Moral Responsibility

For the following cases, please read the section 2.2, Moral Responsibility in Business, from
the first part of the course material (Course material REI (part I))
1. In 90's, The Fuller company sold adhesive products, which are made and distributed in Central
America. In Honduras, Resistol has a big market share and it is used by the street children as a drug, to get
them high. In a short time, the use of Resistol as an illegal drug became a very serious problem, and
children's advocate's launched serious criticisms against Fuller.
a. Is H. B. Fuller responsible for the misuse of its product? Do you agree or disagree with the
statement that the social conditions in Honduras and Guatemala are ultimately responsible for misuse of H.
B. Fullers products and that neither the product nor the company is to blame? What other parties are
responsible?
b Are the criticisms justified? What should Fuller have done in order to avoid the inadequate use of
Resistol? (Actually, the company tried some solutions.)
2. Nike is a well-known clothing and equipment brand. In 1996, the good image of the company
was affected, when the Life magazine published an article about child labour in Pakistan, and a photo of a
12-year old boy working at a sewing machine in order to make a Nike football ball in a factory in Pakistan.
Afterwards, activists urge consumers to boycott Nike. Child labour was illegal in Pakistan, but the
regulation was only seldom enforced. The factory where the factory was taken was not owed by Nike itself,
but by a independent local subcontractor. Given that the factory was not owed by Nike, is the company
responsible for the subcontractor's practices? What other parties are responsible?
3. At the end of 1970s and at the beginning of 1980s, Nestl was subject to one of the well known
boycotts in the business world. One of the reasons is that formula must normally be mixed with water,
which is often contaminated in poor countries, leading to disease in vulnerable infants. Is Nestl responsible
for the inadequate use of the formula in these countries? What should the company do?
4. In 1980s Johns-Manville provided asbestos-based industrial products. In spite of its qualities,
asbestos is a very dangerous material for the human health, but this fact was not known at that time. Many
of these products were used in the shipyard industry and many workers had their health affected because of
their exposure to asbestos. Given the fact that the harmful effects of asbestos were not known, is JohnsManville responsible for workers' serious diseases caused by the exposure to asbestos?
5. In 1992, a woman sued McDonalds for the fact that the coffee cup bought from a McDonald
fast-food restaurant and spilled by the woman caused her serious burns. Is McDonalds responsible for the
accident? Do you consider that the company should have been legally punished? What should have
McDonalds done?
Utilitarianism
For the following cases, please read the Chapter 3., Utilitarianism, from the first part of the
course material (Course material REI (part I))
1. An employee of a food company learns that one of the ingredients used in many food products
sold by that company is harmful for the consumers health and the products instructions for use do not
contain any warnings about that. The legislation does not contain anything about that ingredient. What
should the employee do? Approach the problem from a utilitarian point of view.
2. A company has to hire a person for a position, and the supervisor responsible to fill the position
knows a person very fit for the job, who happens at the moment to be available. But the company's policy
has been to announce and publicize all openings, giving persons in and out of the company a chance to
apply. Should the manager go through the usual search process or should he make an exception to company
policy in this case and make an offer? Approach the problem from a utilitarian (act and rule) point of view.
3 A former employee who was fired due to poor quality work, absences, and lateness related to her
drinking problem, informs you that she has applied for a position at another company and has already given
your name as a reference. She desperately needs a job (she is a single parent with three children), and she
asks you to give her a good recommendation and not mention her drinking, which, she assures you, is now
under control. What should you do? Approach the problem from a utilitarian point of view.

4. An employee requires a recommendation for a new job from his boss. The boss is satisfied with
his employees work, but he thinks that in this job the employee doesn't fit into the team and, from this
reason, he wants his employee to leave the company. He thinks that in other company the employee will be
better fitted and the new company can take advantage from his good work. So, the boss decides to give to
his employee a very good recommendation, better than deserved. Is this decision right? Approach the
problem from a utilitarian point of view.
5. In a small chemicals subsidiary of a big corporation an accident takes place. The accident does
not harm the environment and inhabitants health. However, the workers health would be seriously
affected. In spite of this, the workers are reluctant to inform the parent company about the accident,
because they are worried that the corporation management would decide to close the subsidiary and they
would lose their jobs. Harry is a chemist in the company. Although his health and the environment are not
endangered, he is thinking about informing the top management of corporation about the accident, in order
to protect the workers. What should Harry do? Approach the problem from a utilitarian point of view.
6. A supervisor finds out that an employee makes an unintended mistake in the production process.
The problem is solved and the supervisor considers that the employee would not repeat that mistake. He
thinks whether the employee should be sanctioned. Should the supervisor impose some disciplinary
sanctions on the employee? Approach the problem from a utilitarian (act and rule) point of view.