim? Probably whoever

owns it doesn’t care too much. Might not even notice it’s gone. Regardless, if you put your increased

happiness on one side and weigh it against the victim’s hurt on the other, the end result is almost certainly

a net happiness gain. So with a clean conscience you grab it and dash into the testing room. According to

utilitarian reasoning, you’ve done the right thing ethically (assuming the pencil’s true owner isn’t coming

up behind you in the same predicament).

Pushing this theory into the KDCP case, one tense ethical location is the principal lifting test booklets and

sending them over to his brother at the test-prep center. Everything begins with a theft. The booklets do

in fact belong to the College Board; they’re sent around for schools to use during testing and are meant to

be returned afterward. So here there’s already the possibility of stopping and concluding that the

principal’s act is wrong simply because stealing is wrong. Utilitarian’s, however, don’t want to move so

quickly. They want to see the outcome before making an ethical judgment. On that front, there are two

distinct outcomes: one covering the live tests, and the other the retired ones.

Live tests were those with sections that may appear again. When students at KDCP received them for

practice, they were essentially receiving cheat sheets. Now for a utilitarian, the question is, does the

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situation serve the general good? When the testing’s done, the scores are reported, and the college

admissions decisions made, will there be more overall happiness then there would’ve been had the tests

not been stolen? It seems like the answer has to be no. Obviously those with great scores will be smiling,

but many, many others will see their scores drop (since SATs are graded on a curve or as a percentile). So

there’s some major happiness for a few on one side balanced by unhappiness for many on the other. Then

things get worse. When the cheating gets revealed, the vast majority of test takers who didn’t get the edge

are going to be irritated, mad, or furious. Their parents too. Remember, it’s not only admission that’s at

stake here but also financial aid, so the students who didn’t get the KDCP edge worry not only that maybe

they should’ve gotten into a better school but also that they end up paying more too. Finally, the colleges

will register a net loss: all their work in trying to admit students on the basis of fair, equal evaluations gets

thrown into question.

Conclusion. The theft of live tests fails the utilitarian test. While a few students may come out better off

and happier, the vast majority more than balances the effect with disappointment and anger. The greater

good isn’t served.

In the case of the theft of “retired” tests where the principal forwarded to KDCP test questions that won’t

reappear on future exams, it remains true that the tests were lifted from the College Board and it remains

true that students who took the KDCP prep course will receive an advantage because they’re practicing the

SAT. But the advantage doesn’t seem any greater than the one enjoyed by students all around the nation

who purchased prep materials directly from the College Board and practiced for the exam by taking old

tests. More—and this was a point KDCP made in their countersuit against the College Board—stealing the

exams was the ethically right thing to do because it assured that students taking the KDCP prep course

got the same level of practice and expertise as those using official College Board materials. If the tests

hadn’t been stolen, then wouldn’t KDCP kids be at an unfair disadvantage when compared with others

because their test practices hadn’t been as close to the real thing as others got? In the end, the argument

goes, stealing the tests assured that as many people as possible who took prep courses got to practice on

real exams.

Conclusion. The theft of the exams by the high school principal may conceivably be congratulated by a

utilitarian because it increases general happiness. The students who practiced on old exams purchased

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from the College Board can’t complain. And as for those students at KDCP, their happiness increases since

they can be confident that they’ve prepared as well as possible for the SAT.

The fact that a utilitarian argument can be used to justify the theft of test booklets, at least retired ones,

doesn’t end the debate, however. Since the focus is on outcomes, all of them have to be considered. And

one outcome that might occur if the theft is allowed is, obviously, that maybe other people will start

thinking stealing exam books isn’t such a bad idea. If they do—if everyone decides to start stealing—it’s

hard to see how anything could follow but chaos, anger, and definitely not happiness.

This discussion could continue as more people and consequences are factored in, but what won’t change is

the basic utilitarian rule. What ought to be done is determined by looking at the big picture and deciding

which acts increase total happiness at the end of the day when everyone is taken into account.

Should the Scores Be Canceled?

After it was discovered that KDCP students got to practice for the SATs with live exams, the hardest

question facing the College Board was, should their scores be canceled? The utilitarian argument

for not canceling is straightforward. Those with no scores may not go to college at all next year. This is

real suffering, and if your aim is to increase happiness, then counting the exams is one step in that

direction. It’s not the last step, though, because utilitarian’s at the College Board need to ask

about everyone else’s happiness too: what’s the situation for all the others who took the exam but has

never heard of KDCP? Unfortunately, letting the scores be counted is going to subtract from their

happiness because the SAT is graded comparatively: one person doing well means everyone getting fewer

correct answers sees their score drop, along with college choices and financial aid possibilities. Certainly

it’s true that each of these decreases will be small since there were only a handful of suspect tests. Still, a

descent, no matter how tiny, is a descent, and all the little bits add up.

What’s most notable, finally, about this decision is the imbalance. Including the scores of KDCP students

will weigh a tremendous increase in happiness for a very few against a slight decrease for very many.

Conversely, a few will be left very sad, and many slightly happier. So for a utilitarian, which is it? It’s hard

to say. It is clear, however, that this uncertainty represents a serious practical problem with the ethical

theory. In some situations you can imagine yourself in the shoes of the different people involved and,

using your own experience and knowledge, estimate which decision will yield the most total happiness. In

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this situation, though, it seems almost impossible because there are so many people mixed up in the

question.

Then things get still more difficult. For the utilitarian, it’s not enough to just decide what brings the most

happiness to the most individuals right now; the future needs to be accounted for too. Utilitarianism is a

true global ethics; you’re required to weigh everyone’s happiness and weigh it as best as you can as far into

the future as possible. So if the deciders at the College Board follow a utilitarian route in opting to include

(or cancel) the scores, they need to ask themselves—if we do, how will things be in ten years? In fifty?

Again, these are hard questions but they don’t change anything fundamental. For the utilitarian, making

the right decision continues to be about attempting to predict which choice will maximize happiness.

Utilitarianism and the Ethics of Salaries

When he wasn’t stealing test booklets and passing them on to KDCP, the principal in the elite Plano

school district was dedicated to his main job: making sure students in his building receive an education

qualifying them to do college-level work. Over at the College Board, the company’s CEO leads a

complementary effort: producing tests to measure the quality of that preparation and consequently

determine students’ scholastic aptitude. The principal, in other words, is paid to make sure high schoolers

get an excellent education, and the CEO is paid to measure how excellent (or not) the education is.

Just from the job descriptions, who should get the higher salary? It’s tempting to say the principal.

Doesn’t educating children have to be more important than measuring how well they’re educated?

Wouldn’t we all rather be well educated and not know it than poorly educated and painfully aware of the

fact?

Regardless, what’s striking about the salary that each of these two actually receives isn’t who gets more;

it’s how much. The difference is almost ten times: $87,000 for the principal versus the CEO’s $830,000.

Within the doctrine of utilitarianism, can such a divergence be justified?

Yes, but only if we can show that this particular salary structure brings about the greatest good, the

highest level of happiness for everyone considered as a collective. It may be, for example, that objectively

measuring student ability, even though it’s less important than instilling ability, is also much harder. In

that case, a dramatically higher salary may be necessary in order to lure high-quality measuring talent.

From there, it’s not difficult to fill out a utilitarian justification for the pay divergence. It could be that

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100

inaccurate testing would cause large amounts of unhappiness: students who worked hard for years would

be frustrated when they were bettered by slackers who really didn’t know much but managed to score well

on a test.

To broaden the point, if tremendous disparities in salary end up making people happier, then the

disparities are ethical. Period. If they don’t, however, then they can no longer be defended. This differs

from what a libertarian rights theorist might say here. For a libertarian—someone who believes

individuals have an undeniable right to make and keep whatever they can in the world, regardless of how

rich or poor anyone else may be—the response to the CEO’s mammoth salary is that he found a way to

earn it fair and square, and everyone should quit complaining about it. Generalized happiness doesn’t

matter, only the individual’s right to try to earn and keep as much as he or she can.

Can Money Buy Utilitarian Happiness? The Ford Pinto Case

Basic questions in business tend to be quantitative, and money is frequently the bottom line: How many

dollars is it worth? What’s my salary? What’s the company’s profit? The basic question of utilitarianism

is qualitative: how much happiness and sadness is there? Inevitably, it’s going to be difficult when

businesses accustomed to bottom-line number decisions are forced to cross over and decide about general

happiness. One of the most famous attempts to make the transition easier occurred back in the 1970s.

With gas prices on the rise, American car buyers were looking for smaller, more efficient models than

Detroit was manufacturing. Japanese automakers were experts in just those kinds of vehicles and they

were seizing market share at an alarming rate. Lee Iacocca, Ford’s president, wanted to rush a car into

production to compete. His model was the Pinto. [5]

A gas sipper slated to cost $2,000 (about $12,000 today); Ford rushed the machine through early

production and testing. Along the way, unfortunately, they noticed a design problem: the gas tank’s

positioning in the car’s rump left it vulnerable to rear-end collisions. In fact, when the rear-end hit came

faster than twenty miles per hour, not only might the tank break, but gasoline could be splattered all the

way up to the driver’s compartment. Fire, that meant, ignited by sparks or anything else could engulf

those inside.

No car is perfectly safe, but this very scary vulnerability raised eyebrows. At Ford, a debate erupted about

going ahead with the vehicle. On the legal end, the company stood on solid ground: government

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regulation at the time only required gas tanks to remain intact at collisions under twenty miles per hour.

What about the ethics, though? The question about whether it was right to charge forward was

unavoidable because rear-end accidents at speeds greater than twenty miles per hour happen—every day.

The decision was finally made in utilitarian terms. On one side, the company totaled up the dollar cost of

redesigning the car’s gas tank. They calculated

 12.5 million automobiles would eventually be sold,

 eleven dollars would be the final cost per car to implement the redesign.

Added up, that’s $137 million total, with the money coming out of Pinto buyers’ pockets since the added

production costs would get tacked onto the price tag. It’s a big number but it’s not that much per person:

$11 is about $70 today. In this way, the Pinto situation faced by Ford executives is similar to the test

cancellation question for the College Board: one option means only a little bit of suffering for specific

individuals, but there are a lot of them.

On the other side of the Pinto question—and, again, this resembles the College Board predicament—if the

decision is made to go ahead without the fix, there’s going to be a lot of suffering but only for a very few

people. Ford predicted the damage done to those few people in the following ways:

 Death by burning for 180 buyers

 Serious burn injuries for another 180 buyers

 Twenty-one hundred vehicles burned beyond all repair

That’s a lot of damage, but how do you measure it? How do you compare it with the hike in the price tag?

More generally, from a utilitarian perspective, is it better for a lot of people to suffer a little or for a few

people to suffer a lot?

Ford answered both questions by directly attaching monetary values to each of the injuries and damages

suffered:

 At the time, 1970, US Government regulatory agencies officially valued a human life at $200,000. (That

would be about $1.2 million today if the government still kept this problematic measure.)

 Insurance companies valued a serious burn at $67,000.

 The average resale value on subcompacts like the Pinto was $700, which set that as the amount lost after a

complete burnout.

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The math coming out from this is (180 deaths Å~ $200,000) + (180 injuries Å~ $67,000) + (2,100 burnedout

cars Å~ $700) = $49 million. The result here is $137 million worth of suffering for Pinto drivers if the

car is redesigned and only $49 million if it goes to the streets as is.

Ford sent the Pinto out. Over the next decade, according to Ford estimates, at least 60 people died in fiery

accidents and at least 120 got seriously burned (skin-graft-level burns). No attempt was made to calculate

the total number of burned vehicles. Shortly thereafter, the Pinto was phased out. No one has final

numbers, but if the first decade is any indication, then the total cost came in under the original $49

million estimate. According to a utilitarian argument, and assuming the premises concerning dollar

values are accepted, Ford made the right decision back in 1970.

If every Pinto purchaser had been approached the day after buying the car, told the whole Ford story, and

been offered to change their car along with eleven dollars for another one without the gas tank problem,

how many would’ve handed the money over to avoid the long-shot risk? The number might’ve been very

high, but that doesn’t sway a utilitarian conclusion. The theory demands that decision makers stubbornly

keep their eye on overall happiness no matter how much pain a decision might cause certain individuals.

Versions of Utilitarian Happiness

Monetized utilitarianism attempts to measure happiness, to the extent possible, in terms of money. As the

Ford Pinto case demonstrated, the advantage here is that it allows decisions about the greater good to be

made in clear, objective terms. You add up the money on one side and the money on the other and the

decision follows automatically. This is a very attractive benefit, especially when you’re dealing with large

numbers of individuals or complex situations. Monetized utilitarianism allows you to keep your happiness

calculations straight.

Two further varieties of utilitarianism are hedonistic and idealistic. Both seek to maximize human

happiness, but their definitions of happiness differ. Hedonistic utilitarian’s trace back to Jeremy Bentham

(England, around 1800). Bentham was a wealthy and odd man who left his fortune to the University

College of London along with the stipulation that his mummified body be dressed and present at the

institution. It remains there today. He sits in a wooden cabinet in the main building, though his head has

been replaced by a wax model after pranking students repeatedly stole the real one. Bentham believed

that pleasure and happiness are ultimately synonymous. Ethics, this means, seeks to maximize the

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pleasures—just about any sensation of pleasure—felt by individuals. But before dropping everything and

heading out to the bars, it should be remembered that even the most hedonistic of the utilitarian’s believe

that getting pleasure right now is good but not as good as maximizing the feeling over the long term.

(Going out for drinks, in others words, instead of going to the library isn’t recommendable on the evening

before midterms.)

A contemporary of Bentham, John Stuart Mill, basically agreed that ethics is about maximizing pleasure,

but his more idealistic utilitarianism distinguished low and highbrow sensations. The kinds of raw, good

feelings that both we and animals can find, according to Mill, are second-rate pleasures. Pleasures with

higher and more real value include learning and learnedness. These aren’t physical joys so much as the

delights of the mind and the imagination. For Mill, consequently, libraries and museums are scenes of

abundant pleasure, much more than any bar.

This idealistic notion of utilitarianism fits quite well with the College Board’s response to the KDCP

episode. First, deciding against canceling student scores seems like a way of keeping people on track to

college and headed toward the kind of learning that rewards our cerebral inclinations. Further, awarding

free prep classes to those unable to pay seems like another step in that direction, at least if it helps get

them into college.

Versions of Utilitarian Regulation

A narrow distinction with far-reaching effects divides soft from hard utilitarianism. Soft utilitarianism is

the standard version; when people talk about a utilitarian ethics, that’s generally what they mean. As a

theory, soft utilitarianism is pretty laid back: an act is good if the outcome is more happiness in the world

than we had before. Hard utilitarianism, on the other hand, demands more: an act is ethically

recommendable only if the total benefits for everyone are greater than those produced by any other act.

According to the hard version, it’s not enough to do well; you must do the most good possible. As an

example, think about the test-prep company KDCP under the microscope of utilitarian examination.

 When a soft utilitarian looks at KDCP, the company comes out just fine. High schoolers are learning testtaking

skills and tricks that they’ll only use once but will help in achieving a better score and leave behind

a sense that they’ve done all they can to reach their college goals. That means the general happiness level

probably goes up—or at worst holds steady—because places like KDCP are out there.

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 When a hard utilitarian looks at KDCP, however, the company doesn’t come off so well. Can we really say

that this enterprise’s educational subject—test taking—is the very best use of teaching resources in terms

of general welfare and happiness? And what about the money? Is SAT prep really the best way for society

to spend its dollars? Wouldn’t a hard utilitarian have to recommend that the tuition money collected by

the test-prep company get siphoned off to pay for, say, college tuition for students who otherwise wouldn’t

be able to continue their studies at all?

If decisions about businesses are totally governed by the need to create the most happiness possible, then

companies like KDCP that don’t contribute much to social well-being will quickly become endangered.

The demands of hard utilitarianism can be layered onto the ethical decision faced by the College Board in

their courtroom battle with KDCP. Ultimately, the College Board opted to penalize the test-prep company

by forcing it to offer some free classes for underprivileged students. Probably, the result was a bit more

happiness in the world. The result wasn’t, however, the most happiness possible. If hard utilitarianism

had driven the decision, then the College Board would’ve been forced to go for the jugular against KDCP,

strip away all the money they could, and then use it to do the most good possible, which might have meant

setting up a scholarship fund or something similar. That’s just a start, though. Next, to be true to hard

utilitarianism, the College Board would need to focus on itself with hard questions. The costs of creating

and applying tests including the SAT are tremendous, which makes it difficult to avoid this question:

wouldn’t society as a whole be better off if the College Board were to be canceled and all their resources

dedicated to, for example, creating a new university for students with learning disabilities?

Going beyond KDCP and the College Board, wouldn’t almost any private company fall under the threat of

appropriation if hard utilitarian’s ran the world? While it’s true, for example, that the money spent on

steak and wine at expensive Las Vegas restaurants probably increases happiness a bit, couldn’t that same

cash do a lot more for the general welfare of people whose income makes Las Vegas an impossibly

expensive dream? If it could, then the hard utilitarian will propose zipping up Las Vegas and rededicating

the money.

Finally, since utilitarianism is about everyone’s total happiness, don’t hard questions start coming up

about world conditions? Is it possible to defend the existence of McDonald’s in the United States while

people are starving in other countries?

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Conclusion. In theory, there’s not much divergence between soft and hard utilitarianism. But in terms of

what actually happens out in the world when the theory gets applied, that’s a big difference. For private

companies, it’s also a dangerous one.

Two further versions of utilitarian regulation are act and rule. Act utilitarianism affirms that a specific

action is recommended if it increases happiness. This is the default form of utilitarianism, and what

people usually mean when they talk about the theory. The separate rule-based version asserts that an

action is morally right if it follows a rule that, when applied to everyone, increases general happiness.

The rule utilitarian asks whether we’d all be benefitted if everyone obeyed a rule such as “don’t steal.” If

we would—if the general happiness level increases because the rule is there—then the rule utilitarian

proposes that we all adhere to it. It’s important to note that rule utilitarian’s aren’t against stealing

because it’s intrinsically wrong, as duty theorists may propose. The rule utilitarian is only against stealing

if it makes the world less happy. If tomorrow it turns out that mass stealing serves the general good, then

theft becomes the ethically right thing to do.

The sticky point for rule utilitarian’s involves special cases. If we make the rule that theft is wrong,

consider what happens in the case from the chapter’s beginning: You forgot your pencil on SAT test day,

and you spot one lying on an abandoned desk. If you don’t take it, no one’s going to be any happier, but

you’ll be a lot sadder. So it seems like rule utilitarianism verges on defeating its own purpose, which is

maximizing happiness no matter what.

On the other hand, there are also sticky points for act utilitarian’s. For example, if I go to Wal-Mart

tonight and steal a six-pack of beer, I’ll be pretty happy. And assuming I don’t get caught, no one will be

any sadder. The loss to the company—a few dollars—will disappear in a balance sheet so huge that it’s

hard to count the zeros. Of course if everyone starts stealing beers, that will cause a problem, but in

practical terms, if one person does it once and gets away with it, it seems like an act utilitarian would have

to approve. The world would be a happier place.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Utilitarian Ethics in Business

Basic utilitarianism is the soft, act version. These are the theory’s central advantages:

 Clarity and simplicity. In general terms, it’s easy to understand the idea that we should all act to

increase the general welfare.

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 Acceptability. The idea of bringing the greatest good to the greatest number coheres with common and

popular ideas about what ethical guidance is supposed to provide.

 Flexibility. The weighing of individual actions in terms of their consequences allows for meaningful and

firm ethical rules without requiring that everyone be treated identically no matter how different the

particular situation. So the students whose scores were suspended by the College Board could see them

reinstated, but that doesn’t mean the College Board will take the same action in the future (if, say, large

numbers of people start stealing test booklets).

 Breadth. The focus on outcomes as registered by society overall makes the theory attractive for those

interested in public policy. Utilitarianism provides a foundation and guidance for business regulation by

government.

The central difficulties and disadvantages of utilitarianism include the following:

 Subjectivity. It can be hard to make the theory work because it’s difficult to know what makes happiness

and unhappiness for specific individuals. When the College Board demanded that KDCP give free classes

to underprivileged high schoolers, some paying students were probably happy to hear the news, but

others probably fretted about paying for what others received free. And among those who received the

classes, probably the amount of resulting happiness varied between them.

 Quantification. Happiness can’t be measured with a ruler or weighed on a scale; it’s hard to know

exactly how much happiness and unhappiness any particular act produces. This translates into confusion

at decision time. (Monetized utilitarianism, like that exhibited in the case of the Ford Pinto, responds to

this confusion.)

 Apparent injustices. Utilitarian principles can produce specific decisions that seem wrong. A quick

example is the dying grandmother who informs her son that she’s got $200,000 stuffed into her mattress.

She asks the son to divide the money with his brother. This brother, however, is a gambling alcoholic

who’ll quickly fritter away his share. In that case, the utilitarian would recommend that the other

brother—the responsible one with children to put through college—just keep all the money. That would

produce the most happiness, but do we really want to deny grandma her last wish?

 The utilitarian monster is a hypothetical individual who really knows how to feel good. Imagine that

someone or a certain group of people were found to have a much greater capacity to experience happiness

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than others. In that case, the strict utilitarian would have no choice but to put everyone else to work

producing luxuries and other pleasures for these select individuals. In this hypothetical situation, there

could even be an argument for forced labor as long as it could be shown that the servants’ suffering was

minor compared to the great joy celebrated by those few who were served. Shifting this into economic and

business terms, there’s a potential utilitarian argument here for vast wage disparities in the workplace.

 The utilitarian sacrifice is the selection of one person to suffer terribly so that others may be pleasured.

Think of gladiatorial games in which a few contestants suffer miserably, but a tremendous number of

spectators enjoy the thrill of the contest. Moving the same point from entertainment into the business of

medical research, there’s a utilitarian argument here for drafting individuals—even against their will—to

endure horrifying medical experiments if it could be shown that the experiments would, say, cure cancer,

and so create tremendous happiness in the future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Utilitarianism judges specific decisions by examining the decision’s consequences.

 Utilitarianism defines right and wrong in terms of the happiness of a society’s members.

 Utilitarian ethics defines an act as good when its consequences bring the greatest good or happiness to

the greatest number of people.

 There are a variety of specific forms of utilitarianism.

 Theoretically, utilitarianism is straightforward, but in practical terms it can be difficult to measure the

happiness of individuals.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. What is a utilitarian argument in favor of a college education? How does it differ from other reasons you

might want to go to college or graduate school?

2. How could a utilitarian justify cheating on an exam?

3. What is a “global ethics”?

4. What practical problem with utilitarianism is (to some degree) resolved by monetized utilitarianism?

5. What are two advantages of a utilitarian ethics when compared with an ethics of duties?

6. What are two disadvantages of a utilitarian ethics when compared with an ethics of duties?

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7. What’s an example from today’s world of a utilitarian monster?

8. What’s an example from today’s world of a utilitarian sacrifice?

[1] “CB-Karen Dillard Case Settled-No Cancelled Scores,” College Confidential, accessed May 15,

2011, http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/501843-cb-karen-dillard-case-settled-no-cancelledscores.

html.

[2] Paulina Mis, “College Board Sues Test-Prep Company, Countersuit Filed,” Scholarships.com, February 26, 2008,

accessed May 15, 2011,http://www.scholarships.com/blog/high-school/college-board-sues-test-prep-companycountersuit-

filed/161.

[3] Staci Hupp, “SAT Scores for Students Who Used Test Prep Firm May Be Thrown Out, “Denton Record Chronicle,

February 22, 2008, accessed May 15, 2011.

[4] “AETR Report Card,” Americans for Educational Testing Reform, accessed May 15,

2011, http://www.aetr.org/college-board.php.

[5] Case facts taken from Manuel Velasquez, Business Ethics, Concepts and Cases, 6th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006), 60–61.

3.3 Altruism: Everyone Else

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Define altruistic ethics.

2. Show how altruism works in and with business.

3. Consider advantages and drawbacks of altruism.

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TOMS Shoes

There is no Tom at TOMS Shoes. The company’s name actually came from the title for its social cause:

Shoes for Tomorrow. Tomorrow shoes—TOMS Shoes. The shoes are given away to needy children in

Argentina at a one-to-one rate: for every pair bought in the United States, TOMS delivers a pair down

there.

They’re needed in Argentina’s poverty-stricken regions to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, one

that flourishes in the local soil and rises up through the feet. A pair of shoes is all that’s needed to block

the problem.

The project started when young Texan entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie vacationed in Argentina. Not the type

to luxuriate in the hotel pool, he got out and learned about the country, good and bad, the food, the

sweeping geography, the poverty and diseases. The foot infection, he discovered, was so devastating yet so

easy to block that, according to his company’s website, he decided he had to do something about

it. [1] Initially, he contemplated a charitable fund to buy shoes for the needy children, but that left his

project subject to the ebb and flow of others’ generosity. It’d be better and more reliable, he determined,

to link the community-service project with private enterprise and use revenues from a company to fund

the charity. Quickly, Mycoskie determined that he could make the whole machine work most efficiently by

starting a shoe company. Simultaneously, he could produce shoes for donation and shoes for sale to

finance the effort. So we have TOMS Shoes.

Next, a kind of shoe to produce and sell was required. Mycoskie found inspiration in Argentina’s

traditional alpargata. This is a cheap, workingman’s shoe, a slip-on made from canvas with rope

soles. [2] For the American adaptation, Mycoskie strengthened the sole, styled and colored the canvas, and

added a brand label. The price also got jacked up. The originals cost a few dollars in Argentina; the

adaptations cost about forty dollars here.

They’re a splashy hit. You find TOMS Shoes at trendy footwear shops, at Whole Foods grocery stores, and

all over the Internet. At last check, about half a million pairs have been sold and an equal number

donated. Total sales in seven figures aren’t far off, and the company was recently featured on a CNBC

segment as an American business success story. Notably, TOMS achieved recognition on national TV

sooner after its inception than almost any other enterprise in the program’s history. It all happened in

fewer than four years.

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Question: how did it get so big so fast? How did some guy transform from a wandering tourist to a captain

of the shoe industry in less time than it takes to get a college degree? Answer: celebrities.

Blake Mycoskie’s got a warm, round face and a perfect smile. He’s got money from his pre-shoe projects

and he’s smart too. He’s also got that contemporary bohemian look down with his bead necklace and

wavy, shoulder-length hair. There’s no letdown beneath the chin line either; he’s fit (he was a tennis pro

until nineteen). You get the idea. He commands attention from even Hollywood women, and he ended up

coupled with the midrange star Maggie Grace. He introduced her to his TOMS Shoes concept, gave her a

few pairs to wear around and show friends, and the ball started rolling. [3]

A few parties later, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire, Sienna Miller, and

Karl Lagerfeld were parading around in TOMS Shoes. There was no stopping it. [4]

Today, when Blake Mycoskie introduces himself, it’s not as the CEO of his company; he says he’s the Chief

Shoe Giver at TOMS Shoes, reflecting the idea that charity drives the thriving business, not the other way

around.

Is TOMS Shoes Altruistic?

An action is morally right according to the altruist, and to the ethical theory of altruism, if the action’s

consequences are more beneficial than unfavorable for everyone except the person who acts. That means

the actor’s interests aren’t considered: the altruist does whatever can be done so that others will be

happier.

It’s common to imagine the altruist as poverty stricken and self-sacrificing. When you live for everyone

else as the altruist does, it’s no surprise that you can end up in pretty bad shape. You might get lucky and

run into another altruist like yourself, but if you don’t, there’s not going to be anyone particularly

dedicated to your well-being. On the positive side there’s nobility to the idea of dedicating everything to

everyone else, but the plain truth is not many of us would choose to live like Gandhi or Mother Teresa.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. A suffering life may be an effect of altruism, but it’s not a

requirement. Living for others doesn’t mean you live poorly, only that there’s no guarantee you’ll live well.

You might, however, live well. Blake Mycoskie demonstrates this critical element at the heart of altruism:

it’s not about suffering or sacrificing; it’s about making clear-eyed decisions about the best way to make as

many others as happy as possible. If you happen to live the good life along the way—partying with Maggie

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Grace, Sienna Miller, and friends because that’s the fastest route to publicize the TOMS Shoes

enterprise—that doesn’t count against the project. It doesn’t count in favor either. All that matters, all that

gets tallied up when the question gets asked about whether the altruist did good, is how things ended up

for everyone else.

In the case of TOMS Shoes, the tallying is easy. The relatively wealthy shoe buyers in the United States

come off well; they get cool, politically correct footwear to show friends along with a psychological lift

from knowing they’re helping the less fortunate. On the other side, the rural Argentines obviously benefit

also.

Some Rules of Altruism

Altruism is a consequentialist ethics. Like utilitarianism, no specific acts are prohibited or required; only

outcomes matter. That explains why there aren’t lifestyle requirements for the altruist. Some live stoically

like Gandhi while others like Mycoskie get the high life, but they’re both altruists as long as the goal of

their lives and the reason for their actions is bringing happiness to others. Similarly, the altruist might be

a criminal (Robin Hood) or a liar (see Socrates’ noble lie).

Like the utilitarian, most of the hard questions altruists face concern happiness. They include:

 The happiness definition. Exactly what counts as happiness? In the case of TOMS donating shoes to rural

Argentines, the critical benefit is alleviation of disease and the suffering coming with it. Happiness, in

other words, is defined here as a release from real, physical pain. On the other hand, with respect to the

shoes sold in the States, the happiness is completely different; it’s a vague, good feeling that purchasers

receive knowing their shopping is serving a social cause. How do we define happiness in a way that ropes

in both these distinct experiences?

 Once happiness has been at least loosely defined, another question altruist’s face is the happiness

measure: how do we know which is worth more, the alleviation of suffering from a disease or the warm

happiness of serving a good cause? And even if the answer to that question is clear, how great is the

difference, how can it be measured?

 Another altruism difficulty is happiness foresight. Even if donating shoes helps in the short term, are the

recipients’ lives really going to be happier overall? Conditions are hard in the abandoned regions of the

third world, and alleviation of one problem may just clear the way for another. So TOMS Shoes saves

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poverty-stricken Argentines from suffering a debilitating foot disease, but how much good are you really

doing if you save people only so that they’re free to suffer aching hunger, miserable sickness in places

lacking antibiotics, and hard manual labor because there’s no other work?

Altruism is a variety of selflessness, but it’s not the same thing; people may deny themselves or they may

sacrifice themselves for all kinds of other reasons. For example, a soldier may die in combat, but that’s not

altruism; that’s loyalty: it’s not sacrificing for everyone else but for a particular nation. The same may go

for the political protestor who ends up jailed and forgotten forever. That’s self-sacrifice, but she did it for

the cause and not for all the others. The fireman may lose his life rescuing a victim, but this is because he’s

doing his job, not because he’s decided to live for the sake of others. All altruists, finally, are selfless, but

not all those who sacrifice themselves are altruists.

Personal versus impersonal altruism distinguishes two kinds of altruists: those who practice altruism on

their own and leave everyone else alone and those who believe that everyone should act only to benefit

others and without regard to their own well-being.

The Altruist in Business and the Business That Is Altruistic

TOMS Shoes shows that a business can be mounted to serve the welfare of others. A company aiming to

serve an altruistic purpose doesn’t have to be organized altruistically, however. An individual truly

dedicated to everyone else could start a more traditional company (a real estate firm, for example), work

like a dog, turn massive profits, and in the end, donate everything to charity. It may even be that during

the profit-making phase the altruist CEO is ruthless, exploiting workers and consumers to the maximum.

All that’s fine as long as the general welfare is served in the end when all the suffering is toted up on one

side and the happiness on the other. A business operation that isn’t at all altruistic, in other words, can be

bent in that direction by an altruistic owner.

Going the other way, the business operation itself may be altruistic. For example, this comes from the

College Board’s website, the About Us page: The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association

whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. [5]

That sounds like a good cause. The company doesn’t exist to make money but to implement testing that

matches students with their best-fit colleges. It is, in other words, an altruistic enterprise, and the world,

the argument could be made, is a better place because the College Board exists. But—and this is the

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important distinction—that doesn’t mean everyone who works at the College Board is selfless. Far from it,

the CEO takes home $830,000 a year. That money would buy a lot of shoes for the poverty-stricken in

Argentina. So, there can be altruistic business organizations driven by workers who aren’t altruists.

A church is also a business organization with cash flows, budgets, and red and black ink. The same goes

for Goodwill. Here’s their mission statement: “Goodwill Industries International enhances the dignity and

quality of life of individuals, families and communities by eliminating barriers to opportunity and helping

people in need reach their fullest potential through the power of work.” [6] So, the Salvation Army fits into

the group of altruistic enterprises, of organizations that exist, like the College Board, to do public good.

It’s distinct from the College Board, however, in that a very healthy percentage of those working inside the

organization are themselves altruists—they’re working for the cause, not their own welfare. Think of the

Salvation Army red kettle bell ringers around Christmas time.

Conclusion. Altruism connects with business in three basic ways. There are altruists who use normal,

profit-driven business operations to do well. There are altruistic companies that do good by employing no

altruistic workers. And there are altruistic organizations composed of altruistic individuals.

Advocating and Challenging Ethical Altruism

The arguments for and against an altruistic ethics overlap to a considerable extent with those listed under

utilitarianism. The advantages include:

 Clarity and simplicity. People may disagree about exactly how much good a company like TOMS Shoes

is really doing, but the overall idea that the founder is working so that others can be happier is easy to

grasp.

 Acceptability. The idea of working for others grants an ethical sheen. No matter what you might think of

someone as a person, it’s very difficult to criticize them in ethical terms if they really are dedicating

themselves to the well-being of everyone else.

 Flexibility. Altruists have many ways of executing their beliefs.

The disadvantages of altruism include:

 Uncertainty about the happiness of others. Even if individuals decide to sacrifice their own welfare

for the good of others, how do they know for sure what makes others happy?

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 Shortchanging yourself. Even though altruism doesn’t require that the altruist live a miserable life,

there doesn’t seem to be any clear reason why the altruist shouldn’t get an at least equal claim to

happiness as everyone else (as in a utilitarian approach). Also, some critics suspect that altruism can be a

way of escaping your own life: if you spend all your time volunteering, could it be that deep down you’re

not a good soul so much as just afraid of going out into the competitive world and trying to win a good

place for yourself?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Altruism defines ethically good as any act that ends up increasing net happiness (or decreasing net

unhappiness) when everything is taken into account except the actor’s increased or diminished happiness.

 Altruism doesn’t require living a miserable life.

 Altruism intersects with the business world in various ways.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. Theoretically, could the most devoted altruist in a society also be its richest and happiest member? How?

2. Does Blake Mycoskie have to be an altruist for TOMS Shoes to be considered an altruistic enterprise?

3. Does TOMS Shoes have to be an altruistic enterprise for Mycoskie to be considered an altruist?

4. What are some other motives that may lead someone to live the life of an altruist?

[1] TOMS Shoes, “One for One Movement,” accessed May 15, 2011,http://www.toms.com/our-movement.

[2] TOMS Shoes, accessed May 15, 2011,http://cdn2.tomsshoes.com/images/uploads/2006-oct-vogue.jpg.

[3] Sharon_b, December 14, 2008 (5:24 p.m.), “Blake Mycoskie—he’s handsome, rich and helps children in the

Third World,” Gossip Rocks, accessed May 15, 2011,http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/90958-blakemycoskie-

hes-handsome-rich-helps-children-third-world.html.

[4] Lesley M. M. Blume, “You Are What You Wear,” Huffington Post, July 30, 2008, accessed May 15,

2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lesley-m-m-blume/you-are-what-you-wear_b_65967.html.

[5] “About Us,” College Board accessed May 15, 2011, http://about.collegeboard.org.

[6] “Our Mission,” Goodwill Industries International, Inc., accessed May 15, 2011,http://www.goodwill.org/aboutus/

our-mission.

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3.4 Egoism: Just Me

L EARNING OBJECTIVE S

1. Define ethical egoism.

2. Show how egoism works in and with business.

3. Consider advantages and drawbacks of egoism.

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Ethical Egoism

Ethical egoism: whatever action serves my self-interest is also the morally right action. What’s good for

me in the sense that it gives me pleasure and happiness is also good in the sense that it’s the morally right

thing to do.

Ethical egoism mirrors altruism: If I’m an altruist, I believe that actions ought to heighten the happiness

of others in the world, and what happens to me is irrelevant. If I’m an egoist, I believe that actions ought

to heighten my happiness, and what happens to others is irrelevant.

Could someone like Blake Mycoskie—someone widely recognized as an altruistic, social-cause hero—

actually is an egoist? Yes. Consider things this way. Here’s a young guy and he’s out looking for money,

celebrity, good parties, and a jaw-dropping girlfriend. It wouldn’t be the first time there was a guy like

that.

Put yourself in his shoes and imagine you’re an ethical egoist: whatever’s good for you is good. Your

situation is pretty clear, your moral responsibility lists what you should be trying to get, and the only

question is how can I get it all?

That’s a tall order. Becoming a rock star would probably work, but there are a lot of people already out

there going for it that way. The same goes for becoming a famous actor. Sports are another possibility;

Mycoskie, in fact, made a run at pro tennis as a younger man, but like most who try, he couldn’t break into

the upper echelon. So there are paths that may work, but they’re hard ones, it’s a real fight for every step

forward.

If you’re smart—and Mycoskie obviously is—then you might look for a way to get what you want that

doesn’t force you to compete so brutally with so many others. Even better, maybe you’ll look for a way that

doesn’t present any competition at all, a brand new path to the wish list. The idea of a celebrity-driven

shoe company that makes a profit but that also makes its founder a star in the eyes of the Hollywood stars

is a pretty good strategy.

Obviously, no one can look deep into Mycoskie’s mind and determine exactly what drove him to found his

enterprise. He may be an altruist or an egoist or something else, but what’s important is to outline how

egoism can actually work in the world. It can work—though of course it doesn’t work this way every time—

just like TOMS Shoes.

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Egoism and Selfishness

When we hear the word egoist, an ugly profile typically comes to mind: self-centered, untrustworthy,

pitiless, and callous with respect to others. Some egoists really are like that, but they don’t have to be that

way. If you’re out to maximize your own happiness in the world, you might find that helping others is the

shortest and fastest path to what you want. This is a very important point. Egoists aren’t against other

people, they’re for themselves, and if helping others work for them, that’s what they’ll do. The case of

TOMS Shoes fits right here. The company improves the lives of many; it raises the level of happiness in

the world. And because it does that, the organization has had tremendous success, and because of that

success, the Blake Mycoskie we’re imagining as an egoist is getting what he wants: money, great parties,

and everyone loving him. In short, sometimes the best way to one’s own happiness is by helping others be

happier.

That’s not always the way it works. Bernie Madoff destroyed families, stole people’s last dimes, and lived

the high life all the way through. For an ethical egoist, the only blemish on his record is that he got caught.

Madoff did get caught, though, and this too needs to be factored into any consideration of egoists and how

they relate to others. Just as egoists may help others because that serves their own interests, so too they

may obey social customs and laws. It’s only important to note that they obey not out of deference to others

or because it’s the morally right thing to do; they play by the rules because it’s the smart thing to do. They

don’t want to end up rotting in jail.

A useful contrast can be drawn in this context between egoism and selfishness. Where egoism means

putting your welfare above others’, selfishness is the refusal to see beyond yourself. Selfishness is the

inability (or unwillingness) to recognize that there are others sharing the world, so it’s the selfish person,

finally, who’s callous and insensitive to the wants and needs of others. For egoists, on the other hand,

because working with others cooperatively can be an excellent way to satisfy their own desires, they may

not be at all selfish; they may be just the opposite.

Enlightened Egoism, Cause Egoism, and the Invisible Hand

Enlightened egoism is the conviction that benefitting others—acting to increase their happiness—can

serve the egoist’s self-interest just as much as the egoist’s acts directly in favor of him or herself. As

opposed to altruism, which claims that it’s our ethical responsibility to serve others, the enlightened

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egoist’s generosity is a rational strategy, not a moral imperative. We don’t help others because we ought

to: we help them because it can make sense when, ultimately, we only want to help ourselves.

One simple and generic manifestation of enlightened egoism is a social contract. For example, I agree not

to steal from you as long as you agree not to steal from me. It’s not that I don’t take your things because I

believe stealing is morally wrong; I leave you alone because it’s a good way to get you to leave me alone.

On a less dramatic level, all of us form mini social contracts all the time. Just think of leading a group of

people through one of those building exits that makes you cross two distinct banks of doors. If you’re first

out, you’ll hold the door for those coming after, but then expect someone to hold the next door for you.

Sure, some people hold the door because it’s good manners or something like that, but for most of us, if no

one else ever held a door open for us, pretty soon we’d stop doing them the favor. It’s a trivial thing, of

course, but in the real world people generally hold doors open for others because they’ve agreed to a social

contract: everyone else does it for me; I’ll do it for them. That’s enlightened egoism, and it frequently

works pretty well.

TOMS Shoes can be understood as a more sophisticated version of the same mentality. It’s hard to discern

exactly what the contract would look like if someone tried to write it down, but it’s not hard to see the

larger notion of enlightened egoism. Shoes are donated to others not because of a moral obligation but

because serving the interests of others helps Blake Mycoskie serve his own. As long as shoe buyers keep

holding up their end of the bargain by buying his product, Mycoskie will continue to help them be

generous and feel good about themselves by donating pairs to people who need them.

Cause egoism is similar to, but also distinct from, enlightened egoism. Enlightened egoism works from the

idea that helping others is a good way of helping me. Cause egoism works from the idea that giving

the appearance of helping others is a promising way to advance my own interests in business. As opposed

to the enlightened egoist who will admit that he is out for himself but happy to benefit others along the

way, the cause egoist claims to be mainly or only interested in benefiting others and then leverages that

good publicity to help him. Stated slightly differently, enlightened egoists respect others while pursuing

their own interests, while cause egoists just fake it.

Adam Smith (1723–90) is known for making a connected point on the level of broad economic trade and

capitalism. In the end, it usually doesn’t matter whether people actually care about the well-being of

others, Smith maintains, because there exists an invisible hand at work in the marketplace. It leads

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individuals who are trying to get rich to enrich their society as well, and that enrichment happens

regardless of whether serving the general welfare was part of the original plan. According to Smith, the

person in business generally

Intends only his own gain, but is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of

the original intention. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society and

does so more effectively than when he directly intends to promote it. [1]

What’s the invisible hand? It’s the force of marketplace competition, which encourages or even requires

individuals who want to make money to make the lives of others better in the process.

The invisible hand is a central point defenders of egoism in business often make when talking about the

virtues of a me-first ethics. Egoism is good for me, but it frequently ends up being good for everyone else,

too. If that’s right, then even those who believe the utilitarian ideal of the general welfare should guide

business decisions may be forced to concede that we should all just become egoists.

Here’s a quick example. If you open a little takeout pizza shack near campus and your idea is to clear the

maximum amount of money possible to pay your tuition, what kind of business are you going to run?

Does it make sense to take a customer’s twelve dollars and then hand over an oily pie with cheap plastic

cheese and only three pepperonis? No, in the name of pursuing your own happiness, you’re going to try to

charge a bit less than Domino’s and give your customers something slightly better—maybe you’ll spread

richer cheese, or toss on a few extra pepperonis. Regardless, you’re not doing this for the reason an

altruist would; you’re not doing it because you sense an ethical obligation to make others’ lives better. As

an egoist, you don’t care whether your customers are happier or not. But if you want your business to

grow, you better care. And because you’re ethically required to help your business grow in order to make

tuition money and so make yourself happier, you’re going to end up improving the pizza-eating

experience at your school. Better food, less money. Everyone wins. We’re not talking Mother Teresa here,

but if ethical goodness is defined as more happiness for more people, then the pizza place is ethically

good. Further, anybody who wants to start up a successful pizza restaurant is, very likely, going to end up

doing good. If you don’t, if you can’t offer some advantage, then no one’s going to buy your slices.

Going beyond the quality-of-life benefits of businesses in society, Smith leaned toward a second claim

that’s far more controversial. He wrote that the entrepreneur trying to do well actually promotes society’s

well-being more effectively than when directly intending to promote it. This is startling. In essence, it’s

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the claim that for the most dedicated altruist the most effective strategy for life in business is…to act like

an egoist. Within the economic world at least, the best way for someone who cares only about the wellbeing

of others to implement that conviction is to go out and run a successful profit-making enterprise.

Clearly, this is a very powerful argument for defenders of ethical egoism. If it’s true that egoists beat

altruists at their own game (increasing the happiness of everyone else), then egoism wins the debate by

default; we should all become egoists. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to prove this claim one way or the

other. One thing is clear, however: Smith’s implicit criticism of do-gooders can be illustrated. Sometimes

individuals who decide to act for the good of others (instead of seeking profit for themselves) really do end

up making the world a worse place. Dr. Loretta Napoleoni has shown how attempts by Bono of U2 to help

the destitute in Africa have actually brought them more misery. [2] Bono threw a benefit concert and

dedicated the proceeds to Africa are most needy. The intention was good, but the plan wasn’t thought all

the way through and the money ended up getting diverted to warlords who used it to buy guns and bullets.

Still, the fact that some altruistic endeavors actually make things worse doesn’t mean they’re all doomed.

Just as surely as some fail, others succeed.

The same mixed success can be attributed to businesses acting only for their own welfare, only for profit.

If it’s true that the pizza sellers help improve campus life, what about the entrepreneurial honor student

who volunteers to write your term paper for a price? It’s hard to see how a pay-for-grades scheme benefits

students in general, even though the writer may make a tidy profit, and that one student who paid for the

work may come out pretty well.

The invisible hand is the belief that businesses out in the world trying to do well for themselves tend to do

good for others too. It may even be that they do more good than generous altruists. It’s hard to know for

sure, but it can be concluded that there’s a distance between ethical egoism in reality and the image of the

egoist as a ruthless destroyer of broad social happiness.

Some Rules of Egoism

Egoism, like altruism, is a consequentialist ethics: the ends justify the means. If an egoist were at the helm

of TOMS Shoes and he cared only about meeting beautiful people and making huge money, he’d have no

scruples about lying all day long. There’d be no problem with smiling and insisting that the reason TOMS

Shoes exists is to generate charitable shoe donations to the poor. All that matters for the egoist is that the

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lie works, that it serves the goal of making TOMS as attractive and profitable as possible. If it does, then

deviating from the truth becomes the ethically recommendable route to follow.

Personal egoism versus impersonal egoism distinguishes these two views: the personal egoist in the

business world does whatever’s necessary to maximize his or her own happiness. What others do,

however, is considered their business. The impersonal egoist believes everyone should get up in the

morning and do what’s best for themselves and without concern for the welfare of others.

An impersonal egoist may find comfort in the invisible hand argument that the best way for me to do right

with respect to society in general is to get rich. Of course it’s true that there’s something crude in

shameless money grubbing, but when you look at things with rational eyes, it is hard to avoid noticing

that the kinds of advances that make lives better—cars affordably produced on assembly lines; drugs from

Lipitor to Chap Stick; cell phones; spill-proof pens; whatever—often trace back to someone saying, “I want

to make some money for myself.”

Rational egoism versus psychological egoism distinguishes two reasons for being an ethical egoist. The

rational version stands on the idea that egoism makes sense. In the world as it is, and given a choice

between the many ethical orientations available, egoism is the most reasonable. The psychological egoist

believes that, for each of us, putting our own interests in front of everyone else isn’t a choice; it’s a reality.

We’re made that way. Maybe it’s something written into our genes or it’s part of the way our minds are

wired, but regardless, according to the psychological egoist, we all care about ourselves before anyone else

and at their expense if necessary.

Why would I rationally choose to be an egoist? Maybe because I figure that if I don’t look out for myself,

no one will. Or maybe I think almost everyone else is that way, too, so I better play along or I’m going to

get played. (The Mexicans have a pithy phrase of common wisdom for this, “O te chingas, o te chingan,”

which means “either you screw everyone else, or they’ll screw you.”) Maybe I believe that doing well for

myself helps me do well for others too. The list could be drawn out, but the point is that there are

numerous reasons why an intelligent person may accept ethical egoism as the way to go.

As for those who subscribe to the theory of psychological egoism, obviously there’s no end of examples in

business and history to support the idea that no matter how much we may want things to be otherwise,

the plain truth is we’re made to look out for number one. On the other hand, one problem for

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psychological egoists is that there do seem to be examples of people doing things that are irreconcilable

with the idea that we’re all only trying to make ourselves happier:

 Parents sacrificing for children. Any mom or dad who works overtime at some grinding job for cash to pay

their children’s college tuition seems to be breaking the me-first rule. Here, the psychological egoist

responds that, when you really think about it, there may be something there for the parents after all: it

could be the pride in telling friends that their children are getting their degrees.

 Mother Teresa or similar religious-based advocates for the needy. Anyone spending their time and energy

making things better for others, while living painfully modestly, seems like a good candidate to break the

rule of psychological egoism. Here, the psychological egoist responds that perhaps they see a different

reward for themselves than earthly pleasures. They may believe, for example, that their suffering on this

earth will be more than compensated by paradise in heaven.

The Four Relations between Egoism and Business

Structurally, there are four possible relations between ethical egoism and business life:

1. You can have egoists in egoist organizations. This is mercenary capitalism. Individuals do whatever work

is required so long as it benefits them to the maximum. Naturally, this kind of person might find a good

home at a company entirely dedicated to maximizing its own health and success, which can mean one

looking to maximize profits without other considerations. A good example is executives at the

Countrywide mortgage firm. They OK’ed thousands of mortgages to clients who had no way to repay the

money. Then they bundled and sold these mortgages to banks and other financial institutions, making a

quick profit. When the loans later collapsed, those institutions fell into bankruptcy. The Countrywide

executives quickly formed a new company to buy those same loans back at pennies on the dollar, thus

once again turning millions in profits. [3]

2. You can have egoists in nonegoist organizations. Possibly, the CEO of the College Board fits into this

category. His salary of just under a million dollars annually sounds pretty good, especially when you

consider that he gets it working for a nonprofit company that exists to help high school students find the

college best fitted to them. It’s also possible that Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes fits this profile: he lives

an extremely enviable life in the middle of a company set up to help people who almost no one envies.

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3. You can have nonegoists in egoist organizations. Somewhere in the Countrywide mortgage company we

could surely find someone who purchased shoes from TOMS because they wanted to participate in the

project of helping the rural poor in Argentina.

4. You can have nonegoists in nonegoist organizations. Think of the red kettle bell ringers popping up

outside malls around the holiday season.

Advocating and Challenging Ethical Egoism

The arguments for an egoistic ethics include the following:

 Clarity and simplicity. Everybody understands what it means to look out for them first.

 Practicality. Many ethical theories claim to protect our individual interests, but each of us knows

ourselves and our own interest’s best. So doesn’t it make sense that we as individuals take the lead?

Further, with respect to creating happiness for ourselves, there’s no one closer to the action than us. So,

again, doesn’t it make sense that each of us should be assigned that responsibility?

 Sincerity. For those subscribing to psychological egoism, there’s a certain amount of honesty in this

ethics not found in others. If our real motive beneath everything else is to provide for our own happiness

first, then shouldn’t we just recognize and say that? It’s better to be sincere and admit that the reason we

don’t steal is so that others don’t steal from us instead of inventing some other explanations which sound

nice but are ultimately bogus.

 Unintended consequences. In the business world, the concept of the invisible hand allows egoists to

claim that their actions end up actually helping others and may help them more than direct charity or

similar altruistic actions.

 Finally, there’s a broad argument in favor of egoism that concerns dignity. If you’re out in the world being

altruistic, it’s natural to assume that those benefiting from your generosity will be grateful. Sometimes

they’re not, though. Sometimes the people we try to help repay us with spite and resentment. They do

because there’s something condescending about helping others; there’s a message wrapped up in the aid

that those who receive it are incapable of taking care of them and need someone superior to look out for

them. This is especially palpable in the case of panhandlers. If you drop a dollar into their hat, it’s hard to

not also send along the accusation that their existence is base and shameful (you refuse to look them in

the eye; you drop the money and hurry away). To the extent that’s right, an egoism that expects people to

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look out for themselves and spurns charity may actually be the best way to demonstrate respect for others

and to acknowledge their dignity.

Arguments against ethical egoism include the following:

 Egoism isn’t ethics. The reason we have ethics is because there are so many people in the world and in

business who care only about themselves. The entire idea of ethics, the reasoning goes, is to set up some

rules for acting that rescue us from a cruel reality where everyone’s just looking out for number one.

 Egoism ignores blatant wrongs. Stealing candy from a baby—or running a company selling crappy

baby food—strikes most of us as unacceptable, but the rules of egoism dictate that those are

recommendable actions as long as you can be assured that they’ll serve your interests.

 Psychological egoism is not true. The idea that we have no choice but to pursue our own welfare

before anything else is demonstrated to be false millions of times every day; it’s wrong every time

someone makes an anonymous contribution to a cause or goes out of their way to help another without

expecting anything in return.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Egoism defines ethically good as any act that raises the actor’s overall happiness (or decreases

unhappiness) without counting anyone else’s increased or diminished happiness.

 Egoism does not mean ignoring the existence and welfare of others, though they are not necessarily

advocated either.

 Though egoists act in the name of their own happiness, others may benefit.

 Egoism intersects with the business world in various ways.

REVIEW QUE STIONS

1. What’s the difference between egoism and selfishness?

2. In what situation would an egoist decide that a lie is morally wrong?

3. In the real world, is there any way to distinguish an enlightened egoist from a cause egoist?

4. What are some reasons someone may become a rational egoist?

5. What is the invisible hand?

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6. If you were starting a small business, would you prefer that your partner is a utilitarian, an altruist, or an

egoist? Why?

[1] Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (London: Strahan and Cadell,

1776), bk. 4, chap. 2.

[2] Can Tran, “Celebrities Raising Funds for Africa End Up Making Things ‘Worse,’” Ground Report, May 14, 2008,

accessed May 15, 2011,http://www.groundreport.com/World/Celebrities-Raising-Funds-For-Africa-End-Up-

Making/2861070.

[3] Eric Lipton, “Ex-Leaders of Countrywide Profit from Bad Loans,” New York Times, March 3, 2009, accessed May

15, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/business/04penny.html.

3.5 Case Studies

Cheaters

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Source: Photo courtesy of S. Brusseau.

KDCP is Karen Dillard’s company specialized in preparing students to ace the Scholastic Aptitude Test. At

least some of the paying students received a solid testing-day advantage: besides teaching the typical tips

and pointers, KDCP acquired stolen SAT tests and used them in their training sessions. It’s unclear how

many of the questions that students practiced on subsequently turned up on the SATs they took, but some

certainly did. The company that produces the SAT, the College Board, cried foul and took KDCP to court.

The lawsuit fell into the category of copyright infringement, but the real meat of the claim was that KDCP

helped kids cheat, they got caught, and now they should pay.

The College Board’s case was very strong. After KDCP accepted the cold reality that they were going to get

hammered, they agreed to a settlement offer from the College Board that included this provision: KDCP

would provide $400,000 worth of free SAT prep classes to high schoolers who couldn’t afford to pay the

bill themselves. [1]

QUE STIONS

1. Can you form a quick list of people who’d benefit because of this decision and others who’d end up on the

losing side? Then, considering the situation globally and from a utilitarian perspective, what would need to

be true for the settlement offer to be ethically recommendable?

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2. As for those receiving the course for free—it’s probably safe to assume that their happiness

increases. Something for nothing is good. But what about the students who still have to pay for

the course? Some may be gladdened to hear that more students get the opportunity, but others

will see things differently; they’ll focus on the fact that their parents are working and saving

money to pay for the course, while others get it for nothing. Some of those who paid probably

actually earned the money themselves at some disagreeable, minimum wage McJob. Maybe they

served popcorn in the movie theater to one of those others who later on applied and got a

hardship exemption.

o Starting from this frustration and unhappiness on the part of those who pay full price, can you

form a utilitarian case against the settlement’s free classes?

o From a utilitarian perspective, could the College Board have improved the settlement by adding

the stipulation that the settlement’s terms (and therefore the free classes) not be publicly

disclosed?

o Once word got out, could a utilitarian recommend that the College Board lie or that it release a

statement saying, “No free classes were part of the settlement”?

3. There was talk about canceling the scores of those students who took the SAT after benefitting from the

KDCP classes that offered access to the stolen exam booklets. The students and their parents protested

vigorously, pointing out that they’d simply signed up for test prep, just like students all across the nation.

They knew nothing about the theft and they presumably didn’t know they were practicing on questions

that might actually appear on their exam day. From the perspective of rule utilitarianism, what’s the case

for canceling their scores? From the perspective of act utilitarianism, what’s the case for reinstating the

scores?

4. The College Board CEO makes around $830,000 a year.

o What is a utilitarian case for radically lowering his salary?

Month: August 2019

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