Chapter 5—Managing Ethics and Social Responsibility
TRUE/FALSE
1. Ethics, found between the domains of law and free choice, is the code of moral principles that governs
any individual or groups.
2. Free choice lies between the domains of codified law and ethics.
3. If something is ethical, it must not be illegal.
4. Although public confidence in business managers is at an all-time low, politics, sports, and non-profit
organizations have not been affected.
5. Managers carry a tremendous responsibility for setting the ethical climate in an organization and can
act as role models for others.
6. An ethical dilemma arises in a situation when each alternative choice or behavior is undesirable
because of potentially harmful ethical consequences.
7. The moral agent is an individual who must make an ethical choice in an organization.
8. 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.
9. Most ethical dilemmas in business involve a conflict between stakeholders and shareholders.
10. Utilitarian, individualism, and moral-rights are approaches that guide ethical decision-making.
11. 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.
12. Monitoring the Internet to maintain the company’s ethical climate and workplace productivity could be
considered part of an individualistic approach.
13. 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.
14. The ethical concept that argues that moral behaviors produce the greatest good for the greatest number
of people is objective dualism.
15. Individualism is popular in the highly organized society of today because it supports immediate
self-gain.
16. 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.
17. Compensatory justice argues that an employees compensation should be based on individual
performance.
18. Procedural justice requires that rules be stated clearly, consistently and impartially enforced, and
administered fairly.
19. Level 3 of the Personal Moral Development model is Conventional.
20. Individuals in the Preconventional level of Personal Moral Development live up to expectations of
others, uphold laws, and fulfill duties and obligations of the social system.
21. Individuals, at the preconventional level, are concerned with external rewards and punishments and
obey authority to avoid detrimental personal consequences.
22. Individuals are concerned with external rewards and punishments at the principled level.
23. An individual at the postconventional level lives up to expectations of others, fulfills duties and
obligations of social systems, and upholds law.
24. The great majority of managers operate at level two, the conventional level.
25. Principled level of moral development is also referred to as the postconventional level.
26. The majority of managers operate at the preconventional level of personal moral development.
27. Approximately 20% of American adults, according to your text, never reach the postconventional 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, carried to the extreme, is called the profit-maximizing view.
37. Economic responsibility defines what society deems as important with respect to appropriate corporate
behavior.
38. Ethical responsibility includes behaviors that are not necessarily codified into law and may not serve
the corporation’s direct economic interests.
39. Ethical behavior occurs when decisions enable an individual or company to gain at the expense of
society.
40. Discretionary responsibility is purely voluntary.
41. A formal statement of the organization’s values regarding moral principles and governing its response
to social values is called a code of ethics.
42. Principle-based statements define fundamental values and contain general language about company
responsibilities, quality of products, and treatment of employees.
43. Policy-based statements generally outline the procedure to be used in specific ethical situations.
44. One of the newest positions in organizations is the chief operating officer, a response to widespread
financial wrongdoing in recent years.
45. A chief ethics officer is a company executive who oversees all aspects of ethics and legal compliance.
46. The disclosure by an employee of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices by the organization is
called whistle-blowing.
47. Managers are often concerned good citizenship will hurt performance.
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.
Self-dealing
b.
Free domain
c.
Ethics
d.
Codified law
e.
Opportunism
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. A new drug has not been approved by the FDA to sell in the U.S. because further testing is needed.
The company has a chance to sell its product in another country immediately to start recovering the
costs of R & D and production three years ahead of time. This example places the decision in which of
the categories from the text?
a.
The ethical domain
b.
The domain of free choice
c.
The legal domain
d.
The obstructive category
e.
The protective domain
4. The decision by ABC International to downsize and reduce its labor force is in the:
a.
domain of codified law.
d.
social responsibility.
b.
domain of free choice.
e.
none of these.
c.
domain of ethics.
5. A recent poll found that _____ percent of people surveyed say corporate America’s moral compass is
pointing in the wrong direction.
a.
10
d.
76
b.
29
e.
98
c.
52
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. 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. This is proposed by the:
a.
utilitarian approach
b.
individualism approach
c.
moral-justice approach
d.
justice approach
e.
social responsibility
13. Which of the following is NOT a normative ethics approach?
a.
Utilitarian approach
b.
Individualism approach
c.
Concurrency control approach
d.
Moral-rights approach
e.
All of these are normative approaches as described in the text.
14. 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.
15. 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
16. 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.
17. _____ to ethical decision-making is consistent with 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
18. 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.
19. Performing experimental treatment on unconscious trauma patients is the violation of 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.
20. _____ 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
21. Disk Replacement Services has just completed a manual that clearly states the rules for handling
employee grievances. The company makes 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.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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
25. ____ 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
26. 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
27. 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
28. _____ matches with the preconventional level of personal moral development.
a.
Work group collaboration
b.
Task accomplishment
c.
Empowered employees
d.
Full participation
e.
Transforming
29. 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
30. 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
31. 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.
32. 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
33. 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
34. When the USS Indianapolis sank after being torpedoed, one Navy pilot disobeyed orders and risked
his life to save men who were being picked off by land sharks. The Navy pilot was operating from the
_____ level of moral development.
a.
preconventional
d.
lowest
b.
conventional
e.
conservative
c.
postconventional
35. _____ leadership matches with the postconventional level of personal moral development.
a.
Team oriented
b.
Autocratic
c.
Guiding/encouraging
d.
Coercive
e.
Servant
36. Only about _____ percent of American adults reach the level-three stage of moral development.
a.
two
b.
four
c.
eleven
d.
fifteen
e.
twenty
37. Which of these best illustrates the preconventional stage of moral development?
a.
Everybody else is doing it, so it must be okay.
b.
What would my boss think if I did this?
c.
I know this is not right, and I will not do it, even if everyone else is.
d.
What am I going to get from making this decision?
e.
All of these.
38. The conventional stage of moral development is best described by which of the following statements?
a.
I won’t do that because the boss will be upset with me.
b.
Everybody else is doing it, so it must be okay.
c.
I know this is not right, and I will not do it, even if everyone else is.
d.
What am I going to get from making this decision?
e.
All of these.