Questions from the past years

Issue Question
Utilitarianism There are different consequences of utilitarian approaches,
depending on the marginal utility- concept used. Explain.
Rawls and justice Rawls and Minimax: How does Rawls justify his minimax-
strategy.
libertarianism Nozick: China`s income and wealth distribution was quite equal
50 years ago. Can we therefore argue, based on Nozick, that all
inequality now is justified?
Social capital - Bowling alone: Putnam argues, that general and specific
reciprocity matters. Please explain the meaning of these concepts
and the implications.
Civil society Civil society can play an important role in keeping business
accountable. However, they have problems of their own. You are
a business representative who wants to lash out against civil
society organizations who arrogantly claim to know what ethical
business is. What do you say?
markets Sen argues, that Adam Smith is frequently misunderstood. Please
summarize Sen’s key points.
Market economy Homann: rules versus moves: Explain why influencing the rules
of the game seems more promising than working on controlling
all moves. Use taxation or corruption as an example.
Markets Milton Friedman’s article on the social responsibility of business
has been extremely influential in the debate about corporate
social responsibility. You address a crowd of young business
people who are new to his thoughts. You like to introduce M.
Friedman’s main ideas by first introducing the concept of
corporate social responsibility and then criticizing the call for
more CSR. You are a fervent believer of his way of arguing.
markets Sandel argues that the philosophy of the superiority of markets
has gone too far. We need to redefine the role of markets. Give a
succinct summary of his arguments. Please argue in a second
step that his arguments have considerable shortcomings.
Lobbying Lobbying is seen by some as ethically inacceptable. You
however argue that lobbying is falsely demonized.
Management tools Ethical problems and overall economic policy: Some problems
need to be solved at the problem of the macroeconomic incentive
structures, others at the organizational level, and yet others at the
individual level. Please explain.
Management tools You have to choose between a compliance and an integrity-
oriented approach. What do you have to consider?
Management tools You are the manager of a company which in the past has failed to
follow ethical standards. You like to introduce a code of ethics.
But experts warn you about the pitfalls of rushing to publish a
good code (your competitor has recently published one). Please
describe the steps and principles you want to keep in mind in
order to have a convincing approach.
Utilitarianism and Please explain the logic of a utilitarian reflection concerning
Kantian ethics what is right and what is wrong and the steps of a utilitarian
reflection when making ethical decisions.
Markets and limits Sandel is critical of the use of markets for the allocation of scarce
of markets resources or items. Please use two examples to explain his ideas.
Information Explain the issue of information asymmetry between
asymmetry shareholders and managers and possible solutions to the
problems caused by the asymmetry
Information The corporate world is full of information asymmetries. The
asymmetry corporate governance rules try to address some of the problems
which come with it. Based on the findings of the theory of
information asymmetry, you like to make proposals for a sound
corporate governance system which is making sure that key
players in the leadership of a company would perform well.
Information Some ethical problems can be conceived as being the result of a
asymmetry prisoner’s dilemma. Give three examples of problems which are
considered as ethical and can indeed be seen as caused by
information asymmetry. Please explain and show how the
solution to the problems depends on the analysis of the problem.
CSR What is Friedman’s criticism of the social responsibility of
business?
Corporate Social CSR is not about how you spend your profit but how you make
Responsibility it. Please explain.
International The Global Compact is an interesting international concept to
challenge address corporate social responsibility issues. You are very
critical of this approach and like to attack it in an editorial in the
newspaper.
International tools You are the assistant to a member of the board of a well-known
German medium-sized enterprise operating in Asia and in charge
of ethical issues. Public scrutiny of your business dealings has
increased recently. You recommend signing up to the Global
Compact. Please write a memo, informing about the Compact,
showing the advantages and the risks for adopting it.
International Donaldson is critical of both the general rule such as “cultural
challenges relativism” and “cultural absolutism”. What are his suggestions?
Marketing and Please name and describe 5 issues concerning the setting of
ethics prices and discuss the solutions from different theoretical
perspectives
Marketing and Explain the pros and cons of the contract view of marketing.
ethics
Human resource Please use a utilitarian approach to look at the ethical evaluation
management issues of discrimination.
Human resource Please use both a utilitarian approach and a Kantian approach to
management issues reflect on the problem of introducing a policy of affirmative
action.
Corruption Corruption in Saudi Arabia: Use teleological and deontological
reasoning to answer the question whether bribes are acceptable
or not.
Corruption Corruption is a serious problem around the world. Fighting
corruption can be addressed at the international or the national
level or even at the local level: The right solution depends on a
number of considerations. Please explain how the level matters.
Fighting corruption Bribe paying is a serious issue in many countries. You are the
advisor to the Italian prime minister and want to design a
 comprehensive framework for fighting corruption. What are your
suggestions?
Fighting corruption The agency theory and the transaction cost theory can help to
understand corruption. Please explain how the theoretical
perspectives can be helpful.