Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Test Bank
CHAPTER 10: MANAGERS AS ETHICAL LEADERS AND PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENTS
Multiple Choice
1. The primary reason managers are given power is to ______.
a. provide problem-solving for employees
b. promote organizational culture
c. achieve organizational objectives
d. maximize profits
2. How does the text define the concept of “power”?
a. The increasing capacity for action that comes with higher positions in the hierarchy.
b. The possession of strong influence over the actions of others.
c. The ability to act, create an effect, or wield force.
d. The ability to change the course of human events.
3. Mali is a lower-level employee who is extremely popular among her coworkers. Her
demeanor and behavior and accomplishments are such that others often try to emulate
her. Using the classification system of John French and Bertram Raven, which kind of
power does she have?
a. referent
b. coercive
c. expert
d. legitimate
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4. Using the classification system of John French and Bertram Raven, which of the
following people is most likely to have very high legitimate power?
a. an executive at a powerful company
b. an extremely knowledgeable and experienced volunteer carpenter
c. a low-level HR person who oversees assigning bonuses
d. a popular front-line employee who is very productive
5. Which of the following statements about the power base classification system of John
French and Bertram Raven is accurate?
a. Some managers can possess power from all five bases.
b. The higher a person’s legitimate power is, the less responsibility they must take on.
c. Referent power is typically the weakest power base among managers.
d. Most managers lean far too heavily on coercive power.
6. What does leadership scholar Jeffrey Pfeffer warn individuals about with respect to
power use in organizations?
a. Managers who follow moral prescriptions in organizations are likely to be
unsuccessful.
b. Many individuals underestimate the extreme influence and domination of hierarchical
power.
c. Coercive power should be pursued above all other bases of power.
d. Many individuals place too high a value on referent power, which is highly malleable.
7. The text mentions that Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos all have displayed
highly coercive, unethical behavior yet have been very successful. Which of the
following bits of evidence offered by the text is a successful counter to this unfortunate
truth?
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a. This unethical leadership is likely to lead the companies of these CEOs into eventual
decline.
b. These men are/were not admired by very many employees in their companies.
c. Most lower-level managers express the desire to put ethics above company success
or profits.
d. Ethical organizations and leaders tend to outperform unethical ones in the market
over the long term.
8. What lesson can be drawn from the experience of Roger Ailes?
a. Unethical behavior sometimes goes unpunished.
b. Unethical behavior eventually undermines one’s power base.
c. A company can succeed through lower-level ethical leadership even if high-level
leadership is unethical.
d. If a leader alters their behavior to make it more ethical, his or her company can thrive.
9. What would a Social Darwinist likely argue that a good manager should seek to
acquire the most?
a. authoritarian power
b. referent power
c. the respect of employees
d. good allies
10. In what way did Frederick Winslow Taylor’s management style suggest extreme
authoritarian leadership?
a. He delegated almost all authority over business operations to loyal subordinates.
b. He valued obedience over business success or profits.
c. He treated employees like machines designed to perform a single function.
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d. He struck down managers who seemed to be gaining too much power.
11. Which of the following is most closely associated with authoritarian leadership?
a. two-way communication
b. abusive supervision
c. loose hierarchy
d. a culture of independent thinkers
12. In which of the following ways does a participatory leadership style primarily differ
from an authoritarian one?
a. It is more likely to allow unethical behavior among employees.
b. It is more likely to value one-way communication.
c. It is more strongly devoted to the hierarchical system.
d. It demonstrates greater respect for employees.
13. Alina is a newly promoted manager at an office supply company. According to
Douglas McGregor’s classification, she takes a Theory Y view of employees. Which of
the following is likely to be TRUE of Alina?
a. She allows her employees to be more self-directed.
b. She relies most on monetary incentives to get good work from her employees.
c. She will enforce strict productivity goals.
d. She doubts the creative potential of her individual employees.
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
14. Rensis Likert conducted research that led him to credit which management style
with producing the highest profits?
a. passive
b. situational
c. authoritarian
d. participatory
15. According to the situational leadership model, which of the following employees
would be best managed with the directing leadership style?
a. Samil, who is committed to his work but very cautious and slow in performance.
b. David, who demonstrates little understanding of tasks or desire to learn.
c. Bindy, who is new on the job and very inexperienced but is highly enthusiastic.
d. Maria, who is highly skilled and extremely motivated.
16. Which of the situational leadership model styles of leadership is most closely related
to an authoritarian style?
a. directing
b. coaching
c. supporting
d. delegating
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17. If a manager has, overall, a competent and motivated workforce, what style of
leadership would Hersey and Blanchard prefer to be used if said manager could only
choose one?
a. delegating
b. directing
c. coaching
d. supporting
18. Daran is a five-year employee at his company and exhibits some unethical
practices, such as extensive time on the Internet for nonwork purposes, lying on time
sheets, and overbilling customers. Knowing only this, who among the following likely
had the most influence on Daran’s development of these behaviors?
a. his current direct supervisor
b. the first direct supervisor he had when he joined the company
c. his closest coworkers
d. the company’s executive leadership
19. When surveyed about the behavior of managers, employees reported which of the
following as the most common unethical behaviors witnessed?
a. sexual harassment
b. blaming mistakes on others
c. theft or falsifying expense reports
d. not keeping promises
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
20. Which of the following statements about the ethical or unethical behavior of
management is accurate?
a. Highly ethical employees placed under unethical managers will typically soon display
flagrant unethical behavior.
b. Unethical behavior by managers does not often influence the behavior of
subordinates.
c. Employees want to see confidence in their managers even above ethical behavior.
d. Employees want to see honesty in their managers above all other attributes.
21. Sana is a highly ethical employee who takes her ethical conduct very seriously. She
is moved to a new department under a very unethical manager who regularly gives her
instruction. If Sana cannot change departments and is committed to remaining at the
company, what is the most likely result of this new situation, given typical responses to
such an arrangement?
a. She will reduce the quality of her work or output and hope the situation changes
soon.
b. She will begin to display unethical behavior at a similar level as her supervisor.
c. She will try to undermine the manager by coordinating with other employees.
d. Her work habits and performance will remain unchanged.
22. What lesson is the text trying to impart with the example of Jon Huntsman and the
hypothetical scenario about an agreement to sell part of a company that rises rapidly in
value prior to the actual sale?
a. Personal integrity should be flexible in cases where maximizing business growth is at
stake.
b. Personal integrity should come before personal or professional gain.
c. Personal integrity should guide one’s actions but should not be confused with
business leadership.
d. Employees tend to follow the example of managers and company leadership.
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23. What type of situation requires an ethical leadership style?
a. when the organization’s culture is ethically compromised
b. when a manager is authoritarian, as this style is associated with the most ethical
problems
c. situations in which authority is primarily delegated
d. all situations, regardless of a manager’s leadership style
24. Which of the following is an important stated component of Michael Brown, Linda
Trevino, and David Harrison’s definition of ethical leadership?
a. a strict separation of private and professional behavior
b. the use of an established code of ethics
c. a demonstrated disinterest in pursuit of profits as a highly valued goal
d. use of two-way communication with employees
25. Other than being an ethical manager, what do Brown, Trevino, and colleagues
consider to be the other key component that results in a reputation as an ethical leader?
a. respecting employee privacy
b. encouraging employee creativity
c. being a moral person
d. being a situational leader
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26. What is implied by the argument that a manager must be a moral person as well as
a moral professional to be an ethical leader?
a. Managers are typically not capable of acting differently in their private and
professional lives.
b. A manager who is not a moral person will likely adopt an authoritarian leadership
style.
c. A manager will not be able to fully hide an unethical private life from employees.
d. A manager who is not a moral person will be unable to appreciate the individuality
and creativity of employees.
27. What typically happens when a supervisor resists upper-management efforts to
disseminate ethical behaviors down through the organization?
a. Lower-level employees are less likely to behave ethically.
b. The manager will adopt a more authoritarian leadership style.
c. Organizational culture will change, circumventing the manager’s influence.
d. The manager will likely resign.
28. A new CEO wishes to develop their employees’ ethical leadership skills. Where
should the new CEO begin?
a. Review case studies about ethical business leaders.
b. Develop self-awareness.
c. Assign employees to shadow ethical role models.
d. Develop a workshop on ethical decision-making
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29. What lesson is the text trying to impart with its description of Severn Trent Water
and its 2008 fraud case?
a. Leaders with high levels of emotional intelligence can still engage in ethical
misconduct.
b. Even the presence of ethical leadership cannot guarantee a company’s overall ethical
operation.
c. Ethical leadership can make radical improvements in a company’s performance.
d. Unethical behavior by employees can sink a company just as easily as unethical
behavior by management.
30. Which of the following have researchers found to be strongly correlated with ethical
leadership?
a. organizational citizenship behaviors
b. higher rates of employee turnover
c. slower financial growth
d. higher levels of power delegation
31. The Moral Potency Questionnaire measures moral potency, which means a person
must demonstrate ______.
a. both moral awareness and moral action
b. low moral ownership
c. ethical leadership
d. both moral ownership and a personal code of ethics
32. Which of the following demonstrates moral ownership?
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a. All of Karen’s coworkers want to take one morally neutral course of action, but she
convinces them to adopt a different one.
b. Karen leaves the company when its public image suffers from a fraud scandal.
c. Karen’s boss asks her repeatedly to go on a date, and she reports it to the company’s
ECO.
d. All of Karen’s coworkers want to charge a client for extra hours, but Karen believes it
is wrong and stands against it.
33. How does servant leadership differ from participatory leadership?
a. Servant leadership places a priority on delegating authority to subordinates to help
grow their careers.
b. Servant leadership places a priority on caring for all coworkers to achieve
organizational results.
c. Servant leadership becomes more important the higher one moves in the
organizational hierarchy.
d. Servant leadership places less value on employees and more on management.
34. According to Michiel Coetzer, Mark Bussin, and Madelyn Geldenhuys, which of the
following is one of the eight primary characteristics of a servant leader?
a. flexibility
b. authenticity
c. independence
d. high emotional intelligence
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35. How do the organizational outcomes of servant leadership differ from the individual
and team outcomes?
a. They are based on group identification.
b. They rely more on work engagement and self-efficacy.
c. They are more culture based.
d. They are more external and results oriented.
36. What is the best way to remedy a problem in which employees do not recognize that
their manager is ethical or there is a manger who does not realize they are acting
unethically?
a. Create an employee feedback system for ethical perceptions or issues.
b. Change the ethics culture of the organization.
c. Explain to employees that it is up to them to lead by example.
d. Highlight the work of executive leadership when it is of high moral character.
37. Which is an example of an organizational outcome of servant leadership as outlined
by research by Coetzer, Bussin, and Geldenhuys?
a. employees demonstrate higher levels of innovation
b. greater levels of group organizational citizenship behavior
c. greater customer service ratings
d. employees experience greater engagement
38. How does the Great Place to Work® Institute define a “great place to work”?
a. A place where people consistently report a level of happiness commensurate with
what they expect from their career goals.
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b. A place where managers lead by ethical example and provide employees with
feedback systems to encourage improvement.
c. A place where the work-life balance of employees is considered a priority in
determining workflow.
d. A place where people trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and
enjoy the people they work with.
39. Russel’s ten-year-old company, which now employs 1,000 people, has just been
certified as a “great place to work” by the Great Place to Work® Institute. What can he
expect for his company that those unable to get this designation will not experience?
a. a lower manager-to-employee ratio
b. stable profits
c. higher levels of productivity
d. a solid hierarchical structure
40. Shudra feels like she has a lot of control over the ethical performance of her
employees by setting particular work goals and standards and measuring if they are
met. What other primary tool can she utilize to give her even more influence in this
area?
a. promotions
b. the threat of termination
c. bonuses and financial incentives
d. performance appraisals
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41. What is an example of an “ill–conceived goal” of the kind that can generate unethical
behavior in employees?
a. unrealistic profit expectation
b. yearly promotion
c. reducing the company’s carbon footprint
d. being competitive in the marketplace
42. According to theorists James O’Toole and Warren Bennis, what long-held metric for
manager success needs to be updated?
a. providing quality goods or services for the market
b. ensuring strict discipline
c. creating wealth for shareholders
d. preventing company collapse
43. If trying to use the balanced scorecard, what should a manager do for the category
“internal business process”?
a. Set and pursue target values for five or six meaningful measures of internal business
process.
b. Seek to increase productivity in the “employee promotions” and “employee
productivity” fields.
c. Evaluate the relationships between managers and subordinates over a specific
period.
d. Have employees take a survey about workflow and score the responses for an
overall measure.
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
44. In which of the following ways does the triple bottom line approach differ from the
balanced scorecard approach?
a. It lacks any overt consideration of financial performance.
b. It takes stakeholders, not just shareholders, into account.
c. It has an explicit ecological dimension.
d. It measures employee learning and growth.
45. Compared to the traditional managerial business standard, the triple bottom line has
managers give greater focus to ______.
a. employees
b. shareholders
c. stakeholders
d. customers
46. What is the primary danger of implementing “stretch goals”?
a. Employees may behave unethically to reach them.
b. Employees may become demoralized while trying to reach them.
c. They can encourage complacency because they are too easy to reach.
d. They take the place of incremental goals.
47. Where can stretch goals cause the most problems?
a. ethics training
b. customer satisfaction
c. recycling volume
d. sales performance
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48. What is the main danger involved when a manager assigns too many goals to
employees?
a. Employees focus too much on the specifics.
b. Employees get discouraged.
c. High-priority goals get lost in the shuffle.
d. Pressure to meet goals increases.
49. What is the problem with a goal that lacks the quality of being “aligned”?
a. It will not match the organization’s overall strategies.
b. It will not be realistic based on what the manager has assigned.
c. It will not be aligned with ethical behavior.
d. It will be reachable with incremental gain.
50. A SMART goal, among other things, meets the criteria of being ______.
a. time-bound
b. profitable
c. generalized
d. ambitious