Deck 6: Business Ethics Fundamentals

Question 1

The conventional approach to business ethics requires that we compare an act or decision with prevailing norms of acceptability.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Fortunately, there is a scientific way to determine that business ethics has actually deteriorated in our society.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The two types of moral management are intentional and unintentional.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Pragmatic businesspeople like to dwell on the motivation for being ethical because it gives them deep insights into human nature.

Question 5

In determining business ethics, the question "What ought to be?" is directly asking what the already-existing norms of the company are.

Question 6

Observers believe that problems with business ethics occur because businesses are changing while society remains the same.

Question 7

The media's reporting of ethical problems in business has not increased in the past three decades.

Question 8

In recent surveys, a majority of the public rated the honesty and ethical standards of business executives as "high" or "very high."

Question 9

Individual managers' established norms are the only standards that should be considered in making ethical business decisions.

Question 10

Canadian business has remained unscathed by recent business scandals reported in North America.

Question 11

Moral management conforms to standards of ethical behavior.

Question 12

Since moral management is not willing to break laws, profitability is not a goal of corporations that practice moral management.

Question 13

Even large, successful firms such as IBM, Nortel and AT&T have been found guilty of unethical behavior.

Question 14

The ethical question "What ought to be?" represents goals toward which a company works.

Question 15

Amoral management may imply a lack of ethical perception and moral awareness.

Question 16

Some amoral managers believe that business activity resides outside the sphere to which moral judgments apply.

Question 17

Immoral management implies active opposition to what is right.

Question 18

Normative business ethics seeks to describe the morality of a people, a culture, or a society.

Question 19

The law can be viewed as a set of minimal standards of conduct and behavior.

Question 20

Purposefully breaking the law is an example of immoral management.

Question 21

If Company A knowingly commits a wrongful act that is detrimental to Company B, Company A has exhibited which type of management ethics?

A) Moral
B) Immoral
C) Amoral
D) Antimoral

Question 22

Which of the following is not an example of a question of "what ought to be"?

A) how should we treat minority employees
B) how should we treat aging employees
C) how safe should we make this product
D) how safe are other companies making this product

Question 23

A manager who does not stop to consider that his or her actions have an ethical dimension could be classified as which type of manager?

A) Moral
B) Immoral
C) intentionally amoral
D) unintentionally amoral

Question 24

In a major Gallup poll of business executives' ethics, business executives were found to be

A) ranked at the very top, along with members of the clergy.
B) ranked somewhere in the middle.
C) ranked at the bottom, along with car and insurance salespeople.
D) More ethical than university teachers.

Question 25

A comparison of the public's perception of business executive's ethics with those of other professionals reveals which one of the following?

A) Business executives rank about in the middle of the pack of those considered.
B) Business executives ranked higher than groups such as pharmacists, clergy, and dentists.
C) Business executives ranked lower than senators, members of Congress, and state office holders.
D) Business executives ethics have increased as a result of TV shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20.

Question 26

A manager does not discriminate on the basis of race because it is against company policy. This manager's decision illustrates which of Kohlberg's levels of moral development?

A) preconventional level
B) distributive justice level
C) conventional level
D) postconventional level

Question 27

There are five principal repositories of values influencing businesspeople. Which of the following is not one of the five?

A) Religious
B) Cultural
C) Legal
D) all of the above

Question 28

Which of the following could be most strongly argued as an example of an immoral management decision?

A) Nestlé's decision to market infant formula in Third World countries
B) ignoring plant machinery defects because repairs might delay production.
C) department policy requiring applicants to be at least 5'10" and 180 lbs.
D) advertising liquor, beer, and cigarettes

Question 29

What refers to describing, characterizing and studying the morality of people, a culture, or a society?

A) social ethics
B) business ethics
C) public ethics
D) descriptive ethics

Question 30

An individuals concepts of the relative worth, utility, or importance of certain ideas is referring to

A) Ethics.
B) Values.
C) responsible actions.
D) Maturity.

Question 31

Which of the elements of moral judgment refers to the ability to perceive that a web of competing economic relationships is, at the same time, a web of moral or ethical relationships?

A) moral imagination
B) moral identification and ordering
C) moral evaluation
D) tolerance of moral disagreement and ambiguity

Question 32

Which of the following does not describe business ethics?

A) making decisions with the only criterion being which alternative brings the largest profit
B) the rightness and wrongness of the behaviors, decisions, or actions of people who work in business organizations
C) performing an act or behavior that is in agreement with prevailing norms or standards of society
D) making decisions in accordance with "what ought to be"

Question 33

Which of the following was not presented in the text as a key element in making an ethical judgment?

A) comparing present ethical standards with past ethical standards
B) comparing the act or behavior that has been committed with prevailing norms of acceptability
C) recognizing that someone is making value judgments as to what really occurred and what prevailing norms of acceptability really are
D) identifying the behavior or act that has been committed

Question 34

At which level of moral development does the individual learn the importance of conforming to the norms of society?

A) the conventional level
B) the preconventional level
C) the postconventional level
D) the subconventional level

Question 35

Which of the following is not one of the three models of management ethics?

A) immoral management
B) moral management
C) amoral management
D) ethical management

Question 36

Which of the following statements concerning "ethics versus law" is not correct?

A) Ethical behavior resides above behavior required by the law.
B) In many respects, law and ethics overlap.
C) The law embodies notions of ethics.
D) None of the above

Question 37

"Can we make money with this action, decision, or behavior?" is the key question for decision making in which type of management?

A) Moral
B) Immoral
C) Amoral
D) anti-moral

Question 38

In recent Gallup Polls, what has been the highest percentage of respondents who consider business as ethical?

A) 45%
B) 22%
C) 63%
D) 12%

Question 39

The central question guiding moral management decisions is

A) "Can we make money with this action, decision, or behavior?"
B) "What is our motivation for this action, decision, or behavior?"
C) "Is this action, decision, or behavior fair to us and all stakeholders involved?"
D) "What are our ethical norms?"

Question 40

Which model of management ethics holds that management's motives are deemed greedy or selfish?

A) immoral management
B) amoral management
C) moral management
D) ethical management

Question 41

Which of the following is least likely to be a case in which moral disagreement or ambiguity would be an issue?

A) determining how safe to make a product
B) deciding whether to pay a bribe to get a major sale
C) making a strategic decision based on instincts
D) firing an employee who has admitted to excessive stealing

Question 42

Which of the following was not discussed in the text as an internal source of a manager's values?

A) the individual's personality
B) respect for the authority structure of the firm
C) conformity pressures
D) the "results" mentality

Question 43

Which of the following is not true of the role that law plays in affecting values?

A) Law represents a minimum ethic of behavior.
B) Law represents the codification of what the society considers right and wrong.
C) Law addresses only the grossest violations of society's sense of right and wrong.
D) Law encompasses all the ethical standards of behavior.

Question 44

Which of the following is a characteristic or a moral manager?

A) is insensitive to the hidden dimensions where people are likely to get hurt
B) ranks moral factors in decision making just as economic factors are ranked
C) cites ethical disagreement and ambiguity as reasons for forgetting ethics altogether
D) sees ethical decisions as isolated and independent of managerial decisions and managerial competence

Question 45

The real challenge for ________ is to integrate the concern for others into organizational goals, purposes, and legitimacy.

A) moral identification and ordering
B) moral evaluation
C) tolerance of moral disagreement and ambiguity
D) a sense of moral obligation

Question 46

Included as focuses of Kohlberg's universal-ethical-principle-orientation level (Stage 6) are all the following principles except

A) social norms.
B) justice.
C) human rights.
D) social welfare.

Question 47

Which of the following is not one of the elements in making moral judgments?

A) moral imagination
B) moral introspection
C) moral obligation
D) moral evaluation

Question 48

A manager does not discriminate on the basis of race because she believes in the equality of human value throughout the world. This manager's view illustrates which of Kohlberg's levels of moral development?

A) preconventional level
B) reward-seeking level
C) conventional level
D) postconventional level

Question 49

In an organization's web of values the ________ value refers to a broad synthesis of societal norms and values emanating from everyday living.

A) religious values
B) philosophical values
C) cultural values
D) legal values