Deck 4: Ethics and Ethical Reasoning

Question 1

Being ethical includes developing a sense of trust, which promotes positive alliances among business partners.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Managers in the same company are likely to be at the same stages of moral reasoning at any given time.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Business cannot expect to be profitable while adhering to ethical principles of conduct.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Why should business be ethical?

A) Most people want to act in ways that are consistent with their own sense of right and wrong.
B) Ethical behavior protects business firms from abuse by unethical employees and competitors.
C) Society's stakeholders expect it from businesses.
D) All of the above.

Question 5

People's ethical beliefs come from:

A) Legislative action and judicial decisions.
B) Reading the company's profit and loss statements.
C) Their religious background, family, and education.
D) The organization's code of ethics.

Question 6

A conception of right and wrong is:

A) Impossible to know.
B) The definition of ethics.
C) Determined by power.
D) Based on stakeholder dialogue.

Question 7

If all people relied on ethical relativism, there would be no universal ethical standards on which people around the globe could agree.

Question 8

Ethical ideas are present in all societies, all organizations, and all individual persons.

Question 9

For managers who reason at stages 2 and 3, their personal rewards, recognition from others, or compliance with the company's rules become their main ethical compass.

Question 10

People everywhere depend on ethical systems to tell them whether their actions are:

A) Legal or illegal.
B) Right or wrong.
C) Financially attainable or not.
D) Logical and reasonable judgment.

Question 11

The U.S. Corporate Sentencing Guidelines provide a strong incentive for businesses to promote their ethics at work.

Question 12

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that firms maintain good financial practices, apart from high ethical standards, in how they conduct and monitor business operations.

Question 13

Business managers should use all four methods of ethical reasoning - virtues, utility, rights and justice - to better understand ethical issues at work.

Question 14

Only in the last decade have scholars found a positive relationship between an organization's economic performance and attention to spiritual values.

Question 15

Ethics are primarily based on religious beliefs.

Question 16

Business must develop its own definition of what is right and wrong, apart from ethics.

Question 17

Businesses are expected to be ethical in their relationships with:

A) Stockholders.
B) Customers.
C) Competitors.
D) All of the above.

Question 18

Employees would rather work for companies who share their personal moral values.

Question 19

An ethical egoist acts for the benefit of others and sacrifices self-interest.

Question 20

According to utilitarian reasoning, if the net costs are greater than net benefits, the action is probably unethical because more harm than good would be produced.

Question 21

A bottom-line mentality in business is reflected in which statement?

A) "I want it."
B) "We have to beat the others at all costs."
C) "Help yourself and those closest to you."
D) "Foreigners have a funny notion of what's right and wrong."

Question 22

Utilitarian reasoning primarily considers:

A) The end results of an action.
B) The rights of the unprotected.
C) The distribution of benefits.
D) Both A and C, but not

Question 23

Aristotle argued:

A) Self-control is the most virtuous of values.
B) Faith is a road to charity and modesty.
C) Moral virtue is a mean between two virtues.
D) High-mindedness delivers human integrity.

Question 24

According to the utilitarian reasoning, if the benefits outweigh the costs, then the action is ethical because it produces:

A) The greatest good for the greatest number of people.
B) An equal amount of good for an equal number of people.
C) The greatest good for a select number of people.
D) An equal amount of good for the greatest number of people.

Question 25

Which statement characterizes the moral reasoning typically found in a child?

A) "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
B) "I'll scratch your back, if you'll scratch mine."
C) "Seek the greatest good for the greatest number."
D) "Respect the rights of others."

Question 26

Which of the following examples best illustrate an ethics issue based on cross-cultural contradictions?

A) Legally marketing a pesticide abroad that has been banned in the U.S.
B) Circumventing government regulations to ensure company profits.
C) Hiring child workers in violation of civil law.
D) False and misleading advertising claims.

Question 27

As business becomes increasingly global:

A) It must turn to national laws for guidance.
B) Ethical issues become issues of free trade.
C) A global code of conduct will emerge for businesses.
D) Cross-cultural contradictions will increase.

Question 28

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act:

A) Forces firms with inaccurate financial reporting into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
B) Does not hold auditing firms liable for their client's inaccurate account reporting.
C) Requires executives to pay back bonuses based on earnings that are later proved fraudulent.
D) Allows an auditing firm from providing the same client with non-auditing services.

Question 29

Business managers need a set of ethical guidelines to help them:

A) Understand the changing customs throughout the world.
B) Justify the resolution which best helps themselves.
C) Identify and analyze the nature of ethical problem.
D) None of the above.

Question 30

Scholars found that spirituality:

A) Negatively affects employee and organizational performance.
B) Positively affects employee and organizational performance.
C) Has no affect on employee and organizational performance.
D) Only affects the employee performance of not for profit organizations.

Question 31

Cross-cultural contradictions arise due to:

A) The emergence of a developing country's economic power.
B) Religious differences practiced by business executives.
C) Differences between home and host countries' ethical standards.
D) All of the above.

Question 32

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, corporations are required to:

A) Have executives vouch for the accuracy of a firm's financial reports.
B) Have their audit committee comprised of only executives employed by the firm.
C) Collect reimbursements from the U.S. government if financial restatements occur.
D) All of the above.

Question 33

Mature adults typically base their ethical reasoning on broad principles and relationships such as:

A) Human rights and constitutional guarantees of human dignity.
B) Universal principles of justice.
C) Customs and traditions shown by their peers.
D) Both A and B, but not

Question 34

Business executives are finding that a trusting, ethical relationship with a business partner is:

A) Best left to not-for-profit companies.
B) Too costly to maintain.
C) Likely to cause legal problems.
D) Often essential in conducting business.

Question 35

All of the following values are present in most ethical decisions except:

A) Be fair and just.
B) Be respectful.
C) Act responsibly.
D) Be honest.

Question 36

A purchasing agent directing her company's orders to a firm which she received a valuable gift, is an example of:

A) Conflict of interest.
B) Ethical relativism.
C) Moral development.
D) Egotism.

Question 37

According to a 2009 opinion poll, Americans hold a dim view of:

A) Organized labor.
B) The Supreme Court.
C) Churches.
D) Wall Street executives.

Question 38

Under the U.S. Corporate Sentencing Guidelines, if a firm has developed a strong ethics program, corporate executives found guilty of criminal activity may have their sentence:

A) Increased.
B) Reduced.
C) Unaffected.
D) Decided by the company.

Question 39

As an additional employee benefit to promote spirituality, companies have begun to provide employees with the services of:

A) Philosophers.
B) Chaplains.
C) Financial advisors.
D) Ombudspersons.

Question 40

What percentage of American CEOs in a 2008 said that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act had done nothing to improve ethical standards at their businesses?

A) 12%
B) 33%
C) 55%
D) 74%

Question 41

The reason(s) behind the uncertainty of an ethical or unethical decision is (are) that different people and groups:

A) May honestly and genuinely use different sources of information.
B) May rank various rights in different ways.
C) May not share the same meaning of justice.
D) All of the above.

Question 42

Explain the purpose of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. What issues does the act address? Discuss recent changes in regulatory interpretation of the Act.

Question 43

What are the four methods of ethical reasoning? Discuss the limitations of each of the four methods.

Question 44

How does a person's spirituality influence his/her ethical behavior? How have organizations responded to increased attention to spirituality and religion at work attempting to accommodate their employees?

Question 45

At the core of rights reasoning is the belief that:

A) The company's right to a profit must be protected.
B) Respecting others is the essence of human rights.
C) The right to join a union is no longer universally accepted.
D) Economic and political powers determine who is right.

Question 46

Discuss why businesses should be ethical.

Question 47

Which of the following is not true about justice reasoning?

A) The reasoner is interested in the net value of benefits.
B) The reasoner considers who pays the costs and who receives the benefits.
C) The reasoner seeks a fair distribution to all affected.
D) The reasoner relies upon some accepted rule or standard.

Question 48

The main drawback to utilitarian reasoning is that:

A) The majority may override the rights of those in the minority.
B) Managers using this reasoning process often fail to consider the means taken to reach the end.
C) It is difficulty to accurately measure both costs and benefits.
D) Cost-benefit calculations can only be provided by accountants.

Question 49

There are four reasons stated in the textbook as to why ethical problems occur in business. Identify the nature of each ethical problem and the typical approach taken in response to the problem.

Question 50

Briefly discuss the meaning of ethics.

Question 51

Define and discuss the six stages of moral development. What is the ethics referent at each stage? What is the basis of ethics reasoning at each stage?

Question 52

A just or fair ethical decision occurs when:

A) The rights of all affected are considered.
B) The greatest good for those with power is achieved.
C) Benefits and burdens are distributed equally.
D) All of the above.