Deck 9: Managing and Controlling Ethics Programs

Question 1

The process of verifying the results of an audit should involve standard procedures that control the _____ of the information.

A)completeness
B)effectiveness and efficiency
C)reliability and validity
D)independence
E)veracity

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is a possible unintended consequence of an organization focusing more on ethics planning than on implementation?

A)Employees may come to view unethical conduct as acceptable behavior.
B)The government will implement its own audits.
C)The ethics program will never be created.
D)Employees will become dissatisfied with their jobs.
E)The implementation process will incur large costs for the organization.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following provides international guidelines for compliance management? 

A)triple bottom line
B)Open Compliance Ethics Group
C)Balanced Scorecard
D)ISO 19600
E)Global Reporting Initiative

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Any attempt to verify outcomes and to compare them with standards can be considered a(n)_____ activity,although many smaller firms do not use this word.

A)ethical
B)auditing
C)formal
D)informal
E)accounting

Question 5

Which of the following is a statement that attests that the financial statements made in an audit are fairly stated,without limitations?

A)Adverse opinion
B)Qualified opinion
C)Unqualified opinion
D)Favorable opinion
E)Disclaimer of opinion

Question 6

The concept of ethics auditing emerged from the movement to audit and report on companies' broader _____ initiatives.

A)product development
B)legal compliance
C)risk management
D)public relations
E)social responsibility

Question 7

What is a risk of ethics auditing? 

A)It could offend stakeholders.
B)It could uncover a serious ethical problem.
C)It could violate industry best practices.
D)It is not as comprehensive as a social audit.
E)It is unlikely to identify new risk areas.

Question 8

Which of the following is not a measure of ethical climate?

A)Collective skill
B)Collective ethical sensitivity
C)Collective character
D)Collective judgment
E)Collective moral motivation

Question 9

Which of the following has a significant impact on the success of an ethics program?

A)The types of ethical decisions
B)The quality of communication
C)The size of the company
D)Legal constraints
E)A statement of values

Question 10

_________ include management's commitment to the ethics program and the methods or system for ethics evaluation.

A)Shared values
B)Formal controls
C)Financial controls
D)Process controls
E)Output controls

Question 11

The word _____ implies a balanced organization that makes ethical financial decisions and also is ethical in more subjective matters of corporate culture.

A)compliance
B)integrity
C)financial management
D)corporate culture
E)transparency

Question 12

A(n)_____ is a tool that companies can employ to identify and measure their ethical commitment to stakeholders.

A)ethics audit
B)social audit
C)financial audit
D)performance audit
E)external audit

Question 13

Two useful indicators for assessing employee issues are

A)staff turnover and stock price.
B)staff turnover and employee satisfaction.
C)staff turnover and honesty.
D)employee satisfaction and attendance.
E)employee satisfaction and productivity.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about ethics audits is false?

A)They provide an opportunity to measure conformity to the firm's desired ethical standards.
B)The terms ethics audits and social audits can be used interchangeably.
C)They provide an objective method for demonstrating a company's commitment to improving strategic planning, including its compliance with legal and ethical standards and social responsibility.
D)They can be a component of social audits.
E)They are systematic evaluations of an organization's ethics program and performance to determine whether it is effective.

Question 15

Which of the following is not a step in the ethics auditing process?

A)Secure commitment of top executives and directors.
B)Review organizational mission, goals, values and policies, and define ethical priorities.
C)Report the results to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
D)Collect and analyze relevant information.
E)Verify the results.

Question 16

During which of the following steps of the ethics auditing process does an organization identify the tools or methods for measuring progress in improving employees' ethical decisions and conduct?

A)Secure commitment of top managers and directors
B)Establish a committee to oversee the audit
C)Define the scope of the audit
D)Collect and analyze relevant information
E)Verify the results

Question 17

__________ is a management system that focuses on all of the elements that contribute to organizational performance and success.

A)The Global Reporting Initiative
B)Process controls
C)Six Sigma
D)The Balanced Scorecard
E)The triple bottom line

Question 18

During which step of the auditing process should a firm examine all documents that make explicit commitments to ethical,legal,or social responsibility?

A)Secure commitment of top managers and directors.
B)Establish a committee to oversee the audit.
C)Define the scope of the audit process.
D)Review organizational mission, goals, values, and policies.
E)Verify the results.

Question 19

_____ are a primary stakeholder group and should be included in the ethics auditing process because their loyalty determines an organization's success.

A)Customers
B)Suppliers
C)Special interest groups
D)Competitors
E)Legislators

Question 20

Under the _____,CEOs and CFOs may be criminally prosecuted if they knowingly certify misleading financial statements.

A)Sherman Antitrust Act
B)Ethical Compliance Act
C)Robinson-Patman Act
D)Sarbanes-Oxley Act
E)Dodd-Frank Act

Question 21

Describe the process of conducting an ethics audit in detail.

Question 22

Compare and contrast ethics auditing and financial auditing.How can the tools of financial auditing be applied to ethics audits?

Question 23

Ideally,which of the following should oversee the ethics audit? 

A)The board's financial audit committee
B)the CFO
C)the CEO
D)outside consultants
E)secondary stakeholders

Question 24

At which stage of the ethics auditing process would a hospital conduct focus groups with management,doctors,nurses,related health professionals,support staff,and patients?

A)Collect and analyze relevant information
B)Review organizational mission, goals, values, and policies
C)Identify stakeholders
D)Report the results
E)Verify the results

Question 25

What are the three Triple Bottom Line factors incorporated into the Global Reporting Initiative framework?

A)Economic, social, personal indicators
B)Political, social, and environmental indicators
C)Economic, social, and environmental indicators
D)Political, individual, and environmental indicators
E)Political, individual, and personal indicators

Question 26

How can companies secure stakeholder input during an ethics audit? Why is it important to do so?

Question 27

Ethics audits can help companies identify potential _____ so they can implement plans to eliminate or reduce them before they reach crisis dimensions.

A)competitive advantages
B)risks and liabilities
C)productivity issues
D)technological glitches
E)market opportunities

Question 28

Explain the benefits and risks of ethics auditing.

Question 29

When The Gap posts the results of its ethics audit on its website,it is engaged in which of the following steps of the ethics auditing process?

A)Submit the results to the U.S. Sentencing Commission
B)Define the scope of the audit
C)Collect and analyze relevant information
D)Verify the results
E)Report the results

Question 30

While social reports often discuss issues related to a firm's performance in the four dimensions of social responsibility,as well as to specific social responsibility and ethical issues,ethics audits have a narrower focus on assessing and reporting on a firm's performance in terms of

A)ethical and legal conduct.
B)environmental performance.
C)financial performance.
D)customer satisfaction.
E)ethical misconduct.

Question 31

Independent verification of the ethics audit is important because it lends the report

A)credibility and formality.
B)credibility and civility.
C)credibility and objectivity.
D)objectivity and civility.
E)objectivity and formality.

Question 32

Which of the following is not a phase of escalation during an ethical disaster?

A)The firm's discovery of the misconduct
B)Ethical issue recognition
C)The firm's response to the misconduct
D)The decision to act unethically
E)The firm's decision to conduct an ethics audit

Question 33

_____ is an independent assessment of the quality,accuracy,and completeness of a company's social or ethics report.

A)Publication
B)Verification
C)Auditing
D)Analysis
E)Validation

Question 34

What should be the final step in the ethics auditing process?

A)Define the scope of the audit
B)Secure the commitment of top managers and directors
C)Collect and analyze data
D)Report the findings
E)Verify the results

Question 35

What should be the first step in the auditing process?

A)Secure the commitment of top executives and directors
B)Define the scope of the audit
C)Establish a committee to oversee the audit
D)Collect and analyze data
E)Review organizational mission, goals, values, and policies

Question 36

Which of the following is not a technique for collecting evidence during the ethics audit?

A)Ratio analysis
B)Observing the data-collection process
C)Publishing the results of the audit
D)Examining internal and external documents
E)Confirming information in the firm's accounting records

Question 37

Retaliation against employees that report misconduct is a problem in _____ cultures.

A)weak ethical
B)strong ethical
C)high power distance
D)diverse
E)international

Question 38

During the data-collection phase of the audit,the primary objective is to generate a variety of opinions about how the company is perceived and whether it is

A)fulfilling employee benefits commitments.
B)bringing in new customers.
C)meeting profit projections.
D)meeting earnings projections.
E)fulfilling stakeholders' expectations.

Question 39

Because ethics and social audits are _____,there are few standards that a company can apply with regard to reporting frequency,disclosure requirements,and remedial actions that it should take in response to results.

A)not necessary
B)expensive
C)required by law
D)mandatory
E)voluntary

Question 40

What is the Global Reporting Initiative? What is its goal? Why has it grown in importance?

Question 41

An ethics audit is much broader than a social audit.?

Question 42

A disclaimer of opinion for an audit states that the financial statements are clearly stated.?

Question 43

Which of the following compares standards with actual behavior??

A)?Process controls
B)?Shared values
C)?Output controls
D)?Formal controls
E)?Ethics audits

Question 44

Six Sigma is a methodology designed to manage process variations that cause defects and to systematically work toward managing variation to eliminate those defects.?

Question 45

Having the results of an ethics audit verified by an independent party is the second step in the ethics-auditing process.?

Question 46

Shared values among employees are the glue of successful management.?

Question 47

An ethics audit should be conducted regularly.

Question 48

Which of the following is important in defining the scope of the audit process? ?

A)?The types of teams involved in the process
B)?Opportunities the business has to manage ethics
C)?Who has been assigned to oversee the audit
D)?Government regulations outlining the process
E)?Deciding on how to verify the results