In that view, this litigation is just clean-up or "post-mortem." The final "resolution" stage will be indicated by settlement of all the suits, which we anticipate will take at least a decade. 3-4. Compare and contrast mediators, arbitrators and ombuds.

This case demonstrates the difference between mediators, here represented by the neutral parties facilitating communication between the banks and the AG team negotiating for the Consortium, versus arbitrators who would hand down a binding decision (effectively the courts, here), and ombudsmen who represent the consumer, perhaps here in the person of the Attorneys General.

3-5. Define the corporate stakeholders and describe their primary power.

Corporate stakeholders in this case are the firms whose accounts we process and other banks who borrow from us overnight. If these firms and banks will see their costs go up from these potential legal actions, they have a direct stake in undermining the AG's ability to adjudicate penalties. This shows their power advocating against the current AGs in nonmarket roles outside the corporate sector, because higher costs for us will mean higher transaction costs for them.

4-3. Characterize the three levels of corporate social responsibility.

The first level of corporate social responsibility is the 'basic' level of compliance with law; safe working and product conditions, and ethical performance. BofA claims full compliance at all these levels. The second level is 'organizational,' or the responsibility to promote fair and consistent treatment within the firm, which BofA complies with through promotion, explicit nondiscrimination policy, seniority and performance benefits. The third level is 'societal,' which comes through participation as a 'good neighbor,' which BofA accomplishes through extensive charitable donation and in this case, delaying foreclosures we could prosecute in a more aggressive manner, but allow to remain on balance sheets at considerable risk to the firm, in spite of considerable misrepresentation.

4-4. Characterize the three levels of moral development.

The Kohlberg six-stage model can be classed in three stages of Pre-Conventional, punishment-avoidance motivated obedience driven by self-interest, the Conventional stage where the person acts to maximize interpersonal harmony through conforming with social norms as set by agreed-on authorities, and the Post-Conventional level where choice of actions derive from 'Golden Rule' type ethical principles based on consistency and universality...

In this case BofA is operating on Pre-Conventional and Conventional stages.
4-5. Explain how the 5 Ps strategic analysis includes the stakeholder approach and ethics, (case focus on ethics)

Planning in this case was demonstrated by anticipating there may be inquiry into the legality of Robo-signing, which dictated we stay clearly within the law and common market ethic, which we claim we did. Once the AGs brought suit, we resorted to the Ploy of 'stonewalling' by claiming, not untruthfully, that the accusations were untrue, which forced them to bring suit or settle. Once all banks began to do this, a Pattern began to emerge (also our in-house corporate policy response as well), which resulted in the Position we hold now where the AG Coalition is falling apart and the individual states will sue and probably settle, for less than the Coalition would have gotten. This results in the Perspective that this Pattern of behavior will likely result in better settlements in the future and we should respond this way as a default strategy until management directs otherwise.

5-3. Explain differences among customers, consumers, and consumerism.

Our customers are the individuals, firms and banks who borrow from and save with us, and whose financial transactions we process. If we hold their account, they are our customer. Consumers are spenders at large whether they purchase from us or another firm. If they purchase from someone else, they are very likely our customer at some point up the value chain, although they may never realize this at all. Consumerism is the wider institution within which these individuals purchase goods and services with earnings they theoretically decide how to expend.

5-4. Characterize each of the five consumer rights.

Consumers have a right to safety from harm resulting from another's negligence or direct action. The right to Information translates into safety packaging where any potentially hazardous ingredients must be disclosed. They have the right of Choice, the choice whether to consume a product or not even if there is no competing substitute, and the right to Redress of damage if that product caused harm when used in the way promoted as safe. They have the right to Representation if they feel they have a legal claim for damage caused by a product or service used appropriately. In this case the AGs have taken it on themselves to represent their electorates.

5-5. State what the federal consumer protection regulatory agency acronyms CPSC, FTC, FDA NHTSA, and