MGMT 520 Legal, Political and Ethical Dimensions of Business

Week 7

 

Week 7 DQ 1 Multinational Companies (Graded)

Let’s finish up this term with a discussion about moving our personal and business ethics into the international business realm. Let’s look at how ethics and laws span the concepts of all of our TCOs to date and discuss them in a realistic perspective, with particular emphasis on the multinational company and the effects of laws in other countries on business in the United States, and vice versa. The TCO topics have been the following:

A: Ethics
B: Governmental regulation
C: Warranties and product liability
D: Contract law
E: Employment law and vicarious liability
F: Intellectual property
G: Antitrust and fair trade activities
H: Corporate activities and the SEC
I: International ethics

Do you see any of our TCOs in a different light now at the end of the term than you did at the beginning of the term? If so, which one(s), and why?

Week 7 DQ 2 SOX and Insider Trading (graded)

Review problem 24-15, found on page 677 of your eBook. Let’s look at corporate malfeasance, both specifically as it is seen in the case of Mr. Bleakney and NMC, and more generally, at companies across the country. It seems as though there is an outbreak of corporate “bad ethics” that is translating into escalating costs for compliance and policing.

Along with the SEC and their policing and efforts at ending bad business practices that relate to the stock market, we also have the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, also known as SARBOX, or SOX, which is becoming a big buzzword in the business world. We will look at that here and in the other topic. As part of that discussion, start thinking about the different ways different officers of the company will look at and use or follow SOX (i.e., the CEO, CIO, and CFO).

To start this discussion, let’s look at the conduct of Mr. Bleakney. Was his conduct illegal under the Securities and Exchange Act, and more specifically, Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5? If so, how? If his conduct was not illegal under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, explain why not.

Was his conduct unethical? Why or why not?