Deck 5: Corporate Rights and Responsibilities

Question 1

Which of the following exemplifies what the descriptive approach to corporate social responsibility is most concerned with?

A)A large retail chain pays its employees a living wage.
B)A small business implements a recycling program.
C)A firm focuses on the fluid process by which value is created for multiple stakeholders.
D)A manufacturing company requires its suppliers to use fair labor practices.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A corporation CANNOT do which of the following?

A)sue and be sued
B)be criminally prosecuted
C)own property
D)create law

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In Buckley v.Valeo, the U.S.Supreme Court ruled explicitly that ______.

A)corporations have different tax liabilities than individuals
B)corporations and individuals have common tax liabilities
C)religious institutions cannot make political donations
D)political donations are free speech

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What did the Citizens United case decide?

A)Corporations enjoy the same First Amendment rights to free speech as individuals.
B)The Bill of Rights applies to corporations.
C)Corporations may vote.
D)Corporations have a duty to protect their employees from discrimination.

Question 5

In the United States, the idea of the benefit corporation was established in which year?

A)1810
B)1910
C)1970
D)2010

Question 6

If we are going to argue that a corporation has ______ we would like it to fulfill, we also need to grant ______ that protect its ability to exist and do what it is designed to do.

A)responsibilities; rights
B)rights; responsibilities
C)purposes; rights
D)responsibilities; immunities

Question 7

Corporate governance is regulated by ______.

A)the federal government
B)the states
C)the cities in which corporations reside
D)the corporations themselves

Question 8

A corporation's ______ is its responsibilities and obligations as determined by corporate law and founding corporate charters.

A)direction
B)general goal
C)public purpose
D)main objective

Question 9

Benefit corporations and certified B Corps are ______.

A)legal entities in all states of the United States
B)primarily located in European countries
C)different names for the same types of companies
D)different entities, one a legal entity and the other a certification process

Question 10

A ______ approach to corporate social responsibility starts with a predetermined outcome and then works out how to achieve it.

A)normative
B)descriptive
C)conservative
D)critical

Question 11

The ______ is typically recognized as the earliest modern business corporation.

A)East India Company
B)Ford Motor Company
C)Lorillard Tobacco Company
D)Southern Pacific Railroad

Question 12

Dodge v.Ford stands for the legal principle that ______.

A)managers and directors have a legal duty to put shareholders' interests above all others
B)managers, not shareholders, have the legal authority to determine workers' wages
C)the interests of multiple stakeholders must be considered in business practices
D)corporations have a legal duty to act in socially responsible ways

Question 13

In terms of oversight, liability, responsibility, and regulation, ______ is considered the friendliest place to do business in the United States.

A)California
B)Delaware
C)Florida
D)Texas

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT an objective outcome of corporate social responsibility?

A)A large retail chain pays its employees a living wage.
B)A small business implements a recycling program.
C)A firm focuses on the fluid process by which value is created for multiple stakeholders.
D)A manufacturing company requires its suppliers to use fair labor practices.

Question 15

Why is Dartmouth College v.Woodward an important case in CSR?

A)It illustrates the important relationship between education and other societal institutions.
B)It sets the legal precedent that corporations are understood to be legal individuals.
C)It establishes legal autonomy for educational institutions to teach controversial subjects such as the theory of evolution.
D)It sets the legal precedent of requiring state funding for public education.

Question 16

A ______ approach to corporate social responsibility allows the outcome to emerge, rather than imposing a fixed view about what should or should not happen.

A)normative
B)descriptive
C)conservative
D)critical

Question 17

The law allowed the boards of directors of Vermont firms to consider factors in addition to shareholder value when deciding whether to accept a takeover offer is known as the ______.

A)Vermont Maple Suger Growers Law
B)Ben & Jerry's Law
C)Mount Snow Association Law
D)St.Johnsbury Transport Law

Question 18

In 2012, ______ became the first company in California to become a benefit corporation.

A)Lululemon
B)Google
C)Apple
D)Patagonia

Question 19

Which Supreme Court case initially developed the idea of corporate personhood?

A)Santa Clara County v.Southern Pacific Railroad
B)Trustees of Dartmouth College v.Woodward
C)Buckley v.Valeo
D)First National Bank of Boston v.Bellotti

Question 20

Buckley v.Valeo extended what right to a corporation?

A)protection from unionization
B)ability to donate to political campaigns
C)ability to sue states
D)right to privacy

Question 21

Delaware is considered to be the friendliest place to do business in the United States.Describe the reasons why this is so as well as the positive and negative implications of the reasons.

Question 22

Compared to European firms, U.S.firms are ______.

A)more likely to take a multiconstituency approach to CSR
B)less likely to take a multiconstituency approach to CSR
C)equally likely to take a multiconstituency approach to CSR
D)much more socially responsible

Question 23

Laws establishing benefit corporations impose legal requirements for firms to ______.

A)implement a stakeholder model
B)implement a shareholder model
C)pay a living wage to all employees
D)use only environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes

Question 24

The textbook author argues that ______ offers the most efficient tools to deliver social progress.

A)government
B)for-profit firms
C)not-for-profit firms
D)families

Question 25

The "Ben & Jerry's law" passed by the Vermont legislature ______.

A)requires ice cream to be provided to all schoolchildren at least once per year
B)requires the use of only non-GMO ingredients in food products
C)allows firms to set maximum pay for CEOs at 20 times the average pay in the firm
D)allows firms to consider factors other than shareholder value when deciding whether to accept a takeover offer

Question 26

A corporation is a fictitious legal person that is endowed with many of the characteristics of a human being.

Question 27

The U.S.Supreme Court has made several landmark rulings on "corporate personhood." Some argue that the Court's decisions have used inconsistent logic.Describe why the Court's logic has or has not been inconsistent.

Question 28

According to Yvon Chouinard, founder of the Patagonia company, one of the primary benefits of becoming a benefit corporation is that ______.

A)it makes it harder for a new owner to abandon the firm's social mission
B)it makes employees more dedicated to the social mission of the firm
C)it makes the company's products much more desirable to socially conscious customers
D)it makes it more difficult for a company to pollute the natural environment

Question 29

The incorporation process (corporate governance) in the United States is currently regulated ______.

A)under state, rather than federal, law
B)under federal, rather than state, law
C)under both federal and state law
D)under local, state, and federal law

Question 30

Limited liability means that no one can sue a corporation.

Question 31

Value creation is the same for every business and every stakeholder.

Question 32

Describe the differences between Benefit Corporations and B Corps.Do you think either of these designations is necessary? Why or why not?

Question 33

What is corporate personhood, and how does it relate to corporate social responsibility?

Question 34

The U.S.Supreme Court has held that corporations have the right to donate to political campaigns.

Question 35

The concept of "corporate personhood" in the United States recognizes that ______.

A)corporations are primarily made up of groups of persons
B)physical resources of corporations (buildings, machines, etc.) are secondary to human resources
C)humans have a natural tendency to anthropomorphize inanimate objects such as buildings
D)a corporation is a fictitious legal person that is endowed with many of the rights and responsibilities of a human being

Question 36

The decision in ______ allowed corporations greater freedom to finance political ads/campaigns.

A)Buckley v.Valeo
B)Citizens United
C)Dartmouth College v.Woodward
D)Dodge v.Ford

Question 37

One survey revealed that nearly 80% of executives admit they would "take actions to improve quarterly earnings at the expense of long-term value creation." Why are they wrong?

Question 38

Describe the difference between traditional approaches to corporate social responsibility, which focus on objective outcomes, and strategic CSR, which focuses on value creation.

Question 39

Firms will survive in the long run to the extent that managers consistently create ______ for the firm's broad range of stakeholders.

A)profits
B)goodwill
C)value
D)harmony

Question 40

The "Stop BEZOS" Act proposed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren sought to force companies to ______.

A)unionize
B)provide a livable wage
C)ensure companies paid their fair share of taxes
D)mandated companies not outsource