Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Test Bank
CASE STUDY 9: BOEING 737 MAX AND THE CHALLENGER: THE TALE OF FLYING
OBJECTS FALLING FROM THE SKY
Multiple Choice
1. Historical recurrence is best described as ______.
a. the repetition of similar events in history
b. an ongoing process
c. the repetition of the same event over time
d. the return of an event after a long period of dormancy
2. The text claims that both the Challenger and Boeing 737 Max crashes were the result
of ______.
a. overregulation of aviation
b. changes in industry standards
c. pilot errors
d. lapses in ethical judgment
3. According to Warren Buffett, if it is okay for an executive to cheat to succeed, it is
easy for employees to do what?
a. ignore their example
b. challenge their choices
c. remove them from power
d. justify bad behavior
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
4. An ethical choice exists when there is a(n) ______.
a. absence of viable options
b. lack of applicable evidence
c. clear choice between right and wrong
d. violation of the public trust
5. Self-serving bias arises when a person attributes positive events and negative events
to what factors?
a. Negative outcomes are character flaws and positive outcomes are a fluke.
b. Positive outcomes are self-generated, negative outcomes are externally generated.
c. Both negative and positive outcomes are ethically neutral.
d. Positive and negative outcomes are the result of social forces.
6. What is the result of focusing decision-making on unanimous agreement rather than
non-biased and ethically-oriented decision-making?
a. self-serving bias
b. escalation of commitment
c. cultural numbness
d. groupthink
7. Mismanaged agreement refers to times when a group takes what action?
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
a. agrees with the clearly worst option
b. falsely believe that everyone is in agreement
c. agrees only with their own plan
d. feels compelled to disagree with particular plans
8. ______ occurs when someone goes outside of normal communication channels to
reveal ethical and legal lapses.
a. Whistleblowing
b. Cultural numbness
c. Groupthink
d. Reprioritization
9. ______ was at the heart of the O-ring problem on the Challenger.
a. Negligence
b. Poor communication
c. Mismanaged agreement
d. Groupthink
10. Who was excluded from the final decision-making process with the Challenger
space shuttle even though they could’ve helped prevent the tragedy?
a. management
b. the public
c. engineers
d. astronauts
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
11. What was one of the main goals of the 737 Max project?
a. Design modifications to increase passenger capacity.
b. Larger first-class passenger seats.
c. More engines for faster airspeed.
d. Total overhaul of the 737 model.
12. Boeing’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System was software designed
to accomplish what task?
a. Fly the plane without pilot assistance.
b. Check for safety concerns during flight.
c. Provide data about plane performance.
d. Make the Max pilot like other forms of the 737.
13. One area where Boeing cut corners on the 737 Max project was to refrain from
______.
a. providing overhead compartments
b. equipping floatation devices
c. providing extra bathrooms
d. testing the MCAS
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
14. Why was the safety system rejected for the 737 Max?
a. no longer required
b. not up to Boeing’s standards
c. other competitors had eliminated theirs
d. too expensive
15. What other conditions did the Boeing whistleblower claim contributed to the 737
Max failure?
a. staff shortages
b. too many decision-makers
c. overworked employees
d. too many engines on plane
16. The whistleblower claimed that the focus of the 737 Max project was ______ rather
than safety.
a. comfort and luxury
b. spaciousness and ease
c. delivery and cost
d. security and protection
17. In the early 2000s, Boeing’s new management was more influenced by ______ than
its earlier reputation.
a. competition pressure from Airbus
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
b. aligning with federal regulations
c. improving the safety of its designs
d. future space flight plans
18. Boeing’s focus shifted from safe air travel to ______ in the time leading up to the
737 crashes.
a. compliance with regulatory standards
b. profitability
c. security
d. customer satisfaction
19. Rather than rely on company ethics, the Boeing leadership relied on ______.
a. the code of ethics
b. federal mandates
c. industry standards
d. personal values based on cost and profit
20. The failure to test and inform users about the MCAS system was a decision based
on ______.
a. human factors
b. economic factors
c. quality control factors
d. reputation factors
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
True/False
1. Cultural numbness arises out of shifting one’s ethics away from that of an
organization and toward one’s personal ethics.
2. Escalation of Commitment refers to when a group continues to follow a failed course
of action and remain on a suboptimal path.
3. If a whistleblower informs others about a problem but benefits from this action, they
are engaging in an ethical form of dissent.
4. The Teacher in Space program was supposed to have its first launch with the
Challenger mission.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
5. Pilots were informed about the MCAS system but not trained to use it.
Essay
1. How did both Challenger and Boeing demonstrate the downward spiral toward ethical
lapses?
2. Discuss the role of groupthink in either Challenger’s or Boeing’s decision-making
process.
3. Imagine that you are a whistleblower, how can you engage in this practice and
dissent ethically?
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
4. Describe the role overconfidence and self-serving biases played in one of these
tragedies.
5. If you were in leadership at NASA or Boeing, what could you do to avoid the same
kinds of ethical lapses their leadership experienced prior to the Challenger and 737 Max
tragedies?