Question 1

The "Loyal Agent Argument" states: An employer would want to be served in whatever ways will advance his or her self-interests. Therefore, as a loyal agent of his or her employer, the manager has a duty to serve his or her employer in whatever ways will advance the employer's self-interests.

Accepted Answer

The "Loyal Agent Argument" suggests that a manager, as a loyal agent, should act in ways that advance the employer's self-interests, based on the premise that the employer would naturally want actions taken on their behalf to align with their own self-interests.

Question 2

Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, Merck's head of research and development, decided to fund the money required to develop Ivermectin to cure river blindness because of its large profit potential.

Accepted Answer

Dr. P. Roy Vagelos decided to develop Ivermectin to cure river blindness out of a sense of corporate social responsibility, knowing that the patients most in need of the drug could not afford it, rather than for profit potential.

Question 3

Ethics is the discipline that examines one's moral standards, or the moral standards of a society.

Accepted Answer

Ethics is indeed the study of moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity, including the examination of individual moral standards and the moral standards of a society.

Question 4

Which chocolate candy maker(s) use morally tainted cocoa beans?

Accepted Answer

All of the above companies have faced criticism and scrutiny for their sourcing practices, particularly regarding the use of cocoa beans that may be associated with child labor and unethical practices in the supply chain.

Question 5

Moral standards can be distinguished from non-moral standards using the following characteristics:

Accepted Answer

Moral standards are distinguished by their focus on serious harm or benefit to humans (A), their independence from authoritative bodies (B), and their basis in impartial considerations (C), making all the given options correct characteristics.

Question 6

Richard Scrushy, former CEO of HealthSouth, was convicted of ______?

Accepted Answer

Richard Scrushy was convicted of bribery, conspiracy, and mail fraud, related to his tenure as CEO of HealthSouth, where he was implicated in a massive corporate fraud scandal.

Question 7

Microsocial norms take priority over hypernorms.

Accepted Answer

Hypersocial norms, often referred to as hypernorms, are fundamental principles that are widely accepted across cultures and societies. They take priority over microsocial norms, which are specific to smaller groups or communities, because hypernorms represent universal values and ethical standards.

Question 8

Ethical relativism is the theory that, because different societies have different ethical beliefs, there is no rational way of determining whether an action is morally right or wrong other than by asking the people of that society what they believe.

Accepted Answer

Ethical relativism posits that moral standards are culturally based and therefore vary from one society to another, implying that there is no objective standard for determining the morality of an action universally; instead, it must be assessed within the cultural context it occurs.

Question 9

Though business ethics covers a variety of topics, three basic types of issues are:

Accepted Answer

Business ethics typically addresses three levels of ethical concerns: systematic (or systemic), corporate, and individual. Systematic issues deal with economic, political, legal, and other system-related concerns. Corporate issues focus on the actions and policies of businesses as entities. Individual issues concern the ethical decisions made by individuals within organizations.

Question 10

According to the dictionary, the term ethics has a variety of different meanings. One of its meanings is: The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group.

Accepted Answer

Ethics indeed refers to the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group, focusing on what is morally good or bad and morally right or wrong.

Question 11

Lawrence Kohlberg identified twelve stages of moral development.

Accepted Answer

Lawrence Kohlberg identified six stages of moral development, which he grouped into three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional.

Question 12

To evaluate the adequacy of moral reasoning, ethicists employ the following criteria:

Accepted Answer

The adequacy of moral reasoning is evaluated based on several criteria: it must be logical, the factual evidence must be accurate, relevant, and complete, and the moral standards applied must be consistent. These criteria ensure that moral reasoning is well-founded and can be applied consistently across similar situations.

Question 13

According to Edward Freeman and David Reed corporate managers are obligated only to the shareholders, and no one else, because they own the corporation.

Accepted Answer

Edward Freeman is known for developing the stakeholder theory, which argues that corporate managers have obligations not only to shareholders but also to other stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, and the community, because they all contribute to or are affected by the corporation's actions.

Question 14

Producing what the buying public wants may not be the same as producing what the entirety of society needs. The argument is essentially making a normative judgment on the basis of some assumed but unproved moral standards.

Accepted Answer

The statement highlights a distinction between market demand (what the buying public wants) and societal needs, suggesting that fulfilling the former may not always align with or satisfy the latter. This discrepancy can indeed be seen as a normative judgment, implying a value-based decision about what should be produced, which may not necessarily be grounded in universally accepted or proven moral standards.

Question 15

The Ivory Coast farmers kidnapped young boys to provide a safe place for them to live?

Accepted Answer

The Ivory Coast has faced issues with child labor in cocoa farms, where children, sometimes through kidnapping or trafficking, are made to work under harsh conditions, not for their safety but for exploitation.

Quiz 1: Ethics and Business