The Social Investment Forum reported that socially responsible investing grew from
$40 billion in 1984 to nearly $4 trillion in 2012.
Answer:
Justice and fairness are universal human values. Therefore, specific beliefs and
preferences about what is a fair allocation are also universally interdependent.
Answer:
Unfortunately, corporate citizenship has no influences on consumers buying habits.
Answer:
According to cognitive moral development theory, the actual moral decision is not as
important as the reasoning process used to arrive at it.
Answer:
A statement such as “integrity is important here” is enough for subordinates to
understand expected behavior.
Answer:
Despite Johnson & Johnson’s best efforts to respond to its customers by pulling Tylenol
off shelves, the product has never regained its market share.
Answer:
The interest in business ethics is just a fad that has only recently been created by
popular scandals (i.e., Enron, WorldCom, etc.) reported in the news.
Answer:
A challenge involved in using a strictly consequentialist approach is that it is often
difficult to obtain the information required to evaluate all of the consequences for all
stakeholders who may be directly or indirectly affected by an action or decision.
Answer:
Work roles can support either ethical or unethical behavior.
Answer:
Unfortunately, people do not want to believe that the world operates on the principles of
fairness.
Answer:
According to research, the best way to encourage ethical behavior is to create an
organizational culture that is built to enhance employee engagement.
Answer:
According to Harvard Professor Michael Porter, the strategic reason for having CSR
play a prominent role in a firm is that in evaluating the firm’s CSR, executives should
begin by scrutinizing the social impacts of the company’s value chain.
Answer:
An appearance of a conflict of interest can be as damaging as an actual conflict.
Answer:
An employer cannot be held liable for an employee’s sexual harassment activities.
Answer:
An organization led by a leader high in cognitive moral development establishes a
much stronger ethical climate in the organization.
Answer:
Good character is the main factor determining whether an individual acts ethically
within an organization.
Answer:
It is unethical for managers to “control” employees’ ethical behavior through direct
management and the organization’s formal and informal cultural systems.
Answer:
Framing business decisions in ethical terms goes a long way toward increasing moral
awareness, communicating your standards, and emphasizing the importance of ethical
behavior.
Answer:
Although all of the philosophical approaches have limitations, an individual must
choose one approach and follow its guidance in every situation.
Answer:
The more a firm demands unquestioning obedience to authority, the more likely the
firm will experience higher levels of unethical conduct among their employees.
Answer:
Interestingly, according to a survey of executives, most respondents would rather lie to
employees about performance than confront them about performance problems.
Answer:
Unfortunately, fluency in a foreign language assists with verbal communication, but
helps little in understanding the culture.
Answer:
Companies that look for advice from consultants will do well to find a ‘spray and pray”
plan.
Answer:
Most business managers rely on a deontological approach.
Answer:
A major challenge of deontological approaches is deciding which duty, obligation,
right, or principle takes precedence because ethical dilemma often pit these against each
other.
Answer:
According to United States v. Booker, judges are no longer required to follow strictly
the U. S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Answer:
Research suggests that ethics only needs to be communicated in orientation materials
for new employees.
Answer:
With human resource issues, the most important word to remember is “fairness.”
Answer:
Over the long run, to be successful, firms with excellent socially responsible strategies
need to worry less about their business strategies.
Answer:
Ethical conflict is almost exclusively influenced by individual differences.
Answer:
With the advent of technology, fewer people look to others in their social environment
for guidance in ethical dilemma situations.
Answer:
An ethically neutral leader is not clearly unethical, but is perceived to be more
self-centered and more focused on the bottom line.
Answer:
Research finds that successful international business persons are inflexible when it
comes to cultural aspects with little or no tolerance for ambiguity.
Answer:
Transparency is the best policy in holding more than one employment option. Thus, so
long as you tell both employers about the work you are doing, the work you perform at
either firm is not relevant.
Answer:
Loyalty is paramount in business and employees who question unethical direction or an
unethical boss are doomed.
Answer:
Compliments are just that, compliments, and employees too sensitive to accept them
should receive sensitivity training.
Answer:
In ethical decision-making and particularly in cases dealing with product safety, firms
are best served when they consider the long-term consequences of a decision.
Answer:
In business, concerning yourself with how your decision making affects stakeholders is
useless given the number of stakeholders and their different interests.
Answer:
When employees come to an organization, they have already developed into “good” or
“bad” apples. Therefore, there is little a manager can do to impact an employee’s ethical
behavior.
Answer:
Managers must structure the work environment to support ethical conduct and this
includes ensuring that reward systems are aligned with the ethics of the firm.
Answer:
Reference: Types of Employee Engagement
a) Actively engaged
b) Not engaged
c) Actively disengaged
Jane frequently refuses to do work that “is not her job.”
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Stakeholders and Regulatory Agencies
a) Guard rights of shareholders
b) Guard rights of consumers
c) Guard rights of employees
d) Guard rights of the community
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
Answer:
Which of these is NOT a part of informal system in an organization?:
a) Norms
b) Rituals
c) Language
d) Decision processes
Answer:
Which of these terms is used to describe individuals who act in self-interested,
opportunistic, deceptive, and manipulative ways to win no matter what the cost or how
it affects other people?
a) Relativism
b) Idealism
c) Locus of control
d) Machiavellianism
Answer:
___________ refers to the fairness of exchanges: “You did this for me and I’ll do that
for you.”
a) Reciprocity
b) Equality
c) Impartiality
d) Shared resources
Answer:
Which of the following is true?
a) Attempting to achieve a task goal can decrease risky behavior.
b) Employees focus on what managers say more than what managers do.
c) Employees will not search for clues about what gets rewarded; they must be told by
managers that it is important.
d) Meeting a goal provides psychological benefits.
Answer:
Which of the following is false?
a) Any attempt to change an organization’s ethics must consider the entire cultural
system.
b) A cultural system includes both formal and informal systems.
c) An effective culture change may take as long as 1 to 2 years.
d) New rules and values must be reinforced via training programs and reward systems.
Answer:
If a company official is abducted by Somali pirates and held for ransom, the Foreign
Corrupt Practices act (FCPA) calls for the company to forego negotiating for the
employee’s release and to not pay a ransom.
Answer:
When communicating policies:
a) It is important to use legalese to demonstrate the formality of the document.
b) Eliminate the legalese and tell employees what the policy me
c) Policies should be alphabetized to communicate that all policies are important.
d) Include policies from all departments so the manual is standardized.
Answer:
Parties who are affected by the business and its actions and who have an interest in
what the business does and how it performs are called _______.
a) stakeholders
b) large customers
c) community committees
d) government parties
Answer:
As a manager of ABC Corporation, you are in a tough situation. You must send an
employee to work with your new client in Europe and Sam is clearly the most qualified
candidate. However, ABC Corporation is located in an area where several people of
Sam’s race have been violently attacked. You must choose to send Sam or Tonya. What
should you do?
a) Automatically send Tonya to Europe without telling Sam he was considered.
b) Automatically send Sam to Europe because he is clearly the most qualified.
c) Ask Sam if he wants to go to Europe and discuss the situation.
d) Assign Sam to a new task and send the Tonya to Europe.
Answer:
Which of the following is false?
a) Moral reasoning can be increased through training.
b) A more-principled individual is less likely to cheat.
c) When an organization’s leader is characterized by high moral development, the entire
ethical climate of the organization is stronger.
d) Employee satisfaction and commitment are not related to the leader’s moral
development.
Answer:
At what stage of Kohlberg’s Cognitive Moral Development Model, what is right is
judged in terms of a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” reciprocal relationship?
a) Stage 3
b) Stage 5
c) Stage 2
d) Stage 4
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Descriptions (each can be used more than once)
a) Deontological approach
b) Teleological (or Consequential) approach
c) Virtue ethics approach
For example, followers of this approach would rely on Western biblical tradition or
moral intuition for guidance.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Integrity
b) Reinforcement theory
c) Social learning theory
d) Pygmalion effect
People generally live up to the expectations that are set for themhigh or low.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Strong organizational culture
b) Weak organizational culture
c) Socialization (or enculturation)
Subcultures within divisions or departments that are more likely to guide behavior.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Heroes
b) Norms
c) Rituals
d) Myths
Anecdotes about a sequence of events drawn from an organization’s history.
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of a high power distance country?
a) India
b) United States
c) Israel
d) None of the above
Answer:
The term __________ is sometimes used to represent harmony among three dimensions
of economic, social and environmental impacts.
a) philanthropic
b) ethics
c) bottom-line
d) sustainability
Answer:
Reference: Types of Employee Engagement
a) Actively engaged
b) Not engaged
c) Actively disengaged
David is willing to put in his time at work, but he exhibits no passion or no energy for
what he does.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Stakeholders and Regulatory Agencies
a) Guard rights of shareholders
b) Guard rights of consumers
c) Guard rights of employees
d) Guard rights of the community
The Federal Reserve Board
Answer:
“The way we do things around here” addresses an organization’s
a) heroes.
b) rituals.
c) norms.
d) myths.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Reasoning
a) Stage 1
b) Stage 2
c) Stage 3
d) Stage 4
e) Stage 5
f) Stage 6
Focused on interpersonal trust and social approval.
Answer:
Which of the following is true?
a) Rewards set the tone for what’s expected and rewarded in the long term.
b) Employees need to be rewarded for engaging in specific ethical behaviors.
c) Punishment is an inherently bad practice.
d) Rewards are better to control short-run ethical behavior.
Answer:
Most adults are at the ____________ level of cognitive moral development and their
action is ____________.
a) Conventional; based on avoidance of punishment.
b) Conventional; based on what others think, say, and do.
c) Postconventional; based on the best outcome for society.
d) Postconventional; based on their religion or guiding principles.
Answer:
Federal law prohibits discrimination against individuals with specific characteristics.
Which of the following characteristics is not on that list (i.e. not protected under
Federal law)?
a) Religion
b) Gender
c) Pregnancy
d) Mental ability
Answer:
The “moral person” component of ethical leadership:
a) Tells employees how the leader expects them to behave.
b) Tells employees how the leader is likely to behave.
c) Shows that ethics and values are an important part of the leader’s message.
d) Demonstrates a reputation for ethical leadership among employees.
Answer:
Which of the following is legal according to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
passed in 1977?
a) Payments to high ranking government officials
b) Grease payments to lower-level government officials
c) Bribes to political parties
d) Kickbacks to win overseas contracts
Answer:
___________ defines themselves in terms of their group memberships and their
contributions to the success of those groups.
a) Individualists
b) Collectivists
c) High power distance
d) Low power distance
Answer:
Why did the US Sentencing Commission begin to focus on the ethical culture of the
organization in 2004?
a) Researchers had just recently introduced the idea of an “ethical culture” in 2002.
b) More and more consultants were discussing “ethical culture” in their programs.
c) Prior to the change, organizations used formal programs as “window dressing”.
d) None of the above
Answer:
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Securities
and
Exchange Commission (SEC) will pay _____ percent of the amount the government
recovers from financial fraud if the whistleblower provides original information leading
to a recovery of more than a million dollars.
a) 10 to 30
b) 40 to 50
c) 5 to 8
d) 50 to 75
Answer:
The due care theory involves at least the elements set out below.
a. products and services meet all government regulations and specifications
b. ability to return the product if dissatisfied for any reason
c. products should be inspected regularly for quality
d. manufacturers should institute a system to recall products that prove dangerous after
distribution
e. a & b
f. a, c, & d
g. all of the above
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) confirmation bias
b) illusion of optimism
c) illusion of control
d) illusion of superiority
Tendency to overestimate the likelihood of good future events.
Answer:
Research has found that people are more likely to be ethically aware, to recognize the
ethical nature of an issue or decision, if all of these things happen EXCEPT:
a) if they believe that their peers will consider it to be ethically problematic.
b) if ethical language is used to present the situation to the decision maker.
c) if the decision is seen as having the potential to produce serious harm to others.
d) if superiors in the organization do not see it as an issue but subordinates do.
Answer:
A decrease in levels in the organizational hierarchy leads to better lateral
communication among employees and makes it more difficult for employees to
rationalize that higher-ups were responsible.
Answer:
The __________ experiment demonstrated how normal students accepted and acted on
their randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard.
a) Milgram
b) Manville
c) Zimbardo
d) My Lai
Answer:
______ ______ ______ (3 words) are those shareholders who clearly care about the
financial and the social bottom line of a business.
Answer:
CalPERS, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System pressures the
companies it invests in to engage in good corporate governance and socially responsible
practices in areas such as ______ and ______.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Stakeholders
b) Primary stakeholder
c) Secondary stakeholder
Individuals who have an interest/claim in what the organization does or how it
performs.
Answer:
You are a top executive charged with developing a plan for the company’s formal
communication of ethics. Briefly describe three communication channels and an
example of how you would use each one.
Answer:
Discuss the disclosure rule and the ethical role model rule. When might the disclosure
rule be most helpful? When might the role model rule be most helpful?
Answer:
_____, such as environmental damage, are costs to society that are produced by
companies but not reflected in the company’s cost structure.
Answer:
Matching Key Terms and Descriptions (each can be used more than once)
a) Deontological approach
b) Teleological (or Consequential) approach
c) Virtue ethics approach
“What kind of world would this be if everyone behaved this way or made this kind of
decision in this type of situation?”
Answer:
Group norms can cause an “everyone is doing it” mentality.This means:
a) People are more likely to recognize issues as “ethical issues.”
b) Many individuals will go along with unethical behavior because of a strong need for
peer acceptance.
c) Managers cannot blame individual employees for unethical behavior.
d) Employees are actively disengaged in groups.
Answer: