Collins Instructor’s Guide
Business Ethics Issue Video
“Inside the Meltdown,” Frontline, about 2008 financial crisis; February 17, 2009, 57
minutes, available at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meltdown/view/?
utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid.
TEDTalks Videos
Evolution of Compassion: Robert Wright uses evolutionary biology and game theory to
explain why we appreciate the Golden Rule (“Do unto others…”), why we sometimes
ignore it, and why there’s hope that, in the near future, we might all have the compassion
to follow it; October 2009, 17 minutes, available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_wright_the_evolution_of_compassion.html.
Responding to Being Told You’ll Die Soon: Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch,
who was dying of pancreatic cancer, delivered a “last lecture” on how to really achieve
your childhood dreams; September 2007,76 minutes, available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/randy_pausch_really_achieving_your_childhood_dreams.html.
Conversations with Charlie Rose
A conversation about the indictment of Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO of Enron;
February 19, 2004, 20 minutes, available at:
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/1567.
A conversation with Kurt Eichenwald of “The New York Times” about the collapse of
Enron in his book “Conspiracy of Fools;” March 17, 2005, 38 minutes, available at
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/1003.
CHAPTER 2 ETHICAL DILEMMA ANALYSIS
Each chapter contains three real-life ethical dilemmas: (a) What would you do? (all scenarios
provided by my students), (b) Let’s Build a Building (all scenarios provided by a construction
consultant), and (c) In the Real Word: Enron (more in-depth explanations available in Denis
Collins (2006) Behaving Badly: Ethical Lessons from Enron).
Have students apply Exhibit 5.11 “Critical Thinking Decision-Making Process Table” to analyze
these ethical dilemmas (instructions below). By doing so, students develop a habit for analyzing
decisions that take into consideration ethical concerns.
Step 1: Write the decision options in the appropriate column below.
Step 2: Apply the seven “Applying Ethical Theories to Decision Making” questions to the
decision to obtain relevant ethical information.
Step 3: Insert the ethical strength and weakness revealed by each of the seven ethical questions in
the appropriate column below.
Step 4: Review the option strengths and insert in the options column what “value” supports the
option (i.e., honesty, loyalty, efficiency, respect, job security, profits, etc.)
1-3