Question 1: Legal Studies and Ethics
Without question "business ethics" is one of the hot topics of the day. Over the past months we have seen business after business charged with improper practices that violate commonly accepted ethical norms. This has led to a loss of confidence in corporate management, and has had severe economic consequences. Business ethics serves the important social function of integrating business and society, by promoting the legitimacy of business operations, through critical reflection. The social function of business ethics is implicit in leading business ethics foundation theories. For this question, you will research and respond to questions related to corporate ethics scandals, unethical behavior, and the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation (SOX). Look for a recent body of research in the area of corporate ethics scandals, unethical behavior, and the impact of SOX legislation. You should be looking for research that differs or improves upon the existing concepts pertaining to corporate ethics scandals, unethical behavior, and the impact of SOX legislation, which you have learned. The research should be from a peer-reviewed scientific journal, trade publication, or professional journal. You can use the Internet to search for a relevant body of research.
Based on your knowledge of corporate ethics scandals, unethical behavior, and the impact of SOX legislation and your chosen research, discuss the following:

• The role of management in setting the organizational tone relative to ethical behavior.

• What should subordinates do when managers act unethically or encourage them to engage in unethical practices?

• Discuss an example of a corporate ethics scandal other than Enron.

• Based on the above example, discuss why you believe the unethical behavior occurred.

• Based on the above, discuss what the organization could have done to prevent such occurrences either at the time they happened or

in the future.

• Discuss whether the provisions of the SOX act will have a positive effect on corporate ethics practices.

Question 2: Management/Social Responsibility

There is much to be said about the theory and correlation of emotional intelligence (EI) related to organizational success and long-term sustainability of a manager/leader in his or her career. Many leadership/management experts argue that successful manager/leaders demonstrate a sophistication of EI that differs vastly from those managers/leaders who eventually fall and fail their organizations. Some of the key factors of EI include self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, confidence, self-motivation, empathy, social deftness, trustworthiness, adaptability, and a talent for collaboration. Effective managers/leaders are very successful at articulating their missions and visions for their organizations and know how to bring everyone on board to accomplish them. Compare and contrast the "transformational" manager/leader with the "transactional" manager/leader. Who do you think can better take the pulse of a group,understand its unspoken currents of thought and concerns, and communicate with people in terms they can understand and embrace?

Question 3 Marketing and Research

Consider one of the following ethical dilemmas that may face a researcher. Describe ways you might anticipate the problem and actively address it in your research proposal. What boundaries must researchers work within and who sets them?

1. A prisoner you are interviewing tells you about a potential breakout at the prison that night. What do you do?

2. A researcher on your team copies sentences from another study and incorporates them into the final written report for your project. What do you do?

3. A student collects data for her project from several individuals she has interviewed I families in your city. After the fourth interview, she tells you that she has not received approval for the project from the Institutional Review Board. What do you do?

Question 4 Quantitative and Technological Analysis

Evaluating the prospect of entry, an entrant may fear that engaging in head to head competition post-entry with the incumbent may result in severe losses. Some companies manage to make a virtue out of staying small when entering markets dominated by large incumbents.

Why is it that entering small and remaining small can be an advantageous entry strategy (describe it in the context of a sequential game)? What is the role of commitment in adapting this strategy and what are the attributes of commitment? Discuss when you expect this strategy to work. In the second part of your essay, discuss a real-world case in which an entrant tried to commit to be soft when entering a market. Explain how effective this strategy was. Could it have been made more effective?