Deck 11: Does Business Have Too Much Power

Question 1

Complete this sentence: 'In a democracy political power, and sovereignty, is supposed to be in the hands of…'

A) Business leaders
B) The people
C) Elected politicians
D) Officials

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In the market system decisions are made in conditions of uncertainty in which competition determines which experiments are successful or unsuccessful. This process is described by Kay as:

A) Monopoly
B) Consumer sovereignty
C) Disciplined pluralism
D) Corporate power

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What concept does Kay use to describe acceptance by the public of the exercise of economic power by business?

A) Consumer sovereignty
B) Right to manage
C) Disciplined pluralism
D) Legitimacy

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What activity can be defined as 'personal allocation of funds, including consumption and investment, where choice has been informed by a particular issue-be it human rights, social justice, the environment, or animal welfare'?

A) Anti-capitalism
B) Consumer sovereignty
C) Materialism
D) Ethical consumerism

Question 5

Which magazine produces a list of the world's most powerful people-those 'who truly run the world'?

A) Financial Times
B) Economist
C) Hello
D) Forbes

Question 6

According to Forbes magazine who was the most powerful person in the world in 2016?

A) Theresa May, UK Prime Minister
B) Donald Trump, US President
C) Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
D) Bill Gates, Co-chair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Question 7

What percentage of employees in the UK in 2016 were members of a trade union?

A) 63.5
B) 23.5
C) 43.5
D) 33.5

Question 8

Complete this sentence: 'Because the market is based on …… it places power in the hands of businesses, which are able to make decisions about the use of resources'.

A) Private ownership
B) Voluntary exchange
C) Competition
D) Profit motive

Question 9

Which of the following are included in the four-dimensional concept of power used by Forbes magazine? Please select all that apply.

A) Power over lots of people
B) Financial resources
C) Power exercised in a single sphere
D) Active exercise of power

Question 10

Which of the following may be regarded as stakeholders in business? Please select all that apply.

A) Employees
B) Customers
C) Suppliers
D) Shareholders

Question 11

David Cameron, as leader of the UK Conservative Party in 2010, argued that although lobbying can be 'perfectly reasonable' when it is 'open and transparent', it constitutes the next big scandal waiting to happen. He identified a number of problems, including:
Please select all that apply.

A) the risk of corruption - money buying power
B) lack of transparency
C) it takes up too much time of government
D) there is not a level playing field

Question 12

Lindblom argues that business enjoys a 'privileged position' in policymaking. Which of the following points are used in his argument? Please select all that apply.

A) Many of the functions performed by business managers in the market are essential to society
B) Business leaders tend to be drawn from privileged backgrounds
C) Business is able to exercise a 'disproportionate influence' through the electoral process
D) Governments must develop and maintain business profitability through supporting policies

Question 13

Which of the following phenomena have been associated with globalization of business? Please select all that apply.

A) A 'power shift' from government to business
B) Multinational corporations have increased 'exit options'
C) Governments strengthen business regulation
D) Economic and other relationships to become 'stretched' across borders

Question 14

In the 1950s the president of General Motors famously claimed that 'what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa'.

Question 15

In 2010 a Groceries Supplies Code of Practice (GSCOP) was introduced in the UK to protect suppliers in the groceries market, such as farmers.

Question 16

During the 1980s and 1990s private sector employers in the UK generally faced a trade union movement with growing membership and power.

Question 17

Luger likens corporate power to a form of 'private government'.

Question 18

Most trade union members are employed in the private sector of the UK economy, and men and low-paid workers are more likely to be members of trade unions than women or professionals

Question 19

In the 'German model' of business, employers and employees are conceived as 'social partners'.

Question 20

The supermarket sector in the UK is dominated by just four very large companies, including: Please select all that apply.

A) Tesco
B) Sainsbury's
C) Aldi
D) Morrisons