Final answer:
The correct fiduciary duty that requires an agent to meet deadlines set by the principal or client is obedience. Other fiduciary duties include reasonable care and diligence, loyalty, and confidentiality, which each hold different implications for an agent's conduct.
Step-by-step explanation:
The fiduciary duty you're referring to is obedience. This duty requires an agent to act in accordance with the principal's instructions and wishes, which includes meeting deadlines set by the principal or client. In the context of fiduciary duties, obedience is distinct from reasonable care and diligence, which refers to the duty of an agent to act with care, competence, and diligence in the best interest of the principal. The duty of loyalty compels an agent to prioritize the principal's interests above their own, and the duty of confidentiality means that an agent should not disclose any confidential information pertaining to the principal's affairs.
In real-life scenarios, such as the one illustrated by Ross's ethical framework, agents often face complex decisions where duties may conflict, and it's essential to exercise sound judgment to determine the actual duty. One may compare the obedience to a principal's deadline to the duty of promise-keeping to a friend. While you should keep your promises, circumstances may arise, such as helping a coworker in distress, that take precedence and require immediate attention and responsiveness over the initial promise or, in a business context, deadline.