1. Suppose that Jacob, an employee who works at one of the most profitable carts, has one or two cups of free coffee a day. He bases his justification for doing so on the fact that the cart is so profitable that no one will notice. Given the lack of a written code of ethics, is it okay for Jacob to drink a free cup of coffee from the cart
2. Suppose that one customer consistently buys coffee from Jacob and leaves a small tip. In an effort to increase the size of the tip, Jacob gives the customer a free coffee every Friday. Is it ethical for Jacob to do this? Is it ethical for the customer to take the free coffee?
3. What theories of moral philosophy helped your decision making in answering Questions 1 and 2?
4. Suppose that Miguel’s general manager suggests that he develop a code of ethics for Java Road. Miguel bristles at the idea and replies that business ethics “cannot be managed—people are either ethical or not.” What responses could the general manager use to persuade Miguel to employ a values management system?
5. Assume that Miguel finds a vendor that will sell him coffee beans at a discounted price. However, Miguel reads an article about the fact that the vendor uses child labor in Asia to produce the product. The vendor argues that the beans are high quality and that its practice of employing child labor is perfectly legal in Asia. Which view of corporate social responsibility (CSR) would result in Miguel’s refusal to buy the beans? What is the vendor’s view of CSR?
Java Road (Java) is a that retails high-quality coffee products through coffee carts in conveniently placed locations, such as malls and office complexes. Java owns 10 such carts and employs a workforce of 20 to maintain its business operations. The owner, Miguel, founded the company 10 years ago with the idea that a high-quality coffee product could be sold at a profit by limiting overhead to the product, employee compensation, and the carts. Although he has always stressed honesty with his employees, he has never developed a written code of ethics.
