Question 1

Lawrence Kohlberg found that many factors stimulate a person's moral development, but one of the most crucial is monetary reward for good behavior.

Accepted Answer

Lawrence Kohlberg actually believed that using external rewards, such as money, for moral behavior could actually hinder moral development. He believed that moral development should be motivated from within the individual rather than by external factors.

Question 2

Ethics defines one's personal beliefs about right and wrong.

Accepted Answer

False

Question 3

Apple was the highest rated U.S.-based, publicly held IT company by Business Ethics magazine based on its performance between 2000 and 2007.

Accepted Answer

Apple was not the highest rated U.S.-based, publicly held IT company by Business Ethics magazine during that period. Other companies, such as IBM, were often recognized for their ethical performance.

Question 4

The risks associated with inappropriate behavior have decreased, both in their likelihood and in their potential negative impact.

Accepted Answer

There is no evidence to suggest that the risks associated with inappropriate behavior have decreased. In fact, with the increasing use of social media and the internet, inappropriate behavior can now have a much wider and longer-lasting impact.

Question 5

The Department of Justice has established sentencing guidelines that suggest stiffer penalties for convicted executives if their companies have ethics programs.

Accepted Answer

The Department of Justice encourages companies to have ethics programs and may consider them as a mitigating factor, potentially leading to reduced penalties, not stiffer ones.

Question 6

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.

Accepted Answer

This is known as the "fear of punishment" motivation, which can sometimes override an individual's personal ethical values and cause them to act in a self-protective manner.

Question 7

The goal of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was to renew investor's trust in corporate executives and their firm's financial reports following numerous financial scandals in the early 2000's.

Accepted Answer

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was passed in 2002 in response to high-profile corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldCom that shook investor confidence in the accuracy of financial reporting by publicly traded companies. The act aims to increase corporate responsibility, transparency, and accountability, thereby renewing investor trust in the financial markets.

Question 8

The stock price of Hewlett-Packard dropped dramatically as a result of a scandal involving the leaking of information about HP's long term strategy to the news media.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The stock price of Hewlett-Packard dropped dramatically...

Question 9

A rapid increase in the appointment of corporate ethics officers typically follows the revelation of a major business scandal.

Accepted Answer

This is true. Companies tend to hire more corporate ethics officers or establish ethics programs in response to scandals or public pressure to improve corporate responsibility.

Question 10

Well over half of all organizations include ethical conduct as part of an employee's performance appraisal.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Well over half of all organizations include...

Question 11

Pretexting involves the use of false pretenses to gain access to the personal records of individuals.

Accepted Answer

Pretexting is a deceptive tactic used to extract sensitive information through the use of false pretenses or other fraudulent methods. It can include impersonation, manipulation, or social engineering to gain access to confidential information.

Question 12

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

Accepted Answer

An organization's mission statement typically outlines its purpose, goals, and approach to reach those goals, rather than focusing on ethical issues or overarching values and principles, which are usually addressed in a separate values statement or code of ethics.

Question 13

There is near universal opposition to the practice of illegally making copies of software or enabling others to access software to which they are not entitled.

Accepted Answer

While many oppose software piracy, it is not universally opposed as some individuals and groups justify or engage in it for various reasons.

Question 14

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.

Accepted Answer

Multinational and global organizations should strive to maintain a consistent set of values and ethics regardless of the country they do business in. This helps build a strong reputation and brand identity, and promotes accountability and transparency. However, they should also be aware of and respectful towards local customs, laws, and cultural differences. Balancing these two aspects is key to success in international business.

Question 15

A stakeholder is someone who stands to gain or lose, depending on how a situation is resolved.

Accepted Answer

A stakeholder is someone who has an interest or concern in something, particularly a business, project, or outcome, and stands to gain or lose depending on how the situation is resolved.

Question 16

An individual who exhibits few vices and many virtues is said to be a person of high integrity.

Accepted Answer

The answer of An individual who exhibits few vices and...

Question 17

The United States Supreme Court has established that an employer cannot be held responsible for the acts of its employees if the employees act in a manner contrary to corporate policy and their employer's directions.

Accepted Answer

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that employers can be held liable for the acts of their employees under certain circumstances, even if the employees act contrary to corporate policy, particularly if the employer was negligent in supervising the employee or if the employee's actions were within the scope of their employment.

Question 18

The United States has one of the lowest software piracy rates in the world, along with Luxembourg and New Zealand.

Accepted Answer

According to the 2019 BSA Global Software Survey, the United States, Luxembourg, and New Zealand each have a software piracy rate of 16%, which is one of the lowest rates in the world.

Question 19

Companies that are viewed as harmful to their community may find that negative publicity reduces sales, impedes relationships with some business partners, and attracts unwanted government attention.

Accepted Answer

Negative publicity can lead to a decrease in sales and damage relationships with business partners, while also attracting scrutiny from government entities.

Question 20

Morality refers to social conventions about right and wrong that are so widely shared that they become the basis for an established consensus.

Accepted Answer

Morality is indeed based on widely shared social conventions about right and wrong that are accepted by the majority of individuals within a particular society or culture.

Quiz 1: An Overview of Ethics