Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Management Live: Curbing Work Hours to Improve Performance
Does it surprise you that software coders produce higher quality work in 40-hour versus 60-hour
weeks? Working long hours gives the impression of being “dependable” and “committed.” But at
what price? An occupational psychologist says: “We need to see duty of care as part of the role
of manager…sensible hours needs to be championed by middle managers as well as senior
leaders.” Not taking care of your health, missing children’s life and school events, and inattention
to spouse or partner are warning signs. Living with always-on technology doesn’t help. In
response, Volkswagen suspends email from 30 minutes after shifts end until the next day.
Daimler allows employees to have vacation and holiday emails deleted from the server.
What social responsibility do employers have to make sure that employees don’t work so many
hours that they lose productivity and damage their health and personal lives?
A good starting discussion in class about work-life balance issues and its impact on the
productivity/performance of employees. Do organizations truly care about the well-being of their
employees? Should additional hours be offset with perks offered by companies like Google?
Where is the line for push for productivity versus wellbeing of employees?
Choices: Europe Turns to Quotas to Get Women on Boards
The consulting firm Mc-Kinsey & Company reports that women are hired into more than 50% of
professional jobs in America’s largest corporations. But they gradually leak from the career
pipeline. Women hold just 16.9% of director positions on Fortune 500 corporate boards. Data
from Europe are worse—13.7% of board seats are filled by women.
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and wait for change in female representation on boards? Or do you support quotas to motivate
faster positive action?
Pipeline or discrimination problem? Ethics of setting gender quotas? Wait for change or support
quotas to motivate faster positive action?
Ethics Check: Interns Sue Employers for Back Pay
Two interns sued Fox Searchlight Pictures claiming their jobs would otherwise have been done
by paid employees and they wanted to be paid for it. A federal judge agreed and turned the
Is it right for interns to demand pay in return for valuable work experience and a possible job
entry point? Are employers taking advantage of interns by not paying them for doing real work?
What’s the dividing line between fairness and exploitation in an internship contract? Who
benefits from the Fox case? Are we about to see a decline in the number of available student
internships? What’s your internship experience? Did you engage in tasks that had an immediate
positive benefit for the firm you were working for? Did it seem wrong to you that you weren’t
being paid?
This is a good class discussion issue and students should be able to relate to this as they all/most
have or will go through exploring internships. One line of reasoning – were the students cheated
Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
or lied to by Fox? If students are accepting the internship opportunities knowing that they are
unpaid – is that an ethical issue? Are companies taking advantage of students?
Facts to Consider: Behavior of Managers is Key to an Ethical Workplace
A survey conducted for Deloitte & Touche USA includes the following findings:
• Forty-two percent of workers say the behavior of their managers is a major influence
Hot Topic: App-Enabled On-demand Workers are not Robots
Ride sharing is just one of many avenues of on-demand work fast appearing on the employment
scene. But what’s it like to be one of the app-enabled workers?
The opportunity for income with job flexibility is attractive to many – work when you want, as
long as want, as often as you want. But, what rights do “on–demand workers” have? If a ride
sharing company sets pay schedules, requires certain attire and behaviors, and can fire at will, are
the drivers true “employees” or not?
Current U.S. labor laws offer two classifications of workers – traditional and independent
contractors. The traditional workers are official employees and have legal protections in respect
What are the social responsibilities of organizations that hire on-demand workers? Is it enough to
offer income opportunity with work flexibility, or should more be on the table as part of the
employer-employee contract? Is the sharing economy and the app-enabled workforce good for
human sustainability?
Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Uber is quickly becoming a poster child for these cases. If court cases were to go against such
companies, it has a heavy financial ramification on the insurance, workman’s comp, taxes, and
fringe benefits provided by the company. Where are your students on this issue?
Quick Case: Teacher Calls about Daughter Cheating on Test
“Hello, this is Ann’s fourth–grade teacher. I’d like to set up a conference. She’s been caught
cheating on a test.” This isn’t the telephone message you’d been expecting when answering
voice mail from your daughter’s school. Just the other day Ann had been telling you how much
Can Ann’s behavior be justified on ethics grounds? What do you say, ask, and do with her? How
can you turn this situation into a learning experience that will help her know right from wrong?
How do you handle her emotions… and likely questions? What is the line here between ethical
and unethical behavior in a culture of teamwork? What do you say, ask, and do with the teacher?
TestPrep 3
MULTIPLE CHOICE
and be able to save jobs for the other 90% of
employees. This decision could be justified as
ethical using the _________ approach to moral
reasoning.
favored employees to arrive late without
penalties—this would be considered a violation
of _________.
(a) human rights (b) personal values
3. According to research on ethics in the
workplace, _________ is/are often a major and
frequent source of pressures that create ethical
dilemmas for people in their jobs.
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SHORT-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
16. How does distributive justice differ from procedural justice?
17. What are the three Spotlight Questions that people can use for double-checking the ethics of a decision?
18. If someone commits an unethical act, how can he or she rationalize it to make it seem right?
19. What is the virtuous circle of corporate social responsibility?
INTEGRATION AND APPLICATION QUESTIONS:
20. A small outdoor clothing company in the U.S. has just received an attractive proposal from a business in
Tanzania to manufacture the work gloves that it sells. Accepting the offer from the Tanzanian firm would allow
for substantial cost savings compared to the current supplier. However, the American firm’s manager has
recently read reports that some businesses in Tanzania are forcing people to work in unsafe conditions in order to
keep their costs down. The manager is now seeking your help in clarifying the ethical aspects of this opportunity.
Questions: How would you describe to this manager his or her alternatives in terms of cultural relativism
and moral absolutism? What would you identify as the major issues and concerns in terms of the cultural
relativism position versus the absolutist position? Finally, what action would you recommend in this
situation, and why?
Answer: If the manager adopts a position of cultural relativism, there will be no perceived problem in
Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Skill Building Portfolio
Self-Assessment: Terminal Values Survey
1. Read the following list of things people value. Think about each value in terms of its
importance as a guiding principle in your life.
A comfortable life
An exciting life
Family security
Freedom
Pleasure
Salvation
2. Circle six of these 18 values to indicate that they are most important to you. If you can, rank-
3. Underline the six of these 18 values that are least important to you.
Interpretation
Terminal values reflect a person’s preferences concerning the ends to be achieved. They are the
goals individuals would like to achieve in their lifetimes. As you look at the items you have
selected as most and least important, what major differences exist among the items in the two
sets? Think about this and then answer the following questions.
A) What does your selection of most and least important values say about you as a person?
B) What does your selection of most and least important values suggest about the type of work
and career that might be best for you?
C) Which values among your most and least important selections might cause problems for you in
the future—at work and/or in your personal life? What problems might they cause, and why?
How might you prepare now to best deal with these problems in the future?
D) How might your choices of most and least important values turn out to be major strengths or
assets for you—at work and/or in your personal life, and why?
Teaching Notes:
This feature offers students a chance to determine their personal values system by taking the
Terminal Values Assessment (goals individuals would like to achieve in their lifetimes) in the
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Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3-23
Ask students to maintain their scores and reflections throughout the course and write a summary
of the areas they want to strengthen, or change, as they develop as managers or employees.
This may be a comprehensive special project near the end of the quarter/semester.
Class Exercise: Confronting Ethical Dilemmas
Preparation
Read and indicate your response to each of the following situations.
1. Ron Jones, vice president of a large construction firm, receives in the mail a large envelope
marked “personal.” It contains a competitor’s cost data for a project that both firms will be
bidding on shortly. The data are accompanied by a note from one of Ron’s subordinates saying:
“This is the real thing!” Ron knows that the data could be a major advantage to his firm in
preparing a bid that can win the contract. What should he do?
2. Kay Smith is one of your top-performing team members. She has shared with you her desire
to apply for promotion to a new position just announced in a different division of the company.
This will be tough on you because recent budget cuts mean you will be unable to replace anyone
who leaves, at least for quite some time. Kay knows this and, in all fairness, has asked your
permission before she submits an application. It is rumored that the son of a good friend of your
Instructions
Working alone, make the requested decisions in each of these incidents. Think carefully about
your justification for the decision. Meet in a group assigned by your instructor. Share your
Teaching Note
Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
This is an extremely useful exercise for exposing students to the kinds of ethical dilemmas that
they can expect to experience in their careers. As such, it provides them with an opportunity to
consider how they will respond to such dilemmas. During in-class discussions of these
dilemmas, allow all students to discuss their anticipated responses. There will likely be
A Quick Check for Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas
Step 2. Get the facts and identify your options.
Step 3. Test each option: Is it legal? Is it right? Whom does it affect? Who benefits? Who
gets hurt?
Step 5. Double-check with the spotlight questions:
“How will I feel if my family finds out about my decision?”
Step 6. Take action.
Team Project: Organizational Commitment to Sustainability
Instructions
In your assigned work teams do the following:
1. Agree on a definition of “sustainability” that should fit the operations of any organization.
3. Formalize your list of criteria, and then create a formal CSS worksheet that can be used to
4. Present and defend your CSS to the class at large.
6. Use your CSS to conduct a sustainability audit for a local organization.
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Instructor’s Note:
When asked to perform original research with an actual organization, students sometimes
struggle with gaining access. Remind them that their workplaces, internship sites, friends and
relatives can often facilitate making contact at prospective sites which illustrates the value of
Case Study: Patagonia: Leading a Green Revolution
The case for this chapter is Patagonia: Leading a Green Revolution. Instructors may consider
suggesting students visit Patagonia’s website at www.patagonia.com for further preparation as
they prepare case answers.
Case Analysis Questions
1. Discussion Patagonia has a history of putting sustainability ahead of profits. But it also has to
face up to everyday business realities and the need for operating capital. How do you think the
company decides which products to offer so that the outcomes will be both business practical
and environmentally friendly?
The company decides which products to offer by evaluating its environmental and social
footprint. The Footprint Chronicles on the Patagonia website is an online interactive world
2. Problem Solving Let’s suppose Yvon Chouinard comes to you, a new employee, and asks for
a proposal on a timely and “forward looking” sustainability agenda for the firm. In other words,
he wants a program that can drive Patagonia’s future and not just celebrate its past. What would
you include in this agenda and why?
Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Ideas may include:
• Sponsoring sustainable food products (Chouinard has started a sustainable salmon fishing
operation).
3. Further Research Could ethics lose out to greed even in a company with the idealism of
Patagonia? See if you can find examples of decisions that forced people in the firm to make
difficult choices between ethics and profitability. Look for decisions made at other companies
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• Manufacturing companies engaged in product and production processes which cause
harm (pollution and habitat destruction) to members of a community. British Petroleum’s
public safety record had been questioned long before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig
The difference between organizations that practice ethics and social responsibility compared to
those that do so superficially, is:
• In today’s business climate, consumers expect transparency and better business
practices.
Insight Learn About Yourself
Individual Character Is a Confidence Builder
There is no doubt that individual character is evident in all we do. Persons with high character
act consistently and confidently due to the self-respect it provides, even in difficult situations.
Those with less character are more insecure. They act inconsistently and suffer in self-esteem
and in the esteem of others.
Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
meeting deadlines, for example, can cause action without having thought through the
consequences. To deal with these situations, we have to know ourselves well enough to make
principled decisions we can be proud of and that others will respect.
Get To Know Yourself Better
Do a personal integrity and individual character self-check. Make notes on two situations that
presented you with an ethical dilemma. From the perspectives of a parent, loved one, or good
friend, write a critique of how you handled each incident and what this shows about your
individual character. Did you act with high integrity? Watch yourself for signs of hyper
competitiveness in school and work situations. Ask: What are the ethical implications of my
behavior?
Self-Check for Signs of Hyper-Competitiveness
• Y or N Winning makes me feel powerful
• Y or N Winning increases my sense of self-worth
Additional Exercises for Chapter 3:
Ethics Exercise
Break the class into teams of three or four and ask each group to take a survey within their group,
summarize their findings and discuss the implications.
Schermerhorn & Bachrach / Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Here are ten questions (you may write these on the board, post on a message board, or use
handout surveys) to discuss and summarize results (ask them to provide a specific tally count for
each question) within each group: “Have you ever known anyone (this may include yourself)
who …
• Worked in a restaurant or bar and did not report all tips earned to the IRS?
• Paid money to a babysitter for child care but did not report it to the IRS?
• Painted, built decks, or did other types of contracting work, and did not report all income
to the IRS?
• Cheated on an exam?
• Took supplies such as copy paper, pens, etc. from work?
• Using work time, surfed the World Wide Web for personal use or to pass time?
• Called in sick when not sick for a “free” day off?
• Lied on an expense report (exaggerated actual meal cost etc.)?
• Stole from a warehouse or retail store that they worked in?
• Has witnessed an ethical issue by another at work or school and did not report it to the
teacher, authorities or the manager etc.?
Students then should discuss these questions and discuss how “serious “each is perceived to be.
Are some very accepted in our society? If so, why is that?
Is it a big “leap” from these behaviors to CEO “scandals “such as the Enron fraud case? As
individuals get promoted, does ethical behavior improve, stay the same, or worsen?