Deck 5: Managing Ethics and Social Responsibility

Question 1

A public poll finds that 79 percent of respondent believe questionable business practices are widespread.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

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.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Free choice lies between the domains of codified law and ethics.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

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.

Question 5

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.

Question 6

Procedural justice requires that rules be stated clearly, consistently and impartially enforced, and administered fairly.

Question 7

The moral agent is an individual who must make an ethical choice in an organization.

Question 8

The ethical concept that argues that moral behaviors produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people is objective dualism.

Question 9

Procedural justice requires that different treatment of people not be based on arbitrary characteristics.

Question 10

Utilitarian, individualism, moral-rights, and objective dualism are the four approaches that guide ethical decision-making.

Question 11

Monitoring the Internet to maintain the company's ethical climate and workplace productivity could be considered part of an individualistic approach.

Question 12

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.

Question 13

The justice approach is closest to the thinking underlying the domain of free choice.

Question 14

Individualism is popular in the highly organized society of today because it supports immediate self-gain.

Question 15

Level 3 of the Personal Moral Development model is Conventional.

Question 16

Ethics, found between the domains of law and free choice, is the code of moral principles that governs any individual or groups.

Question 17

The Preconventional level of Personal Moral Development lives up to expectations of others, upholds laws, and fulfills duties and obligations of the social system.

Question 18

In the individualism approach, the right of free speech must be considered.

Question 19

An ethical dilemma arises in a situation when each alternative choice or behavior is undesirable because of potentially harmful ethical consequences.

Question 20

If something is ethical, it must not be illegal.

Question 21

Most of the laws guiding human resource management are based on the individualism approach.

Question 22

The NEW MANAGER SELF-TEST in Chapter 5 suggests that displaying courage in a group situation often reflects a person's level of moral development.

Question 23

All stakeholders of an organization are its stockholders but not all stockholders are its stakeholders.

Question 24

Special interest groups include trade associations, political action committees and consumerists.

Question 25

The bottom of the pyramid concept proposes that corporations can alleviate poverty and other social ills by selling to the world's poorest people.

Question 26

An individual at the postconventional level lives up to expectations of others, fulfills duties and obligations of social systems, and upholds law.

Question 27

A stakeholder is any group within or outside the organization that has a stake in the organization's performance.

Question 28

The great majority of managers operate at level two, the conventional level.

Question 29

Advocates of bottom-of-the-pyramid thinking believe it does not work because corporations do not have a heart.

Question 30

Individuals are concerned with external rewards and punishments at the principled level.

Question 31

Individuals, at the preconventional level, are concerned with external rewards and punishments and obey authority to avoid detrimental personal consequences.

Question 32

Social responsibility covers a narrow range of issues, many of which are unambiguous with respect to right or wrong.

Question 33

Approximately 20% of American adults, according to your text, ever reach the postconventional level of moral development.

Question 34

MANAGER'S SHOPTALK in Chapter 5 recommends that when challenging your boss on ethical issues you do not demand a resolution on the spot.

Question 35

Businesses based in countries such as Russia and China, according to a study by Transparency International, were found to be using bribes on an exceptional scale.

Question 36

Important stakeholders in corporations include the government and the community.

Question 37

Principled level of moral development is also referred to as the postconventional level.

Question 38

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.

Question 39

France is ranked number 1 on the Transparency International Bribe Payers Index.

Question 40

The majority of managers operate at the preconventional level of personal moral development.

Question 41

Managers are often concerned good citizenship will hurt performance.

Question 42

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

Question 43

Ethical responsibility includes behaviors that are not necessarily codified into law and may not serve the corporation's direct economic interests.

Question 44

Unfortunately, discretionary responsibility is involuntary and is mandated by economics, law, or ethics.

Question 45

Economic responsibility defines what society deems as important with respect to appropriate corporate behavior.

Question 46

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.

Question 47

One of the newest positions in organizations is the chief ethics officer, a response to widespread financial wrongdoing in recent years.

Question 48

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act provides some safety for whistle-blowers.

Question 49

A group of executives appointed to oversee company ethics is an ethics committee.

Question 50

Policy-based statements generally outline the procedure to be used in specific ethical situations.

Question 51

Principle-based statements define fundamental values and contain general language about company responsibilities, quality of products, and treatment of employees.

Question 52

Managers who are essentially ethical individuals make up the first pillar of an ethical organization.

Question 53

Ethical behavior occurs when decisions enable an individual or company to gain at the expense of society.

Question 54

A formal statement of the organization's values regarding moral principles and governing its response to social values is called a code of ethics.

Question 55

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.

Question 56

Surveys show that American consumers find nonprofit green groups more credible than businesses.

Question 57

A chief ethics officer is a company executive who oversees all aspects of ethics and legal compliance.

Question 58

Economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary responsibilities are the four areas of social responsibility which can be used to evaluate corporate social performance.

Question 59

The disclosure by an employee of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices by the organization is called whistle-blowing.

Question 60

Ethics training programs are not an important supplement as long as a well-written code of ethics exists.

Question 61

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

Question 62

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.

Question 63

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.

Question 64

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

Question 65

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

Question 66

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

Question 67

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.

Question 68

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

Question 69

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.

Question 70

Which of the following is a(n) is the 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

Question 71

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.

Question 72

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.

Question 73

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

Question 74

The decision by the CSX to downsize and reduce its labor force is in the

A) domain of codified law.
B) domain of free choice.
C) domain of ethics.
D) social responsibility.
E) none of these.

Question 75

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.

Question 76

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.

Question 77

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

Question 78

Individualism is most closely related to

A) social responsibility.
B) free choice.
C) economic responsibility.
D) codified law.
E) togetherness.

Question 79

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

Question 80

____ 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