Deck 3: The Managers Changing Work Environment and Ethical Responsibilities: Doing the Right Thing

Question 1

Donna loves to cook, and when she needs certain types of herbs, fruits, and vegetables to make a recipe, she usually shops at Phillip's Grocery because it carries a nice selection of fresh produce. Donna is considered a customer of Phillip's Grocery.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The owners of an organization consist of all those who can claim it as their legal property.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Prior to a 2010 natural-gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, California, Pacific Gas & Electric chose to use its surplus revenues to improve safety, an example of ethical decision-making.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The employees of a production facility that produce parts for boats are meeting to discuss ways to control the rising costs because it is affecting their bonus. The employees are concerned about how to accomplish this, since they are internal stakeholders of the factory.

Question 5

Members of the board of directors are elected by the stockholders.

Question 6

Paul, who is normally an ethical person, has an opportunity to acquire what he feels is "easy" money in his job, and he believes it is safe to steal the money because nobody would know if he does take it. Paul rationalizes that it is fine to carry out his plan because he needs it more than the person whom the money belongs to. The psychological mechanism that causes Paul to want to steal the money is poor self-esteem.

Question 7

Most customers value price over service, and are unconcerned by poor customer relations.

Question 8

The first law of business is to take care of the employees and stockholders.

Question 9

A large factory across the street from Anne's Café, a family-owned restaurant for over 50 years, is planning to close. The employees of the plant are a large percentage of the customers for the café. The café's customers and suppliers are concerned about the future of the restaurant because they are external stakeholders.

Question 10

Stakeholders are competitors of the organization who have an interest, or stake, in stealing a company's business.

Question 11

The board of directors of a corporation is responsible to see that the company is being run according to the employees' interests.

Question 12

Pete's Janitorial Supply furnishes janitorial and paper products to cleaning services. Pete's is an example of a supplier.

Question 13

With a sole proprietorship, the board of directors is a vital part of major company decisions.

Question 14

Sal, the owner of a produce market, is concerned because a national grocery store has decided to build a new store just one mile from his market. Sal knows that the large retailer will offer better wages and lower prices, battling for his employees and customers. Therefore, this new grocery is a competitor of Sal's Market.

Question 15

With the "holier-than-thou" effect, people tend to be overly optimistic about their own abilities and fortunes-to overestimate their standing in class.

Question 16

Research has shown that students who don't actually do the assigned work and cheat are more likely to commit felonies and develop depression disorders.

Question 17

The task environment of Top-Notch Sewing consists of a total of two groups, customers and stockholders, which give the employees and management of Top-Notch its daily jobs.

Question 18

External stakeholders include the owners and board of directors.

Question 19

The task and general environments make up an organization's internal environment.

Question 20

Mr. Fun, a small toy store, started marketing a new video game for Let's Play Games, a large game supplier. Mr. Fun is an example of a distributor for Let's Play's games.

Question 21

Private-sector unionization has slightly increased, because despite the recession, jobs in manufacturing and construction have increased.

Question 22

Managers may be able to control some forces in the general environment, but they can't control those in the task environment.

Question 23

Typically, labor unions tend to represent salaried workers, and professional associations tend to represent hourly workers.

Question 24

Paul, the vice president of marketing of an international sales organization, is considering adding an office in a new country. He is looking at the current economic, political, legal, and technological global forces in that country that can affect the success of the expansion into the new area. These forces that Paul is studying are international forces.

Question 25

The general environment, or macroenvironment, includes six forces: economic, technological, sociocultural, demographic, political-legal, and international.

Question 26

If a community gives a company tax breaks in return for the promise of new jobs and the firm fails to deliver, rescinding those tax breaks when firms don't deliver promised jobs are known as cutbacks.

Question 27

When Pleasant Resort, a successful 100-year-old hotel and resort, became part of A-Plus Hotels, a five-star hotel chain, so Pleasant could market its facility and services and A-Plus Hotels could enter the resort market, this relationship is an example of a strategic allies relationship.

Question 28

Marketing for a startup small business to obtain many small new customers is known as crowdfunding.

Question 29

Managers can usually ignore the mass media without adverse effect.

Question 30

Economic forces consist of the general economic conditions and trends like unemployment, inflation, interest rates, and economic growth that may affect an organization's performance.

Question 31

Choosing between product performance and employee performance is what most ethical conflicts are about.

Question 32

Members of the National Organization for Animals (NOA) have launched a letter-writing campaign to elected officials and have contributed funds to election campaigns to try to exert political influence; NOA is an example of a government regulator.

Question 33

Due to obesity issues in the lives of many customers, consumers are demanding a healthy menu from restaurants. This change in demand is an example of a demographic force.

Question 34

Technological forces, such as air-conditioning, are new developments in methods for transforming resources into goods or services.

Question 35

Associations that are utilized by government agencies to monitor manufacturing and agricultural needs and developments are known as government regulators.

Question 36

Distributors can be quite important because in some industries there is not a lot of competition, so the distributor has a lot of power in setting the price of the product.

Question 37

International forces represent a huge grab bag of influences that may affect an organization, such as the economic integration of the European Union, which has developed threats and opportunities for American companies.

Question 38

Political-legal forces are changes in the way politics shape laws and laws shape the opportunities for and threats to an organization.

Question 39

When a daycare center looks at the recent increase in the number of working mothers in its area to determine how many employees to hire, this is an example of studying demographic forces.

Question 40

Just before introduction of a new revolutionary laptop, the Top205 by Top Computers, Greg, the CEO of Top, was informed that there could be a problem with part that may cause reliability issues. Greg knows that correcting the problem would delay the introduction of the product, affect the reputation of Top Computers, and be expensive due to possible order cancellations and added advertising costs. Greg's decision whether to delay the introduction of the Top205 or proceed as planned is an example of an ethical dilemma.

Question 41

When judging an organization's policies-such as fair and impartial administering of promotions regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, and the like-ethical behavior under the justice approach is guided by respect for impartial standards of fairness and equity.

Question 42

Despite recent pressure from stockholders to increase profits, a global petroleum organization has maintained a practice of consistently acting ethically by being a good global corporate citizen, taking host-country and global standards into consideration when making decisions, and obeying the law of host countries as well as international law. This is an example of a company acting socially responsible.
B. Carroll, corporate social responsibility rests at the top of a pyramid of a corporation's obligations, right up there with economic, legal, and ethical obligations. Carroll suggests the responsibilities of an organization in the global economy should take the following priorities, with profit being the most fundamental (base of the pyramid) and corporate citizenship at the top: (1) Be a good global corporate citizen, as defined by the host country's expectations; (2) be ethical in its practices, taking host-country and global standards into consideration; (3) obey the law of host countries as well as international law; and (4) make a profit consistent with expectations for international business.

Question 43

Ethical behavior is behavior that is accepted as "right" as opposed to "accepted" according to the standards of what is right or wrong.

Question 44

Companies screen out dishonest, irresponsible workers after they are hired by checking employees' résumé and references.

Question 45

A whistle-blower is usually a stakeholder who reports organizational misconduct to the public.

Question 46

An organization's value system is the belief of employees and customers about that company's product and service quality.

Question 47

Milton Friedman represents the view that the social responsibility of business is to maintain a balance between business and environmental concerns.

Question 48

A benefit of the individual approach is that when managers make decisions that are made in the individual's best interests, this will usually benefit most people.

Question 49

Human resource professionals indicate that when their organizations offer ethics training using a case approach to present employees with ethical dilemmas by clarifying expectations, this kind of training may reduce unethical behavior.

Question 50

Psychologist Laurence Kohlberg has proposed three levels of personal moral development: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.

Question 51

A code of ethics is an insurance document specifying upper management's ethical policy and procedures regarding health care with the Affordable Care Act.

Question 52

In the old days of cutthroat capitalism, a company's most important goal was to make money pretty much any way it could. Today for-profit enterprises generally make a point of "putting something back" into society as well as taking something out.

Question 53

The beliefs by individuals regarding what they feel others will observe in their behavior are called ethics.

Question 54

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act set up the Federal Trade Commission to ensure consumer protection and eliminate and prevent anticompetitive business practices, with penalties of as much as 25 years in prison for noncompliance.

Question 55

A Ponzi scheme is when an individual or company utilizes the bait-and-switch method. A product is advertised at a low price, but when customers ask to buy the item they are told that the advertised good is not available and are pressured to buy a higher-priced item.

Question 56

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, through which Bill Gates and his wife have pledged to spend billions on health, education, and overcoming poverty, is an example of natural capital.

Question 57

When illegal female immigrants from Central America are transported into Texas and forced to work seven days a week or as prostitutes, this violates the moral-rights approach.

Question 58

Terrell, the HR manager, strongly believes that fairness means hiring according to ability, not family background. Terrell's deeply held belief regarding hiring is a part of his dilemma approach.

Question 59

The utilitarian approach is guided by what will result in the individual's best long-term interests.

Question 60

Corporate social responsibility is the belief that corporations are expected to go above and beyond following the law and making a profit to be a good corporate citizen and benefit interests of society.

Question 61

The system of governing a company so that the interests of corporate owners and other stakeholders are protected is known as corporate governance.

Question 62

Rebecca and Donna, owners of Fine Coffee and Pastry Shop, are concerned because Panera Bread is opening a new store just one mile from their shop. Rebecca and Donna know that Panera will be offering similar products; therefore, Panera Bread will be a ____ to Rebecca and Donna.

A) competitor
B) competitive ally
C) strategic ally
D) distributor
E) internal stakeholder

Question 63

When talking with Shane, a sales manager, she remarked that typically, her employees sincerely and positively overstate their job performance and abilities. This is an example of the ____ effect.

A) overstatement
B) motivated blindness
C) holier-than-thou
D) cheating
E) fudging

Question 64

To focus on improving company customer service this year, the CEO outlined a list of stakeholders to concentrate on: distributors, local communities, and the mass media. These three groups are ____.

A) external stakeholders
B) developmental stakeholders
C) internal stakeholders
D) vital stockholders
E) interest groups

Question 65

Alonzo, the president of the student class and honor society, has been very busy and did not study for the history test. Although Alonzo is very confident, he realizes that he probably will not do well on the exam and has talked himself into cheating because he feels it is worth it to maintain his strong GPA, which he will need to be accepted by a good college. He tells his friend, "I don't usually do this, but I really have to do it." The cause of Alonzo's behavior is ____.

A) the holier-than-thou effect
B) the deception effect
C) the cheating requirement
D) a depression disorder
E)motivated blindness

Question 66

An organization's internal stakeholders consist of ___.

A) board of directors, employees, suppliers
B) board of directors, customers, owners
C) customers, families of employees, employees
D) board of directors, employees, owners
E) competitors, the community, suppliers

Question 67

After the scandals at WorldCom, Tyco, and Enron, in which company employees lost millions of dollars and their nest eggs, there was less concern for corporate governance and more interest in the development of corporate social responsibility.

Question 68

Amy, a successful banker and educator, has decided to retire, but she is very interested in staying involved with a company "that cares." So when asked to be on its board of directors, she gladly accepted the invitation. As a member of the board, Amy will be involved with the organization's ____.

A) overall strategic goals and approval of major decisions
B) daily company management and employee supervision
C) overall strategic goals and global HR management
D) daily specific company goals and management of a specific department
E) oversight of sales and marketing

Question 69

Warm Hearts is a nonprofit organization that brings warm meals to older adults and runs errands for its clients; the board of that nonprofit is called the _____.

A) overall board
B) nonprofit trustees or the directors
C) strategic board
D) daily oversight committee
E) board of trustees or board of regents

Question 70

Every Saturday Mrs. Jones and hundreds of other shoppers visit ABC Market, a grocery store, to buy food for their home or business. These shoppers are _____ to ABC.

A) suppliers
B) community allies
C) competitors
D) customers
E) partners

Question 71

Don, the owner of a fishing business, attended an entrepreneurship workshop that discussed the triple bottom line, which measures an organization's ____ performance.

A) social, environmental, financial
B) financial, diversity, environmental
C) social, synergy, diversity
D) marketing, profit, efficiency
E) social, effectiveness, financial

Question 72

The marketing director informed his employees that he feels the company needs to improve its relationship with the distributors of the company's products to increase market share because they are part of the ______ environment of the company.

A) strategic
B) focused
C) outlying
D) external
E) task

Question 73

As businesses are going green today, sustainability programs have produced environmental benefits, but unfortunately, they have also resulted in higher costs, lower revenues, and at times, have hurt organizations competitively.

Question 74

Patsy, a nurse, has decided to start a home health care service to assist with the medical, meal preparation, and light housecleaning needs of older adults. To grow her business, Patsy is focusing her marketing efforts on the older adult population; as she does this, she is involved with the _____ environment.

A) task
B) general
C) internal
D) natural capital
E) strategic allies

Question 75

When making a decision to purchase a new SUV for their growing family, George and Susan are like most Americans: they are more likely to buy products from companies that will save them money than from organizations that are known to be socially responsible.

Question 76

Marie and Marti are partners who solely own M and M Florist. As owners, they can ____.

A) claim only limited liability
B) avoid claiming any legal responsibility for M and M
C) claim limited partnership
D) claim an organization as their legal property
E) decide not to pay their stockholders

Question 77

The plant manager of a factory that produces tires told Sal, the purchasing manager, to approach the suppliers of the plant to discuss discounts. A supplier to that factory ____.

A) competes for customers or resources
B) helps Sal's company sell its goods and services to customers
C) joins forces with Sal's plant to achieve advantages neither can perform as well alone
D) rescinds tax breaks when firms don't deliver promised jobs
E) provides raw materials, services, equipment, labor, or energy

Question 78

Don was recently promoted, and his salary increase includes retirement investment options, so he has decided to get involved with an ESOP. This means Don ____.

A) will be on the company's board of directors
B) will participate in an Externship Supervisors' Oversight Plan
C) will be buying shares of his company's stock
D) is now part of the company's external stakeholders
E) is in charge of an investment group

Question 79

ABC Brothers' cleaning products and equipment are sold to consumers and commercial cleaning companies in Best Supply's janitorial supply and equipment store. ABC relies heavily on Best Supply to help sell its goods and services to customers. Best Supply is a(n) ____ for ABC Brothers' products.

A) competitor
B) distributor
C) customer
D) subsidiary
E) account ally

Question 80

What mechanism is used to provide a systematic assessment of an organization's triple bottom line?

A) sustainability program
B) code of ethics
C) diversity program
D) financial audit
E) social audit