Ethics Case Bank
A valuable resource for ethics education
One Part Case
Rapt Flight Systems
The proposal manager for a lucrative opportunity at Rapt Flight Systems gains access to proprietary information of the primary competitor for the business. A critical member of her proposal team is also a former employee of the competing firm. The case follows different employees of Rapt and how they act regarding both these issues. What are the responsibilities of individual employees with knowledge of potential improprieties? What are the obligations of the organization? How do market pressures affect behavior and create risk?
Primary Topics:Proprietary Information, Trade Secrets
One Part Case
Relational Solutions
An engineering staff member at Relational Solutions, Inc., a 7,000-employee high-end electronics firm, experiences difficulties related to her hearing impairment. However, questions arise about her performance separate from her disability. The case follows her manager as she attempts to balance operational needs with the need to make reasonable accommodations for the disability. How do we separate what is genuine failure to perform from issues that could be resolved by reasonable accommodations? How do preconceptions about disabilities affect our actions?
Primary Topics:Disabilities, Performance Issues
One Part Case
Anderson Rollers and Bearings
Anderson Rollers and Bearings, Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of high-performance bearings, transmissions, and gearboxes. When an executive assistant discovers some sensitive, non-public information regarding the company’s business plans, it creates a conflict between an obligation not to disclose the information and a desire to protect another person who will be adversely affected.
Primary Topics:Inside Information
One Part Case
Alanthus Hotel Group
An employee at a hotel chain is subjected to verbal abuse by her manager. This is part of a pattern of such abuse of employees by the manager. Another employee reports the abusive conduct, the matter is substantiated, and corrective action taken. But the employees are not aware of the resolution of the case. Subsequently, the employee who was the subject of the most recent incident feels she is being retaliated against. The case looks at the growing concern over abusive conduct in the workplace as well as the effect of retaliation. What is abuse? What does retaliation look like? How do both abuse and retaliation affect the workplace and the viability of an organization? A subsidiary issue is communication with employees over ethics allegations.
Primary Topics:Abusive Conduct, Retaliation
One Part Case
Polymentos Consulting
There is an often-expressed perception in organizational ethics research that executive management is not held to the same standards as others in the organization. This case will examine situations that arise in the workplace where pressure to please a senior manager can create potential problems in an organization. To what extent can a senior employee use his/her position to influence subordinates and colleagues for private purposes, even when those purposes may be considered a good end? Does it make a difference if the end result benefits a relative, a student, a charity, or a valid political goal?
Primary Topics:Abuse of Position
One Part Case
Teller Aerospace
Bribery, particularly in the conduct of international business, draws a great deal of attention from enforcement agencies and the press. What constitutes bribery — is it as obvious as it seems? Are “everyone does it” and “that’s the way business is done in this country” valid arguments? Are there values to be considered and not just rules (the law)? This case of a British-based multi-national company that provides radar and flight control systems worldwide, examines both the effect of bribery on society and how individuals see their responsibilities in the face of questionable conduct.
Primary Topics:Bribery
One Part Case
Optimatics
Employers have the means to monitor data related to all kinds of employee activity at work. Sometimes employees are aware of the surveillance capabilities of companies and the data they collect and sometimes they are not. Should a company be transparent about the kinds of employee activities they monitor and why? Or should they withhold this information from employees to make it easier to detect misconduct and criminal activity?
Primary Topics:Employee Surveillance
One Part Case
Advanced Technology Labs
Procedural justice involves establishing and communicating transparent processes to support a perception of fairness and justice. This case of a computer chip manufacturing company presents a situation related to the promotion of an employee with two possible outcomes; one where there is no context of procedural justice, and the other where procedural justice is present. The case will compare and contrast outcomes with the two approaches.
Primary Topics:Procedural Justice
One Part Case
Graham Intelligent Solutions
Two employees at Graham Intelligent Solutions, Inc., a developer of large-scale software systems, display questionable conduct outside of the workplace and work hours. To what extent is such conduct a matter for concern by their employer and to what extent can or should an employer impose discipline? Does the fact that one employee is a non-manager and the other is a senior manager make a difference? Accountability for conduct at different organizational levels in the company is a concern in this case.
Primary Topics:Off-duty Conduct
One Part Case
Integrated People Solutions
Employers have a vested interest in the good health and well-being of their employees. Healthy employees are more productive, take fewer sick days, and make fewer claims against the employee insurance plan. Increasingly, employers have begun to use mandates, incentives, and penalties to discourage employees covered by their insurance plans from smoking, exceeding Body Mass Index (BMI), or engaging in other “risky” behaviors that create financial threats to the company. How far companies can or should go in attempting to influence or control their employees’ health-related practices and behavior is an issue with ethical implications.
Primary Topics:Employee Health Benefits
The Case Bank is an online library of simple, straightforward business cases focused on principle-based ethics.
These resources are free to download for use in educational settings.
The custom, professionally-created cases present real-world ethical challenges designed to prompt reflection and discussion.
All cases integrate the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Principles. There are cases available in three formats: one-part documents, two-part documents, and online video e-cases.
Cases have been utilized by educators and businesses nearly 1,400 times to reach a total audience of more than 52,000 people.
One-part cases consist of a short traditional ethics case and instructor notes.
Two-part cases consist of a Part A traditional ethics case, plus a Part B crisis situation, which provides more information and can be introduced after Part A.
E-cases consist of an ethics mini-documentary video and an online learning module with activities to explore the ethics issues in the case. There are two options for instructors to provide their students access to the e-cases:
General Access:Instructors can give their students general access by simply clicking the general access button below and completing a two-question survey. You will receive a direct link you can provide to students where they can access the full e-case.
Customized Access:This option allows instructors the added ability to track their students’ registration and completion of the case, and establish deadlines. Customized Access will require students to register and create an account with Helios Digital. To establish customized access, email a request to Helios Digital with the following information:
- Instructor name
- Instructor’s class name and number (e.g. Accounting 201)
- Completion deadline
You will receive an email from Helios Digital within 48-72 hours with your personalized access information for your course. For questions, please contact Helios Digital at [email protected].
Audio cases consist of radio/podcast profiles sharing the stories of prominent business leaders and the ethical dilemmas they have faced in their careers.
Topic Search
The Case Bank is an online library of simple, straightforward business cases focused on principle-based ethics.
These resources are free to download for use in educational settings.
The custom, professionally-created cases present real-world ethical challenges designed to prompt reflection and discussion.
All cases integrate the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Principles. There are cases available in three formats: one-part documents, two-part documents, and online video e-cases.
Cases have been utilized by educators and businesses nearly 1,400 times to reach a total audience of more than 52,000 people.