Unit 10

1. Unit 10 Ethics

2. OVERVIEW Vocabulary: Honesty and dishonesty Discussion: Doing the right thing Reading: Whistleblowing on tobacco Listening: A code of ethics Language review: Narrative tenses Skills: Problem-solving Case study: Profit or principle

3. Teaching objectives To enable Ss to talk about Ethics To familiarize the Ss with language about honesty and dishonesty To practice reading & listening for gist and specific ideas To refresh Ss� grammar knowledge about Narrative tenses To practice language used for Problem-solving To work out solutions to the Case-Study task To practice writing a letter

4. Assignments 1.You are members of Livewire�s board of directors. Hold a meeting to find the solutions to deal with the problems. 2. Write a letter to your employees about your solutions.

5. Definition of Ethics The branch of philosophy that deals with morality. Ethics is concerned with distinguishing between good and evil in the world, between right and wrong human actions, and between virtuous and nonvirtuous characteristics of people.

6. Ethics are moral rules or principles of behaviour that should guide members of a profession or an organisation and make them deal honestly and fairly with each other and with their customers ????,????

7. Warmer Answer the following questions: Is it always wrong to lie? Is it worse to steal from another person than to steal from a shop? If you know your brother was selling fakes would you tell the police?

8. Quotation �Those are my principles; if you don�t like them, I have others.� ---- Groucho Marx principle n. deeply held values and beliefs about the right or moral way to act ??;??

9. The Marx Brothers Marx Brothers, a team of American film comedians known as Chico (1891�1961), Harpo (1893�1964), Groucho (1895�1977) and Zeppo (1901�1989). Chico and Harpo are famous for their slapstick(????,??); Harpo never spoke but only mimed(????). He generally played a harp solo (????)in each film. Groucho is famous for his repartee(????). Zeppo usually took non-comedy parts, and did not appear in every film. Marx Brothers films include Duck Soup, A Day at the Races, A Night at the Opera, Horse Feathers and Animal Crackers.

10. Starting up Discuss these questions. 1. What is the purpose of a business? Is it just to make money? 2. What do you understand by these phrases? a) business ethics b) a code of good practice c) a mission statement 3. Should mission statements include statements about ethics?

11. Starting up 2. a) Business ethics are theories about conduct and values which take account of the moral responsibilities a business has to the community it exists in, to its employees and to its customers. ???? b) A code of good practice is a written document laying down ethical ways of working for the personnel of a company. ?????? c) A mission statement is a document in which a company sets out its general approach to doing business and/or its objectives. Not all companies have mission statements, and they can vary from a single sentence (Microsoft�s is �A computer on every desk and in every home�.) to several pages. ????;????

12. Examples of Mission Statement �Provide society with superior products and services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs, and to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities, and investors with a superior rate of return.��Merck (a pharmaceutical company) �To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential.��Microsoft �Organize the world�s information and make it universally accessible and useful.��Google

14. Starting up accountant banker car sales executive civil servant estate agent journalist lawyer nurse dentist police officer teacher taxi driver

15. Starting up Avoiding paying tax Claiming extra expenses Using work facilities for private purposes (eg. personal phone calls) Accepting praise for some one�s ideas or work Selling a defective product Using your influence to get jobs for relatives (nepotism ????,????) Ringing in sick when you are not ill Taking extended lunch breaks Giving good references to people you want to get rid of Employing people illegally

16. Vocabulary: Honesty and dishonesty 1. trustworthy law-abiding crooked 2. a slush fund a sweetener compensation 3. inside trading industrial espionage disclosure 4. a whistleblower a swindler a conman 5. a bribe a bonus a commission 6. fraud deceit integrity

17. Vocabulary: Honesty and dishonesty B. Complete these sentences. Our company does nothing illegal. We are very law-abiding. We�ve got a slush fund which is used in countries where it is difficult to do business without offering bribes. Their car looked so much like our new model. We suspect industrial espionage. They fired him because he was a whistleblower. He informed the press that the company was using under-age workers in the factory. He denied accepting a bribe when he gave the contract to the most expensive supplier. I admire our chairman. He�s a man of his word and is greatly respected for his integrity.

18. Discussion: Doing the right thing A. Work in groups. Discuss the ethical questions below. 1. You have a shortlist of people for the post of Sales Manager. One of the female candidates is clearly the best qualified person for the job. However, you know that some of your best customers would prefer a man. If you appoint a woman you will probably lose some sales. What should you do? 2. Your company, a large multinational, has a new advertising campaign which stresses its honesty, fairness and ethical business behaviour. It has factories in several countries where wages are very low. At present it is paying workers the local market rate. Should you increase their wages?

19. Discussion: Doing the right thing 3. A colleague in a company which tests medical equipment has been making bad mistakes recently at work. This is because she has a serious illness. You are her friend and the only person at work who knows this. She has asked you to keep it a secret. What should you do? 4. You are directors of a potato snack manufacturing company. Research has shown that any price increase causes an immediate dip in sales (although sales recover within six months). It has been suggested that you could maximise your profits by simply reducing the weight of the product in the packets and maintaining the current price. What should you do?

20. Discussion: Doing the right thing B. Do you agree with this statement? Give your reasons. �If we face a recession we should not lay off employees. The company should sacrifice a profit. It�s management�s risk and management�s responsibility. Employees are not guilty; why should they suffer?� Akio Morita (1921�1999), cofounder of Sony

21. Reading:Whistleblowing on tobacco A. Discuss these questions. 1. Do you think smokers are fully aware of the harm that smoking cigarettes can do to their health nowadays? Why? 2. As smoking is legal and a matter of personal choice, how can we persuade young people not to take up smoking effectively? 3. Why are advertisements by tobacco companies banned in many countries?

22. Reading:Whistleblowing on tobacco B. Role play A habitual smoker was diagnosed with lung cancer because he always smoked a cigarette brand that enhanced its nicotine effectiveness chemically. The smoker was not aware of the chemical enhancement then. So the smoker sued the tobacco company for $2 million. Should the smoker be awarded that sum of money? Work in groups of three, with one acting as the judge, the other two as the lawyers for the smoker and the cigarette company respectively.

23. Reading: Whistleblowing on tobacco C. Read the article and answer these questions. 1. Why did CBS decide not to air Mike Wallace�s interview with Wigand? Why did CBS management permit 60 Minutes to air the interview later? CBS feared that Wigand�s employer would sue CBS for 15 billion dollars because it claimed that CBS induced Wigand to break the strict Confidentiality Agreement between Wigand and his employer.

24. Reading: Whistleblowing on tobacco 2. What did Brown & Williamson do when they knew that Wigand exposed their unethical behaviour in the interview with Mike Wallace? Brown & Williamson threatened to want Jeffrey Wigand�s head and sued Wigand for breaking the Confidentiality Agreement. Brown & Williamson also intimidated CBS to drop Mike Wallace�s interview with Jeffrey Wigand in 60 Minutes. 3. According to Wigand himself, why did he choose to go public when he knew it was a big risk to himself and his family? Jeffrey Wigand enjoyed battling big tobacco because he can do something to help others.

25. Reading: Whistleblowing on tobacco D. Match these phrases from the article with a phrase with a similar meaning.

26. Reading: Whistleblowing on tobacco Phrases with similar meanings

27. Reading: Whistleblowing on tobacco E. Discuss these questions. 1. Can you list things that motivate young people to smoke? 2. According to the motivations you have listed how can we persuade young people to quit smoking effectively? 3. If you find your best friends doing something unethical, how will you deal with it?

28. Listening: A code of ethics A. Discuss the following questions. 1. Is it important for companies to have a written code of ethics? 2. Is it more important for some industries than others to have a code of ethics?

29. Listening: A code of ethics B. Claire Bebbington is External Affairs Manager for a division of BP (British Petroleum). Listen to the first part of the interview. Decide whether these statements are true or false, according to Claire. 1. The issue of ethics is simple. 2. If a company puts its code of ethics in writing, it is more likely to act on it. 3. Following up a code of ethics is difficult.

30. Listening: A code of ethics C. Listen again to the first part of the interview and compelete the extracts.

31. Listening: A code of ethics D. Listen to the second part of the interview and complete the question that Claire asks. What examples does she give to illustrate the question? �When does a facilitation ________ become a ________?�

32. Listening: A code of ethics A facilitation payment is money paid to speed a process along, but one which is not actually a bribe because it is done openly. However, it may not be part of any official procedure. For example, a supermarket wishing to build a new store in a district where there is resistance may offer to make a donation to the local school. A multinational eager to impress a local politician may offer political financing in a deal which is - superficially at least - entirely separate from the business at hand. A bribe happens in secret, but the line between the two is not always clear, particularly when, for instance, political parties may be under no legal obligation to divulge the names of their donors.

33. Listening: A code of ethics The example she gives of a facilitation payment is �When you are paying consultants to make introductions to new business contacts, obviously the reason you choose these consultants is because they are well placed to give that kind of advice in a particular country.� She also points out that the size of the payment is an issue: �Sometimes facilitation payments are out of proportion to the kind of business that you are expecting to win.� This may be an indication that something greater is at stake. Finally she mentions problems with nepotism.

34. Language review: Narrative tenses 1. The past simple is common when we describe a sequence of events or tell a story in chronological order about events that happened in the past. 2. We use the past perfect to situate an event that happened before another past event. 3. The present perfect is used to describe past events of current significance. 4. We use the past continuous to describe unfinished events which were in progress around a particular past time.

35. Language review: Narrative tenses The newspapers asked questions. The product was recalled. The company lost a lot of money. The product was launched. The product was tested. The number of complaints doubled. People started to complain. The product sold well.

36. Language review: Narrative tenses B. Answer these questions about the product launch. 1. What was the product? 2. What was the problem?

37. Language review: Narrative tenses D. Complete the story with the correct tenses of the verbs in brackets.

38. Language review: Narrative tenses D. Complete the story with the correct tenses of the verbs in brackets.

39. Language review: Narrative tenses E. Tell a story about any of these ideas. 1. A significant news event you remember well. 2. An ethical problem you know about. 3. A memorable event in your life (good or bad). 4. An unusual or memorable experience while you were travelling. 5. Your first or last day in a job or organisation.

40. Skills: Problem-solving

41. Skills: Problem-solving There are several ways we could deal with this. Let�s look at the pros and cons � Let�s look at this from a different angle. It might be worth � Let�s think about the consequences of � The best way forward is to � So the next thing to do is �

42. Skills: Problem-solving B. Role play this situation.

43. Case study: Prfit or principle? Background