1. You have been asked by your CEO to recruit for a new position: corporate ethics officer. Prepare
a job description (minimum 200 words) for this new position. In the job description, make sure to
discuss the role the ethics officer will play in the company as well as the qualifications this
individual must hold.
The role of a Corporate Ethics officer is to ensure all corporate activities are conducted in an ethical
and legal manner. The officer should possess the following skills and qualification prerequisites:
Besides excellent verbal and written communication skills, the person must have high levels of
integrity and professionalism. He should have courage to diligently report any ethical or legal
violations to his superiors and protect the interest of the employees and the organization as a whole.
He must be multitasking and should have the ability to manage multiple projects.
As a Senior member, the educational qualification of an ethics officer is a minimum of Bachelors
degree in the field of legal, human resources, security, philosophy or theology. A Masters degree
is preferred. A general or specialized certification in Ethics and Complaince from Compliance
Certification Board and the likes, is an advantage.
Roles and responsibilities:-
The incumbent should be able to design policies and integrate the corporate ethics and compliance
standards with the company’s culture.
He must be able to build relationships at all employee levels and promote a policy of reporting of
ethical violations. Other responsibilities include monitoring, identifying and reporting possible
ethics violations.

2. The ethics officer must investigate cases of ethical violations, and report the findings to the
Company CEO.
The ethics officer has to work in conjunction with other Department heads to address ethical issues,
and ensure the ethical behavior and ethical violation reporting is supported by the organization
and its policies.
What is whistle blowing, and why is it important to the study of business ethics? Provide details.
Discuss the reasons why an employee would refrain from reporting potentially unethical behavior
within his/her organization? Should a corporation establish an ethics hotline? Discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of having one.
Whistleblowers, are individuals who bring to the attention of the organization and its top leaders,
any unethical or illegal practices that are either fraudulent or harmful to the employee safety.
These individuals usually arouse controversy as they report possible ethical violations and matters
that need immediate investigation and action by the organization. The whistle blowing policy has
a critical role to play in promoting an open and ethical workplace and supporting sensitive ethical
and moral issues that impact employee rights in the organization. Hence it is an important field of
study in the subject of business ethics as without the practice of whistle blowing and reporting of
unethical issues, the organization cannot prevent infractions that tarnish its brand image, customer
and top employee-retention, market value, and finally the ability to sustain its business. Hence,
understanding of the whistle blowing policy is important as it protects the whistleblowers from
backlash of employees upon highlighting the perceived unethical behavior. It also holds the
violators accountable.

3. One explanation for unwillingness to report unethical behavior and peer wrongdoing can be
attributed to the fear of retaliation by the employee who has been perceived as an ethical violator.
It also could be due to lack of knowledge and training about the whistle blowing policies and the
internal processes of whistle blowing and hence the whistle blower is unaware of the implications
of reporting a wrongdoing and also is unaware of the reporting matrix. It could also be due to the
lack of a robust whistle blowing policy and compliance mechanism in the organization. Also, it
sometimes may be due to the absence of an underlying self regulatory system that is more tolerant
of detrimental behavior in peers.
Having an ethics hotline available for employees, aids in informing the organization about the
unethical practices that it must address, providing testimony about possible employee violations,
that need to be further investigated by the legal team. This helps in prevention of inappropriate or
illegal conduct and promote a culture of strong ethics and compliance within the organization. It
also helps the whistle blower provide information in anonymity without the fear of retaliation by
the fellow employee. The information is provided first hand and in a timely manner to the
management that gets responded with the promptness especially in sensitive discrimination or
harassment cases, which can significantly limit liability.
The disadvantages of a hotline are employees wrongly reporting against innocent colleagues due
to personal grudges and taking undue advantage of the system for petty and trivial cases. Also it
may lead to personal rivalry and may affect the whistle blowing employee’s career progression in
the company incase he is reporting against his supervisors.
You are a high level manager for a corporation that has recently expanded into the global market.
You have been asked to manage an interdepartmental team that will help you to create a global
ethics training program. Imagine that your team has very little, if any, experience with ethics

4. training or international management. Create a memorandum to your team that explains the need
for an ethics training program, the benefits of an ethics training program, and how the program
will be implemented. Make sure to explain the key elements in a global ethics training program
and the global cultural dimensions in detail.
A diverse group of employees from around the world would interpret ethical standards in a country
according to their cultural views. This may lead to misinterpretations, and confusion on the part of
the employees as there are cultural differences among employees. This poses as a hindrance while
doing business in a global environment. Therefore, a global ethics training helps understand the
complex intricacies and dimensions of global ethical standards. As a global- focused firm, the
responsibility of the firm is to promote consistency of the ethical vision, international human rights
and global standards adopted across the world. By incorporating this in a global ethics training
program, the employees will not have to address any ambiguity and conflict in communication and
business in the organization. The true purpose of the training program is to be able to give the
firms employees a viable outlet in which ethical behavior can be maintained. As a result, the
employees must view their disclosures of information being taken seriously.
There are a number of critical benefits associated with global ethics training for a firm. The first
benefit is that it creates awareness about global ethical standards incorporated by the company and
sets the right context and tone for business in a global environment. The ethics training aids in
integrating the top and the bottom level employees through a common value system. The training
program provides a framework for guiding employees to follow the codes of ethics and reinforce
ethical conduct, report unethical behavior.
To enforce a code of ethics within an organization across geographical locations, it is imperative
that corporate top brass and executives lay down the codes of conduct in black and white and

5. practice the codes through their actions. Only then will the training program will be successful.
This will also ensure the right message goes out to the employees. The following rules should be
adopted to help employees transition into the new global ethical standards of the company.
 Building clear and concise codes of conduct and develop trust among employees before
they brace the change.
 Clealry explain the need and benefit of the knowledge about ethics and compliance at a
global level and prepare them for managing ethical issues on a global field
 Be thorough and objective
 Take prompt action against ethical violations after thorough investigation of evidence
 Recognize whistle blowers to promote an open and ethical culture