Business Ethics
Course Business Ethics FHNW (Business Administration IM)
Course Business Ethics FHNW (Business Administration IM)
All of these are ways of reducing pollution, except:
Chapter 12, p. 362
What concept refers to economic theories advocating the creation of a society where wealth and power are distributed evenly, relative to the amount of work expended in production?
Chapter 10, p. 280
Only 10% of employees observe abusive behavior in the workplace.
Chapter 3, Check your EQ
According to Table 3-1, 21% of employees observe abusive behavior in the workplace
To ensure that an ethics program addresses the needs of the average employee, it should include all of the following except ...
p. 232
Which of the following is not a benefit that primary stakeholders tend to provide to organizations?
Chapter 2, p. 32
Which of the following is not a conflict management style?
p. 319
The stakeholder perspective is useful in managing social responsibility and business ethics.
Chapter 2, Check your EQ
The six steps to implement this approach were provided in this chapter
Which of the following is not a way to avoid groupthink in small-group decision making?
p. 325
According to Kohlberg's model, as a person progresses through the stages of moral development, and with time, education, and experience, he/she
Chapter 6, p. 170
For an ethical compliance program to properly function,
Chapter 8, p. 230
Having acceptable personal ethics is probably not going to be sufficient to handle complex business ethical issues when an individual has
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
An important part of leadership is the implementation of employee-centred leadership. Employee-centred leadership recognizes that while not everyone will be a manager, every employee can and should practice leadership skills to support ethical decision making.
An essential component of employee-centred leadership is communication. Without communication all attempts at maintaining an ethical culture fail.
Evidence suggests that most firms understand the importance of communication in connection to leadership and that top management puts special emphasis on getting feedback from employees, listening to their concerns.
Chapter 11
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
Moral intensity and ethical issue intensity are similar concepts because they both relate to the individual’s perception of social or organisational pressure and the harm they believe their decisions will have on others.
Moral intensity is different from ethical issue intensity because the former relates to a company’s moral obligations regarding its corporate citizenship, and the latter relates to the importance of an event in the eyes of an individual person.
Regarding ethical issue intensity, it can be argued that senior employees and those with administrative authority play an important role as they typically dictate an organisation’s stance on ethical issues.
pp. 129-130
Sustainability is the potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment including all biological entities, as well as the mutually beneficial interactions among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies.
Chapter 12, Check your EQ
Sustainability is the potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities, as well as the mutually beneficial interactions among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
The prime goal of an ethical culture is the maximisation of the use of principles that contribute to ethical reasoning in difficult or new situations. Another, subordinate goal is to minimise the need for enforced compliance of rules.
Most ethical issues exist because of conflicts in values and belief patterns about right and wrong among and within stakeholder groups.
When unethical acts are discovered in organisations, in most instances cooperation or complicity facilitated the acceptance and perpetuation of the unethical conduct.
p. 15; p. 30
Among retail stores, _____ is a larger problem than customer shoplifting.
Chapter 3, p. 66
Which of the following leadership types has a strong influence on coworker support and building an ethical culture through increasing employee commitment and fostering motivation?
Chapter 11, p. 331
An unconscious reference to one's own cultural values, experiences, and knowledge is referred to as the ...
p. 276
The leader demands instantaneous obedience and focuses on achievement, initiative, and self-control.
Chapter 11, p. 330-331
You work as the assistant to the CEO of an internationally active pharmaceutical company. In order to promote your products, you regularly invite medical doctors (MDs) to seminars and conferences that also help to exchange ideas and share insights gained from experience. In this context, it has been common practice that your company covers all the travelling expenses of the participants and their spouses and also pay a substantial fee if participants are willing to make a contribution in the discussion forums. As this has been a common practice within the pharmaceutical industry, your company has not considered this approach as ethically questionable so far.
However, recently, a new law was passed in one of the countries where you do business that prohibits the payment of a substantial fee merely for the agreement to participate in a discussion. Yet, it remains unclear exactly which sum could be considered substantial. At the same time, the parliament of the country where your head offices are located is preparing a new law making the payment of excessive compensation to participants of company-organised international conferences illegal. In this context, the CEO has asked you to come up with a plan of action, proposing, with an emphasis on sound corporate citizenship, an ethically viable and commercially sound approach to the new situation.
Given the above information, which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct? See Visual with choices I, II, and III.
Chapters 1-3; 5, p. 300
Studies have found that more than a third of the unethical situations that lower and middle-level managers face come from _____.
Chapter 5
Business ethics deals with right or wrong behavior within a particular organization.
Chapter 1, Check your EQ
That stems from the basic definition
Three primary stakeholders are customers, special interest groups, and the media.
Chapter 2, Check your EQ
Although customers are primary stakeholders, special interest groups and the media are usually considered secondary stakeholders
Please fill in the missing part in a manner consistent with business ethics.
After identifying ethical risk areas, ethical leaders should develop policies and procedures for _____ and _____ misconduct. This process is an important part of risk management.
While companies might adopt risk management plans to deal with economic, marketing, and technological risks, they are less likely to consider _____ risks as a major area of concern.
pp. 332-333
Which-ones of the following terms belong to the same group (i.e., the same category)?
1) Egoism
2) Utilitarianism
3) Relativism
4) Consequentialism
5) Nonconsequentialism
Chapter 6
Please fill in the missing part in a manner consistent with business ethics. (p. 135/moderate)
A(n) _____ is a problem, situation, or opportunity that requires an individual, group, or organisation to choose among several actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong, ethical or unethical.
p. 135
Which leadership type values people, their emotions, and their needs and relies on friendship and trust to promote flexibility, innovation, and risk taking?
Chapter 11, p. 330
All of these are ways of reducing pollution, except:
p. 362
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
In the context of business ethics, the notion “ethics” refers to the decisions made within the framework of an organisation’s values. However, it does not refer to the specific behaviour of members of an organisation.
In the context of business ethics, the notion “ethics” refers to both, to a specific behaviour of members of an organisation as well as to a person’s personal philosophies about what is right or wrong.
In the context of business ethics, there exists a difference between an ordinary decision and an ethical-one. For instance, contrary to an ordinary decision, an ethical decision requires the weighing of values in order to reach a judgement regarding a situation the decision maker has not faced before.
p. 5
During the 1990s the institutionalization of business ethics was largely driven by which piece of legislation?
Chapter 1, p. 12
Act deontology requires a person use equity, fairness, and impartiality in making decisions and evaluating actions.
Chapter 6, Check your EQ
The rules serve only as guidelines, and past experience weighs more heavily than the rules
There exist positive links between environmental and economic performance. In connection thereto, a firm’s innovation strategy might lead to a better economic performance for all of the subsequent reasons except:
p. 367
_____ is a term used by Adam Smith to explain the inherent mechanisms at work in free market systems that keep commerce in equilibrium. It is also known as the “invisible hand.”
Chapter 10, p. 279
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
A company’s ethical culture has a positive effect on employee commitment and trust. However, investor loyalty is only marginally affected by a company’s ethical culture as investors are primarily interested in high returns on equity.
A company’s ethics and compliance program can support values and appropriate conduct. In this context, it is important to realise a company’s core values, which are derived from principles, might not be the same as an employee’s individual values.
A company’s value practices are distinct from its organisational practices, which are driven by technical or efficiency considerations.
p.16 and pp. 143
Which is the last of Kohlberg's stages of cognitive moral development?
Chapter 6, p. 170
There exist positive links between environmental and economic performance. In connection thereto, a firm’s innovation strategy might lead to a better economic performance for all of the subsequent reasons except:
p. 367
An unconscious reference to one's own cultural values, experiences, and knowledge is referred to as the ...
p. 276
Risk compartmentalization occurs when
Chapter 10, p. 278
An ethical compliance audit is designed to determine the effectiveness of ethics initiatives.
Chapter 8, Check your EQ
It helps in establishing the code and in making program improvements
Last year, your company, a supplier of electronic hard ware, adopted a new environmental strategy in which the long-term overlaps of shared values between the needs of the company and the needs of society and the environment receive special attention. In this context, your company has begun with the development of new technologies that should provide the means to extract, from electronic waste, the raw materials needed in the production of new units. In this sense, the company hopes both to better secure the supply of those needed raw materials in the future as well as comply with newly established legal environmental standards. However, the development of that technology proves to be more costly and more challenging than expected. And whilst the board of directors, at last year’s general assembly of shareholders, received great support for its decision to develop the new technologies, important shareholders have now voiced their serious concern that the strategy appears to be too costly, putting the company’s economic performance at risk.
The CEO is a much appreciated person; many consider him an ethical leader. However, he is not what one would call an authoritative, inspirational leader. Especially when it comes to communication, he appears to have trouble in bringing a message across in an inspiring manner. Many believe that it is because of this shortcoming that some shareholders don’t trust the companyto be able to successfully complete the development of the new technologies. Many believe that his resignation would solve that problem. He, however, does not seem to share that view.
In view of the above-described situation, which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct? See visual for I, II, and III.
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Lernkarten
An activity is probably ethical if it
Chapter 3, p. 84
Please fill in the missing part in a manner consistent with business ethics.
To establish sexual harassment, an employee must understand the definition of a hostile work environment. To assert a hostile work environment, an employee need not prove that someone’s conduct seriously affected his or her psychological well-being or that it caused an injury; the decisive issue is whether the conduct interfered with the claimant’s work _____.
p. 75
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
There are advantages and disadvantages to small group communication. Small groups can increase collaboration and generate a variety of different perspectives and opinions on a particular issue. However, engaging in repetitive or routine decision making can cause small groups to overlook certain ethical issues.
Group decision making can yield ethical outcomes. Yet, experience suggests that the diversity of opinions and discussions often result in muddled solutions suffering from a lack of consistency.
Regarding small-group communication and decision making, ethical leaders should make sure that the mechanisms available to group members who need support are public, so all group members are informed of one-another’s activities.
p. 325
All of the following are true with regards to the implementation of principles and core values in ethical decision making except?
p. 136
Which of the following industries tends to generate a high level of trust from consumers and stakeholders?
Chapter 2, p. 32
Which of the following is not a criticism of or charge against multinational corporations (MNCs)?
pp. 283-285
Which of the following statements about codes of conduct is false?
Chapter 8, p. 224-226
Strong ethical leaders have a passion for all of the following except to ...
pp. 313-315
Multiple elements work on individuals to affect their behavior. While an individual may intend to do the right thing, _____ can alter this intent.
Chapter 5
An ethical culture is based upon the norms and values of the company.
Chapter 1, Check your EQ
Norms and values help create an organisational culture and are key in supporting or not supporting ethical conduct
A fundamental problem in traditional personal character development is that specific vales are used to teach about a philosophy, which may be inappropriate where cultural diversity and privacy must be respected. A solution is ...
*Canon refers to a rule and a list of books containing names of important books serves as a rule or guide for reading. A literary canon automatically suggests a reading list which belongs to a country or a certain period in time.
p. 314
_____ is one of the country’s greatest sustainability success stories.
Chapter 12, p. 370
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
Ethical leaders generally adopt one of two approaches to leadership: a compliance- based approach or an integrity-based approach. A compliance approach is more focused upon risks, while an integrity approach views ethics more as an opportunity.
Leaders can be classified into three categories: unethical leaders, apathetic leaders, and ethical leaders. The unethical leader is usually goal-oriented and will often do whatever it takes to achieve the organization’s objectives. Whilst unethical leaders regularly put the company’s goals above their own objectives, a small proportion may be classified as psychopathic, in which they have no conscience and little or no empathy toward others. This type of leader does not try to learn about best practices for ethics and compliance.
Apathetic leaders are not necessarily unethical, but they care little for ethics within the company. They do not listen to employees, otherwise, however, they communicate well. Moreover, and contrary to popular belief, apathetic leaders usually display some passion for the firm or the mission of the organization.
Chapter 11
The trend is away from cultural or ethically based initiatives to legal initiatives in organizations.
Chapter 1, Check your EQ
Many businesses are communicating their core values to their employees by creating ethics programs and appointing ethical officers to oversee them
Shareholders provide resources to an organization that are critical to long term success. Which of the following does the book suggest that suppliers offer?
Chapter 2, p. 32
Which-one of the following statements is most likely to be correct?
p. 74, p. 84
Which of the following is not an advantage of having a comprehensive code of conduct?
p. 225
Please fill in the missing part in a manner consistent with business ethics.
_____ evaluates the morality of an action on the basis of its conformity to general moral principles and respect for individual rights.
p. 161-2
Which-one(s) of the following statement(s) is(are) correct?
A code of ethics consists of general statements that serve as principles and as the basis for rules of conduct.
A code of ethics generally specifies methods for reporting violations, disciplinary actions for violations, and a structure of due process.
Usually, a code of ethics is more akin to regulatory rules whereas a code of conduct must contain inspirational and even altruistic statements.
pp. 223
If management fails to identify and educate employees about ethical problem areas, ethical issues may not reach the critical _____.
Chapter 5
_____ have been found to decrease unethical practices and increase positive work behavior.
Chapter 5
Which of the following legislation has increased the responsibilities on ethics officers and boards of directors to monitor financial reporting?
Chapter 8, p. 226
Please fill in the missing part in a manner consistent with business ethics.
_____ is based upon the assumption that people are predictable and will maximize the utility of their choices relative to their needs and wants.
p. 280
_____ are formal statements that describe what an organization expects of its employees in terms of ethical behavior.
Chapter 8, p. 223
Which of the following types of leaders attempts to create employee satisfaction through bartering or negotiating for desired behaviors or level of performance?
Chapter 11, p. 331
_____ occurs when the middle class shrinks, resulting in highly concentrated wealth amongst the rich and a large number of poor people with very few resources.
p. 280
Please fill in the missing part in a manner consistent with business ethics.
Though obviously not a person, a corporation can be considered a moral agent in society created to perform specific social functions. It is therefore responsible to _____ for its actions. Because corporations have characteristics of agents, responsibility for _____ behavior is assigned to them as legal entities, as well as to individuals or work groups they employ.
p. 216
The degree to which a firm understands and addresses stakeholder demands can be referred to as
Chapter 2, p. 33
The four types of communication are interpersonal, small group, nonverbal, and listening.
Chapter 11, Check your EQ
The four types of communication an ethical leader should master are interpersonal communication, small group communication, nonverbal communication, and listening
_____ is the offering of something of value in order to gain an illicit advantage.
Chapter 3, p. 70
A compliance program should be deemed effective if it addresses the seven minimum requirements for ethical compliance programs.
Chapter 8, Check your EQ
An effective compliance program has the seven elements of a compliance program in place and goes beyond those minimum requirements to determine what will work in a particular organization
Which of the following is a measure taken by governments to curtail MNC practices that create ethical issues?
Chapter 10, p. 284
When in Rome, do as the Romans do, or you must adapt to the cultural practices of the country in which you are operating are rationalizations businesspeople sometimes offer for straying from their own ethical values when doing business abroad. This practice is called
Chapter 10, p. 277
An individual who defines what is right by considering his/her duty to society, not just to other specific people, is in which of Kohlberg's stages of cognitive moral development?
Chapter 6, p. 169
Which of the following is not an advantage of having a comprehensive code of conduct?
p. 225
Trying to pinpoint who is responsible for environmental degradation is not always easy, especially when it involves _____.
Chapter 12, p. 354
The importance of a decision in the eyes of an organisation relates to which part of the ethical decision-making framework?
p. 125
Power distance dimension refers to the “power inequality” between superiors and subordinates. Which of the following countries probably ranks high on the power distance scale?
p. 275
Business ethics contributes to investor loyalty.
Chapter 1, Check your EQ
Many studies have shown that trust and ethical conduct contribute to investor loyalty
Which moral philosophy considers an act to be morally right or acceptable if it produces some desired result?
Chapter 6, p. 157, Table 6-1, A Comparison of the Philosophies Used in Business Decisions p. 158
