Deck 7: Business Ethics Fundamentals

Question 1

Descriptive ethics is concerned with studying and describing the morality of a particular group of people.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The public's view of business ethics has always been very high until the recent scandals.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Virtually all companies that exhibit moral management have had that outlook since they were founded.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Researchers have found that many business people go through life thinking that they are objective.

Question 5

Ethical behavior is generally considered to be on a higher plane than legal behavior.

Question 6

Moral management stresses profitability over other stakeholder concerns.

Question 7

A 2009 Marist College Institute for Public Opinion survey indicated that more than half of Americans believe people use the same ethical standards in business as they do in their personal lives.

Question 8

Only about half of Americans say that they are worried about the moral compass in corporate America.

Question 9

Immoral management implies that decision makers know right from wrong,but choose to do wrong.

Question 10

The ethics scandal that has come to define modern business ethics is the Enron debacle.

Question 11

Normative ethics depends on whether "everyone is doing it" to justify moral decisions and actions.

Question 12

A November 2009 Gallop poll revealed that almost 40% of the public thought that business executives had low or very low ethics.

Question 13

Public interest in business ethics has heightened over each of the past three decades.

Question 14

The best reason to base one's ethics on societal norms is that the norms do not conflict;thus they provide clear guidance to "right" and "wrong."

Question 15

The forces that most often come into conflict with ethics in a business setting are economic and social.

Question 16

Amoral management relies primarily on a compliance strategy that focuses on obedience to the law.

Question 17

The majority of Americans think that ethics is about the same as it was fifty years ago.

Question 18

An NBES survey indicated that ethical misconduct at work was up slightly.

Question 19

The major questions related to the conventional approach to business ethics are "Whose norms do we use?" and "What norms are prevailing?"

Question 20

In making ethical judgments,it is usually easier to reach consensus on individual practical cases than it is to agree on broad principles.

Question 21

Public opinion polls regarding business ethics are

A)clearly tied to reactions to the latest scandals reported by the media.
B)reflective of actual business ethics currently in practice.
C)unrelated to actual business ethics practices.
D)difficult to assess because the media keeps ethics scandals in the public eye.

Question 22

The Wall Street financial scandals involved all the following except

A)recklessness about risk
B)ethical lending
C)subprime lending calculations
D)greed

Question 23

The former CEO of Bendix Corporation blames the apparent decline in business's ethical behavior on

A)the greed of senior managers.
B)the contexts in which corporate decisions are made.
C)the lack of required business ethics courses in undergraduate and MBA programs.
D)the decline in the importance of religion in American society.

Question 24

Concepts of right and wrong are increasingly being interpreted today to include all of the following except

A)fairness.
B)justice.
C)equity.
D)equality.

Question 25

Business ethics is

A)a special branch of ethics unto itself.
B)concerned with moral issues that occur only in business.
C)concerned with right and wrong behavior within a business context.
D)a subset of business practice.

Question 26

At the macro level,big business is being questioned for its:

A)ethical challenges
B)legitimacy
C)individual activities
D)managerial relationships

Question 27

The focus of descriptive ethics is on

A)determining what should be done in a given situation.
B)justifying a moral system of thinking and judging.
C)learning what is occurring in the realm of moral behaviors and practices.
D)learning how to justify one's chosen actions.

Question 28

An NBES Survey concluded that ethical misconduct

A)whistle-blowing had decreased.
B)In pressure to cut corners had increased.
C)at work was down slightly
D)was observed more on the job.

Question 29

Moral identification and ordering refers to the ability to discern the ambiguity of moral factors.

Question 30

In Kohlberg's preconventional level of moral development,the individual's primary concern is for others.

Question 31

There is no doubt that the media are

A)ignoring ethical violations in their own industry.
B)reporting ethical problems more frequently and fervently.
C)defending the right of business to be conducted amorally.
D)reporting breaches of ethics in politics more than they are reporting business ethics violations.

Question 32

Which of the following is not one of the major approaches to thinking about business ethics?

A)conventional approach
B)rights and duties approach
C)principles approach
D)ethical tests approach

Question 33

The discipline that deals with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation is

A)morality.
B)deontology.
C)ethics.
D)moral philosophy.

Question 34

The postconventional level of moral development is the most common level for adults over 50 years of age.

Question 35

The approach to business ethics in which we compare a decision or practice to prevailing norms of acceptability is the

A)virtue approach.
B)principles approach.
C)conventional approach.
D)ethical tests approach.

Question 36

A doctrine or system of moral conduct is called

A)ethics.
B)deontology.
C)morality.
D)moral philosophy.

Question 37

Ethical egoism is based on the idea that the individual should seek to minimize self-interests.

Question 38

The area of ethics that is concerned with supplying and justifying a coherent moral system of thinking and judging is called

A)normative ethics.
B)descriptive ethics.
C)business ethics.
D)virtue ethics.

Question 39

The Enron Era brought about a broad range of legal and ethic charges that included all the following except

A)securities fraud
B)conspiracy to inflate profits
C)corrupt corporate cultures
D)building company assets

Question 40

One of the functions of corporate governance is

A)oversight of senior managers.
B)capital budgeting.
C)incorporating ethics into the strategic planning process.
D)monitoring executive bonuses.

Question 41

The challenge in all managerial situations is take what can be done and what should be done and find

A)a balance.
B)the more practical solution.
C)the least costly approach.
D)the most effective action.

Question 42

The ethical management model that conforms to high standards of behavior or professional standards of conduct is

A)immoral management.
B)semi-moral management.
C)moral management.
D)amoral management.

Question 43

The model of ethical management in which managers fail to take morality into account when making decisions is

A)immoral management.
B)moral management.
C)semi-moral management.
D)amoral management.

Question 44

All of the following are questions that capture the central meaning of ethics except

A)what is?
B)what happened?
C)what ought to be?
D)what is our motivation?

Question 45

Managers who believe that business decisions are not subject to moral constraints tend to utilize the

A)immoral management model.
B)moral management model.
C)intentional amoral management model.
D)unintentional amoral management model.

Question 46

Which of the following is not a model of ethical management provided in the textbook?

A)immoral management
B)semi-moral management
C)moral management
D)amoral management

Question 47

The normative question of ethics is

A)what is?
B)what ought to be?
C)how do we get from what is to what ought to be?
D)what is our motivation?

Question 48

Questions about business ethics can be asked at any of the following levels except

A)individual.
B)organizational.
C)economic.
D)global.

Question 49

Which of the following is not an element of making ethical judgments?

A)observation of the decision or action
B)comparison of the decision or action to prevailing norms of acceptability
C)recognition that value judgments are made regarding the decision or action and the prevailing norms of acceptability
D)awareness of the moral implications of a situation

Question 50

The most serious danger of using the conventional approach to business ethics is

A)reliance on normative ethics without regard to descriptive ethics.
B)lapsing into ethical relativism.
C)lack of innovation in ethical judgments.
D)stunting one's moral development.

Question 51

The ethics question "how do we get from what is to what ought to be?" is

A)descriptive.
B)normative.
C)practical.
D)motivational.

Question 52

The population hypothesis regarding ethical management models is

A)the three models approximate a normal,bell-shaped curve.
B)that the moral management model is the largest segment of the normal curve.
C)that the immoral management model is the largest segment of the normal curve.
D)the three models exhibit a skewed curve,weighted toward either moral or immoral management models,depending on the society being studied.

Question 53

The key operating question of amoral management is

A)can we make money with this action,regardless of what it takes?
B)will this action be fair to all stakeholders?
C)what effects will this action have on our stakeholders?
D)can we make money with this action?

Question 54

Managers who simply fail to consider moral questions when making business decisions use the

A)immoral management model.
B)moral management model.
C)intentional amoral management model.
D)unintentional amoral management model.

Question 55

The key operating question of moral management is

A)can we make money with this action,regardless of what it takes?
B)will this action be fair to all stakeholders?
C)what effects will this action have on our stakeholders?
D)can we make money with this action?

Question 56

Which of the following is not a structural aspect of unconscious accounting bias?

A)ambiguity
B)attachment
C)approval
D)ambivalence

Question 57

The "integrity strategy" espoused by Lynn Sharp Paine is similar to the

A)immoral management model.
B)moral management model.
C)semi-moral management model.
D)amoral management model.

Question 58

The key operating question of immoral management is

A)can we make money with this action,regardless of what it takes?
B)will this action be fair to all stakeholders?
C)what effects will this action have on our major stakeholders?
D)can we make money with this action?

Question 59

The model of ethical management that implies a positive and active opposition to what is right is called

A)immoral management.
B)moral management.
C)semi-moral management.
D)amoral management.

Question 60

The minimum standard of ethical behavior can be thought of as

A)following the Golden Rule.
B)adhering to the law.
C)living according to religious principles.
D)avoiding punishment.

Question 61

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions.Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
Lawrence Kohlberg found that most adults never get to the third level of moral development.What implications for management does this observation have?

Question 62

Which of the following is not a source of a manager's values that is external to the firm?

A)religion
B)philosophy
C)scientific
D)legal

Question 63

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Discuss how Bernie Madoff and ashleymadison.com are illustrations of immoral management.

Question 64

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions.Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
The three models of ethical management (immoral,moral,and amoral)provide only one "good" example--that of moral management.However,the authors imply that immoral and amoral management are prevalent in our society,while moral management is practiced less.Which is the bigger problem in our society,immoral or amoral management?

Question 65

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Interpret the authors' statement that "many business people go through life deluded by the illusion of objectivity."

Question 66

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
What is the distinction that the textbook draws between ethics and morality?

Question 67

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Distinguish between descriptive and normative ethics.

Question 68

An ethical principle based on the idea that an individual should maximize their own self-interests is called

A)unethical egoism.
B)ethical egoism.
C)conscience egoism.
D)conventional egoism.

Question 69

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions.Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
Discuss the relevance of one's motivations to his or her ethical actions.

Question 70

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
What are the seven habits of highly moral leaders?

Question 71

An element of moral judgment is all the following except

A)moral imagination
B)managerial competence
C)moral identification and ordering
D)sense of moral obligation

Question 72

Lawrence Kohlberg's model of moral development includes all of the following levels except

A)the preconventional level.
B)the conventional level.
C)the postconventional level.
D)law and order morality.

Question 73

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions.Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
Describe and evaluate the reasons that many feminists criticize Lawrence Kohlberg's work on moral development.

Question 74

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
What are the differences among "immoral," "moral," and "amoral?"

Question 75

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
If business ethics have,in reality,declined over the past decades,what are the primary reasons for this movement?

Question 76

The individual hypothesis regarding ethical management models is

A)the three models approximate a normal,bell-shaped curve.
B)that individuals managers utilize all three of the models at different times and situations.
C)that individual managers emphasize one of the three models over the others.
D)that individual managers attempt to match the model they use to the particular situation.

Question 77

The sense that concern for fairness,justice,and due process to people,groups,and communities should be woven into managerial decision-making is called

A)integration of managerial and moral competence.
B)moral obligation.
C)moral sensitivity.
D)moral evaluation.

Question 78

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Describe how a Venn diagram can help a manager evaluate moral dilemmas and come to decisions about those situations.

Question 79

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions.Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
In the section about the ethics question "what ought to be?" the authors relate a story about a corporate planning seminar.At the seminar,a speaker told the participants that presidents of large corporations should begin their planning processes with a vision of society,not with where they want their firms to be in 5 or 10 years.Evaluate this advice in light of what you have learned about business ethics.

Question 80

Provide a short answer to each of these questions.Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Briefly describe the process of moral development described by Kohlberg.