Which of the following is false?
a) People enter organizations in a state of “role readiness.”
b) Roles reduce a person’s sense of individuality.
c) Managers do not have roles as much as their subordinates do.
d) Conflicting role expectations can cause increased incidences of lying.
Answer:
Which of the following is false?
a) People enter organizations in a state of “role readiness.”
b) Roles reduce a person’s sense of individuality.
c) Managers do not have roles as much as their subordinates do.
d) Conflicting role expectations can cause increased incidences of lying.
Answer:
The ___________ experiment demonstrated the power of legitimate authority.Teachers
were unwilling to question the experimenter’s authority for fear of personal
embarrassment or upsetting the status quo.
a) Milgram
b) Manville
c) Zimbardo
d) My Lai
Answer:
The Zimbardo experiment provides insight into ___________ just as the Milgram
experiment provides insight into ____________.
a) My Lai massacre; Abu Ghraib prison scandal
b) Watergate scandal; My Lai massacre
c) Abu Ghraib prison scandal; McDonald’s case
d) My Lai massacre; Watergate scandal
Answer:
Groupthink occurs when:
a) A group is working together in a cohesive, flowing manner for peak performance.
b) Group members know each other so well that they are able to anticipate each other’s
ideas.
c) Group members conform to the group’s decision and are unwilling to express
disagreement.
d) A group cannot make a decision because members are unwilling to compromise.
Answer:
You are a manager in an electronics department that sells TVs.Corporate headquarters
has provided a new incentive to salespeoplethey will receive higher commissions when
they sell higher priced TV models.What should you do in order to maintain high ethical
integrity in your department?
Answer:
Briefly describe four ways in which diffusion of responsibility occurs in an
organization.
Answer:
If your manager asks you to betray your ethical standards, you should respond politely
but firmly that you will not compromise your standards.
Answer:
Despite the disclosure rule, making decisions in private to avoid negative reaction is
generally best for a business as it safeguards your firm’s reputation and keeps
competitive information away from your competitors.
Answer:
Accepting discounts on personal items from a vendor is acceptable as it enriches the
relationship between the parties.
Answer:
In an organization, actively engaged employees help by keeping turnover and
absenteeism low, while promoting higher customer loyalty.
Answer:
Generally, people take a single “ethical self” from situation to situation.
Answer:
Conflicts of interest erode trust by making it look s if special favors will be extended
for special friends.
Answer:
The consequentialist approach protects the rights of the minority.
Answer:
The most strategic CSR initiatives are those that remove the social dimension from the
firm’s overall competitive strategy.
Answer:
Spouses of high level expatriate managers generally serve in a corporate “ambassador”
role.
Answer:
Work roles can support either ethical or unethical behavior.
Answer:
Organizational experience suggests that an “ethics action line” is unnecessary because it
promotes “tattling” on people an employee doesn’t like.
Answer:
Today, with advances in technology, very few modern organizations are bureaucratic.
Answer:
As a senior executive, it makes sense for you to use the firm’s corporate letterhead to
write references for employees leaving the firm who have previously served the firm
well.
Answer:
Employees do not care about the fairness of the decision making procedure as much as
they care about the fairness of the outcomes they receive.
Answer:
To make it easy to terminate a subordinate, ensure that you are being fair, that you
deliver the news in a way that is aligned with your organization’s values, and allow the
employee to maintain his personal dignity.
Answer:
According to Kohlberg, as individuals move forward through the sequence of stages
they are cognitively capable of comprehending all reasoning stages below and above
their own.
Answer:
The real proportion of wrong-doers is probably quite small.
Answer:
It is important to avoid romance with anyone you supervise for the following reasons:
1) Your judgment is likely to be compromised by the relationship 2) Coworkers are
likely to lose respect for both parties and fear preferential treatment.
Answer:
If you are asked to make hastily a decision that you believe raises potential ethical
issues you should be a good team player and proceed with the decision.
Answer:
Unfortunately, given diverse activities that managers are responsible for, they play a
limited role in increasing employee engagement and building an ethical culture.
Answer:
In Kohlberg’s theory, adherence to any principle qualifies as “principled” thinking.
Answer:
A firm’s financial responsibility is primary and the bedrock of corporate social
responsibility because without financial viability, the other responsibilities become
moot issues.
Answer:
Both characteristics of the environment and the individual contribute to unethical
behavior.
Answer:
In 2004 Congress created the U.S. Sentencing Commission in response to criticism of
judicial discretion in sentencing and perceived disparities between sentences for
“white-collar” and other types of crimes.
Answer:
Depending on the organization’s culture, the word “ethics” may carry a negative
connotation and need to be replaced with “business conduct.”
Answer:
Pursuant to the U. S. Sentencing Guidelines, an organization can be convicted even if
only one employee is caught breaking the law.
Answer:
Discarding the few “bad apples” will usually solve all of the ethical problems within an
organization.
Answer:
The pragmatic approach is more proactive and affirmative than the strategic approach
because it asks companies to identify and acknowledge company activities that can do
harm and encourages firms to scrutinize their practices and address potential harms by
focusing on their own value-chain activities.
Answer:
Centralized ethics offices are nearly always the best choice as these provide for greater
consistency and commitment to the organization’s key values.
Answer:
Because stakeholders’ interests frequently do not overlap, an organization is able to
focus on one stakeholder at a time.
Answer:
Because of the expatriate manager’s and the manager’s family’s inability to adjust to the
foreign work environment, many overseas assignments end early and unsuccessfully.
Answer:
Seldom should ethics information be included in a company’s external website.
Answer:
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received more than 93,000
workplace discrimination complaints in 2011, and monetary relief for victims totaled
more than $376 million.
Answer:
It is good advice to go with your gut.
Answer:
The definition of conflict for an organization is similar to that for an individual ; that is,
if a stakeholder thinks that an organization’s judgment is biased because of a
relationship it has with another firm, a conflict could exist.
Answer:
Kohlberg argued that the higher the reasoning stage, the more ethical the decision.
Answer:
An effective way to avoid decision-making weaknesses and biases is to become aware
of them and to incorporate steps into decision-making that are explicitly aimed at
reducing their impact.
Answer:
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is credited with improving internal
financial control systems in public companies even if the cost of doing so is thought to
be exorbitant by small firms.
Answer:
The term emotional intelligence (EQ) has been used to describe an individual’s ability
to be effective in cross-cultural situations.
Answer:
The _________ approach to formal corporate ethics initiatives focuses on meeting
required behavior norms or obeying the letter of the law.
a) rules
b) compliance
c) principles
d) values
Answer:
___________ have their own agenda and lack any company or professional loyalty.
a) Deserters
b) Misguided cannons
c) Grenades
d) Toxic ammo
Answer:
In a 2012 survey, _____ were in a dead heat as the least trusted institutions in the U.S.,
and public confidence in them could be measured in single digits.
a) lawyers and accountants
b) CEOs and Board of directors
c) Wall Street and Congress
d) White House and Congress
Answer:
In this book, the authors focus on _____________ factors because ____________:
a) individual; these factors are the main determinant of unethical behavior
b) organization; these factors can be directly controlled by managers
c) individual; a few “bad apples” spoil it for the rest of us
d) organization; these factors are particularly important in unambiguous situations
Answer:
Under which of these climates little attention is given to the social consequences of
one’s actions?
a) Benevolence climate
b) Self-interest climate
c) Rule-based climate
d) Fairness climate
Answer:
The prescriptive approach is to ____________ as the descriptive approach is to
_____________.
a) psychology; philosophy
b) philosophy; psychology
c) would; does
d) none of the above
Answer:
Which of these is not a primary stakeholder?
a) Owners
b) Community
c) Customers
d) Employees
Answer:
Identify the three components that are used to define “fairness.”
a) reciprocity, equality, and impartiality
b) reasonableness, equality, and sensitivity
c) reciprocity, equity, and impartiality
d) joint understanding, equality, and neutrality
Answer:
Workers expect managers to discipline fairly, and they are morally outraged when
management doesn’t do its job.
Answer:
When an organization “cares” about multiple stakeholders, including employees,
customers, and the broader community and public, it is said to have which of these?
a) Benevolence climate
b) Self-interest climate
c) Rule-based climate
d) Fairness climate
Answer:
The “psychic distance paradox” causes performance failures because:
a) Negotiators who are working in a similar culture to their own perceive the two
cultures as being significantly different.
b) When doing business in cultures that are perceived to be similar, managers prepare
less and do not realize the cultures are actually quite different.
c) Expatriate managers are unable to connect with the local culture after moving from a
similar culture.
d) Managers do not understand the culture’s behavior despite language proficiency.
Answer:
Organizations have many ethical obligations to their employees including
a. right to privacy, right to a safe workplace, right to promotional opportunities
b. right to privacy, right to a safe workplace, right to freedom of speech
c. right to a safe workplace, right to freedom of speech, right to promotional
opportunities
d. right to a safe workplace, right to freedom of speech, right to three weeks vacation
e. right to fair treatment, right of privacy, right to c-level opportunities if they earned
their MBA
Answer:
Which of the following is not an effective way to discipline employees?
a) Discipline must be constructive and done in a professional manner.
b) Discipline should be done privately.
c) Employees should be encouraged to explain their side of the story.
d) Discipline should be consistent with what other employees at the same level or
position received.
Answer:
This driver of engagement, __________, refers to the fact that employees should
understand the company’s strategic direction and how their individual efforts play a role
in the company’s revenue-generating enterprise.
a) line of sight
b) involvement
c) information sharing
d) rewards and recognition
Answer:
____________ is a type of sexual harassment wherein a worker is made to feel
uncomfortable because of unwelcome actions relating to sexuality.
a) Quid pro quo
b) Section 7 harassment
c) Hostile work environment
d) Power-relations
Answer:
Under the 2004 sentencing guidelines, the __________ are expected to oversee the
compliance and ethics program while __________ is/are charged with ensuring its
effectiveness within the company.
a) board of directors; top management
b) board of directors; the CEO
c) CEO; general managers
d) company’s ethics officer; board of directors
Answer:
Guidelines on “How to Blow the Whistle” suggest all of these EXCEPT:
a) Approach your immediate manager first if you can (your manager isn’t involved in
the problem).
b) Avoid the issue with your family.
c) Take it to the next level.
d) Consider going outside your chain of command.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Ethical Type to Example
a) People issue
b) Conflict of interest
c) Customer confidence issue
d) Use of corporate resources
Accepting a bribe.
Answer:
Which of the following is false about employee engagement?
a) Employee engagement is how committed employees are to their work.
b) Actively disengaged employees have lower turnover and absenteeism.
c) Actively disengaged employees cost the US economy billions each year.
d) Engaged employees are more productive.
Answer:
Sleewalking represents characteristic of which of these groups?
a) Actively engaged employees
b) Actively disengaged employees
c) Not engaged employees
d) Partially engaged employees
Answer:
Norms often arise to support behaviors that are implicitly rewarded.
Answer:
You are a manager forced to layoff certain employees. What is the primary objective
that should guide your treatment of these individuals?
a) To make the process as quick and painless to the company as possible.
b) To ensure the grapevine is passing truthful information.
c) To ensure layoff survivors understand why they were not chosen.
d) To allow the terminated employee to maintain personal dignity.
Answer:
You are working with an important vendor who has offered you a ‘sweet” deal.
However, the vendor has made it clear that he wants a decision now and your internal
warning system (i.e. your gut) is telling you that this deal might be an ethical dilemma.
Using what you have learned from this chapter, briefly describe how you should
proceed. Will you answer him now? How will you think about the “dilemma” and
respond to the vendor?
Answer:
People are much more likely to act ethically if they perceive themselves as personally
responsible for the outcomes of their decisions and actions.
Answer:
According to the Executive Ethical Leadership Reputation Matrix, ___________ is an
executive characterized as a weak “moral person” and a strong “moral manager.”
a) Unethical leader
b) Ethical leader
c) Ethically neutral leader
d) Hypocritical leader
Answer:
______ is probably the best-known consequentialist theory.
a) Utilitarianism
b) The disclosure rule
c) Deontological
d) Principle of value
Answer:
The __________ challenges one to ask, “how would you feel if your behavior appeared
in The Wall Street Journal?”
a) veil of ignorance
b) categorical imperative
c) disclosure rule
d) confession constraint
Answer:
One of the higher performing employees in your group has recently had family
troubles. These personal issues caused him to be less flexible with his work schedule.
For example, he has come in late some mornings and missed several late afternoon
meetings. However, he continues to be productive when he is at work. As his manager,
what should you do?
a) Reprimand the employee and put him on notice immediately.
b) Ignore the situation because he is generally a high performer and the situation is
temporary.
c) Institute flexible work hours for all employees in your group and arrange meetings
when everyone can be available.
d) At the next group meeting, make an example out of him and his unethical behavior to
deter other employees’ misbehavior.
Answer:
Typical Codes of Conduct cover conduct described below. In the aftermath of Bhopal,
the chemical industry wishing to demonstrate responsible corporate citizenship has
added which additional behaviors set out below.
a. Legal compliance
b. Continuous improvement, communication with external stakeholders and training of
suppliers on the standards
c. Community awareness and emergency response
d. Pollution prevention
e. Safe distribution of chemicals in transit
f. Employee health and safety
g. Safe handling of chemicals from manufacture through disposal
Answer:
Which of the following is true about collectivists? Collectivists tend to
a) prefer mediation because it involves compromise.
b) prefer adjudication because it is perceived to be fairer.
c) prefer direct manifestations of conflict.
d) avoid psychological warfare.
Answer:
Which of the following is true?
a) Discrimination is an intentional bias that affects behavior.
b) Discrimination occurs whenever something other than qualifications affects how an
employee is treated.
c) Discrimination is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against
individuals who are under 40 years old against age discrimination.
d) Discrimination is always overt and clear.
Answer:
The ___________ approach to ethical decision making focuses on what decision an
individual should make.
a) prescriptive
b) descriptive
c) illustrative
d) regulatory
Answer:
____________ assumes absolute truths that would require exactly the same standard
and behavior in every culture.
a) Ethical imperialism
b) Ethical relativism
c) Cultural imperialism
d) Cultural relativism
Answer:
_____________ is a type of sexual harassment wherein an individual believes that
sexual favors are a requirement for advancement in the workplace.
a) Quid pro quo
b) Section 7 harassment
c) Hostile work environment
d) Power-relations
Answer:
The three reasons that corporations should care about social responsibility are ______,
______ and ________.
Answer:
You are a top executive charged with evaluating the state of ethics communications in
your company. List four key questions you will need to ask as part of your evaluation.
In addition, provide an example that clarifies the meaning of each question.
Answer:
The broad categories of typical ethical problems individuals face in the workplace
include all of the following except
a) Human resources issues
b) Conflicts of interest
c) Customer Confidence Issues
d) Use of Corporate Resources
e) Leadership concerns
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Stakeholders
b) Primary stakeholder
c) Secondary stakeholder
Owners, customers, and employees.
Answer:
List the four drivers of engagement and briefly describe each one.
Answer:
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Stakeholders
b) Primary stakeholder
c) Secondary stakeholder
Opinion formers, community, and authorities.
Answer:
Briefly describe what is meant by alignment of ethical culture. Provide an example of
how an ethical culture might be misaligned.
Answer:
The ________ reason for corporate social responsibility argues that businesses, as part
of society, have a responsibility to behave in the right way.
Answer:
The __________ reason for CSR offers managers a stronger basis for making decisions
about which stakeholders and social responsibility issues should garner their attention
and resources given the multitude of options available.
Answer:
Reebok Corporation has made human rights a hallmark of its corporate strategy,
culture, and identity. Briefly describe at least two of the ways in which the company
addresses international human rights issues.
Answer:
Which of the following is false?
a) The idea that punishment should be avoided is based on research on rats and small
children.
b) People are less likely to engage in unethical behavior if it is likely to be detected and
punished.
c) Other employees are affected by the punishment of just one employee.
d) People do not care if violators of ethical conduct are punished.
Answer:
Referring to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) pyramid, how do legal
responsibilities differ from ethical responsibilities? Provide specific examples to
support your distinction.
Answer:
Organizations are finding that in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), it is
becoming increasingly difficult to separate _______ organizational ethics from ______
social responsibility.
Answer:
Companies face a myriad of stakeholders that often have conflicting interests. Briefly
describe a company or an incident that demonstrates how stakeholders’ conflicting
interests can lead to unethical behavior.
Answer:
The late economist ________ said that management should “make as much money as
possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in the law
and those embodied in ethical custom.”
Answer:
How does culture get “baked in” to an organization?
Answer:
Briefly describe and provide examples of three steps involved in changing an
organization’s culture.
Answer: