Chapter 01: An Overview of Financial Management
53. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
If a lower level person in a firm does something illegal, like “cooking the books” to understate costs and
thereby artificially increase profits because he or she was ordered to do so by a superior, the lower level person
cannot be prosecuted but the superior can be prosecuted.
There are many types of unethical business behavior. One example is where executives provide information
that they know is incorrect to outsiders. It is illegal to provide such information to federally regulated banks,
but it is not illegal to provide it to stockholders because they are the owners of the firm.
If someone deliberately understates costs and thereby causes reported profits to increase, this can cause the
stock price to rise above its intrinsic value. The stock will probably fall in the future. Both those who
participated in the fraud and the firm itself can be prosecuted.
Ethical behavior is not influenced by training and auditing procedures. People are either ethical or they are not,
and this is what determines ethical behavior in business.
Ethics is not an important consideration in business and in business schools.
FOFM.BRIG.17.01.08 – Business Ethics
United States – BUSPROG.FOFM.BRIG.17.02 – Ethics
United States – BUSPROG.FOFM.BRIG.17.06 – Reflective thinking
United States – OH – DISC.FOFM.BRIG.17.01 – Stocks and bonds
United States – OH – DISC.FOFM.BRIG.17.06 – Finance function
54. With which of the following statements would most people in business agree?
A corporation’s short-run profits will almost always increase if the firm takes actions that the government has
determined are in the best interests of the nation.
Firms and government agencies almost always agree with one another regarding the restrictions that should be
placed on hiring and firing employees.
“Whistle blowers,” because of the courage it takes to blow the whistle, are generally promoted more rapidly
than other employees.
It is not useful for large corporations to develop a formal set of rules defining ethical and unethical behavior.
Although people’s moral characters are probably developed before they are admitted to a business school, it is
still useful for business schools to cover ethics, if only to give students an idea about the adverse consequences
of unethical behavior to themselves, their firms, and the nation.
United States – BUSPROG.FOFM.BRIG.17.02 – Ethics
United States – BUSPROG.FOFM.BRIG.17.06 – Reflective thinking