Deck 2: Business and Its Ethical Dilemmas

Question 1

Albert Carr believes that it is unethical for a manager to make a donation to the political campaign of a candidate a customer is supporting unless the manager supports that candidate personally.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In the story of David and Bathsheba, Uriah is killed because of David's orders.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

King David struggled with ethical issues throughout his life before he became the leader of his nation.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Carr believes that we make player's decisions when providing information to a prospective employer.

Question 5

A company has changed its revenue reporting so that its sales at outlet stores and regular stores are grouped into one sales figure. A manager says, "This way no one can tell how our brand is doing in the full retail market." Albert Carr would say the change is just part of the business game.

Question 6

Firing friends is not an ethical issue and is just part of Carr's business game.

Question 7

Leaders who are focused on their own goals are less likely to lose their way when it comes to ethics.

Question 8

Albert Carr believes that people have to disregard personal ethical standards in order to be successful in business.

Question 9

Isolation and lack of dissenting views contribute to the Bathsheba Syndrome in leaders.

Question 10

William Wilberforce was a member of the British Parliament who fell victim to the Bathsheba syndrome.

Question 11

The cost of reporting our mistakes often outweighs our commitment to ethical choices.

Question 12

Peter Drucker believes that stiff punishments for executives are important in preventing unethical behavior.

Question 13

Peter Drucker and Albert Carr have similar views on ethics in business.

Question 14

Albert Carr believes that an executive who dyes his hair in order to appear younger for a job interview has committed an ethical breach.

Question 15

Hubris is at the core of the Bathsheba Syndrome.

Question 16

Companies are more likely to have ethical lapses when they are performing well in their earnings.

Question 17

Albert Carr subscribes to the Golden Rule as an ethical standard.

Question 18

Peter Drucker believes that those who have more education should be held to higher standards.

Question 19

Loyalty to employers can create conflicts with employees who have concerns about their employer's conduct.

Question 20

The Bathsheba Syndrome causes leaders to be more cautious in the decision-making.

Question 21

The figures in Greek tragedies are victims of hubris.

Question 22

Albert Carr likens business to a poker game.

Question 23

Ikea fell into the either/or conundrum in solving its problems in dealing with Russian authorities.

Question 24

The either/or conundrum produces a comfort with ethical issues because we convince ourselves that there is no other choice.

Question 25

Peter Drucker believes that the ethical obligation of business is to bluff within reason.

Question 26

Albert Carr believes that bluffing in business is justified because it is understood as part of the game of business.

Question 27

It would not be unethical to have your friends and families write reviews of your company and its products even though most of them do not use your company's products.

Question 28

"To bribe or not to bribe" is a set-up for the either/or conundrum.

Question 29

Goldman was originally founded as a partnership.

Question 30

The failure to understand that we all hit a wall once in awhile causes us to make poor ethical choices.

Question 31

Albert Carr believes that a card up the sleeve is not the same as bluffing and is a form of cheating.

Question 32

Increasing isolation is a part of leadership but does not affect ethical choices.

Question 33

During the 1990s, Goldman increased it standards for profitability before doing an IPO.

Question 34

In the equation P=ƒ(x), P stands for profits.

Question 35

Goldman did not pay a fine to the SEC.

Question 36

A focus on the trappings of success causes leaders to lose their way.

Question 37

Fabrice Tourre was aware that the CDO market was going to crash.

Question 38

You work for a construction firm that has had several employees express safety concerns about the procedures your company uses for digging basements. You raise the issue to your supervisor who explains that it would cost too much to do the job safely. Your supervisor has allowed financial pressure to cloud ethical analysis.

Question 39

You work for a construction firm that has had several employees express safety concerns about the procedures your company uses for digging basements. You raise the issue to your supervisor who explains that it would cost too much to do the job safely.  I t would be unethical for you to notify someone else about the safety problems.

Question 40

BP's market capitalization was not affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 41

BP was using the same off-shore drilling design as other oil companies.

Question 42

BP transferred employees who raised concerns about safety at its facilities.

Question 43

BP's exploration activity decreased following the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 44

The federal government affected the entire oil industry with a temporary moratorium on offshore drilling following BP's Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 45

BP's earnings were not affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill .

Question 46

Goldman's securities offerings in the 1920s were similar to its offerings in the mortgage-debt instruments sold in the 2000s.

Question 47

Smart-pigging is used to detect weakness in deepwater oil wells.

Question 48

BP was delaying repairs as a way of cutting expenses prior to the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 49

BP CEO Hayward felt personal responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 50

The Prudhoe Bay and BP refinery problems had no effect on BP's stock price.

Question 51

BP followed industry standards in its construction of Deepwater Horizon.

Question 52

BP engineers had no objections to the way Deepwater Horizon was built.

Question 53

BP traders squeezed the pipeline to affect oil prices.

Question 54

BP had no safety violations prior to the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 55

BP's focus on costs influenced its judgment and decisions on engineering issues.

Question 56

BP had no warnings about its pipeline problems in Prudhoe Bay.

Question 57

BP had no way of knowing about the evolving issues at Deepwater Horizon.

Question 58

BP did not use a riskier design than the industry generally used on its Deepwater Horizon rig.

Question 59

BP was banned from federal drilling rights following the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 60

BP had unaddressed safety violations at the time of the Texas City Refinery explosion.

Question 61

Which of the following is being used when someone says, "I had no choice"?

A) Peter Drucker's view on decision-making
B) The either/or conundrum
C) An effective use of logic
D) Both b and c

Question 62

Goldman tried to avoid "toes-to-the-line" kinds of activities when it came to regulatory compliance.

Question 63

Goldman's Internet IPOs were allocated openly.

Question 64

Only former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was criminally charged in the Penn State case.

Question 65

Goldman changed its status in 2008 to come under Federal Reserve regulation.

Question 66

Valeant did not work closely with insurers on reimbursement for its prescription drugs .

Question 67

Penn State officials did not comply with the reporting requirements regarding Mr. Sandusky's conduct.

Question 68

Which of the following would Peter Drucker favor as a way of encouraging ethical behavior in business?

A) Harsh penalties for executives
B) Exemptions from fines for corporations
C) Turning control of corporations over to government agencies
D) Both b and c

Question 69

The only ethical issue involved in the Valeant case was its pricing model.

Question 70

Valeant admitted that it had a transparency problem with its investors.

Question 71

What does P = ¦ (x) mean?

A) Pricing is a function of maximizing profits.
B) The price of ethics is a function of profits lost.
C) The probability of an ethical outcome is a direct function of the amount of money involved.
D) The probability of an either/or conundrum is a function of pressure.

Question 72

Which of the following would not be acceptable behavior in business according to Albert Carr?

A) Planned obsolescence
B) Saying you read certain magazines in order to get a job
C) Bribing employees to get technological information from competitors
D) All of the above are acceptable behavior to Carr

Question 73

Valeant specialized in one-of-a-kind drugs.

Question 74

The SEC does not require disclosures about health issues involving CEOs of publicly traded companies.

Question 75

Valeant stripped out restructuring and acquisition costs to make its look like it was more profitable.

Question 76

Goldman withheld information from investors about auction rates.

Question 77

The Bathsheba Syndrome:

A) Is something Albert Carr believes is important in business leaders.
B) Is a doctrine Peter Drucker uses to explain ethical leadership.
C) Is destructive once individuals become leaders.
D) Affects very few managers .

Question 78

BP's approach to safety prior to the Deepwater Horizon spill was:

A) Spending less on safety.
B) Spending whatever was needed to comply with regulations.
C) Spending when there is an injury.
D) None of the above

Question 79

No one at Penn State was aware of Mr. Sandusky's conduct with minor-aged boys until 2011.

Question 80

Goldman was positioning itself short in debt instruments it was selling to its clients.