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Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
Instructor Manual
Chapter 4: Hiring Ethical People
CHAPTER 4 LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
4.1. Identify the six steps of an ethics job-screening process.
4.2 Discuss the impact of including an ethics screen notice in a job description and
how it affects the types of candidates that apply.
4.3. Summarize key legal rules governing the hiring process to avoid discrimination
claims.
4.4. Obtain accurate behavioral information from résumés, reference checks,
background checks, and integrity tests.
4.5. Construct personality tests that measure ethics.
End of Chapter Question 5: Which of the Big Five Model Personality factors are the
4.6. Prepare interview questions that address ethical issues.
End of Chapter Question 6: What types of questions would you ask job candidates
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4.7. Describe when it is appropriate to conduct post-interview tests for drug use and
lie detecting.
CHAPTER 4 LECTURE OVERVIEW
Sometimes, after dismissing an employee for an ethical breach, a manager might wonder: How
did this person get through the hiring process? There are millions of good-hearted and well-
intentioned people, but this person was not one of them. The best safeguard against unethical
activities at work is hiring people of high integrity.
CHAPTER 4 LECTURE OUTLINE
Suggested Time: 2 to 3 hours of class time is recommended to present this chapter. Attempts to
cover the material in less time are discouraged.
I. Chapter Question 1: What are the six steps of an ethics job-screening process?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each step?
II. Chapter Question 2: How does including an ethics screen notice in job
descriptions affect the types of candidates that apply?
III. Chapter Question 3: What are disparate impacts and how can you determine if
an organization’s job-screening process results in disparate impacts?
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Disparate Impacts
IV. Chapter Question 4: What are four sources of behavioral information about a
job candidate’s ethics? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each
information source?
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Integrity Tests
V. Chapter Question 5: Which of the Big Five Personality Model factors are the
most relevant for understanding a job candidate’s ethics?
VI. Chapter Question 6: What types of questions would you ask job candidates
during an interview to understand their ethics?
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Collins, Business Ethics 3e
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VII. Chapter Question 7: Under what conditions can a job candidate be given a drug
and polygraph test?
CHAPTER 4 SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Textbook Inserts
Ethical Dilemma Analysis
• What Would You Do: A Second Chance
Tables and Figures
• Table 4.1: Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process
Self-Assessment (in Vantage only)
• Self-Assessment 4.1: Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Thematic Boxes
CHAPTER QUESTION 1: WHAT ARE THE SIX-STEPS OF AN ETHICS JOB-
SCREENING PROCESS? WHAT ARE THE STRENGHTS AND WEAKNESSES OF
EACH STEP?
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Determine immediately how well students have grasped the material by telling students that the
marketing director just took a job with another company and they have been assigned to the
hiring committee. Explain: Your task is to fill the position within 3 months, and you can’t
Instructor Resource
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
contract out to HR or a headhunter. It is up to you and your team to come up with an in-depth
project management plan to achieve the goal—what are the tasks that need to be performed?
The most important factor for developing and reinforcing a high integrity work culture is hiring
ethical job applicants. Employing someone whose ethics does not match that of a high-integrity
work culture can contaminate an organization.
• Hiring someone is inviting the person into your home, if your organization is small,
1. ETHICS SCREEN NOTICE
Inform potential job applicants about the organization’s ethics job screen.
2. LEGAL GROUND RULES
3. BEHAVIOR INFORMATION
4. PERSONALITY TRAITS AND RELATED CHARACTERISTICS
5. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
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6. POST-INTERVIEW TESTS
Where appropriate, conduct drug and polygraph tests.
BUT WHAT IF I’M A SMALL BUSINESS?
Some students do not plan on working for a large business and may wonder if any of this
is relevant for a small business. Address this early on.
• Including ethics as part of the job screening process is even more important for
small businesses.
QUESTION 2: HOW DOES INCLUDING AN ETHICS SCREEN NOTICE IN JOB
DESCRIPTIONS AFFECT THE TYPES OF CANDIDATES THAT APPLY?
STEP 1: Ethics Screen Notice
ATTRACTION-SELECTION-ATTRITION CYCLE (ASA)
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Industrial psychologist Benjamin Schneider’s Attraction-Selection-Attrition cycle
OUTREACH TO ETHICAL APPLICANTS
Include a sentence in the job announcement noting that background and reference checks
will be conducted and ethics is part of annual performance appraisals.
• Notifying potential job candidates about the organization’s ethics screen attracts
ethical applicants and discourages morally egregious people from applying.
• Some job applicants may be concerned that the ethics screen is an invasion of
privacy. Clarify that the ethics screen focuses on job-related issues and not activities
BEST PRACTICE BEN & JERRY’S
• Ben & Jerry’s takes an extra step by broadcasting the organization’s progressive
social mission throughout its website in hopes of attracting like-minded people.
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• The company’s three-part corporate mission focuses employees on achieving profit
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Take a quick poll asking students if they find Ben & Jerry’s social mission appealing. Why or
Why not?
For those who find it appealing, if they had two job offers, one from Ben & Jerry’s and one from
CHAPTER QUESTION 3: WHAT ARE DISPARATE IMPACTS AND HOW CAN YOU
DETERMINE IF AN ORGANIZATION’S JOB-SCREENING PROCESS RESULTS IN
DISPARATE IMPACTS?
STEP 2: Legal Ground Rules
BACKGROUND
• For nearly two centuries, employers could use any selection criteria they desired.
Explicit discrimination was widespread. Some employers displayed signs that read:
“X Need Not Apply” with “X” being anyone of a different gender (usually women),
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• Many federal and state laws now govern the types of information an employer can
gather on job candidates and the reasons an employer can invoke for selecting one job
candidate over another.
o Employers can gather and use information in a way that does not discriminate
TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
• In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson pressured Congress to pass the far-reaching Civil
Rights Act. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits businesses from
discriminating among job applicants based on the person’s race, color, religion,
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created in 1965 to
oversee provisions of the Civil Rights Act.
o The EEOC’s scope extended with the passage of the Age Discrimination in
• There are four major exemptions to Title VII:
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1. If an organization employs less than 15 people—small businesses are
exempted from many regulations so as not to overwhelm them with regulatory
compliance burdens
• Managers can refuse to hire people they do not like, but the dislike cannot be based
on the job candidate being a member of a protected class.
DISPARATE IMPACTS
• Unlawful discrimination can occur on the front end or the back end of the hiring
process.
• Front-end job discrimination occurs when members of protected classes are excluded
• Back-end job discrimination can be intentional or unintentional.
o Intentional job discrimination would occur if a male manager decides not to hire a
woman finalist because the other men in the office are sexist and would not
follow orders from a woman.
o A job selection rule that does not explicitly discriminate against a protected class,
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o In 2012, Pepsi settled $3.13 million racial discrimination case because their job
selection rules had a disparate impact on racial minorities, the rule—all applicants
• An organization’s gender, racial, and ethnic employee profile should reflect the
gender, racial, and ethnic profile of people living in the geographical region qualified
to perform the job task.
• The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) recommends applying a
four-fifths rule to determine whether an apparently nondiscriminatory selection
process may result in disparate impacts.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students obtain employee gender or race statistics from a recent job search or from a
corporate website. If possible, search for relevant community data on gender and race. Then use
JOB SELECTION RULE CHECKLIST
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
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An organization may implement an affirmative action plan if its gender or racial profile
does not reflect the gender or racial profile of people living in the geographical region
qualified to perform the job task.
• Affirmative action plans remedy past discriminatory behaviors by actively seeking,
hiring, and promoting minority group members and women to equalize
opportunities previously limited to white males.
ETHICAL ISSUES
• Affirmative action plans remain controversial.
• Some people claim that affirmative action plans are an unconstitutional form of
“reverse discrimination,” where white males are discriminated against based solely on
their race and gender.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
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Many affirmative action plans state that “if all else is equal” among job candidates the company
should hire the most qualified woman or African American.
Take a poll as to whether students believe affirmative action plans are ethical or unethical. Then
Title VII has been expanded to prohibit employers from discriminating based on the following:
• Age, physical or mental disabilities, or genetic information
Extra Information Below
OTHER LEGAL ISSUES
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act has been supplemented with legislation prohibiting
discrimination based on age, pregnancy, and disability.
AGE DISCRIMINATION
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, amended in 1978 and 1986,
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 clarified that unlawful sex discrimination
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DISABILITIES
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The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 extended civil rights protections to
For Mental Disabilities
• According to the EEOC, employers should not ask job applicants whether they
have been treated for any mental health conditions or certain diseases.
• Mental health tests are recommended, and at times mandated by law, for jobs
involving high levels of stress, personal risk, and responsibility, such as nuclear
power plant operators, armed security guards, or air traffic controllers.
• If a mental health test reveals a disability, the company must provide
End of Extra Information
ALCOHOLISM AND SMOKING
In 2018, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that
17.6 million people, or 1 in every 12 adults, suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence.
Instructor Resource
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In 2018, 34.2 million Americans smoked, 13.7 percent of adults, and 16 million
NEPOTISM
Nepotism is demonstrating favoritism in the granting of jobs and business dealings based on kinship. May
often be seen in small family businesses.
UNDOCUMENTED OR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
An increasing number of immigrants from a variety of nations illegally enter the United
States because of immigration quota restrictions.
In 2017, approximately 10.5 million people, about 3.7 percent of the population, were
illegally in the United States, with 59 percent of them from Mexico.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Experts estimate that 11.1 million people in 2017 were in the United States illegally
(undocumented), about 3.7 percent of the population, having crossed the border illegally, with 59
percent of them from Mexico. With so many undocumented (illegal) immigrants living in the
United States, it is not very difficult to find one. Ask students (and debate/discuss):
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1. Should police and immigration officials give a more concerted effort in locating and deporting
illegal immigrants? Why?
WHAT LEGAL OBLIGATIONS DO JOB CANDDATES HAVE WITH ORGANIZATIONS
INTERVIEWING THEM?
The legal system is equally demanding about the obligations job candidates owe the employer.
Job candidates are legally required to respond truthfully to all job-related questions on
application forms and submitted materials, such as resumes. Highlight this obligation by
inserting a sentence directly above the job candidate’s signature line stating this:
1. All answers provided by the job candidate are truthful.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Many college students admit to having exaggerated or lied during the job application process.
Take a poll to determine whether any students in class have made similar misrepresentations
about—positive attributes, work experience, previous pay, list of awards or distinctions. Have
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CHAPTER QUESTION 4: WHAT ARE FOUR SOURCES OF BEHAVIOR
INFORMATION ABOUT A JOB CANDIDATE’S ETHICS? WHAT ARE THE
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH INFORMATION SOURCE?
STEP 3: Behavioral Information
Behavioral information about a job candidate’s ethics is more reliable than attitudinal
survey results or responses to hypothetical dilemmas.
RESUMES
• The best predictor of future performance is past performance.
• Serving on high-profile committees at work suggests that a job candidate is
trustworthy, dependable, and well-respected.
• Executives
o The same problem is apparent among those applying for the highest-level job
openings.
o Marilee Jones, dean of student admissions at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, whose job duties included reviewing student resumes, was fired in
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• More serious infractions indicate a job candidate’s willingness to circumvent the truth
to gain a competitive advantage.
REFERENCE CHECKS
• The previous supervisor’s perspective of the job candidate’s strengths and
weaknesses is probably the most relevant information source. Behavioral indicators
of the job candidate’s ethics include the applicant’s attendance record, ability to
subordinate would classify the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses.
• If a former employer or supervisor will only confirm dates of employment, then
quickly ask: “Would you hire this person again?”
o Supervisors are usually willing to share positive information about a former
employee, even if their organization has a strict policy not to divulge anything
beyond the basic employment facts.
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• Authorizes references, former employers, and educators to respond
BACKGROUND CHECKS
General Information
• A background check is more objective than a reference check, integrity test, or
personality test.
• Conduct background checks to verify a job candidate’s academic accomplishments,
Educational Accomplishments
• Academic accomplishments are a common resume problem.
• A background check could reveal that a workshop attended at a local college or
Credit Checks
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• Job candidate should be notified that a credit check will be conducted, with an
Criminal Records
• Department of Justice reports that between 60 percent and 75 percent of former
inmates are unable to obtain employment during their first year after prison release.
• Other sources of information are criminal records, motor vehicle reports, Social
Security verification, and credit checks.
• Creditworthiness and previous arrests must be job related if a determining factor for
denying someone employment. Speeding tickets and drunken driving citations may
be relevant for travelling salespeople but not retail clerks.
• Ban the Box legislation exists in several cities, counties, and states.
o “Box” refers to the criminal record confirmation box that appears on many job
application forms.
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