Results:
The Your correct answer for each question is indicated by a
1
INCORRECT
.
Business ethics concerns
A) the application of ethical principles and standards to business
activities, behavior, and decisions.
B) a business commitment to safe products, high worker compensation,
and protection of the environment.
C) conducting oneself appropriately in a business setting.
D) developing a special set of ethical standards for businesses to
observe in conducting their affairs.
E) picking and choosing among various ethical standards of society to
arrive at a set of ethical standards that apply directly to operating a
business.
2 CORRECT
Ethical principles in business
A) concern the behavioral guidelines a company's top management and
board of directors set for company personnel regarding "what is
right" and "what is wrong" in conducting the company's business.
B) deal chiefly with the actions and behaviors required to operate
companies in a socially responsible manner.
C) are arrived at by picking and choosing among the consensus ethical
standards of society to come up with a set of ethical standards that
apply directly to operating a business.
D) are not materially different from ethical principles in general and
have to be judged in the context of society's standards of right and
wrong, not by a special set of rules that business people decide to
apply to their own conduct.
E) involve behavioral guidelines for balancing the interests of nonowner stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, and the
communities in which the company has operations) against the
interests of company shareholders.
3
INCORRECT
Unethical managerial behavior tends to be driven by such factors as
A) overzealous or obsessive pursuit of personal gain, wealth, and other
self interests; a company culture that puts the profitability and good
business performance ahead of ethical behavior; and heavy pressures
on company managers to meet or beat performance targets.
B) the lack of a company code of ethics.
C) a lack of training in what is ethical and what is not.
D) confusing differences between what is ethical behavior in one's
personal life and what is ethically permissible in business.
E) All of the above factors.
4
INCORRECT
A company's strategy needs to be ethical because
A) Potential for embarrassment to top management if the company's
unethical behavior is publicly exposed.
B) unethical strategies are inconsistent with or else weaken the
corporate culture.
C) ethics watchdogs are sure to blow the whistle on the company's
unethical behavior.
D) of the risks of prosecution by governmental authorities if an
unethical strategy is disclosed.
E) a strategy that is unethical not only damages the company's
reputation but it can also have costly consequences.
5
INCORRECT
Which of the following are consequences of pursuing a strategy that has
unethical or shady components?
A) Government fines and penalties
B) Legal and investigative costs incurred by the company
C) Customer defections
D) Adverse effects on employee productivity
E) All of these
6
INCORRECT
Notions of right and wrong, fair and unfair, moral and immoral, ethical and
unethical
A) ultimately depend on a person's own values and beliefs.
B) ultimately depend on the circumstancesnothing is really black or
white when it comes to ethical standards.
C) are governed mainly by religious views held in different geographic
regions of the world.
D) are present in all societies, organizations, and individuals.
E) vary enormously from country to country across the world.
7
INCORRECT
According to the school of ethical universalism,
A) what behaviors are "ethically right" and "ethically wrong" vary
across religions, but the boundaries of what is ethical or not are
universal within religions.
B) concepts of right and wrong universally apply to all business
situations within a given country but can vary across countries or
cultures.
C) ethical guidelines exist only when there is universal agreement as to
what behaviors are "ethically right" and "ethically wrong"; anything
not universally viewed as unethical is thus within the bounds of what
is ethically permissible.
D) all societies and countries have some definition of what is ethically
permissible (in this sense ethics are universal); however, the
definitions of what is ethically permissible vary according to the
prevailing religious doctrines in each country.
E) many of the same standards of what's ethical and what's unethical
resonate with peoples of most societies regardless of local traditions
and cultural normshence, to the extent there is common moral
agreement about right and wrong actions, common ethical standards
can be used to judge the conduct of personnel at companies
operating in a variety of country markets and cultural circumstances.
8 CORRECT
The thesis that since different societies and cultures have divergent values
and standards of what is "ethically right" and "ethically wrong" it is
appropriate to judge behavior as ethical/unethical in the light of local customs
and social mores
A) is the basis for the theory of ethical variation.
B) defines what is meant by "integrated social contracts theory."
C) is a view that characterizes the school of ethical relativism.
D) accounts for why there is no such thing as ethical standards for
business enterprises.
E) is the reason why codes of ethical and social morality have been
established country by country.
9
INCORRECT
If one adopts the thinking of the school of ethical relativism, then
A) there are multiple sets of ethical standards because what is ethical or
unethical depends on local customs and social mores and can vary
from one culture or nation to another.
B) there is a "one-size-fits-all" set of authentic ethical standards.
C) the preferred set of ethical standards is the one which society at large
has put in place in the form of laws and regulations.
D) the prevailing ethical standards are the product of a system of
"integrated social contracts."
E) no ethical standards are ever truly "authentic"they exist only to the
extent that there is a temporary shared conviction among company
managers and company personnel that a particular behavior is either
ethically permissible or ethically impermissible.
10
CORRECT
Companies that adopt the principle of ethical relativism in providing ethical
guidance to company personnel
A) are able to comply with the varying ethical standards of the world's
different cultures.
B) have no fair way to judge the ethical correctness of the conduct of
company personnel.
C) quickly find themselves on a slippery slope with no ethical standards
or principles of its own.
D) have a uniform code of ethical standards that is applied globally.
E) end up allowing each company employee to determine what set of
ethical standards to observe.
11
INCORRECT
According to integrated social contracts theory,
A) the views and principles of the school of ethical universalism are
definitely wrong; the correct view is that ethics is a matter of
personal responsibility not a matter of management the concern.
B) ethical standards a company should try to uphold are governed
both by (1) a limited number of universal ethical principles that are
widely recognized as putting legitimate ethical boundaries on actions
and behavior in all situations and (2) the circumstances of local
cultures, traditions, and shared values that further prescribe what
constitutes ethically permissible behavior and what does not
however, universal ethical norms take precedence over local ethical
norms.
C) the standards of what is ethically permissible and what is not should
be based on a code of ethical and moral conduct which each society/
country/culture adopts and then enacts into law.
D) the standards of what is ethically permissible should be determined
by the terms of an "ethics contract" which each company employee
signs as a condition of employment.
E) the only valid ethical standards are those which are universaland
then only if the standards are not absolute and provide some wiggle
room according to the circumstances of the each situation.
12
INCORRECT
Integrated social contracts theory maintains that
A) all ethical standards are determined by societal norms and
individuals have an implied social contract to live up to these
standards.
B) "first order" universal ethical norms always take precedence over
"second order" local ethical norms.
C) there should be no absolute limits put on what is ethically or morally
right.
D) few nations or cultures have common moral agreement on what is
ethically right and wrong.
E) each country/culture/society has commonly held views about what
constitutes ethically appropriate actions/behaviors that all individuals
in that country/culture/society are obligated to observe.
13
INCORRECT
According to the information presented in Table 7.1, the perceived degree of
corruption as seen by business people, academics, and risk analysts is
A) highest in such places as Germany, France, Hong Kong, Chile, and
Finland and lowest in such countries as India, Paraguay, Indonesia,
and South Africa.
B) is highest in Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden and
lowest in Indonesia, Kenya, Paraguay, and Bangladesh.
C) about the same in all countries that were surveyed.
D) is lowest in the U.S., Japan, and Spain.
E) is lowest in Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore,
and Sweden.
14
INCORRECT
The theory of corporate social responsibility concerns
A) a company's duty to maximize shareholder value.
B) the blending of shareholder interests and employee interests.
C) a company's duty to establish socially acceptable core values and to
have a strictly enforced code of ethical conduct.
D) the responsibility that top management has for ensuring that the
company's actions and decisions are in the best interest of society at
large.
E) the balance between a company's (1) economic responsibility to
reward shareholders with profits, (2) its legal responsibility to
comply with the laws of countries where it operates, (3) the ethical
responsibility to abide by society's norms of what is moral and just
and (4) a philanthropic responsibility to contribute to the noneconomic needs of society.
15
INCORRECT
Which of the following is not generally on a company's menu of actions to
consider in crafting a strategy of social responsibility?
A) Actions to ensure that the company operates in an honorable and
ethical manner
B) Actions to provide suppliers, distributors, and other value chain
partners with handsome profit margins
C) Actions to build a workforce that is diverse with respect to gender,
race, national origin, and perhaps other personal characteristics
D) Actions to protect or enhance the environment (apart from what is
required by governmental authorities)
E) Actions to create a work environment that enhances the quality of
life for employees
16
CORRECT
Corporate citizenship goes beyond meeting society's expectations for ethical
strategies and business behavior by
A) promoting company personnel for political offices.
B) enforcing ethical norms among the citizens of the communities in
which it operates.
C) addressing unmet non-economic needs of society.
D) make sizeable contributions to political action committees
representing the interests of the industry.
E) ensuring that products meet high standards of performance and
reliability.
17
INCORRECT
Corporate sustainability involves
A) a corporate commitment to address the unmet non-economic needs
of society.
B) strategic efforts to meet the needs of today's customers, suppliers,
shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders, while protecting,
and perhaps enhancing, the resources needed by future generations.
C) striking a balance between (1) the economic responsibility to reward
shareholders with profits, (2) the legal responsibility to company
with laws in countries where it operates, (3) the ethical responsibility
to abide by society's moral norms, and (4) the discretionary
philanthropic responsibility to contribute to the non-economic needs
of society.
D) developing the resource strengths necessary to develop a sustainable
competitive advantage.
E) All of these.
18
INCORRECT
Companies committed to corporate sustainability
A) make major contributions to local civic and charitable organizations.
B) consider the commitment to the environment as a "first order"
priority, commitment to employees as a "second order" priority, and
commitment to shareholders as a "third order" commitment.
C) believe it is essential to strike a balance between shareholder
interests and the interest of stakeholders such as suppliers,
customers, employees, and the communities in which they operate.
D) develop and market only products that are "environmentally
friendly."
E) undertake initiatives directed at improving the company's "Triple-P"
performance, which places importance on profits, people, and the
planet.
19
INCORRECT
Which one of the following is not a part of the business case for why
companies should act in a socially responsible manner?
A) Acting in a socially responsible manner reduces the risk of
reputation-damaging incidents.
B) The aggressive pursuit of market share, revenues, and profits always
puts the company in jeopardy of violating society's social
responsibility expectations.
C) Acting in a socially responsible manner is in the overall best interest
of shareholders.
D) To the extent that a company's socially responsible behavior wins
applause from consumers and fortifies its reputation, a company may
win additional patronage.
E) Acting in a socially responsible manner can generate internal
benefits (as concerns employee recruiting, workforce retention,
training, and improved worker productivity).
20
INCORRECT
The business case for why companies should act in a socially responsible
manner includes such reasons as
A) helping avoid or preempt legal and regulatory actions that could
prove costly.
B) avoiding criticism from consumer, environmental, and human rights
activist groups.
C) contributing to lower employee turnover and better worker
productivity.
D) the potential for increased buyer patronage.
E) All of these.