Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Test Bank
CHAPTER 9: ETHICS REPORTING SYSTEMS
Multiple Choice
1. Karen is a newly promoted manager of a large department at her company. She is
worried about what ethical problems may or may not be happening there. On who or
what will she primarily rely for information about ethics problems in her department?
a. her HR department liaison
b. her own careful monitoring of employee behavior
c. ethics issue metrics set up by previous managers
d. her employees’ voluntary reporting
2. What is “employee silence”?
a. A company’s culture frowns on any admission of or appearance of talk about
unethical conduct.
b. Employees at a company have an unspoken agreement not to speak about unethical
behavior with managers.
c. An employee who has suffered from unethical treatment by another refuses to report
the incident.
d. An employee witnesses ethical misconduct but does not discuss it with anyone
involved or with anyone who has authority to address the problem.
3. A survey by the Ethics and Compliance Initiative reported that forty-seven percent of
employees noticed ______ over the past year.
a. major ethics violation
b. theft
c. racially motivated discrimination
d. illegal internet use
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4. What kinds of violations did the 2020 Ethics and Compliance Initiative survey identify
as occurring in the highest numbers among workers?
a. theft
b. abuse
c. health and safety
d. conflict of interest
5. What effect has the False Claims Act had on ethical claims among organizations in
the United States?
a. It has had no discernible effect.
b. It has largely taken the place of internal ethics reporting systems.
c. It has resulted in billions of dollars in civil fraud settlements and judgments against
corporations.
d. It has reduced the number of ethical claims made within corporations.
6. What is a major unstated cost of unethical behavior within organizations?
a. the effect of a bad reputation on one’s stock price
b. the effects of low morale
c. the cost of employing lawyers to defend the organization
d. the costs of implementing new ethics reporting systems
7. Employees are likely to refrain from communicating negative information to their
organizational leaders if they perceive those leaders to be ______.
a. averse to criticism
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b. hyperfocused on mission
c. negligent
d. unconcerned about employee opinions
8. Josh is a long-term manager at his financial services firm. Although friendly in person,
his style of leadership could best be described as authoritarian. What trait is Samir most
likely to value and expect from his employees?
a. loyalty
b. efficiency
c. honesty
d. good social skills
9. When an employee comes to his manager, Samir, and says that he has a problem,
Samir says, “Bring me solutions, not problems.” What unintended consequence is this
likely to cause in the future?
a. Solutions to problems will appear quickly, but they may not be the optimal ones.
b. Problems will take longer to be reported and resolved.
c. The employee will go to the ethics manager for the company instead.
d. The employee will reach out to a government whistleblower system to talk about
important issues.
10. In an authoritarian work culture, what is the safest course of action for an employee
to take with respect to witnessed ethical issues?
a. Be silent.
b. Go over the manager’s head and talk to executive leadership.
c. Speak to same-level employees about the issue before speaking to a manager.
d. Go to the HR department to report abuses.
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
11. What benefit does having an anonymous reporting system confer that a simple
reporting system beyond the chain of command may not?
a. a greater commitment to loyalty
b. freedom from retaliation
c. more efficient use of supervisors’ time
d. the ability to report on coworkers
12. How does the text define “employee empowerment”?
a. Employees possessing the authority to make decisions affecting themselves and their
work.
b. Employees having the confidence to report violations by coworkers.
c. Employees feeling like they can speak honestly with managers and not fear
retaliation.
d. Employees possessing the power to report anonymously about ethical misconduct.
13. Employee silence is likely if the employee feels as though they ______.
a. lack sufficient evidence
b. will not benefit from reporting
c. don’t know how to use the reporting system
d. are not up to the task of reporting fairly
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
14. Which of the following is true of how employees respond to ethical issues and moral
dilemmas?
a. The higher an employee is in the hierarchy, the more morally compromised the
employee is likely to be.
b. Employees are more likely to report issues of high moral intensity.
c. Employees who lack moral courage will report if the right reporting systems are in
place.
d. The higher an employee is in the hierarchy, the less likely the employee is to report
misconduct.
15. Sheila has witnessed an incidence of ethical misconduct and can only internally
frame it in terms of anticipated negative outcomes. What kind of question is she
probably asking herself?
a. Is speaking out the right thing to do?
b. Is speaking out worth it?
c. How much harm is the incident causing to the victim?
d. What would I do if this happened to me?
16. Which of the following is an anticipated negative outcome employees can believe
they will face if they report ethical misconduct?
a. irresponsibly blaming others
b. damaged work relationships
c. inaccurate perception of their morality by coworkers
d. altered treatment by clients
17. According to respondents of an ECI survey, the most common form of retaliation
experienced by those who reported misconduct came in the form of ______.
a. lost pay or bonuses
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b. lost job
c. abuse by coworkers
d. altered treatment by managers
18. Most employees at a medium-sized law firm choose not to report abuses because
they hold a “nothing will get done about it” belief. What is the most likely cause of this
belief?
a. Employees fear retaliation for reporting.
b. Employees have a bias about the legal profession and its reputation for corruption.
c. Managers have failed to act on previous incidences.
d. Managers have told employees not to bother reporting.
19. As described by business ethicist Archie Carroll, an amoral manager ______.
a. deliberately tries to separate ethics and business operations
b. does not understand ethics and often ignores ethical problems
c. is deliberately unethical to employees and coworkers
d. tries to encourage ethical behavior among employees but is not proactive about it
20. Which of the following situations, if mutually exclusive, could we expect to provide
the most benefit in terms of supporting ethical behavior and reporting in a corporate
department?
a. a strong level of diversity among employees
b. a company that has a strong public reputation for ethical behavior
c. a CEO with a strong sense of personal morality
d. a manager who has an open-door policy to discuss ethical concerns
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21. What should be an employee’s first-used (or available) resource for dealing with an
ethical problem?
a. their direct manager
b. the employee involved
c. the HR department
d. an anonymous hotline/helpline
22. What characteristic is a manager likely to gain if he or she admits to employees their
own mistakes with respect to ethics in the past?
a. confidence
b. authoritarianism
c. guilt
d. approachability
23. Which of the following best represents the way for managers to become an
approachable and trustworthy source of ethics in their organization?
a. Hold an annual department meeting to review the code of ethics.
b. Respond quickly to ethical issues but do not make such discussions a part of regular
work.
c. Keep an open-door policy but do not preemptively raise the issue of ethics.
d. Participate in regular ethics dialogue and refer often to the organization’s code of
ethics.
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24. Which of the following scenarios is a good example of the proper implementation of
a manager’s open-door policy?
a. A manager keeps the door closed to maintain efficiency but makes the rounds with
employees regularly to ask if there are any problems.
b. A manager keeps the door open for any concerns but closes it when an employee
comes in to maintain privacy.
c. A manager keeps the door open even when a person comes in to discuss a concern
to make sure there is nothing hidden within a department.
d. A manager keeps the door closed but encourages employees to be open and honest
with each other.
25. What is the best way for a manager to overcome a “nothing will get done” attitude
among employees?
a. Offer examples of how other companies deal with ethical issues.
b. Promise employees that action will be taken.
c. Be proactive to engage and act on concerns when raised.
d. Hold annual workshops to discuss ethics.
26. Sasha, a manager of a small department in a major financial services firm, is having
a one-on-one meeting with an employee who seems hesitant to discuss something.
What should Sasha bring up before the meeting concludes?
a. Ask the employee if there have been any challenges so far in living up to the
company’s code of ethics.
b. Ask the employee if he or she suspects any other employees of being unethical.
c. Tell the employee not to worry and that all concerns will be addressed in time.
d. Tell the employee to consider how the unethical actions of other employees might
damage the company and their own careers.
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
27. How should a manager first respond to an admission of ethical misconduct from an
employee?
a. Express disappointment but without accusation.
b. Express surprise or wonder.
c. Explain the penalties for such an action.
d. Express regret that the employee has done this.
28. Why is it inadvisable for managers to act as though they are morally infallible?
a. They might act before having all the information.
b. They might be morally insensitive.
c. They can become complacent in their behaviors.
d. They can alienate those seeking guidance.
29. When should a manager or company grant amnesty for an ethical violation?
a. If the employee was pressured into the violation, amnesty should be granted.
b. If the violation was part of company culture, amnesty is encouraged.
c. Amnesty should be granted for first offenses.
d. It depends on the seriousness of the situation.
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
30. How can a manager best generate the reputation for being approachable.
a. Have frequent interactions with employees.
b. Leave their office door open.
c. Put up a poster that says “I’m here for you.”
d. Refer to the employee unit as a family.
31. Jillian is a low-level employee in a big corporation who has witnessed an ethics
violation. In an ideal situation, which of the following would happen?
a. Jillian would try to be a team player and cooperate with coworkers to improve
productivity.
b. Jillian’s manager would be approachable, and the company would not need other
individuals for ethics reporting.
c. Jillian would feel comfortable reaching out to a government whistleblower program.
d. Jillian’s manager would be approachable, as would a minimum of several other
individuals within the organization.
32. How does the federal government incentivize corporations to have an ethics and
compliance officer or chief compliance officer?
a. Corporations with this position receive significant tax breaks.
b. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines provide incentives.
c. Incentives are provided through advertising of “ethical” companies by the Commerce
Department.
d. The federal government exempts such corporations from fraud investigations.
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
33. What advantage does having an ethics and compliance officer grant over having
only managers or the owner, even if they are very attentive, manage ethical
performance?
a. It ensures no retaliation against the sharer of information.
b. It allows sensitive ethical issues to be shared without dilution by the chain of
command.
c. It allows sensitive ethical issues to be shared without any sanctions being levied by
the organization.
d. It exempts an organization from governmental sanctions over unethical behavior.
34. Which of the following is the mission of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) and
the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE)?
a. To provide ethics and compliance officers with support and best practices.
b. To objectively rate organizations on ethical performance.
c. To unionize ethics and compliance officers.
d. To provide third-party ethics auditing for organizations that request it.
35. How does the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) differ from the
Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI)?
a. It is a nonprofit with a much larger membership.
b. It does not offer professional certification of ECOs.
c. It is made up of regular corporate managers, not ECOs.
d. It represents a wide spectrum of industry types.
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36. According to KPMG’s ethics defense model, what is the “second line of defense” for
ensuring ethical and legal compliance?
a. business managers
b. internal audits
c. the ethics and compliance officer
d. operations managers
37. Which of the following statements about ECO duties is accurate?
a. The ECO should not be the one to inform employees of outcomes resulting from
ethical issues.
b. The ECO should almost always be the first person an employee approaches to
address an ethical issue.
c. The nature and scope of ECO activities should be standardized across companies.
d. ECOs should give different levels of attention to ethical issues based on relative
importance.
38. Of the following, which is the most important characteristic or skill for an ECO to
possess?
a. having control over internal reporting systems
b. having complete authority over managers
c. having everyone’s trust
d. being a long-term employee of the company
39. Which of the following is best for the performance and longevity of an ECO?
a. To gather multiple perspectives from people involved in each issue.
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b. To be perceived as the top ethical authority.
c. To provide a uniform, standard solution to each issue.
d. To try to change the organization’s culture to conform to higher standards.
40. In which of the following ways does having an ombudsman differ from having an
ECO?
a. It does not provide one individual with comprehensive control over communicating
ethics and training in ethics.
b. It does not offer employees a channel for reporting abuses or ethics issues.
c. It does not provide employees with an anonymous way to report problems.
d. It does not imbue an individual with the capacity to recommend change in the
organization.
41. A new employee at a mid-size corporation believes she has suffered two incidents
in which a specific manager has treated her in a discriminatory way based on race. She
could file a complaint directly with the EEOC, but she could also raise the issue with the
company’s ombudsman. Why might she choose the latter?
a. It is more likely to win her financial damages.
b. It is more likely to bring about change in the organization.
c. It could be a quicker and less upsetting resolution process.
d. It is more likely to come to the attention of executive leadership.
42. Which of the following is one of the four core ethical principles that the International
Ombudsman Association’s Code of Ethics suggests an ombudsman must have?
a. confidentiality
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b. loyalty
c. integrity
d. courage
43. What is meant when the International Ombudsman Association’s Code of Ethics
says an ombudsman must possess the trait of informality?
a. The ombudsman must not have an attitude that turns away employees who are
seeking to report on an ethical issue.
b. The ombudsman must not be a part of formal adjudicative or administrative
procedures for ethical issues raised.
c. The ombudsman must seem like a friendly individual who is understanding of
organizational culture.
d. The ombudsman is not required to use formal chains of command to report issues
that have been introduced to him.
44. Who would typically handle the negotiation for a small business if dealing with an
ethical violation that involves the federal government?
a. the company’s owner
b. the company’s ombudsman
c. an ombudsman assigned by the small business industry group
d. the company’s ECO
45. What does the chaplain position have that neither the ECO nor ombudsperson
positions possess?
a. a religious component
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
b. a promise of confidentiality
c. an assurance of anonymity
d. separation from organizational hierarchy
46. Chaplains often meet with employees during ______.
a. nonworking hours
b. lunch breaks
c. special sessions
d. wellness hours
47. If a company requests the contracted services of a chaplain from Marketplace
Chaplains and Corporate Chaplains of America, then that company can expect ______.
a. matters discussed with that chaplain to be reported to company management
b. their employees to receive Christian-based counseling
c. their employees to be able to call that chaplain anytime, day or night
d. regular counseling workshops held at the company offices
48. What is a specific benefit of having an ethics assist line?
a. It gives companies legal cover for ethics abuses.
b. It proactively reaches out to employees about ethics issues.
c. It allows anonymous reporting of ethics issues.
d. It provides a communication for religious issues specifically.
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SAGE Publishing, 2021
49. Which of the following is true of the use of ethics assist lines today?
a. Users of ethics assist lines typically just report incidents rather than receive
assistance.
b. About half of fortune 500 companies now employ an ethics assist line.
c. Most organizations call them “ethics hotlines” instead of assist lines.
d. Many small organizations contract out to third party services for an ethics assist line.
50. What is the most common way for organizations to detect fraud?
a. internal tips
b. internal audits
c. external investigations
d. management review
51. What advantage does a contracted third-party ethics assist line have over one
administered by a company’s internal HR department?
a. It will generally provide better, more targeted advice.
b. Employees are likely to feel more comfortable using it.
c. It allows direct reporting to the EEOC.
d. Employees can raise a wider range of issues through it.
52. Lian’s company contracts with the EthicsPoint Ethics Assist Line. He emails the
assist line to report an ongoing ethics behavioral problem between two coworkers.
EthicsPoint takes the information and categorizes it. What will then happen to Lian’s
reported information?