MBA Programme
Period: P4
September/October 2019
DRAFT – FOR BIDDING PURPOSES ONLY
The Ethical Dilemma
Professor: Craig Smith
Email: craig.smith@insead.edu
Assistant: Dora Tin
Email: dora.tin@insead.edu
Course Purpose
This course is about responding effectively to the ethical challenges you will face in your future
career. Part I builds on the core course “Business & Society: Ethics” by exploring ethical dilemmas
and individual ethical decision-making in more depth, as well as why ethics increasingly demands
our attention in business. Going beyond ethical analysis and decision-making, it uses the “Giving
Voice to Values” (GVV) pedagogy to examine ethics implementation, the strategies and tactics by
which we can increase the likelihood of realising the desired ethical outcomes despite the conflicting
pressures of the organizational context. The focus in Part II shifts from the individual to the
organization as we explore the drivers of (un)ethical conduct and how individuals and organizations
can respond to the ethical implications of cross-cultural differences. There will be an optional “Ethical
Dilemma Movie Night” if schedules permit.
Learning Goals (see Appendix A for a detailed guide)
Ethical decision making in business is increasingly critical to business success as well as the right
thing to do, not least given the reputational risk for firms and individuals of perceived unethical
conduct. This course cannot turn sinners into saints, but it can provide insight on some of the ethical
issues that arise in business and how they can be managed effectively. After completing the course
you will be better prepared to:
Develop a deeper understanding of the ethical dimensions of business conduct and the
analytical frameworks helpful in identifying and resolving the ethical and social responsibility
issues that arise;
Develop responses to common ethical issues by applying the Giving Voice to Values
framework, including “scripting” and action planning for managing them.
Identify and understand the drivers of (un)ethical conduct in organizations and the steps that
can be taken to strengthen organizational resilience to misconduct;
Examine the values and assumptions brought to business decisions by yourself and others,
including cross-cultural differences.
MBA Programme
Period: P4
September/October 2019
Page 2 of 11
Course Overview
Session
Subject
Readings
Assignments
PART I: ETHICS & THE INDIVIDUAL
Business & Ethics: The
Ethical Dilemma
“WebTeb case”
Beauchamp and Bowie, “Ethical
Theory and Business Practice:
Fundamental Concepts and
Problems”
Prepare case study
Submit on-line poll
Giving Voice to Values:
Responding to Values
Challenges
“Man in the Mirror (A)”
Prepare case study
Submit on-line poll
Giving Voice to Values:
Dealing With Bribery and
Corruption
Man in the Mirror (B)”
(issued in prior class)
Prepare case study
Giving Voice to Values: A
Tale of Two Stories
Gentile, “A Tale of Two Stories”,
“Starting Assumptions for Giving
Voice to Values”, “Ways of Thinking
about our Values in the Workplace”
(pp. 2-3, 22-27).
GVV memo: “A Tale of
Two Stories”
Giving Voice to Values:
Scripting
Gentile, “Ways of Thinking about
our Values in the Workplace”
Group Work
PART II: ETHICS & THE ORGANISATION
What Leads to
Organizational Misconduct?
How Do We Promote Good
Conduct?
“Uber and the Ethics of Sharing”
Case
Fowler, “Reflecting on One Very,
Very Strange Year at Uber”
Trevino and Nelson, Chapter 5
Prepare case study
Submit on-line poll
Ethics in Organizations
Cross-Cultures: When in
Rome?
“Google in China (A)”
Donaldson, “Values in Tension:
Ethics Away from Home”
Prepare case study
Submit on-line poll
MBA Programme
Period: P4
September/October 2019
Page 3 of 11
Course Sessions, Readings, Assignments, Deliverables
PART I: ETHICS & THE INDIVIDUAL
Session 1: Business & Ethics: The Ethical Dilemma
The session will start with a prototypical ethical dilemma and then explore the type of ethical conflicts
that arise in business, including those commonly experienced by INSEAD MBAs, as well as what
we mean when we speak of ethical conflicts and ethical dilemmas. It will also briefly review the key
messages from the core course on Ethics. Our first case, “WebTeb”, is about the experience of a
recent INSEAD MBA graduate in the Middle East.
Case: “WebTeb: A Very Palestinian Dilemma (A)”
This is the story of Majed Abukhater, a recent INSEAD MBA student. On graduating, Majed found
his dream job: high-tech, entrepreneurial, senior – and contributing to the economy of Palestine, a
cause close to his heart. WebTeb was an exciting, online, consumer medical-information service in
Arabic, based in Palestine—and Majed was the new CEO. Reality, however, proved challenging.
Recruiting IT talent in Palestine was particularly tough. Eventually, Majed and his team found the
android developer they needed for their new launch, but then came the fateful phone call.
Case Preparation Questions:
1. Why has the request to “let the developer go” been made?
2. What is the ethical dilemma here?*
3. What would you do if you were Majed?*
Required Reading/Preparation:
• WebTeb case (INSEAD pre-release case)
• Tom L. Beauchamp and Norman E. Bowie, “Ethical Theory and Business Practice:
Fundamental Concepts and Problems,” Ethical Theory and Business (Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall 2001), pp. 1-38.
MBA Programme
Period: P4
September/October 2019
Session 2: Giving Voice to Values: Responding to Values Challenges
How do you respond when faced with business situations that challenge your values? “The Man in
the Mirror” is a case about bribery and corruption in defense contracting in the Middle East. It’s a
true story and an all too common scenario in some business environments.
Case: “The Man in the Mirror (A)”
Sebastian is an experienced Program Director, recently recruited to work for MidCo, a defence
contractor in the Kingdom of Sumeria and a subsidiary of EuroCorp, a large European defence
company. He is expected to oversee a $3.25 billion military telecommunications modernisation
programme being managed for Sumeria by the British government. On taking up the role, he notices