Deck 8: Ethical Problems of Managers

Question 1

To make it easy to terminate a subordinate, ensure that you are being fair, that you deliver the news in a way that is aligned with your organization's values, and allow the employee to maintain his personal dignity.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Unfortunately, given diverse activities that managers are responsible for, they play a limited role in increasing employee engagement and building an ethical culture.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

One of a manager's most important responsibilities is to bring good people into the organization.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Compliments are just that, compliments, and employees too sensitive to accept them should receive sensitivity training.

Question 5

Turkey farming is the fine art of placing poor performers alongside strong performers so that the organization benefits.

Question 6

Interestingly, according to a survey of executives, most respondents would rather lie to employees about performance than confront them about performance problems.

Question 7

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received more than 93,000 workplace discrimination complaints in 2011, and monetary relief for victims totaled more than $376 million.

Question 8

Discipline is important to ensure worker productivity, set standards of acceptable behaviors, and meet the requirements of the U. S. Sentencing Guidelines.

Question 9

Honest feedback is a two edge sword. Telling employees truthfully how they are performing alienates the strong performers and has a negative effect on the organization's culture.

Question 10

Fortunately, those who survive company layoffs rarely exhibit negative behaviors (such as decreased productivity or low morale).

Question 11

In an organization, actively engaged employees help by keeping turnover and absenteeism low, while promoting higher customer loyalty.

Question 12

Managers earn their subordinates' credibility and respect by setting clear standards, deliberately communicating those standards, and insisting that all adhere to the standards.

Question 13

Layoffs can result from many kinds of reorganizations, such as mergers, acquisitions, and relocations, or they can be the result of economic reasons or changes in business strategy.

Question 14

Research finds that the intention of most dress codes is to restrict individuality and project the company image.

Question 15

Employees who perceive that they have been unfairly treated are less satisfied, less likely to go the extra mile, and more likely to steal from the organization.

Question 16

Given that performance evaluations have little effect on employee performance, evaluating employee performance once every 18 months is sufficient.

Question 17

Unfortunately, people do not want to believe that the world operates on the principles of fairness.

Question 18

According to research, the best way to encourage ethical behavior is to create an organizational culture that is built to enhance employee engagement.

Question 19

The difficulty in situations with family and personal issues is achieving a balance between maintaining a worker's right to privacy and ensuring fairness to coworkers.

Question 20

A skill set required of the new manager involves positively influencing the relationships among other team members and creating an ethical work environment that enhances individual productivity.

Question 21

Framing business decisions in ethical terms goes a long way toward increasing moral awareness, communicating your standards, and emphasizing the importance of ethical behavior.

Question 22

This driver of engagement, __________, refers to the fact that employees should understand the company's strategic direction and how their individual efforts play a role in the company's revenue-generating enterprise.

A) line of sight
B) involvement
C) information sharing
D) rewards and recognition

Question 23

Sleepwalking represents characteristic of which of these groups?

A) Actively engaged employees
B) Actively disengaged employees
C) Not engaged employees
D) Partially engaged employees

Question 24

Reference : Types of Employee Engagement
a) Actively engaged
b) Not engaged
c) Actively disengaged
Don is sometime willing to go the "extra mile," but generally comes to work to do what needs to be done and to go home.

Question 25

At Delivering One Dish at a Time, Inc. three employees Amanda, Corey, and Brittany can be described as having the following characteristics: passionate and enthusiastic, feel profoundly connected to the company, and eagerly go the "extra mile." These employees fit into which of these groups?

A) Actively engaged employees
B) Actively disengaged employees
C) Not engaged employees
D) Partially engaged employees

Question 26

At Lazy Massage Chair, Inc. Lou has always been described by his coworkers as someone who is "checked out." Lou would fit into which of these groups?

A) Actively engaged employees
B) Actively disengaged employees
C) Not engaged employees
D) Partially engaged employees

Question 27

Employee with an attitude of "it's not my job" fits into which of these groups?

A) Actively engaged employees
B) Actively disengaged employees
C) Not engaged employees
D) Partially engaged employees

Question 28

At Tonic Trading, Inc. Sylvie has generally always argued on just about everything that "it's not my job." Anyone asks her for help or work assistance, her standard response is the same. Sylvie would fit into which of these groups?

A) Actively engaged employees
B) Actively disengaged employees
C) Not engaged employees
D) Partially engaged employees

Question 29

If Amy, a top-level executive at Phone Banks, Inc., is interested in developing the corporate culture to be open organizations that identify and resolve ethical issues rather than sweeping them under the rug, she should focus on which drivers of engagement?

A) Mission statement
B) Involvement
C) Information sharing
D) Rewards and recognition

Question 30

Reference : Types of Employee Engagement
a) Actively engaged
b) Not engaged
c) Actively disengaged
Jane frequently refuses to do work that "is not her job."

Question 31

The best way to ensure that you are not going to be asked to compromise your values is to clearly communicate what people can expect from you.

Question 32

According to James Shaffer, an expert in communication and employee engagement, all of these are drivers of engagement EXCEPT:

A) mission statement.
B) involvement.
C) information sharing.
D) rewards and recognition.

Question 33

If your manager asks you to betray your ethical standards, you should respond politely but firmly that you will not compromise your standards.

Question 34

Which drivers of engagement encourage the two‐way communication that is critical for ethical issues to be identified and resolved?

A) Mission statement
B) Involvement
C) Information sharing
D) Rewards and recognition

Question 35

Reference : Types of Employee Engagement
a) Actively engaged
b) Not engaged
c) Actively disengaged
David is willing to put in his time at work, but he exhibits no passion or no energy for what he does.

Question 36

Which of the following is false about employee engagement?

A) Employee engagement is how committed employees are to their work.
B) Actively disengaged employees have lower turnover and absenteeism.
C) Actively disengaged employees cost the US economy billions each year.
D) Engaged employees are more productive.

Question 37

Reference : Types of Employee Engagement
a) Actively engaged
b) Not engaged
c) Actively disengaged
Lucy is passionate and enthusiastic about her work. She is eager to go the extra mile.

Question 38

According to management experts, "Management by walking around" is passé in the Internet age where managers can easily communicate with employees using technology.

Question 39

At Comfort Chairs, Inc. four employees Mike, Tom, Ken, and JoAnna can be described as having the following characteristics: negative drag on the culture, little or no company loyalty, and undermine what engaged coworkers accomplish. These employees fit into which of these groups?

A) Actively engaged employees
B) Actively disengaged employees
C) Not engaged employees
D) Partially engaged employees

Question 40

At Compton Fans, Inc. two employees Kiersten and Donna can be described as having the following characteristics: "checked out" and someone who do put time-but not passion or energy-into their work. These employees fit into which of these groups?

A) Actively engaged employees
B) Actively disengaged employees
C) Not engaged employees
D) Partially engaged employees

Question 41

How does culture get "baked in" to an organization?

Question 42

Because of a family emergency, John was unable to complete a report for his boss. Instead, he asks a coworker to finish it for him and in the morning, John tells his boss that he did the report. Is there anything wrong with John's action?

A) No, because John's coworker only finished what John had started.
B) No, because John had a family emergency and his boss don't need the details. The report is done.
C) Yes, because John told a lie to his boss and put his reputation on the line.
D) Yes, because John is indebted to his coworker now.

Question 43

List the four drivers of engagement and briefly describe each one.

Question 44

As a manager of ABC Corporation, you are in a tough situation. You must send an employee to work with your new client in Europe and Sam is clearly the most qualified candidate. However, ABC Corporation is located in an area where several people of Sam's race have been violently attacked. You must choose to send Sam or Tonya. What should you do?

A) Automatically send Tonya to Europe without telling Sam he was considered.
B) Automatically send Sam to Europe because he is clearly the most qualified.
C) Ask Sam if he wants to go to Europe and discuss the situation.
D) Assign Sam to a new task and send the Tonya to Europe.

Question 45

Which of the following is not an effective way to discipline employees?

A) Discipline must be constructive and done in a professional manner.
B) Discipline should be done privately.
C) Employees should be encouraged to explain their side of the story.
D) Discipline should be consistent with what other employees at the same level or position received.

Question 46

Federal law prohibits discrimination against individuals with specific characteristics. Which of the following characteristics is not on that list (i.e. not protected under Federal law)?

A) Religion
B) Gender
C) Pregnancy
D) Mental ability

Question 47

Continuous performance evaluation is categorized under which of the four drivers of employee engagement?

A) Line of sight
B) Involvement
C) Information sharing
D) Rewards and recognition

Question 48

Julius, a sub-par performer at ABC Manufacturing, has been moved around to different departments over the years. No one at ABC has taken the time to teach, mentor, or set him straight. This process of moving Julius around is called _____.

A) line of sight
B) turkey farming
C) disengagement sharing
D) rewarding poor performers for peak organizational turnover

Question 49

One of the higher performing employees in your group has recently had family troubles. These personal issues caused him to be less flexible with his work schedule. For example, he has come in late some mornings and missed several late afternoon meetings. However, he continues to be productive when he is at work. As his manager, what should you do?

A) Reprimand the employee and put him on notice immediately.
B) Ignore the situation because he is generally a high performer and the situation is temporary.
C) Institute flexible work hours for all employees in your group and arrange meetings when everyone can be available.
D) At the next group meeting, make an example out of him and his unethical behavior to deter other employees' misbehavior.

Question 50

You are a manager forced to layoff certain employees. What is the primary objective that should guide your treatment of these individuals?

A) To make the process as quick and painless to the company as possible.
B) To ensure the grapevine is passing truthful information.
C) To ensure layoff survivors understand why they were not chosen.
D) To allow the terminated employee to maintain personal dignity.