Deck 1: An Overview of Ethics

Question 1

Increasingly, managers are including ethical conduct as part of an employee's performance appraisal.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Individual views on what is moral are so strongly held that there is nearly universal agreement in spite of differences in age, cultural group, ethnic background, religion, life experience, education, and gender.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Because an activity is defined as legal, the activity is also considered ethical.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Lawrence Kohlberg found that the most crucial factor that stimulates a person's moral development is monetary reward for good behavior.

Question 5

Consistency means that shareholders, customers, suppliers, and the community know what they can expect of an organization-that it will behave in the future much as it has in the past.

Question 6

In a nonprofit organization, the board of directors reports to the local community that it serves.

Question 7

In the business world, important decisions are too often left to the technical experts; general business managers must assume greater responsibility for these decisions.

Question 8

An organization's mission statement highlights its key ethical issues and identifies the overarching values and principles that are important to the organization and its decision making.

Question 9

Multinational and global organizations must not present a consistent face to their shareholders, customers, and suppliers but instead must operate with a different value system in each country they do business in.

Question 10

Laws can proclaim an act as legal, although many people may consider the act immoral.

Question 11

The term morals refers to the personal principles upon which an individual bases his or her decisions about what is right and what is wrong.

Question 12

The greater reliance of information systems in all aspects of life has decreased the risk that information technology will be used unethically.

Question 13

Ideally, the corporate ethics officer should be a well respected, senior-level manager who reports directly to the CEO.

Question 14

Employees may suppress their tendency to act in a manner that seems ethical to them and instead act in a manner that will protect them against anticipated punishment.

Question 15

Legal acts conform to what an individual believes to be the right thing to do.

Question 16

A mission statement is a clear, concise description of the issue that needs to be addressed.

Question 17

Setting corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals encourages an organization to achieve higher moral and ethical standards.

Question 18

The board of directors of an organization is normally responsible for day-to-day management and operations of the organization.

Question 19

Ethics has risen to the top of the business agenda because risks associated with inappropriate behavior have increased, both in their likelihood and in their potential negative impact.

Question 20

Fairness and generosity are examples of virtues.

Question 21

Standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group (nation, organization, profession) to which an individual belongs is known as which of the following?

A)Ethics
B)Virtues
C)Laws
D)Morals

Question 22

Based on a 2013 National Business Ethics Survey, the percentage of employees who said they reported misconduct in the workplace when they saw it is characterized by which of the following statements?

A)increased from 2011 to 2013
B)decreased from 2011 to 2013
C)stayed essentially the same
D)increased by more than 10 percentage points from 2007 to 2009

Question 23

Which of the following terms best describes a habit that inclines people to do what is acceptable?

A)laws
B)ethics
C)virtue
D)vice

Question 24

What term is used to describe a habit of unacceptable behavior?

A)moral
B)virtue
C)ethic
D)vice

Question 25

Stakeholders who stand to lose or gain from a situation should be kept out of the decision making process as they will simply introduce their personal biases.

Question 26

The piracy rate is nearly 80 percent across which continent?

A)Asia
B)North America
C)Europe
D)Africa

Question 27

Companies that develop and maintain strong employee relations:

A)build indifference to the organization's goals.
B)erode employee involvement.
C)enjoy lower turnover rates.
D)face low employee morale.

Question 28

The goodwill that is created by which of the following can make it easier for corporations to conduct their business?

A)profits
B)alliances
C)incentives
D)CSR activities

Question 29

The countries with the highest software piracy rate in the world include Luxembourg, Japan, and New Zealand.

Question 30

A rapid increase in the appointment of corporate ethics officers typically follows:

A)the acquisition of one company by another.
B)the revelation of a major business scandal.
C)the appointment of a new CEO.
D)a substantial decrease in the stock price of a firm.

Question 31

Which of the following is the most critical step in the decision-making process?

A)Evaluation of the results
B)Identification of alternative solutions
C)Development of a problem statement
D)Implementation of a decision

Question 32

In the case of United States v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Co., the U.S. Supreme Court established that:

A)executives in an organization with an effective ethics program can receive lesser sentences for unethical actions.
B)an employer can be held responsible for the acts of its employees even if the employees act in a manner contrary to their employer's directions.
C)organizations can escape criminal liability if they make strong efforts to prevent and detect misconduct in the workplace.
D)officers of companies cannot be given light sentences if their ethics program fail to deter criminal activity within their firms.

Question 33

A set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior within a society is known as which of the following?

A)ethics
B)moral code
C)law
D)vices and virtues

Question 34

Which of the following statements best describes a reason why organizations pursue corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals and promote a work environment in which employees are encouraged to act ethically when making business decisions?

A)To enjoy higher employee turnover rates
B)To define a variable approach for dealing with stakeholders
C)To gain the goodwill of the community
D)To increase unfavorable publicity

Question 35

Which of the following steps in the decision-making process gathers and analyzes facts and also identifies stakeholders affected by the decision?

A)Develop problem statement
B)Evaluate result
C)Identify alternatives
D)Implement decision

Question 36

If the desired results are not achieved upon implementation of a solution, one should return to the "identify alternatives" step of the decision making process and rework the decision.

Question 37

Which of the following identifies the concept that an organization should act ethically by taking accountability for the impact of its actions on the environment, the community, and the welfare of its employees?

A)Corporate social responsibility
B)Corporate governance
C)Corporate social entrepreneurship
D)Corporate sustainability

Question 38

In which step of the decision-making process should the decision makers consider laws, guidelines, policies, and principles that might apply to the decision?

A)develop problem statement
B)implement decision
C)identify alternatives
D)choose alternative

Question 39

Most people have developed a decision-making process they use almost automatically, without thinking about the steps they go through.

Question 40

The term ethics describes standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group to which the individual belongs.

Question 41

To extend to all people the same respect and consideration that you expect from them is considered which of the following character traits?

A)morality
B)ethical
C)integrity
D)consistency

Question 42

One's personal beliefs about right and wrong are known as which of the following?

A)virtues
B)vices
C)characteristics
D)morals

Question 43

A code of ethics cannot gain company-wide acceptance unless it is fully endorsed by the organization's leadership and developed with which of the following?

A)employee participation
B)board of directors
C)business partners
D)shareholders

Question 44

A clear, concise statement of an issue that needs to be addressed is known as which of the following?

A)mission statement
B)acceptable use policy
C)problem statement
D)code of ethics

Question 45

Briefly describe the difference between morals, ethics, and laws.

Question 46

In the context of an ethical decision-making process, discuss the importance of communication in implementing a change.

Question 47

Discuss the role of the board of directors in creating an ethical organization.

Question 48

In a for-profit organization, the primary objective of which of the following is to oversee the organization's business activities and management for the benefit of shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and the community?

A)negotiator
B)board of directors
C)corporate ethics officer
D)corporate compliance officer

Question 49

Which of the following activities describes when an organization reviews how well it is meeting its ethical and social responsibility goals, and communicates its new goals for the upcoming year?

A)ethics review
B)performance appraisal
C)social audit
D)morals assessment

Question 50

A discrepancy between employee's own values and an organization's actions:

A)encourages employee commitment.
B)increases employee involvement.
C)fosters poor performance.
D)creates high morale.

Question 51

Someone who stands to gain or lose, depending on how a situation is resolved is known as which of the following?

A)negotiator
B)figurehead
C)stakeholder
D)philanthropist

Question 52

Describe two trends that have increased the likelihood of unethical behavior.

Question 53

In an environment where employees are encouraged to do "whatever it takes" to get the job done, employees may feel pressure to act in which of the following ways?

A)with integrity
B)unethically
C)morally
D)that which is culturally accepted

Question 54

A well-implemented ethics and compliance program and a strong ethical culture can lead to:

A)more fear of retaliation by management.
B)less comfort for employees reporting misconduct.
C)more negative views on the organization.
D)less pressure on employees to misbehave.

Question 55

During which step of the decision-making process should one be extremely careful not to make assumptions about the situation?

A)identify alternatives
B)implement decision
C)evaluate results
D)develop problem statement

Question 56

Which of the following positions provides an organization with vision and leadership in the area of business conduct?

A)spiritual leader
B)corporate ethics officer
C)disseminator
D)disturbance handler

Question 57

What is a social audit? Explain.

Question 58

A statement that highlights an organization's key ethical issues and identifies the overarching values and principles that are important to the organization and its decision making is known as which of the following?

A)mission statement
B)code of ethics
C)problem statement
D)acceptable use policy

Question 59

Which of the following helps ensure that employees abide by the law, follow necessary regulations, and behave in an ethical manner?

A)mission statement
B)acceptable use policy
C)problem statement
D)code of ethics

Question 60

In the decision-making process of implementing the decision, what plan must be defined to explain to people how they will move from the old way of doing things to the new way?

A)implementation
B)backup
C)transition
D)evaluation