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51. Ethical theories fall within two broad domains: ______.
A. consequences and duty
B. ethical and unethical
C. conduct and character
D. duty based and virtue based
52. Utilitarianism is concerned with ______.
A. showing concern for the best interests of others
B. creating the greatest good for the greatest number
C. creating the greatest good for the leader
D. showing concern for the leader only
53. Virtue-based theories ______.
A. focus on the actions of the leader
B. are about the leader’s character
C. are duty driven
D. focus on consequences of the leader’s actions
54. The five principles of ethical leadership include all of the following except ______.
A. respects others
B. manifests honesty
C. acts courageously
D. shows justice
55. Ethics ______.
A. focuses on the virtuousness of individuals and their motives
B. is a derivative of the Greek word pathos
C. is primarily concerned with an organization’s goals
D. is a derivative of the Greek word logos
56. Which of the following is not a reason why ethics is central to leadership?
A. the process of influence
B. the impact leaders have on establishing the organization’s values
C. the need to engage followers to accomplish mutual goals
D. the existence of bottom-up communication
57. All of the following are ways ethical leaders build community except by ______.
A. searching for goals that are compatible with everyone
B. being attentive to cultural values
C. keeping social collectives exclusive
D. establishing higher and broader moral purposes
58. Giving an employee a merit-based pay raise is an example of ______.
A. respect
B. service
C. distributive justice
D. altruism
59. Ethical theories that are driven from the viewpoint of the leader’s character are
called ______.
A. teleological theories
B. virtue-based theories
C. deontological theories
D. utilitarianism theories
60. The Greek term meaning “excellence” that is associated with ethics theories is
______.
A. mechane
B. apathea
C. pathos
D. aretaic
61. The ethical approach that is low in self-interest and high in concern for others is
______.
A. utilitarianism
B. altruism
C. apathea
D. ethical egoism
62. Which scholar holds that it is the leader’s role to raise followers to a higher level of
morality?
A. Burns
B. Heifetz
C. Greenleaf
D. Mathews
63. Whose ethical perspective speaks directly to values of workers and values of
organizations?
A. Burns
B. Heifetz
C. Greenleaf
D. Mathews
64. Whose perspective has strong altruistic ethical overtones and was discussed in the
servant leadership chapter?
A. Heifetz
B. Burns
C. Greenleaf
D. Mathews
65. Andy owns Islander Surfboard Inc. In the past, Andy has always given his
employees bonuses during the holidays if they reached certain sales goals. This year,
even though the company is thriving, he decided to cut bonuses from employees and
award them to himself instead. What ethical theory of leadership is Andy following?
A. altruism
B. ethical egoism
C. utilitarianism
D. none. This is an unethical decision.
66. The ethics theory that is high in self-interest and low in concern for others is ______.
A. utilitarianism
B. apathea
C. ethical egoism
D. altruism
67. Which of the following is not listed as a principle of distributive justice?
A. according to merit or performance
B. according to individual effort
C. an equal share or opportunity
D. according to personal commitment
68. A leader that takes a political stand on an issue for no other reason than to get re–
elected is using which ethical theory?
A. ethical egoism
B. utilitarianism
C. altruism
D. collectivism
69. Virtue-based ethical theories ______.
A. focus on the actions of leaders
B. are about the leader’s character
C. are duty driven
D. focus on the consequences of leader actions
70. The five principles of ethical leadership can be traced back to ______.
A. King George III
B. Aristotle
C. Julius Caesar
D. Christopher Columbus
71. According to the textbook author, one cannot be a leader without being ______.
A. focused on winning
B. aware of one’s values
C. experienced in using authority
D. in a position of power
72. Measuring ethical leadership by using surveys to collect self-reported scores is
______.
A. the only reliable and valid way to measure ethics
B. prone to skewing results in a negative direction
C. susceptible to social desirability bias and inflated scores
D. unheard of in social science research
73. Most research on leadership ethics has been done in the Western world and in
Anglo-American countries. This is ______.
A. a strength of modern day leadership understanding
B. a criticism of research on leadership ethics
C. a falsehood
D. irrelevant because ethics are common and universal
74. Recent research by Anderson and colleagues suggests that Millennials ______.
A. share the same ethical perspective as older workplace generations
B. put work first over all else, viewing workplace ethics as paramount
C. are so focused on intrinsic rewards that they are not susceptible to unethical
behavior
D. are less likely to seek guidance from their leader when making an ethical decision
75. When Wilson and McCalman argued that leadership for the greater good is
ultimately where ethical leadership ought to be directed, they were underscoring which
principle of ethical leadership?
A. builds community
B. respects others
C. manifests honesty
d .shows justice
76. Research by Bedi and colleagues found that a leader’s ethical behavior tends to
correlate positively with ______.
A. the number of decisions leaders make
B. ratings of reward power
C. followers’ ethical behavior
D. scores on narcissism scales
77. When research found that among a sample of leaders in journalism there was
evidence of respect for others, concern for harm, and proactive social engagement, it
suggested those studied were at the ______.
A. low stage of moral development
B. mid stage of moral development
C. high stage of moral development
D. fault line of moral development
78. Research on ethics and the Millennial generation underscores the notion that
______.
A. older workers and younger workers have virtually the same values
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B. younger workers have not had a developmental opportunity to consider morals
C. ethical perspectives have remained static for hundreds of years
D. ethical perspectives can change over time and research needs to keep up
79. Donna is a personally-focused, destructive leader. One of her subordinates,
Michael, goes along with Donna’s decisions and supports her. Michael has been
described as immature and needy. Which type of susceptible follower is Michael?
A. conformer
B. colluder
C. conspirator
D. charismatic
80. Cecil is a leader who attracts a lot of attention, is self-absorbed, and focuses on
negativity. Valerie supports Cecil and has been described as ambitious and
opportunistic. Valerie is most likely which kind of follower?
A. conformer
B. colluder
C. conspirator
D. charismatic
1. Concern about the ethics of leaders is a relatively recent phenomenon.
2. Ethical theory provides a system of rules or principles that guide us in making
decisions about what is right or wrong.
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3. Deontological theory focuses primarily on the consequences (ends or purposes) of an
individual’s actions.
4. The ethics of leaders have little impact on the ethical climate of their organizations.
5. Virtue-based theories of ethics focus on the conduct of leaders rather than who they
are as people.
6. Heifetz and Burns believe that the leader-follower relationship is central to ethical
leadership.
7. The two major domains of ethical theory are conduct and character.
8. The influence dimension of leadership places an enormous ethical burden on
leaders.
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9. Ethical egoism is concerned with doing the greatest good for the greatest number.
10. An altruistic leader acts so as to create the greatest good for herself or himself.
1. What are the three elements of The Toxic Triangle?
2. Name the five principles of ethical leadership.
3. Name at least two other leadership theories you have studied that take leadership
ethics into account.
4. It is the last game of the season, and your team is winning by a large margin. The
coach puts Mallory in the game to play the final 2 min. Mallory is a special needs
student who has helped with the team’s equipment all season but has never played in a
game. The coach is showing which principle(s) of distributive justice?
5. Briefly describe two criticisms of the ethical approach to leadership.
1. While ethical behavior is important for everyone in an organization, why is it
especially important for leaders?
2. Discuss the relationship between honesty and leadership.
3. Research highlighted in your text suggests that today’s emerging workforce,
Millennials, are more individualistic and more focused on extrinsic rewards compared to
older generations, and that Millennials’ ethical perspectives are different. Defend or
refute using concepts from the text along with any personal anecdotes.
4. Compare and contrast the ethical leadership perspectives of Burns and Heifetz.
5. Northouse writes, “In any decision-making situation, ethical issues are either implicitly
or explicitly involved.” Give an example of a leadership decision that has explicit and
implicit ethical dimensions.
