UNIT 1
ETHICS AND THE LEGAL
ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS
ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Deterrents to ethical behavior in the business context discussed in this feature include the
belief among some businesspersons who knowingly engage in unethical behavior that they can “get
away with it”—that is, that no one will ever learn of their unethical actions. Discussed in more detail are
2. Situations in which business firms may be acting ethically but not in a socially responsible
manner include the production of wealth without its use to further social goals. Our society and laws
reflect a public policy that wealth is good and thus contributing to that wealth is automatically acting
ethically. But failing to use that wealth to have a positive impact in the community in which the wealth is
3. Consumers and the public may be more concerned with ethical and socially responsible
behavior today than they were decades ago because unethical behavior may have become more
widespread. A failure to conduct operations ethically can undercut a corporation’s goodwill, reputation,
4. An automobile manufacturing company that has to choose between contributing
annually to the United Way or reinvesting in the company might make the better choice in terms of
ethics and social responsibility if it contributed to the United Way. Of course, there might also be
considerable benefits to a company’s reinvesting in its operations. In either case, the community in
5. Chat rooms and online forums can be seen to have affected corporate decision makers’
willingness to consider the community and public interest when making choices. Corporate decision
makers are more apt to make ethical choices in the cyber age. Through the Internet, complaints about a