Is it ethical for Western companies to pay low wages when they move their factories to developing nations?
Contributed by DL (high school student)
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The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) requires me to have health insurance, or else pay a penalty. The penalty is $95 or 1% of income (whichever is greater) in 2014, $325 or 2% of income in 2015, and $695 or 2.5% of income thereafter.
Is it ethical for me to pay the penalty, rather than buy insurance, if I think this will save me money?
Contributed by anonymous.
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Hi. I’m John Hooker, an emeritus professor of business ethics at Carnegie Mellon University. I created this blog to provide a forum for analyzing ethical dilemmas in a rational way.
I analyze each dilemma, based on the principles described under How to analyze. You may need to look at these to understand what I am talking about. You can also contribute to the discussion.
An ethical dilemma that I’ve experienced ever since I’ve entered college was the use of amphetamines such as Adderall and Vyvanse, in order to study longer and get better grades. Through middle school and high school, I studied for hours to earn straight A’s and get into a private university. After struggling my freshman year in college, I didn’t know what I was doing wrong. I changed my study habits, joined study groups, and obtained tutoring, but I could never do as well as other students. I knew my peers used “study drugs” to stay up longer and remain focused, but I never wanted to stoop so low. It’s extremely frustrating to study for days before the exam and then receive a B, when other kids cram the night before using amphetamines and get an A. It’s distressing when I apply to jobs but hear nothing, while students who use drugs get offers from Goldman Sachs and Deloitte. I have morals that my parents taught me, but it is really hard to stick to them when I don’t benefit from doing “the right thing.”
Contributed by Anonymous.
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An ethical dilemma that I have faced is whether to continue playing my current varsity sport that helped me get into the school, or quit and focus on school and social life.
Contributed by Anonymous.
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My prospects for finding a summer job were dim until my friend John helped get me a job with his retail employer, Dollar General. It was my first job, and it took me some time to learn the skills. John supported me despite my numerous mistakes during the first few weeks.
Dollar General faced a continuing challenge with theft. We would stock products only to find some shelves empty the following day. Upper management was pressuring us to stop the pilfering but refused to supply resources for extra staff, surveillance cameras and the like. We tried several strategies without success, including the assignment of employees to different areas of the store during the day. Finally, one day we caught a thief in the act of leaving the store with a duffel bag full of merchandise. By this time I had been promoted to assistant manager (on John’s recommendation), and it was my job to inspect the bag. I found inside it a document, prepared by John, that detailed when certain areas of the store would be unsupervised.
Only I knew of John’s involvement. I was almost in denial, because I had known him for many years and thought I was an accurate judge of his character. Initially, I felt obligated to protect him. However, after some thought, I reported him to the store manager, who undertook the necessary course of action.
Contributed by Anonymous.
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Ethical Decisions 