Business & Society, 16e (Lawrence)
Chapter 3 Corporate Social Responsibility and Citizenship
1) Corporate social responsibility is the idea that businesses interact with the organization’s
stakeholders for social good while they pursue economic goals.
2) Huge businesses can disproportionately influence politics, shape tastes, and dominate public
discourse.
3) The term corporate power means that in the long run, those who do not use power in ways that
society considers responsible will tend to lose it.
4) The concept of corporate social responsibility is rooted in the meaning “to pledge back,”
creating a commitment to give back to society and the organization’s stakeholders.
5) Being socially responsible means that a company must abandon its other missions.
6) Corporate citizenship refers to a set of beliefs stating that socially responsible behavior is a good
idea.
7) Enlightened self-interest is the idea that the wealthiest members of society should be charitable
toward those less fortunate.
8) One of the most appealing arguments in favor of corporate social responsibility for business
supporters is that voluntary social acts may head off increased government regulation.
9) An argument against corporate social responsibility is that it imposes unequal costs among
competitors.
10) Global corporate citizenship refers to putting an organization’s commitment to social and
environmental responsibility into practice locally.
11) The core mission of a social entrepreneur is to create and sustain social rather than economic
value.
12) To qualify as a B corporation, a business must be certified by a state government agency.
13) In the first stage of corporate citizenship, the elementary stage, managers are uninterested and
uninvolved with social issues.
14) A social audit is a systematic evaluation of an organization’s social, ethical, and environmental
performance.
15) When a company publishes the results of a social audit they are meeting the demands of local
governments’ taxation policies.
16) The capability of corporations to influence government, the economy, and society, based on
their organizational resources is called:
A) Corporate power.
B) CEO power.
C) Corporate citizenship.
D) Corporate media.
17) The iron law of responsibility says that:
A) In the long run, those who do not use power responsibly will lose it.
B) In the short run, sacrifice social goals for economic goals.
C) Law is most important, more than social or economic responsibility.
D) In the long run, economic responsibility leads to social responsibility.
18) Which of the following statements is true about corporate social responsibility?
A) Businesses should monitor and prevent social problems in advance of their becoming major
issues.
B) A company should seek maximum profits from its operations in order to provide the best for
society.
C) Corporations should be accountable for any actions that affect people, their communities, and
the environment.
D) Both of these answers are correct: Businesses should monitor and prevent social problems in
advance of their becoming major issues; and corporations should be accountable for any actions
that affect people, their communities, and the environment.
19) Which of the following companies is being the most socially responsible?
A) A company trying its best to operate in a way which will help local students get education and
jobs.
B) A company halting its production of toxic gases after it discovered that people objected to this
practice and threatened legal action.
C) A company trying to maximize its profits and then contributing to an environmental protection
fund.
D) A company changing its product design to comply with regulatory mandates.
20) Modern corporations should be socially responsible because they:
A) Are responsible to the stockholders of the company.
B) Create jobs, influencing the lives of employees.
C) Are highly profitable.
D) Generate dividends for the company stockholders.
21) Good corporate citizens:
A) Strive to conduct all business dealings in an ethical manner.
B) Make a concerted effort to balance the needs of all stakeholders.
C) Work to protect the environment.
D) All of these answers are correct.
22) When a company puts its commitment to social and environmental responsibility into practice
worldwide, not only locally or regionally, it is called:
A) Corporate Social Responsibility.
B) Global Sustainability.
C) Global Corporate Citizenship.
D) Community Investing.
23) Business leaders, like automaker Henry Ford, developed these programs to support the
recreational and health needs of their employees.
A) Corporate social responsibility programs.
B) Corporate citizenship programs.
C) Social networking programs.
D) Paternalistic programs.
24) Philanthropic funding and public relations are two examples of corporate social responsibility:
A) Drivers of the Corporate Social Responsiveness phase.
B) Policy instruments of the Corporate Social Stewardship phase.
C) Policy instruments of the Corporate Social Responsiveness phase.
D) Drivers of the Charity Principle phase.
25) Stakeholder partnerships, high-tech communication networks, and sustainability audits are
examples of:
A) Corporate social stewardship.
B) Corporate social responsiveness.
C) Corporate/Business Ethics.
D) Corporate/Global Citizenship.
26) Which of the following examples does not show a company guided by enlightened
self-interest?
A) A company providing the best quality product at a fair price.
B) A company providing assistance to employees who attend evening college.
C) A company breaking past records by maximizing quarterly profits.
D) A company vice-president invited to attend a local community’s town planning meeting.
27) When undertaking social initiatives, a company:
A) Must take out social responsibility insurance.
B) Will always receive long-term profits.
C) May sacrifice short-term profits.
D) Risks going bankrupt in nearly all cases.
28) Those in support of corporate social responsibility believe the practice:
A) Lowers economic efficiency and profit.
B) Discourages government regulation.
C) Places responsibility on business rather than individuals.
D) Imposes unequal costs among competitors.
29) According to Barlow v. A.P. Smith Manufacturing:
A) The laws prohibited charitable contributions, at that time.
B) Charitable contributions were bad corporate investments for the short term.
C) Socially responsible actions must be approved by a majority of the firm’s stakeholders.
D) Socially responsible actions are an investment in the future, thus an allowable expense.
30) Positive reputation can be valued as an intangible corporate:
A) Asset.
B) Liability.
C) Charity.
D) Expense.
31) The costs of corporate social responsibility may ultimately be passed on to the:
A) Supplier through discounts.
B) Consumer through high prices.
C) Investor through stock splits.
D) Taxpayers by the government.
32) Concerns about corporate social responsibility are exemplified by which of these statements?
A) Requires skills businesses may lack.
B) Creates an imbalance between corporate power and its economic responsibility.
C) Improves business value and reputation.
D) A majority of stockholders are against it.
33) Proponents against corporate social responsibility feel that public officials, not business
people, should solve societal problems because:
A) Business people do not have the skill set to solve societal problems.
B) The private sector is not mandated to solve these issues.
C) Both of these answers are correct.
D) Neither of these answers is correct.
34) Companies demonstrate global corporate citizenship by:
A) Building reactive stakeholder partnerships.
B) Finding business opportunities that serve society.
C) Integrating concern for both financial and social performance.
D) Both of these answers are correct: Finding business opportunities that serve society and
integrating concern for both financial and social performance.
35) BSR (formerly Business for Social Responsibility) helps its 300 member companies:
A) Lobby Congress for socially responsible legislation.
B) Discover tax shelters for social program expenditures.
C) Conduct social audits.
D) Develop sustainable business strategies.
36) Some companies have created a department of corporate citizenship to:
A) Adopt the United Nations’ Global Compact Principles.
B) Decentralize under common leadership wide-ranging corporate citizenship functions.
C) Centralize under common leadership wide-ranging corporate citizenship functions.
D) Narrow the job of the public relations office.
37) This inter-American organization (North and South America) was created to unite
organizations focusing on corporate social responsibility from Canada to Chile.
A) BSR.
B) Canadian Business for Social Responsibility.
C) Forum Empresa.
D) CSR Asia.
38) An emerging business model that attempts to strategically balance the interests of all
stakeholders to solve social and environmental problems is called:
A) Balanced Corporation.
B) B Lab.
C) B Corporation.
D) CSR Corporation.
39) What is one advantage of operating as a B corporation?
A) They are tax-free organizations.
B) Financial reporting is not required.
C) Audits are not required.
D) Government certifications are frequently conferred.
40) Organizations founded with a core mission to create and sustain social value are called social:
A) Entrepreneurships.
B) Non-profits.
C) Ventures.
D) Capitalists.
41) The issue of reactive management policies occurs in which stage of global corporate
citizenship?
A) Transforming.
B) Engaged.
C) Integrated.
D) Innovative.
42) Managers responding to the needs of the local education system as a normal or routine aspect
of its operations is an example of an organization in the:
A) Innovative stage.
B) Integrated stage.
C) Transforming stage.
D) Engaged stage.
43) Global social audit standards concentrate on:
A) Internally focused economic benefits for the firm.
B) Externally focused social benefits for the environment.
C) Externally focused social benefits for key stakeholders.
D) All of these answers are correct.
44) Which of these is not an objective of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)?
A) Combining long-term profitability with ethical goals, social justice, and environmental care.
B) Measuring social performance across companies.
C) Providing tax incentives for global corporate citizens.
D) Reflecting the interests of business, labor, civil society, and financial markets.
45) The most significant motivator of corporate social reporting is:
A) Government reporting requirements.
B) Ethical concerns.
C) Financial concerns.
D) Employee demand.
46) In the case Corporate Social Responsibility at Gravity Payments, which view in support of
corporate social responsibility is relevant according to Figure 3.3?
A) Balances corporate power with responsibility.
B) Discourages government regulation.
C) Improves supplier relations.
D) Promotes short-term profits for the business.
47) Describe the iron law of responsibility.
48) Explain why a business should seek to balance its economic, legal, and social obligations.
49) Define and provide an example of a business practicing enlightened self-interest.
50) Provide three arguments in support of corporate social responsibility.
51) Provide three concerns about corporate social responsibility.
52) Global corporate citizenship is more than espoused values; it requires action. Discuss some of
the ways forward-thinking companies are changing to improve their ability to act as responsible
citizens.
53) Explain how a company can operate at multiple stages of global corporate citizenship at any
one point in time.
54) What is a social audit? Describe one of the three ways audit standards can be created.