A participant in an executive education leadership course decides the material is irrelevant and repeatedly disrupts the classes during the week-long programme. Other participants become somewhat resigned, cease to engage and effectively “check out”. While they criticize him behind his back, they do nothing to make a positive change in the classroom.

A manager rejects a consultant’s request for a location transfer because he voted for Donald Trump. She does not want to bring a Trump supporter into her office. Is this discrimination ethical?

This exercise demonstrates one difficulty in distinguishing between luck and skill. Participants individually roll dice to simulate the performance of fund managers. Some fund managers have a greater chance of success than others, but the lower performers are more plentiful.

This exercise can be used to illustrate challenges in implementing evidence-based hiring practices. Should screening procedures that are self-evidently valid be subjected to empirical scrutiny? What obstacles exist to challenging longstanding procedures? What is the cost of experimenting? What is the (opportunity) cost of not experimenting?

An employee of an American company with a zero-tolerance bribery policy bribes a border official in Nigeria. He does so because he fears for his own safety. Later, he tells his boss about the incident, and the boss instructs him to report the incident to the company. The employee fears that if he does so, his job will be terminated.

A start-up founder raises money from unsophisticated angel investors, and offers them the right to invest in future funding rounds (pro rata rights). Later, under pressure from a venture capitalist to minimize dilution, the founder deliberately does not remind the original angels of their opportunity to invest in the new funding round. She is not breaking any laws.

A single mother working in investment banking puts in fewer hours than her colleagues. When she is up for promotion, her boss says she is putting in the hours. He believes she will be fired unless he lies.

A manager finds out that a new member of his team has a mental disability: she cannot function well under tight deadlines. HR knew of the disability, but did not inform the manager. Should HR disclose critical performance-related background information when it relates to a disability? How should one manage teams in which some members have disabilities that affect others?

A gay employee wants to go on an assignment in a country where his sexuality, it is believed, could be risky for himself and his firm. The employee wants to go. The firm does not send him.

A male employee is accused of making and inappropriate remark to a female colleague. She withdraws her complaint when she learns it was based on a misunderstanding. The company nonetheless takes action against the male employee.