Deck 2: Being Ethical and Socially Responsible

Question 1

The field of business ethics applies moral standards to business situations.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Before the 1930s, the average work week prescribed by law was forty hours; however, workers were dissatisfied because there was no minimum wage.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

An effective program for social responsibility takes time, money, and organization.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Businesspeople face ethical issues every day, and some of these issues can be difficult to assess.

Question 5

Employees have an easier time determining what is acceptable behavior if their company provides them with a code of ethics.

Question 6

Generally, social responsibility does not cost money.

Question 7

Consumers will probably pay in large part for cleaning up our environment through increased taxes or increased product costs.

Question 8

There is nothing unethical about accepting payments to do something you would normally do in your job anyway.

Question 9

In support of their position, proponents of the socioeconomic model argue that businesses should be allowed to ignore social issues.

Question 10

Businesspeople, by the very nature of their work, rarely face ethical issues to resolve.

Question 11

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 gives those who report corporate misconduct sweeping new legal protection.

Question 12

There are many more socially responsible businesses today than there were ten years ago.

Question 13

Fortunately, the acid-rain problem has been solved in recent years.

Question 14

The socioeconomic model of social responsibility emphasizes the effect of business decisions on society.

Question 15

The hard-core unemployed are made up of mentally ill individuals and those with prior criminal convictions.

Question 16

Air and water quality may be improving, but land pollution is still a serious problem in many areas.

Question 17

Those who "blow whistles" sometimes lose their jobs.

Question 18

A personnel manager of a large company would probably agree that the more ethical the company, the easier it is to attract good people.

Question 19

Customers are so used to misleading advertising that it does not infuriate them anymore.

Question 20

Recently, consumers and the government have been losing an increasing number of product liability lawsuits against sellers of defective products.

Question 21

When translated, caveat emptor means "let the buyer beware."

Question 22

Affirmative action plans encompass all areas of human resources management, including recruiting, hiring, training, promotion, and pay.

Question 23

Consumer advocates, such as Ralph Nader, take it upon themselves to protect the rights of consumers.

Question 24

An affirmative action program is designed to ensure that minority employees are represented in about the same proportion as their representation within the community.

Question 25

Much consumer-oriented legislation has grown out of the statement of six rights, which became known as the Consumer Bill of Rights.

Question 26

Most authorities agree that business ethics should be improved.

Question 27

The economic model of social responsibility emphasizes the effect of business decisions on society.

Question 28

The director of a company's social responsibility program should be a consumer advocate who can express the social issues facing the firm to the organization's management.

Question 29

Ethical issues often arise out of business's relationships with investors, customers, employees, creditors, or competitors.

Question 30

Of the three factors mentioned as contributors to air pollution, only the combination of weather and geography cannot be changed.

Question 31

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, working conditions were deplorable by today's standards.

Question 32

Major advances in consumerism have come through federal legislation.

Question 33

A corporate code of ethics officer informs the press about unethical practices within the organization.

Question 34

The EPA was created by the government to develop new and improved ways to clean and improve the environment.

Question 35

An ethical decision or action is one that is right according to some standard of behavior.

Question 36

The right to choose means that consumers must have a choice of products offered by different manufacturers and sellers.

Question 37

Businesses' record of social responsibility today is much better than in past decades.

Question 38

The lesser the competition, the greater the choice available to consumers.

Question 39

During the 1980s, very few organizations created and implemented ethics codes.

Question 40

One way a social responsibility program can be funded is by passing on the cost to the consumer in the form of higher prices.

Question 41

People exposed to loud noises for a long time can suffer permanent hearing loss.

Question 42

A key step in developing and implementing a social responsibility program is the environmental audit.

Question 43

Two additional rights added in the last decade are the right to consumer education and the right to courteous service.

Question 44

To achieve affirmative action goals and to remedy past discrimination, hiring quotas are required.

Question 45

The right to service entitles consumers to convenience, courtesy, and responsiveness from manufacturers and sellers of consumer products.

Question 46

Increasing numbers of managers have adopted the socioeconomic model of social responsibility.

Question 47

The fundamental issues concerning land pollution are how to restore already contaminated land and how to prevent further contamination.

Question 48

Social responsibility is good business, but it does cost money.

Question 49

Once they are made aware of the pollution problem, most firms respond rather than waiting to be cited by the EPA.

Question 50

All bribes are unethical.

Question 51

A social responsibility program may be funded by the federal government through tax reductions or other incentives.

Question 52

Ethical behavior is most likely to be compromised when the personal ethics of businesspeople are high.

Question 53

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 deals with corporate responsibility, conflicts of interest, and corporate accountability.

Question 54

An individual's moral values and central, value-related attitudes clearly influence one's business behavior.

Question 55

Awareness of businesses' social responsibilities has increased along with government involvement.

Question 56

Fairness and honesty in business are two important ethical concerns.

Question 57

The planning stage of a social responsibility program can involve outside consultants to help develop it.

Question 58

Customers can't find out which firms are acting responsibly and which are not.

Question 59

Within a firm, social responsibility begins with management's attitude.

Question 60

Improved water quality is not only necessary, it is attainable at no cost.

Question 61

Sponsors of advertisements aimed at children must be especially careful to avoid misleading messages.

Question 62

Business ethics rarely involves the application of moral standards to the business activity of a normal company.

Question 63

The $1.6 billion Superfund created in 1980 is to be used to develop successful ways of storing land pollutants.

Question 64

It is easy for an organization to develop ethics codes, policies, and procedures to deal with all relationships and every situation.

Question 65

Increasingly, consumer education is becoming a part of high school and college curricula and adult-education programs.

Question 66

False and misleading advertising is illegal and unethical.

Question 67

A code of ethics is a written guide to acceptable and ethical behavior as defined by an organization.

Question 68

The right to consumer education entitles people to be fully informed about their rights as consumers.

Question 69

Relationships with customers and coworkers rarely create ethical problems.

Question 70

All companies practice social responsibility in the same manner.

Question 71

A businessperson can take some comfort when faced with an ethical dilemma by talking openly about it with management because ethical decisions will always withstand scrutiny.

Question 72

The Food and Drug Administration's ability to force businesses making or selling defective products to recall them is most closely related to consumers' right to choose.

Question 73

The economic model of social responsibility emphasizes profits.

Question 74

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's program for restoring the economy and improving social conditions became the foundation for increased government involvement in business.

Question 75

One major reason for improving product safety is the consumer's demand for safe products.

Question 76

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that consumers are entitled to safety, to be informed, to choose, and to be heard.

Question 77

Manufacturers are not required by law to inform consumers about the potential dangers of using their products.

Question 78

Ethics is the study of right and wrong and of the morality of the choices we make.

Question 79

Negotiated settlements for cleaning up hazardous wastes became known as sweetheart deals because the EPA helped only those companies friendly to them.

Question 80

Consumerism consists of all activities undertaken to protect the rights of consumers.