Deck 22: Obligations and Opportunities

Question 1

Ethics are the moral oughts that sustain a civilized society.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The "just price"
of Saint Thomas Aquinas meant that the courts or the prevailing system of justice determined the price of a product or service.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Agency theory is a recent development involving the role of governmental agencies in the regulation of business.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Ethics and social responsibility are clearly two different issues.

Question 5

Business persons did not become involved in social responsibility and philanthropy until the courts, in a 1953 decision provided a legal precedent.

Question 6

Commutative justice, in Aristotle's ethics, considers the equitable distribution of income or wealth.

Question 7

The modern view of social responsibility is that business firms have the power, resources, and responsibility to resolve all current social issues.

Question 8

One of the arguments against business assuming social responsibility is that the firm is a trustee of the stockholders.

Question 9

Stakeholders have been defined as "those groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist."

Question 10

Stakeholder is synonymous with stockholder or shareholder.

Question 11

Social or non-economic objectives can be pursued only if the primary economic objectives of the firm have been attained.

Question 12

In Archie Carroll's framework, the "discretionary"
category of responsibility refers to the voluntary choices of the firm, such as philanthropy.

Question 13

Drucker would say that social objectives must be satisfied before economic objectives because business success depends on society's approval.

Question 14

Mercantilism was a successful trade policy because the consumers benefited from protected prices.

Question 15

In the balance of trade, a debtor nation imports more from abroad than it exports.

Question 16

Hypernorms of ethical behavior have been developed in the United Nations to be applied through the U.N.'s Ethical Security Council.

Question 17

Johnson and Johnson's credo separates ethics from social responsibility for its employees.

Question 18

Social entrepreneurship suggests business firms to re-think their operations in order to accomplish social and economic goals.

Question 19

The founder of the first collegiate school of business, Joseph Wharton, felt that ethics belonged in the business school curriculum.

Question 20

Deciding to enter the global market is just common sense once we understand the cultural and ethical values of the nation we wish to enter in a business arrangement.

Question 21

The study of_______ is the search for guidelines to conduct beyond the question of legal boundaries.

A) mercantilism
B) ethics
C) political economy
D) agency theory
E) both a and c above

Question 22

According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, the "just price" was:

A) determined by the system of justice in the courts.
B) established by the Fair Trade Commission.
C) the current market price.
D) dependent upon the historical time period.
E) only A and B

Question 23

As the owners of the firm, the shareholders, became separated from those who managed the firm, the topic of_______ was revived.

A) transactional leadership
B) the market ethic
C) strategic leadership
D) agency theory
E) the liberty ethic

Question 24

Saw accumulated wealth as a trust fund which was to be administered to produce the most beneficial results to the community.

A) John S. R. Shad
B) Howard Bowen
C) Morrell Heald
D) Joseph P. Kennedy
E) Andrew Carnegie

Question 25

In the modern era, provision(s) for corporate philanthropy was (were) found in:

A) the Federal Revenue Act of 1935.
B) A. P. Smith Manufacturing Co. v. Barlow et al.
C) Wade v. Roe Manufacturing Co.
D) the Federal Reserve Act of 1958.
E) only A and B above.

Question 26

The Meat Inspection Act (1906) and the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) were passed because of:

A) Theodore Roosevelt's book, The Trusts as Monsters.
B) animal rights activists.
C) Upton Sinclair's book, The Jungle.
D) the advocacy of certain business leaders at that time.
E) only B and C above.

Question 27

Arguments in favor of social responsibility for business would include:

A) the improvement of the public image of business.
B) business could optimize its return to its shareholders.
C) government regulation could be avoided.
D) all of the above.
E) only a and c above.

Question 28

Arguments against social responsibility for business would include:

A) management should optimize shareholder return.
B) business should not be given responsibilities it is not equipped to perform.
C) management is a trustee for the shareholders.
D) all of the above.
E) only a and c above.

Question 29

Refers to the view that a business firm is part of a larger system of customers, investors, suppliers, etc.:

A) Social trusteeship.
B) Stakeholders.
C) The Gospel of Wealth.
D) All of the above.
E) Only a and b above.

Question 30

Drucker believes business cannot meet its social responsibilities unless:

A) it achieves its economic objectives.
B) the courts provide approval.
C) consumer advocates become more militant.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.

Question 31

Which of the following is not one of Archie Carroll's categories for describing corporate responsibilities?

A) hypernorms
B) legal
C) discretionary
D) ethical
E) economic

Question 32

Used politics to subsidize local businesses, develop colonies, promote tariffs to keep out foreign products, and develop a strong military presence to protect its home markets.

A) Liberalism
B) Socialism
C) Mercantilism
D) Conservatism
E) None of these "isms"

Question 33

The global markets of today have (has) been made possible by:

A) a transportation revolution.
B) a cultural revolution.
C) a communication revolution.
D) all of the above.
E) only a and c above.

Question 34

Comparative advantage was the idea that, with free trade, each nation would find its best advantage in a global marketplace.

A) David Ricardo's
B) Peter Drucker's
C) John M. Keynes'
D) Saint Thomas Aquinas'
E) Thomas Malthus'

Question 35

____________ suggests firms re-think their strategy and operations to accomplish social and economic goals.

A) Pareto's optimum
B) the knowledge-based view of the firm
C) social entrepreneurship
D) the resource-based view of the firm
E) none of the above.

Question 36

Environmental management standards have been developed by the:

A) Organziation for Community Development
B) International Organization for Standardization
C) United Nations Accord on Sustainability
D) Sierra group
E) none of the above

Question 37

Regarding the ethics of merchants, Johannes Nider would advise:

A) caveat emptor
B) caveat venditor
C) quo vadis
D) omni vincit amor
E) none of the above

Question 38

Can ethics be taught in the classroom? Where do we learn "right" and "wrong"?

Question 39

Legislation typically follows corporate and/or individual wrong-doing. Has this legislations been successful? If not, what do you suggest as a solution?

Question 40

Discuss the question of whether ethics are "situational." That is, vary depending on where you are. Or, is there some higher code of moral conduct that transcends local and national boundaries?

Question 41

Identify some events that have made business ethics an "evergreen" issue. Would business ethics be included in our understanding of agency theory? Of corporate governance?

Question 42

Review the ideas of Keith Davis and discuss the pros and cons of social responsibility. Has anything changed since 1973, when that article was written, to add to the arguments of either side? What?

Question 43

Drucker says "management has failed if it fails to produce economic results."
Agree? Disagree?

Question 44

Review Archie Carroll's categories of responsibilities. How do these interact and overlap?