Question 1

Grady works at a fast food restaurant. One day he noticed a co-worker giving free food to a friend. He was unsure about what to do. Grady most likely decided to follow the example of

Accepted Answer

Leaders help to establish the culture of an organization, and they set the example that others follow. Other employees in a business often take their cue from business leaders, and if those leaders do not behave in an ethical manner, they might not either.

Question 2

Ethical dilemmas exist because many real-world decisions involve

Accepted Answer

Ethical dilemmas exist because many real-world decisions are complex, difficult to frame, and involve first-, second-, and third-order consequences that are hard to quantify. Doing the right thing, or even knowing what the right thing might be, is often far from easy.

Question 3

Josiah was managing a factory in India, and had a decision to make. The factory used child labor, which he disapproved of, but he knew the families of these children might starve without their income. This situation, in which none of the available alternatives seems morally acceptable, is called

Accepted Answer

Ethical dilemmas are situations in which none of the available alternatives seems ethically acceptable.

Question 4

According to the ________, even if a manager of a multinational sees that firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should maintain the standards of the company's home country.

Accepted Answer

A righteous moralist claims that a multinational's home-country standards of ethics are the appropriate ones for companies to follow in foreign countries.

Question 5

Expatriate managers may experience more than the usual degree of pressure to violate their personal ethics because of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Home-country managers working abroad in multinational firms (expatriate managers) may experience more than the usual degree of pressure to violate their personal ethics. They are away from their ordinary social context and supporting culture, and they are psychologically and geographically distant from the parent company.

Question 6

According to the Friedman doctrine,

Accepted Answer

Friedman explicitly rejects the idea that businesses should undertake social expenditures beyond those mandated by the law and required for the efficient running of a business.

Question 7

A multinational company is accused of paying bribes to the government of a host country to obtain permission to build a production factory. The public relations manager of the company defends the company's actions as being ethically sound; he states that in the host country, paying bribes to government officials is the accepted norm and is in keeping with the social practices in the host country. The public relations manager is using which of the following philosophical doctrines to defend the actions of the company?

Accepted Answer

Cultural relativism is the belief that ethics are nothing more than the reflection of a culture-all ethics are culturally determined-and that accordingly, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating.

Question 8

Miranda is a cultural relativist, which means she likely believes

Accepted Answer

Cultural relativism is the belief that ethics are nothing more than the reflection of a culture-all ethics are culturally determined-and that accordingly, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating.

Question 9

Child labor is permitted and widely employed in Country X. A multinational company entering Country X decides to employ minors in its subsidiary, even though it is against the multinational's home-country ethics. Which of the following approaches to business ethics would justify the actions of the multinational company?

Accepted Answer

Cultural relativism is the belief that ethics are nothing more than the reflection of a culture-all ethics are culturally determined-and that accordingly, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating.

Question 10

According to the ________ point of view, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating.

Accepted Answer

Cultural relativism is the belief that ethics are nothing more than the reflection of a culture-all ethics are culturally determined-and that accordingly, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating.

Question 11

According to ________, the social responsibility of business is to increase profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law.

Accepted Answer

Friedman's basic position is that the only social responsibility of business is to increase profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law. He explicitly rejects the idea that businesses should undertake social expenditures beyond those mandated by the law and required for the efficient running of a business.

Question 12

Which of the following refers to the values and norms that the employees of an organization share?

Accepted Answer

The term organization culture refers to the values and norms that are shared among employees of an organization.

Question 13

Business ethics that either deny the value of business ethics or apply the concept in a very unsatisfactory way are termed

Accepted Answer

Straw man approaches to business ethics are raised by business ethics scholars primarily to demonstrate that they offer inappropriate guidelines for ethical decision making in a multinational enterprise.

Question 14

________ recognize that human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures.

Accepted Answer

Developed in the twentieth century, rights theories recognize that human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures. Rights establish a minimum level of morally acceptable behavior.

Question 15

A British firm that sets up production units in China is accused of releasing untreated chemical waste into water bodies. The manager of the firm defends the firm stating that, factories in China set up by French and American firms also release untreated chemical waste into water bodies. What approach to business ethics is the manager using?

Accepted Answer

A naive immoralist asserts that if a manager of a multinational sees that firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should not either.

Question 16

Which of the following is a reason managers working abroad in multinational firms may behave in a manner that is unethical?

Accepted Answer

The causes that contribute to unethical behavior in businesses are very complex. However, a few generalizations can be made. Unethical behavior is rooted in poor personal ethics, societal culture, the psychological and geographical distances of a foreign subsidiary from the home office, a failure to incorporate ethical issues into strategic and operational decision making, a dysfunctional culture, and failure of leaders to act in an ethical manner.

Question 17

In the international business setting, one of the most common ethical issues involves

Accepted Answer

Many of the ethical issues and dilemmas in international business are rooted in the fact that political systems, law, economic development, and culture vary significantly from nation to nation. Therefore, what might be considered a normal business practice in one country may constitute unethical behavior in another country. Managers in a multinational company need to be sensitive to these differences. In the international business setting, the most common ethical issues involve employment practices, human rights, environmental regulations, corruption, and the moral obligation of multinational corporations.

Question 18

________ arguments suggest that improving working conditions beyond the level required by the law and necessary to maximize employee productivity will reduce profits and are therefore not appropriate.

Accepted Answer

Friedman explicitly rejects the idea that businesses should undertake social expenditures beyond those mandated by the law and required for the efficient running of a business.

Question 19

The ________ approaches to ethics hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences.

Accepted Answer

Utilitarian approaches to ethics hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences. An action is judged desirable if it leads to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad consequences.

Question 20

________ approaches to business ethics are raised by business ethics scholars primarily to demonstrate that they offer inappropriate ethical decision making in a multinational enterprise.

Accepted Answer

Straw man approaches to business ethics are raised by business ethics scholars primarily to demonstrate that they offer inappropriate guidelines for ethical decision making in a multinational enterprise.

Quiz 5: Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Sustainability

Grady works at a fast food restaurant. One day he noticed a co-worker giving free food to a friend. He was unsure about what to do. Grady most likely decided to follow the example of

Ethical dilemmas exist because many real-world decisions involve

Josiah was managing a factory in India, and had a decision to make. The factory used child labor, which he disapproved of, but he knew the families of these children might starve without their income. This situation, in which none of the available alternatives seems morally acceptable, is called

According to the ________, even if a manager of a multinational sees that firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should maintain the standards of the company's home country.

Expatriate managers may experience more than the usual degree of pressure to violate their personal ethics because of which of the following?

According to the Friedman doctrine,

Miranda is a cultural relativist, which means she likely believes

According to the ________ point of view, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating.

According to ________, the social responsibility of business is to increase profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law.

Which of the following refers to the values and norms that the employees of an organization share?

Business ethics that either deny the value of business ethics or apply the concept in a very unsatisfactory way are termed

________ recognize that human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures.

Which of the following is a reason managers working abroad in multinational firms may behave in a manner that is unethical?

In the international business setting, one of the most common ethical issues involves

________ arguments suggest that improving working conditions beyond the level required by the law and necessary to maximize employee productivity will reduce profits and are therefore not appropriate.

The ________ approaches to ethics hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences.

________ approaches to business ethics are raised by business ethics scholars primarily to demonstrate that they offer inappropriate ethical decision making in a multinational enterprise.