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In late September 2013, Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that it would begin offering benefits to the spouses of its employees in same-sex marriages. This short supplement touches upon what led Exxon Mobil to this decision, some insights into its previous relationship with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, and its standing on LGBT issues relative to its peers in the oil and gas sector and the Fortune 500.

The case describes the issues facing Indra Nooyi after five years of PepsiCo's new and controversial nutrition strategy.

In late 2012, recent Harvard Business School graduate Hannah Lopez is given the opportunity to lead entry into a new market for Plámo, a company that created startup companies in Europe and emerging markets based upon existing successful business models. She had only been with the company a few months, and while excited by the opportunity, she was beginning to have some doubts about the company. In the brief time she had been with the company, she had had a few experiences that made her question the company's approach to management and the sustainability of its business. Accepting the assignment could give her a unique entrepreneurial opportunity, but she wondered what level of support she could expect to receive and, if the startup did fail, what impact would that have on her career and reputation? Lopez was also starting to worry about the ethical implications of Plámo's style of entrepreneurship. She worried that by agreeing to serve as a manager of the new operations, she would be tacitly supporting elements of Plámo's strategy and practices that she was concerned about. Was she comfortable taking other companies' ideas and simply copying them? Was this true entrepreneurship?

A Lieutenant leading a platoon in Iraq must make a complex ethical, military, and leadership decision: whether to risk his life and that of other soldiers to reenter a home rigged with an explosive and save three Iraqis. The (B) case describes the decision made and the rational behind it.

A Lieutenant leading a platoon in Iraq must make a complex ethical, military, and leadership decision: whether to risk his life and that of other soldiers to reenter a home rigged with an explosive and save three Iraqis.

Business students nowadays are not, for the most part, poets. A growing proportion come to business school with a background in investment banking or management consulting and an undergraduate business major, rather than a degree in the arts and sciences. MBA students are already very familiar with business. A number of scholars and businesspeople have begun to question the scientific model that dominates business research and teaching. Formalized management tools work well enough if you're studying techniques for financial valuation, but less so when you're studying leadership and organizational behavior. Some argue that students could learn a lot more about these subjects if they took a course in literature. Examples from fiction can be as instructive as any business textbook. HBR senior editor Diane Coutu recently met with Joseph Badaracco Jr. for a wide-ranging discussion of what leaders can learn from literature. For the past decade, Badaracco, the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School, has used classical literature to provide well-rounded, complex pictures of leaders in all walks of life--particularly leaders whose psychological and emotional challenges parallel those of senior executives. Fiction provides some of the most powerful and engaging case studies ever written. Unlike contemporary management literature, which is relentlessly upbeat, classical literature is unsparingly realist. Leaders often struggle and sometimes fail--and the stakes are high. When business leaders read about the conflicts of literary characters, they can better understand their own circumstances. We pay far too little attention to the inner lives of leaders. Business school courses seem to suggest that you can treat executives like lab animals and control their behavior through their environment. But behaviorism is not enough. Literature suggests that leaders should learn more about themselves if they want to succeed.

Supplements the (A) case.

A young female manager must decide whether to terminate two poorly performing managers who work for her. Shows the practical and ethical issues involved in firing decisions.

Describes some of the classic conflicts managers face in trying to live and work by their personal values and uses Hirschman's "exit, loyalty, and voice" framework to suggest ways for resolving these conflicts.

Heroic leaders are always conspicuous and sometimes successful. However, more often successful but always inconspicuous are quiet leaders. In this article, the author profiles the quiet leader and the leadership style that he embodies. Based on his recently published book, Leading Quietly, this article discusses and defines a leadership style that is deliberate and circumspect, ethical and considerate - and successful, particularly in today's complex business environment. The author also has very sound advice for managers who must make tough choices under intense pressure.

Everybody loves the stories of heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and Gandhi. But the heroic model of moral leadership usually doesn't work in the corporate world. Modesty and restraint are largely responsible for the achievements of the most effective moral leaders in business. The author, a specialist in business ethics, says the quiet leaders he has studied follow four basic rules in meeting ethical challenges and making decisions. The rules constitute an important resource for executives who want to encourage the development of such leaders among their middle managers. The first rule is "Put things off till tomorrow." The passage of time allows turbulent waters to calm and lets leaders' moral instincts emerge. "Pick your battles" means that quiet leaders don't waste political capital on fights they can't win; they save it for occasions when they really want to fight. "Bend the rules, don't break them" sounds easier than it is--bending the rules to resolve a complicated situation requires imagination, discipline, restraint, flexibility, and entrepreneurship. The fourth rule, "Find a compromise," reflects the author's finding that quiet leaders try not to see situations as polarized tests of ethical principles. These individuals work hard to craft compromises that are "good enough"--responsible and workable enough--to satisfy themselves, their companies, and their customers. The vast majority of difficult problems are solved through the consistent striving of people working far from the limelight. Their quiet approach to leadership doesn't inspire, thrill, or provide story lines for uplifting TV shows. But the unglamorous efforts of quiet leaders make a tremendous difference every day in the corporate world.

Supplements the (A) case.

Kathy Levinson, the president and COO of ETRADE and a lesbian mother of two children, must decide whether and how to participate in the "No on Knight" campaign. The campaign opposes California ballot proposition 22, which requires California to recognize only marriages between a man and a woman. This case provides background for Levinson's decision, in which she must balance her obligations as an executive with her personal values and commitments.

Entrepreneur Janice Schwartz is hoping to grow her start-up company by creating a technical advisory board and compensating members with discounted company stock. Schwartz is considering six candidates that can help her online education company in a variety of ways: as a potential customer, a media maven, venture capitalist, and technical advisor. The case suggests ways of compensating the advisory board and raises questions about whether there are new rules in the new economy about building professional networks, and when offers of equity constitute bribery and wrong doing.

In Black and White on Wall Street, Joseph Jett, the trader blamed for Kidder Peabody's controversial demise in 1994, tells his side of the story. But his account is more than just a tale of racism and greed. Reviewer Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr., finds that Jett's experiences, when taken in the larger context of work life, are a cautionary tale about the serious challenges to personal integrity faced by knowledge workers in the new economy. Jett believed that a career on Wall Street offered valuable solutions to some age-old problems. He would be a free agent, choosing where and how he worked; his pay and promotions would depend on his performance, not on connections, company politics, or skin color. In short, Jett thought he would be his own man. Instead, he discovered that the old realities of organizational life and interpersonal relationships still shape the new workplace. According to Badaracco, it would be naive to expect the new economy to be radically different from the old one. Even if economic relationships have changed, human nature has not: self-interested managers, backroom politics, prejudice, and the seductions of power and money still shape behavior. People may now get to "eat what they kill," but bosses usually determine who gets the best hunting grounds. Thus Machiavelli's fundamental question--Can men and women in positions of responsibility lead lives of integrity in the face of uncertainty and relentless competition?--remains acutely relevant. Using Jett's experiences as a starting point, Badaracco draws several lessons about maintaining integrity in the free-agent workplace.

What is the difference between an ethical decision and what the author, Harvard Business School Professor Joseph Badaracco, Jr., calls a defining moment? An ethical decision typically involves choosing between two options: one we know to be right and another we know to be wrong. A defining moment challenges us in a deeper way by asking us to choose between two or more ideals in which we deeply believe. Such decisions rarely have one "correct" response. Taken cumulatively over many years, they form the basis of an individual's character. Defining moments ask executives to dig below the busy surface of their lives and refocus on their core values and principles. Once uncovered, those values and principles renew their sense of purpose at the workplace and act as a springboard for shrewd, pragmatic, politically astute action. Three types of defining moments are particularly common in today's workplace. The first type is largely an issue of personal identity. The second type concerns groups as well as individuals. The third kind involves defining a company's role within society. By learning to identify each of those three situations, managers can learn to navigate right-versus-right decisions successfully. The author asks a series of practical questions that will help managers take time out to examine their values and then transform their beliefs into action. By engaging in this process of self-inquiry, managers will be gaining the tools to tackle their most elusive, challenging, and essential business dilemmas.

Supplements the (A) case.

A large entertainment company, extensively criticized for producing violent, offensive, and anti-social material, is considering whether to sell its material to a semi-illegal operation that is beaming satellite TV into Turkey. The opportunity raises many questions about cultural sensitivities and the concept of American cultural imperialism around the globe, especially in the traditional Muslim Middle East. The young executive responsible for the deal wonders if his company will be perceived as a "Western vulture."

Consists of excerpts from Principles of Corporate Governance, a set of legal guidelines that enumerates the principal duties of corporate managers and directors, including fiduciary duty, duty of care, and duty of fair dealing. Also addresses legal obligations relating to tender offers and the supervision of employees.

Presents results from a study of how young managers define ethical issues, think about these issues, and resolve them. Several patterns emerge from this study. First, in many cases, young managers received explicit instructions from their middle-manager bosses or felt strong organizational pressures to do things that they believed were sleazy, unethical, or sometimes illegal. Second, corporate ethics programs--codes of conduct, mission statements, hot lines, and so forth--proved to be of little help to these young managers. Third, many of them believed that their companies' executives were out-of-touch on ethical issues, either because they were too busy or because they sought to avoid responsibility. Fourth, the young managers resolved the dilemmas they faced largely on the basis of personal reflection and individual values, not through reliance on corporate credos, company loyalty, the exhortations and examples of senior executives, or philosophical principles or religious reflection. Ironically, however, while the interviewees typically described their experiences as difficult or even traumatic, many believed they had learned important lessons about themselves and their work.