Deck 7: Managing for Ethical Conduct

Question 1

Researchers have found that employees may be less likely to report ethical problems to management if they are intently focused on achieving a task.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A decrease in levels in the organizational hierarchy leads to better lateral communication among employees and makes it more difficult for employees to rationalize that higher-ups were responsible.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In business, when people talk about ethics, they're talking about behavior.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Integrity
b) Reinforcement theory
c) Social learning theory
d) Pygmalion effect
People are likely to behave in ways that are rewarded.

Question 5

A statement such as "integrity is important here" is enough for subordinates to understand expected behavior.

Question 6

Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Integrity
b) Reinforcement theory
c) Social learning theory
d) Pygmalion effect
People generally live up to the expectations that are set for them-high or low.

Question 7

Workers expect to be rewarded for behaviors that are expected of everyone-that is, for doing the "right thing."

Question 8

When an employee brings up an ethical concern at work, the manager is obliged to take the issues completely off the employee's hands.

Question 9

Generally, people take a single "ethical self" from situation to situation.

Question 10

Which of the following is true?

A) Attempting to achieve a task goal can decrease risky behavior.
B) Employees focus on what managers say more than what managers do.
C) Employees will not search for clues about what gets rewarded; they must be told by managers that it is important.
D) Meeting a goal provides psychological benefits.

Question 11

Workers expect managers to discipline fairly, and they are morally outraged when management doesn't do its job.

Question 12

People are much more likely to act ethically if they perceive themselves as personally responsible for the outcomes of their decisions and actions.

Question 13

In combination with rewards, goal setting is one of the most powerful motivational tools.

Question 14

Norms often arise to support behaviors that are implicitly rewarded.

Question 15

If punishment occurs in private, few employees will know that unethical behavior was admonished; thus, managers should ensure that employees who behave unethically are punished publicly so that others learn from the process.

Question 16

Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Integrity
b) Reinforcement theory
c) Social learning theory
d) Pygmalion effect
People learn from observing the rewards and punishments of others.

Question 17

Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Integrity
b) Reinforcement theory
c) Social learning theory
d) Pygmalion effect
That quality or state of being complete, whole, and undivided.

Question 18

Workers have to be personally rewarded or punished for the message to have an impact.

Question 19

Work roles can support either ethical or unethical behavior.

Question 20

Roles can support ethical behavior thus it makes sense to include in a Code of Conduct a statement that calls for employees who see misconduct to report it.

Question 21

The Zimbardo experiment provides insight into ___________ just as the Milgram experiment provides insight into ____________.

A) My Lai massacre; Abu Ghraib prison scandal
B) Watergate scandal; My Lai massacre
C) Abu Ghraib prison scandal; McDonald's case
D) My Lai massacre; Watergate scandal

Question 22

The ___________ experiment demonstrated the power of legitimate authority. Teachers were unwilling to question the experimenter's authority for fear of personal embarrassment or upsetting the status quo.

A) Milgram
B) Manville
C) Zimbardo
D) My Lai

Question 23

Which of the following is true?

A) Rewards set the tone for what's expected and rewarded in the long term.
B) Employees need to be rewarded for engaging in specific ethical behaviors.
C) Punishment is an inherently bad practice.
D) Rewards are better to control short-run ethical behavior.

Question 24

The Tailhook scandal represents an example of which of these?

A) Management focusing too much on the ends rather than the means
B) The ethical Pygmalion effect
C) Social learning theory
D) Employees ignoring management's clear message

Question 25

You are a manager in an electronics department that sells TVs. Corporate headquarters has provided a new incentive to salespeople-they will receive higher commissions when they sell higher priced TV models. What should you do in order to maintain high ethical integrity in your department?

Question 26

As a manager, you are faced with the particularly daunting task of disciplining an employee. You remember that punishment must be "fair." Briefly describe what is expected of you in order for the punishment is to be seen as "fair."

Question 27

Which of the following is false?

A) The idea that punishment should be avoided is based on research on rats and small children.
B) People are less likely to engage in unethical behavior if it is likely to be detected and punished.
C) Other employees are affected by the punishment of just one employee.
D) People do not care if violators of ethical conduct are punished.

Question 28

Group norms can cause an "everyone is doing it" mentality. This means:

A) People are more likely to recognize issues as "ethical issues."
B) Many individuals will go along with unethical behavior because of a strong need for peer acceptance.
C) Managers cannot blame individual employees for unethical behavior.
D) Employees are actively disengaged in groups.

Question 29

Groupthink occurs when:

A) A group is working together in a cohesive, flowing manner for peak performance.
B) Group members know each other so well that they are able to anticipate each other's ideas.
C) Group members conform to the group's decision and are unwilling to express disagreement.
D) A group cannot make a decision because members are unwilling to compromise.

Question 30

Briefly describe four ways in which diffusion of responsibility occurs in an organization.

Question 31

The __________ experiment demonstrated how normal students accepted and acted on their randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard.

A) Milgram
B) Manville
C) Zimbardo
D) My Lai

Question 32

Which of the following is false?

A) People enter organizations in a state of "role readiness."
B) Roles reduce a person's sense of individuality.
C) Managers do not have roles as much as their subordinates do.
D) Conflicting role expectations can cause increased incidences of lying.