Question 1

Inappropriate reward systems may cause individuals to commit unethical acts.

Accepted Answer

A flaw in an organization reward structure may inadvertently cause individuals to act in an inappropriate manner, if rewards are seen as being distributed on the basis of outcomes, rather than the means by which goals and objectives are achieved.

Question 2

Leaders who fail to institute proper systems and controls that facilitate ethical conduct share responsibility with those who conceive,execute,and knowingly benefit from corporate misdeeds.

Accepted Answer

Ethics is as much an organizational as a personal issue. Leaders who fail to provide proper leadership to institute proper systems and controls that facilitate ethical conduct share responsibility with those who conceive, execute, and knowingly benefit from corporate misdeeds.

Question 3

Internal benchmarking is discouraged in most organizations because it creates competition and internal rivalries that are counterproductive.

Accepted Answer

An important benefit of the sharing of internal information at Whole Foods becomes the active process of internal benchmarking. Competition is intense at Whole Foods. Teams compete against their own goals for sales, growth, and productivity; they compete against different teams in their stores; and they compete against similar teams at different stores and regions. There is an elaborate system of peer reviews through which teams benchmark each other.

Question 4

Empathy,one of the components of emotional intelligence (EI),refers to personal proficiency in managing relationships and building networks.

Accepted Answer

Empathy means thoughtfully considering employee feelings, along with other factors, in the process of making intelligent decisions. Empathy is particularly important in the business environment today for at least three reasons:the increasing use of teams, the rapid pace of globalization, and the growing need to retain talent.

Question 5

Leaders must draw on a range of personal skills as well as organizational mechanisms to move their organizations forward in the face of barriers to change.

Accepted Answer

Leaders must draw on a range of personal skills as well as organizational mechanisms to move their organizations forward in the face of such barriers to change. One of the most important tools a leader has for overcoming barriers to change is their personal and organizational power.

Question 6

In integrity-based ethics programs,organizational ethics is seen as the responsibility of the employees.

Accepted Answer

In integrity-based ethics programs, organizational ethics is seen as the responsibility of management.

Question 7

Emotional intelligence (EI)is one of the components of a high intelligence quotient (IQ).

Accepted Answer

The five components of EI are:self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill. Findings indicate that EI is a better predictor of life success (economic well-being, satisfaction with life, friendship, family life), including occupational attainments, than IQ.

Question 8

Codes of conduct help employees from diverse backgrounds to work more effectively across cultural backgrounds.

Accepted Answer

Corporate credos and codes of conduct are mechanisms that provide statements of norms and beliefs, as well as guidelines for decision making. They provide employees with a clear understanding of the organization policies and ethical position. Such guidelines also provide the basis for employees to refuse to commit unethical acts and help to make them aware of issues before they are faced with the situation.

Question 9

Research supports that there are many potential benefits of an ethical organization,including that there is a strong and consistent relationship between ethical performance and measures of financial performance.

Accepted Answer

Positive relationships generally have been found between ethical performance and strong organizational culture, increased employee efforts, lower turnover, higher organizational commitment, and enhanced social responsibility. Research has found somewhat inconsistent results concerning the overall relationship between ethical performance and measures of financial performance.

Question 10

A key function of the leaders in a learning organization is to generate an organization-wide commitment to the status quo.

Accepted Answer

A learning environment involves organization-wide commitment to change, an action orientation, and applicable tools and methods. It must be viewed by everyone as a guiding philosophy and not simply as another change program.

Question 11

Ethical crises are bad for organization reputation,but they rarely have any financial consequences.

Accepted Answer

Ethical crises can be very expensive, both in terms of financial costs and in the erosion of human capital and overall firm reputation. Merely adhering to the minimum regulatory standards may not be enough to remain competitive in a world that is becoming more socially conscious.

Question 12

If leaders do not believe in the ethical standards that they are trying to inspire,they will not be effective as good role models.

Accepted Answer

When leaders do not believe in the ethical standards that they are trying to inspire, they will not be effective as good role models. Being an effective leader often includes taking responsibility for ethical lapses within the organization, even though the executives themselves are not directly involved.

Question 13

The tendency of many individuals to invest further in decisions providing positive performance feedback is referred to as escalation.

Accepted Answer

Many people have vested interests in the status quo. People tend to be risk averse and resistant to change. There is a broad stream of research on escalation, wherein certain individuals continue to throw good money at bad decisions despite negative performance feedback.

Question 14

Three key interdependent strategic leadership activities are: designing the organization,determining its direction,and nurturing a culture dedicated to excellence and ethical behavior.

Accepted Answer

Many authors contend that successful leaders must recognize three interdependent activities that must be continually reassessed for organizations to succeed. These are:(1) setting a direction, (2) designing the organization, and (3) nurturing a culture dedicated to excellence and ethical behavior.

Question 15

A compliance-based approach to ethics management combines a concern for law with an emphasis on managerial responsibility for ethical behavior.

Accepted Answer

Integrity-based ethics programs combine a concern for law with an emphasis on managerial responsibility for ethical behavior. It is broader, deeper, and more demanding than a legal compliance initiative.

Question 16

There can be a high-integrity organization without high-integrity individuals.

Accepted Answer

There cannot be high-integrity organizations without high-integrity individuals; however, individual integrity is rarely self-sustaining.

Question 17

Setting a direction is the leadership activity that involves developing a strategic vision of what the organization could become.

Accepted Answer

A holistic understanding of the organization stakeholders requires an ability to scan the environment to develop knowledge of all of the company stakeholders and other salient environmental trends and events. Managers must integrate this knowledge into a vision of what the organization could become.

Question 18

People with strong self-awareness are overly critical and unrealistically optimistic and are well suited to run organizations because they will make good judgment calls.

Accepted Answer

Self-awareness involves a person having a deep understanding of his or her emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and drives. People with strong self-awareness are neither overly critical nor unrealistically optimistic. Instead, they are honest with themselves and others. People who assess themselves honestly (i.e., self-aware people) are well suited to do the same for the organizations they run.

Question 19

Inspiring and motivating people with a mission or purpose is a necessary and sufficient condition for developing a learning organization.

Accepted Answer

Inspiring and motivating people with a mission or purpose is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for developing an organization that can learn and adapt to a rapidly changing, complex, and interconnected environment.

Question 20

Behavioral barriers to change occur because of conflicts between departments,conflicts arising from power relationships,and refusal to share information.

Accepted Answer

Behavioral barriers cause managers to look at issues from a biased or limited perspective due to their education, training, work experiences, and so forth. Political barriers refer to conflicts arising from power relationships.

Quiz 11: Strategic Leadership: Creating a Learning Organization and an Ethical Organization