Deck 7: Organizational Factors: The Role of Ethical Culture and Relationships

Question 1

Under the Federal False Claims Act, a Qui tam relator is

A) someone who should be fired
B) an employee who has been accused of accepting a bribe
C) a whistle-blower who provides information to the government about a company's wrongdoing.
D) an employee who has behaved unethically.

Answer 1

a whistle-blower who provides information to the government about a company's wrongdoing.

Question 2

Leaders who utilize reward power might reward other employees with

A) raises.
B) promotions.
C) status.
D) praise.
E) All of these would be considered rewards.

Answer 2

All of these would be considered rewards.

Question 3

Corporate culture applies to

A) public corporations only.
B) private corporations only.
C) partnerships only.
D) all business organizations.
E) all organizations.

Answer 3

all organizations.

Question 4

Which of the following statements about corporate culture is false?

A) Corporate culture refers to the patterns and rules that govern the behavior of an organization and its employees, particularly the shared values, beliefs, and customs.
B) The values and ethical beliefs that actually guide the firm's employees are always the same ones that management states as defining the firm's culture.
C) Corporate culture includes the behavioral patterns, concepts, values, ceremonies, and rituals that take place in an organization.
D) The culture of an organization may be explicitly stated or unspoken.
E) Failure to monitor or manage an organization's culture may foster unethical behavior.

Question 5

Committees, formal groups of individuals assigned to a specific task,

A) always make the right decisions.
B) deal exclusively with ethics issues.
C) typically take longer to reach a decision than would an individual.
D) generally make more liberal decisions than those made by individuals.
E) do not bring more skills to solve a problem than does any one person.

Question 6

Tiffany has been the top sales rep in her company for the past ten years. She has developed countless tricks and tips to continue to bring in customers. Tiffany would likely have ____ over a new sales rep.

A) coercive power
B) group power
C) Legitimate power
D) Expert Power

Question 7

Group norms

A) apply only to informal groups.
B) do not conflict with the values prescribed by the organization's culture.
C) do not conflict with the organization's rules and regulations.
D) are standards of behavior that groups expect of their members.
E) are the patterns and rules that govern the behavior of an organization and its employees, particularly the shared values, beliefs, and customs.

Question 8

Which of the following statements about group norms is false?

A) Group norms define the limit on deviation from group expectations.
B) Group norms have the power to force a strong degree of conformity among group members.
C) Management must carefully monitor the norms of all the various groups within the organization, as well as the organization's corporate culture.
D) Sanctions may be necessary to bring in line a group whose norms deviate sharply from the overall culture.
E) Group norms never conflict with the overall organization's culture.

Question 9

The "grapevine" within an organization is an important source of ethical information for

A) quality circles.
B) teams.
C) work groups.
D) committees.
E) informal groups.

Question 10

Ethical decisions within organizations are often made by

A) individuals.
B) laws.
C) peers.
D) committees and formal and informal groups.
E) ethics auditors.

Question 11

In the past 50 years, scholars have developed at least 164 definitions of culture. According to the text, all have the following common elements:

A) Culture is shared, relatively stable, and is formed over a long period of time.
B) Culture is not shared, but stable, and is formed over a long period of time.
C) Culture is shared, but not stable, and is formed over a long period of time.
D) Culture is shared, stable, and covers and is formed very short period of time.
E) Culture is man- made, shared, not stable, and is formed over a short period of time.

Question 12

Explicit statements of values, beliefs and customs usually come from

A) lower management.
B) middle management.
C) independent auditors.
D) line supervisors.
E) top management.

Question 13

Utilizing the concern-for-people by concern-for-performance matrix, define the four quadrants and discuss the characteristics of each. Give examples of companies you can think of that represent each type of culture. Explain why you selected the company for each culture.

Question 14

Explain how corporate culture influences the ethical behavior of an organization