Question

· Relationship between law and ethics

· Levels and Stages of Cognitive Moral Development

· Fiduciary duty

· Duty of loyalty·

· Principal and Agent·

· Conflicts of interests and how to resolve them·

· Appearance of a conflict of interest·

· Seemingly unimportant decisions (SUDs).·

· Locus of control·

· Class actions lawsuit·

· [Values and “defining moments”]·

· Copyright, patents and trademarks·

Answer 1

Law and Ethics relationship:

Law is defined as an organized body of rules, orders, and regulations that govern individuals, corporations, and society while ethics is moral thinking that is concerned with the good for an individual and the whole society. The similarity between both is that laws are formed on moral values of the society and these moral values are set by the ethical behavior of the individuals in society. Also, both set some standards and prevent people from violating them. They both set guidelines about what should and should not be done in certain situations.

Level and stages of Cognitive Moral Development:

The theory was given by Kohlberg. It states that we go through three levels of moral thinking that shape our cognitive moral development. The theory has following 3 levels and 6 subdivisions/stages.

Level one: Preconventional: It is the first and foremost stage. In this, the sense of morality of a child is tied to the concept of right versus wrong. The child believes and accepts the authority of parents and teachers. There are two stages in this level;

1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation.

2. Instrumental orientation.

Level two: Conventional: In this, the sense of morality of a child is tied to a societal and personal level relationship. The child continues to accept the rule of authority but due to the belief that it is necessary to maintain a societal and personal relationship. It has two stages;

1. Good-boy and nice-girl orientation.

2. Law and order orientation.

Level 3: Postconventional: In this, the sense of morality of a person is described in terms of more conceptual values and principles. Individuals in this stage start to consider that few laws are not justified and must be completely eliminated or changed. It has two stages;

1. Social contract orientation.

2. Universal ethical principle orientation.

Fiduciary duty:

It defines the relationship between two people or parties in which each party is obliged to act in favor of another party. The fiduciary duty occurs when the relationship with the other party or client requires a special reliance, confidence, and trust on the fiduciary to exercise his expertise in favor of the client. One example of this duty is the agent-principal relationship.

Duty of loyalty:

It is the responsibility of the board members to act in the interest of the organization in good faith. It is said to be breached when the board members are involved in seizing opportunities for themselves, self-dealing and not revealing the conflict of interest. The board members can be made liable when they fail to act in good faith and are found involved in fulfilling their self-interest.