Chapter 4—Ethics and Social Responsibility
TRUE/FALSE
1. The domain of codified law pertains to behavior about which the law has no say and for which an
individual or organization enjoys complete freedom.
2. Ethics, found between the domains of law and free choice, is the code of moral principles that governs
any individual or groups.
3. Free choice lies between the domains of codified law and ethics.
4. If something is ethical, it must not be illegal.
5. An ethical dilemma arises in a situation when each alternative choice or behavior have potentially
negative consequences. Right and wrong cannot be clearly distinguished.
6. The moral agent is an individual who must make an ethical choice in an organization.
7. Utilitarian, individualism, moral-rights, and objective dualism are the four approaches that guide
ethical decision-making.
8. The basis for the recent trend among companies to police employee personal habits such as alcohol
and tobacco consumption on the job is called the utilitarian ethic.
9. Monitoring the Internet to maintain the company’s ethical climate and workplace productivity could be
considered part of an individualistic approach.
10. The ethical concept that acts are moral when they promote the individual’s best long term interests,
which ultimately leads to the greater good, is known as the moral rights approach.
11. The ethical concept that argues that moral behaviors produce the greatest good for the greatest number
of people is objective dualism.
12. In the individualism approach, the right of free speech must be considered.
13. Individualism is popular in the highly organized society of today because it supports immediate
self-gain.
14. The right of free consent, the right to privacy, and the right of freedom of conscience are rights that
should be considered in the moral rights approach.
15. Procedural justice requires that different treatment of people not be based on arbitrary characteristics.
16. The justice approach is closest to the thinking underlying the domain of free choice.
17. Procedural justice requires that rules be stated clearly, consistently and impartially enforced, and
administered fairly.
18. Level 3 of the Personal Moral Development model is Conventional.
19. Individuals, at the preconventional level, are concerned with external rewards and punishments and
obey authority to avoid detrimental personal consequences.
20. Individuals are concerned with external rewards and punishments at the principled level.
21. An individual at the postconventional level lives up to expectations of others, fulfills duties and
obligations of social systems, and upholds law.
22. Principled level of moral development is also referred to as the postconventional level.
23. The majority of managers operate at the preconventional level of personal moral development.
24. Approximately 20% of American adults, according to your text, ever reach the postconventional level
of moral development.
25. The great majority of managers operate at level two, the conventional level.
26. Spotlight on Ethics in Chapter 4 recommends that when challenging your boss on ethical issues you do
not demand a resolution on the spot.
27. The NEW MANAGER SELF–TEST in Chapter 4 suggests that orienting new people, even though it is
not required, often reflects a person’s level of moral development.
28. Social responsibility is management’s obligation to make choices and take actions that will contribute
to the welfare and interests of society as well as the organization.
29. Social responsibility covers a narrow range of issues, many of which are unambiguous with respect to
right or wrong.
30. Important stakeholders in corporations include the government and the community.
31. A stakeholder is any group within or outside the organization that has a stake in the organization’s
performance.
32. All stakeholders of an organization are its stockholders but not all stockholders are its stakeholders.
33. Special interest groups include trade associations, political action committees and consumerists.
34. Economic development that generates wealth and meets the needs of the current population while
preserving the environment for the needs of future generations refers to sustainability.
35. Economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary responsibilities are the four areas of social responsibility
which can be used to evaluate corporate social performance.
36. Economic responsibility defines what society deems as important with respect to appropriate corporate
behavior.
37. Ethical responsibility includes behaviors that are not necessarily codified into law and may not serve
the corporation’s direct economic interests.
38. Ethical behavior occurs when decisions enable an individual or company to gain at the expense of
society.
39. Unfortunately, discretionary responsibility is involuntary and is mandated by economics, law, or
ethics.
40. A formal statement of the organization’s values regarding moral principles and governing its response
to social values is called a code of ethics.
41. Principle-based statements define fundamental values and contain general language about company
responsibilities, quality of products, and treatment of employees.
42. Policy-based statements generally outline the procedure to be used in specific ethical situations.
43. One of the newest positions in organizations is the chief operating officer, a response to widespread
financial wrongdoing in recent years.
44. A group of executives appointed to oversee company ethics is an ethics committee.
45. A chief ethics officer is a company executive who oversees all aspects of ethics and legal compliance.
46. Ethics training programs are not an important supplement as long as a well-written code of ethics
exists.
47. The disclosure by an employee of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices by the organization is
called whistle-blowing.
48. Managers are often concerned good citizenship will hurt performance.
49. Managers carry a tremendous responsibility for setting the ethical climate in an organization and can
act as role models for others.
50. Most ethical dilemmas in business involve a conflict between stakeholders and shareholders.
51. The virtue ethics approach to ethical decision making sidesteps debates about what is right, good, or
just and bases decisions on prevailing standards of the profession and the larger society, taking the
interests of all stakeholders into account.
52. The virtue ethics approach to ethical decision making says that moral behavior stems from personal
virtues.
53. Economic responsibility, carried to the extreme, is called the profit-maximizing view.
54. Although public confidence in business managers is at an all-time low, politics, sports, and non-profit
organizations have not been affected.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following refers to the code of moral principles and values that govern behaviors with
respect to what is right and wrong?
a.
Social responsibility
b.
Free domain
c.
Ethics
d.
Codified law
e.
Discretionary responsibility
2. An organization’s decision to produce a new product is in the
a.
domain of codified law.
b.
domain of free choice.
c.
domain of ethics.
d.
domain of compensatory justice.
e.
domain of social responsibility.
3. Which of the following is an individual who must make an ethical choice in an organization?
a.
The symbolic leader
b.
An obstructive manager
c.
The defensive individual
d.
The moral agent
e.
An authoritarian manager
4. Sharon is a manager at Softest Tissue Corporation. She is faced with an interesting problem. One of
her employees has been cheating the company out of expense money. Sharon must decide whether or
not to fire this employee. In this role, Sharon is acting as
a.
a moral agent.
b.
an ethical theorist.
c.
a symbolic leader.
d.
an authoritarian leader.
e.
an obstructive manager.
5. The assumption that “If it’s not illegal, it must be ethical,” ignores which of the following?
a.
Domain of codified law
b.
Domain of ethics
c.
Domain of free choice
d.
Discretionary responsibility
e.
Domain of symbolism
6. A situation that arises when all alternative choices or behaviors have been deemed undesirable because
of the potentially negative ethical consequences, making it difficult to distinguish right from wrong, is
considered
a.
a moral agent.
b.
a social responsibility.
c.
an ethical dilemma.
d.
an ethical standard.
e.
discretionary responsibility.
7. A normative approach to ethical decision making
a.
reduces ethical dilemmas to easy-to-understand formulas.
b.
uses various approaches to describe guiding values for decisions.
c.
states that everyone must use their employer’s value system at work.
d.
dictates only one way to choose to resolve dilemmas.
e.
none of these.
8. Which approach is the ethical concept that moral behaviors produce the greatest good for the greatest
number?
a.
Defensive
b.
Justice
c.
Utilitarian
d.
Individualism
e.
Moral-rights
9. Robbie’s Robots decided to continue operations at one plant while shutting down another. The decision
was justified on the basis of what was best for the total corporation. This is an example of the
a.
utilitarian approach.
b.
individualism approach.
c.
moral-justice approach.
d.
justice approach.
e.
illegal approach.
10. Caleb is a manager at Computer-Care Company. He is expected to consider the effort of each decision
alternative on all parties and select the one that optimizes the satisfaction for the greatest number of
people. This is an example of the
a.
utilitarian approach.
b.
individualism approach.
c.
moral-justice approach.
d.
justice approach.
e.
soft-line managerial approach.
11. Which ethical approach are companies citing to justify their policing of employee’s personal habits on
and off the job, such as alcohol and tobacco consumption?
a.
Justice approach
b.
Utilitarian approach
c.
Individualism approach
d.
Moral-justice approach
e.
Discretionary responsibility
12. The ____ ethic was the basis for the state of Oregon’s decision to extend Medicaid to 400,000
previously ineligible recipients by refusing to pay for high-cost, high-risk procedures.
a.
justice
b.
moral-rights
c.
obstructive
d.
individualism
e.
utilitarian
13. When everyone is pursuing self-direction, the greater good is ultimately served because people learn to
accommodate each other in their own long-term interest is an example of ____.
a.
utilitarian approach
b.
individualism approach
c.
moral-justice approach
d.
justice approach
e.
social responsibility
14. Which of the following is NOT a normative ethics approach?
a.
Utilitarian approach
b.
Individualism approach
c.
Social responsibility approach
d.
Moral-rights approach
e.
All of these are normative approaches as described in the text.
15. The golden rule “do unto others as they would do unto you” is
a.
an example of the utilitarian approach to ethical behavior.
b.
representative of the moral-justice approach to moral decision making.
c.
an example of the values that guide the individualism approach to ethical behavior.
d.
silly and outdated.
e.
an example of the justice approach to ethical behavior.
16. Human beings have fundamental rights and liberties that cannot be taken away by another individual’s
decision. This ethical decision making approach is known as the
a.
utilitarian approach.
b.
individualism approach.
c.
moral-rights approach.
d.
dualism approach.
e.
None of these.
17. The ____ refers to the ethical concept that moral decisions are those that best maintain the rights of
those people affected by them.
a.
individualism approach
b.
justice approach
c.
utilitarian approach
d.
moral-rights approach
e.
discretionary responsibility approach
18. Which of the following is NOT one of the moral rights that could be considered during
decision-making?
a.
The right to free consent
b.
The right to invade privacy
c.
The right to free speech
d.
The right of freedom of conscience
e.
The right to life and safety
19. ____ refers to the concept that different treatment of people should not be based on arbitrary
characteristics.
a.
Procedural justice
b.
Compensatory justice
c.
Distributive justice
d.
Organizational justice
e.
Moral-justice
20. ____ to ethical decision-making is consistent with due process, free consent, privacy, freedom of
conscience and free speech.
a.
Moral-rights approach
b.
Individualism approach
c.
Utilitarian approach
d.
Justice approach
e.
Dual-economic approach
21. Sexual harassment is unethical because it violates an important part of which approach to ethical
behavior?
a.
The utilitarian approach
b.
The individualism approach
c.
The justice approach
d.
The moral-rights approach
e.
The defensive approach
22. The ethical decision approach that requires persons to be guided by standards of equity, fairness and
impartiality is the
a.
moral-rights approach.
b.
individualism approach.
c.
utilitarian approach.
d.
justice approach.
e.
discretionary responsibility.
23. The moral rights approach that deals with performing experimental treatment on unconscious trauma
patient is the
a.
right of free consent.
b.
right to privacy.
c.
right of freedom of conscience.
d.
right of free speech.
e.
right of due process.
24. Which of the following is not a concern to managers under the justice approach?
a.
Compensatory justice
b.
Distributive justice
c.
Procedural justice
d.
Obstructive justice
e.
All of these
25. Disk Replacement Services has just completed a procedure manual to handle employee grievances.
One of the main criteria is to make it clear to employees that rules will be administered fairly and
consistently. Disk Replacement operates on
a.
the procedural justice approach.
b.
the utilitarian approach.
c.
the individual approach.
d.
the defensive approach.
e.
the free-choice approach.
26. Which of these refers to procedural justice?
a.
The concept that different treatment of people should not be based on arbitrary
characteristics
b.
The concept that rules should be clearly stated and consistently and impartially enforced
c.
The concept that individuals should be compensated for the cost of their injuries by the
party responsible
d.
The concept that people should be treated differently
e.
None of these
27. The concept that the party responsible should compensate individuals for the cost of their injuries is
referred to as
a.
distributive justice.
b.
injury justice.
c.
procedural justice.
d.
organizational justice.
e.
compensatory justice.
28. The thinking underlying the domain of ____ is the closest to the justice approach.
a.
social responsibility
b.
free choice
c.
law
d.
discretionary responsibility
e.
ethics
29. Most of the laws guiding human resource management are based on the
a.
utilitarian approach.
b.
moral-rights approach.
c.
individualism approach.
d.
justice approach.
e.
collectivism approach.
30. ____ is NOT included in the model of personal moral development described in your text.
a.
Preconventional level
b.
Conventional level
c.
Principled level
d.
Postconventional level
e.
All of these are included in the model
31. In what stage of personal moral development is a person mostly concerned with external rewards and
personal consequences of an action?
a.
Preconventional
b.
Conventional
c.
Principled
d.
Discretionary
e.
None of these
32. Most people have learned to conform to expectations of good behavior expected by colleagues, family,
friends, and society. They are in what stage of moral development?
a.
Preconventional
b.
Conventional
c.
Discretionary
d.
Principled
e.
Traditional
33. The ____ leadership style matches with the preconventional level of personal moral development.
a.
autocratic
b.
team oriented
c.
servant leadership
d.
guiding/encouraging
e.
transforming
34. ____ matches with the preconventional level of personal moral development.
a.
Work group collaboration
b.
Task accomplishment
c.
Empowered employees
d.
Full participation
e.
Transforming
35. Which of these employee behaviors matches with the conventional level of personal moral
development?
a.
Task accomplishment
b.
Empowered employees
c.
Work group collaboration
d.
Full participation
e.
Act in own interest
36. Which of the following stages is the stage of personal moral development in which an individual
develops an internal set of standards and values?
a.
Preconventional
b.
Conventional
c.
Principled
d.
Discretionary
e.
Social
37. People making decisions based on an internal set of beliefs that has more meaning to them than the
expectations of others
a.
are in the preconventional level of moral development.
b.
are in the conventional level of moral development.
c.
are in the principled level of moral development.
d.
do not care what people think of them.
e.
none of these.
38. ____ matches with the postconventional level of personal moral development.
a.
Team oriented
b.
Autocratic
c.
Guiding/encouraging
d.
Coercive
e.
Servant leadership
39. Which of these employee behaviors matches with the postconventional level of personal moral
development?
a.
Empowered employees, full participation
b.
Task accomplishment
c.
Act in own interest
d.
Work group collaboration
e.
Autocratic
40. The great majority of managers operate at the
a.
preconventional level.
b.
principled level.
c.
conventional level.
d.
postconventional level.
e.
autocratic level.
41. Only about ____ percent of American adults reach the level-three stage of moral development.
a.
two
b.
four
c.
eleven
d.
fifteen
e.
twenty
42. Regarding the levels of personal moral development, the majority of managers operate at the ____
level.
a.
preconventional
b.
autocratic
c.
postconventional
d.
conventional
e.
transformative
43. Spotlight on Ethics in Chapter 4 suggests all of the following when challenging the boss on ethical
issues EXCEPT:
a.
do your research
b.
begin the meeting by taking the floor
c.
pay attention to your word choice and demeanor
d.
take care how you suggest your alternative solution
e.
be patient