Ethical problems can often be characterized as occurring on a slippery slope, whereby
relatively minor issues can be compounded into major violations.
Harmony must be preserved for teams to function effectively, even if it is artificial.
According to Torbert’s management typologies, professionals such as senior executives
tend to be achievers and strategists.
Correcting low wages is ethical and helps to eliminate job dissatisfaction.
Assist lines or “ethics hotlines” can help address issues of confidentiality and false
accusations in reporting wrongdoing.
Tax evasion and tax avoidance are terms that can be used interchangeably when
considering corporate conduct.
Dimensions of diversity that evolve, including weight, marital status and physical
ability, are not important to consider as they are irrelevant to discussions of diversity in
the workplace.
Adam Smith’s notions of selfishness and self-interest are identical.
It is important to constructively address minor workplace infractions because they often
escalate into bigger problems.
Managers must be concerned with both unintended and intended unethical behavior.
Milton Friedman’s “The Gospel of Wealth” argued that wealthy individuals, particularly
the self-made rich, had a moral responsibility to invest their fortunes for the well being
of society.
An organization’s gender, racial, and ethnic employee profile should reflect the profile
of people living in the geographical region qualified to perform the job task.
In the name of fairness, systems designed to control performance should be imposed in
the same way throughout the organization.
According to Friedman’s conceptualization of corporate responsibility, sneaker
manufacturers fulfill their social responsibilities by efficiently and effectively meeting
consumers’ sneaker needs without violating any laws.
In order to preserve anonymity, change references to specific people and places when
discussing real-life ethical dilemmas during ethics training.
Employees can rely on a reasonable expectation of privacy in regard to keeping their
workplace email confidential.
Individuals all typically possess the same level of ethical sensitivity; the difference is in
ethical behaviors.
Research indicates that philanthropy can help mitigate the negative effects when things
go wrong in an organization.
An “open door” policy between supervisors and employees means the door remains
open during every conversation, to ensure an open and transparent process of
discussion.
The founders of the United States addressed the obvious contradiction between slavery
and liberty in the Constitution.
In practice, Codes of Ethics seem to have little effect on employee behaviors.
Subordinates are more likely to be influenced by written and oral directions provided
directly from their supervisor, rather than by witnessing a manager’s decisions and
behaviors.
An effective method of persuading employees of the importance of being ethical is to
focus on benefits of ethical behavior and costs of unethical behavior.
The extension of respect to employees through “common decencies” including calling
employees by name and remembering their names, while polite, is irrelevant to specific
measures of job performance and productivity.
The False Claims Act initially passed in 1863 and strengthened in 1986 is designed to
protect employers from whistleblowers making false accusations.
Ethical theories such as egoism and deontology should be used interchangeably to
motivate ethical decision making.
It is always ethical for professors and their students to be “friends” on Facebook, as
long as the student is currently enrolled in the teacher’s class.
Integrity checks, also referred to as honesty tests, are notoriously unreliable measures of
a job candidate’s ethics.
Though employee empowerment is important, it is unwise to delegate any managerial
responsibilities and accountabilities.
Though increasingly viewed as a public service in the interest of society,
whistleblowing does not merit legal protections through the law.
The Pilgrim settlement at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, was a business venture
established as a trading colony.
A useful method of ethics training may include presenting actual cases of employees or
people in the industry violating a Code of Conduct and the punishments they received.
Research indicates that top-down, one-way communication and decision-making
processes discourage employees from being passive and reactive, rather than proactive.
The terms fraud, theft and embezzlement can be used interchangeably.
Because managers are responsible for protecting organizational assets, resources and
investments, their right to monitor email communications on company-owned
computers and networks supersedes employee privacy rights.
________________ is a systematic collection, review and use of information to
determine workshop effectiveness.
a) Training
b) Assessment
c) Metric
d) Vocation
e) none of the above
The philosopher Emmanuel Kant presents the __________________ , which is a rule
that applies to all situations.
a) relativist ethic
b) virtue ethic
c) Golden Rule
d) categorical imperative
e) none of the above
Individuals whose beliefs are consistent with a conservative political persuasion tend to
focus on which of the following value sets?
a) ingroup/loyalty
b) authority/respect
c) purity/sanctity
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
One approach to community giving, most likely to situate a company as a community
leader and enhance employee satisfaction, is ______________, or supporting the
United Way or other highly credible intermediary organizations that select and monitor
donation recipients.
a) reactive giving
b) outsource giving
c) strategic philanthropy
d) corporate citizenship
e) none of the above.
The idea of _____________ purports that the wealthy are obligated to exercise the
virtue of generosity.
a) when in Rome, do as the Romans
b) corporate citizenship
c) noblesse oblige
d) do unto others as you”d have them do unto you
e) none of the above
An approach to community giving that integrates three aspects, most likely to situate a
company as a community leader and enhance employee satisfaction, involves
______________, or giving resources to support local nonprofits and causes that are
meaningful to employees and community members, in response to immediate needs.
a) reactive giving
b) outsource giving
c) strategic philanthropy
d) corporate citizenship
e) none of the above.
Education is ______________ correlated with wealth, with a slight decline occurring at
the doctoral level.
a) positively
b) negatively
c) equally
d) inversely
e) none of the above
Research indicates which of the following outcomes may be associated with blowing
the whistle?
a) negative performance evaluations
b) demotions
c) physical, psychological and family problems
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
Research indicates which of the following types of management systems is associated
with higher levels of employee productivity, loyalty, and motivation, all of which
contributed to higher profits?
a) Theory X
b) participative
c) authoritarian
d) hierarchical
e) none of the above
Empowerment techniques include all but which of the following, along with providing
employees the authority to make decisions?
a) delegating specific tasks
b) providing access to relevant information
c) consistently close supervision
d) allocating appropriate resources and funds
e) none of the above
The most important factor for developing and reinforcing a high-integrity work culture
is:
a) hiring ethical job applicants
b) effective codes of conduct
c) swift justice policies
d) ensuring fair pay
e) none of the above
Which of the following is not included among the aspects of the environmental change
process within organizations?
a) assign a manager to be accountable for environmental initiatives
b) obtain vocal and visible support from CEO, COO and other executives
c) involve employees, suppliers, customers, competitors, shareholders and community
members
d) integrate sustainability into normal business functions
e) none of the above
Which of the following sources of information are fair and available to employers when
making hiring decisions, if job-related?
a) criminal records
b) motor vehicle reports
c) credit checks
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
Ethics training known as _______________ can be useful in assessing the extent to
which ethics permeates organizational operations, including how well the organization
is living up to its codes.
a) code of conduct analysis
b) ethical culture assessment
c) moral development analysis
d) work as a calling
e) none of the above
Provisions by which citizens can sue fraudulent suppliers on behalf of the government,
and receive a percentage of the financial recovery, are called __________ provisions.
a) quid-pro-quo
b) qui tam
c) tit-for-tat
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 includes provisions for
all but which of the following situations?
a) a bona fide occupational qualification such as not rehiring an aging actor for a young
role, or matters of safety
b) job assignments for older workers
c) promotions for older workers
d) employees that are outside of the protected range of ages 40 to 65
e) none of the above
The ethical approach that equates moral actions with those that promote an individual’s
self-interest is known as _____________.
a) utilitarianism
b) egoism
c) cultural relativism
d) virtue ethics
e) none of the above
Which of the following is not one of Kidder’s ethical dilemmas based on competing
values?
a) short term versus long term
b) truth versus loyalty
c) morality versus ambiguity
d) individual versus community
e) justice versus mercy
A win-win strategic partnership whereby nonprofits benefit by revenue generated
through the sales of the donor’s product or service is called ______________.
a) cause-related marketing
b) corporate philanthropy
c) green marketing
d) strategic marketing
e) none of the above
Government intervention in the marketplace, Smith reasoned, is needed under only
which of the following conditions:
a) when contracts are violated
b) when merchants abuse their freedom by committing injustices against others
c) when the pursuit of self-interest does not generate highly desired social welfare
benefits
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
Which of the following rights were not included in the Bill of Rights?
a) right to bear arms
b) freedom of the press
c) freedom from unreasonable search and seizure
d) freedom to rule the colonies
e) freedom of religion
Which of the following were not among the benefits early capitalists associated with a
free and competitive market economy?
a) more goods and services
b) lower prices
c) better-quality products
d) greater labor flexibility
e) higher tax revenues
A central theme of eco-friendliness, emphasizing the cyclical goals of
environmentalism, is _______________.
a) waste equals food
b) haste makes waste
c) waste equals recycling
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously articulated the
viewpoint that the social responsibility for business is to:
a) maximize profits within the law
b) engage in activities that broadly support the organization’s mission
c) aspire to be model citizens
d) pursue profit at any cost
e) none of the above
Under which of the following scenarios might an organization implement an affirmative
action plan?
a) if its gender ratio is exactly equal
b) if its racial bias is intentional
c) if its gender or racial profile does not reflect the gender or racial profile of people
living in the same region, qualified to perform the job task
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
Which legislation protects job applicants from discrimination based on race, color,
religion, gender or national origin?
a) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
b) The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
c) The Worker Protection Act of 1959
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
Ethical dilemmas typically arise because _______________.
a) employees are inherently dishonest
b) situations are ambiguous
c) employers are unfair
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
Systematic rational ethical decision-making frameworks can help management:
a) reveal the ethical dimensions of any decision being made
b) justify unethical behaviors in the face of conflicting pressures
c) explain why moral decisions are all relative
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
In 2009 there were more than __________ discrimination cases filed with the EEOC.
a) 1,000,000
b) 100,000
c) 10,000
d) 1,000
e) none of the above
A useful tool for reducing workplace stress is _______________.
a) meditation
b) wellness programs
c) delegation training
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
The position in an organization charged with broad oversight of ethical performance is
the:
a) ombudsperson
b) ethics & compliance officer
c) manager
d) CEO
e) none of the above
Discuss the relationship between Kohlberg’s stages of moral development and the six
ethical theories presented in the chapter by defining each stage and its associated ethical
theories.
What purposes do Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct fulfill in an organization?
The U.S. consumes a greater percentage of bio-fuels including hydro, geothermal and
solar energy, than all other industrialized nations in the world.
Where appropriate, a final step in the ethics job screen process may include drug and
polygraph tests.
Identify and define Torbert’s six management role models, which are associated with
the different stages of moral development.
Ethical misconduct at the workplace can be undertaken for the purposes of enhancing
the company’s financial performance agenda or for personal benefits for those engaging
in the misconduct.
Identify and define at least four major ethical theories presented in the chapter.
Managers must “practice what they preach” and adopt eco-friendly behaviors in their
own lifestyles if they would like to inspire subordinates to engage in eco-friendly
activities at work.
Discuss the personality factors that are most relevant for understanding a job
candidate’s ethics.
Harmful acts with severe consequences have high moral intensity.
Employees are more willing to help coworkers who have heavy workloads or are
struggling with work-related problems when they themselves have been treated unfairly
and without integrity.
Employment references are legally protected from a defamation lawsuit as long as the
information being conveyed is truthful.
The Obama administration’s Economic Stimulus Act of 2009 included provisions
supporting companies that are generating renewable energy sources, developing clean
energy technologies, and creating jobs retrofitting homes to conserve energy.
Cite some of the specific examples of family-friendly and community-friendly policies
suggested in the chapter, primarily provided by the annual Working Mother magazine’s
listing.
Employees are obligated to follow internal codes of conduct, as well as external “codes”
or legislation.
Identify and define the four dimensions of diversity.