77) The standards an individual uses to decide what his or her conduct should be are known as
common law.
78) The ethical or unethical influence of a manager on a subordinate tends to occur through both
verbal and non-verbal communication.
79) The president of University National Bank in Palo Alto, California has his office on the main
floor of the bank just off the lobby, and his door is always open unless he is in a private meeting.
This represents a physical manifestation of the company’s culture.
80) The principal cause of ethical compromises is based on organizational pressure to meet a
schedule or some other objective.
81) Unfortunately, employers have no tools for measuring the ethics of an individual during the
applicant screening process, so employers do not realize they have hired an unethical person
until it is too late.
82) A firm’s ethics code outlines its mission, vision, appraisal system, and hiring policies.
83) When firms do not deal swiftly and fairly with the unethical behavior of employees, ethical
employees feel penalized.
84) The fair treatment of job applicants by HR managers leads to applicants having favorable
opinions about the selection procedure and the organization.
85) Most people view invasion of their privacy by employers as fair and ethical.
86) With a system of progressive penalties, the severity of the penalty depends on the offense
and the employee’s seniority level.
87) Nonpunitive discipline is discipline involving oral warnings and paid “decision-making
leaves of absence.”
88) Nonpunitive discipline attempts to gain short-term compliance from employees, while
traditional discipline seeks long-term cooperation.
89) The four main types of privacy upheld by courts are intrusion, publication of private matters,
disclosure of medical records, and appropriation of an employee’s name or likeness for
commercial purposes.
90) If an employee conducts a personal phone call at work, the employer can legally eavesdrop
and monitor the phone call.
91) Wrongful discharge occurs when an employee’s dismissal does not comply with the law or
92) Employers should avoid providing dismissed employees with full explanations of why and
how termination decisions were made because such details typically lead the former employees
to file wrongful discharge lawsuits.
93) In the absence of a contract, the employer and/or the employee can terminate the employer-
employee relation which is known as dismissal.
94) Exit interviews are conducted to inform an employee of the fact that he or she has been
dismissed.
95) Shared perceptions organizational members have about their organization and work
environment is known as organizational climate.
96) A small sample of employees who express their opinions and attitudes on an issue is a focus
group.
97) Most legal rights in American society derive from local, state, and federal laws.
98) Research indicates that individuals are more likely to make unethical choices when faced
with minor dilemmas than with major problems.
99) Studies indicate that some people’s traits and behaviors make them more susceptible to
bullying.
100) Firms considered high performance work systems should strive to cut costs rather than
downsize because employee morale is especially important to the firm’s productivity and
profitability.
101) What is morality? How does an employee’s morality relate to making ethical decisions in
the workplace?
102) What is organizational justice? How can firms ensure organizational justice in performance
appraisals?
103) What is organizational culture? How can managers influence the ethical nature of a firm’s
culture?
104) What is an ethics code? What methods do firms use to monitor employees and ensure their
compliance with ethics codes?
105) What can you do as an HR manager to ensure that you hire ethical employees?
106) How do both firms and individuals benefit from fair treatment in the workplace? When
employee discipline is necessary, how can firms ensure that the disciplinary process is fair?
107) What is nonpunitive discipline? What are the steps of the nonpunitive discipline process? If
you were a manager, would you use a system of traditional discipline or nonpunitive discipline?
Why?
108) Briefly discuss some of the various communication tools an employer used to bolster their
employee relations efforts.
109) What are the main characteristics of workplace bullying? How can employers and their HR
departments reduce bullying incidents in the workplace?
110) What is the Electronic Communications Privacy Act? What are its two primary exceptions?