BLAW 400 Midterm 2

integrity

one of the most important elements of virtue; refers to being whole, sound, and in unimpaired condition; implies a balanced organization that not only makes ethical financial decisions but also is ethical in the more subjective aspects of its corporate culture

honesty

refers to truthfulness or trustworthiness

dishonesty

a lack or absence of integrity, incomplete disclosure, and an unwillingness to tell the truth

fairness

the quality of being just, equitable, and impartial

equality

refers to the fair and even distribution of benefits and resources

reciprocity

an interchange of giving and receiving in social relationshipso

optimization

the trade-off between equity (equality) and efficiency (maximum productivity)

ethical issue

a problem, situation, or opportunity that requires an individual, group, or organization to choose among several actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong, ethical or unethical

ethical dilemma

a problem, situation, or opportunity that requires an individual, group, or organization to choose among several actions that have negative outcomes

abusive or intimidating behavior

common ethical problem, may refer to physical threats, false accusations, profanity, insults, etc.

lying

untruthfulness that can be joking without malice, commission lying, or omission lying

conflict of interest

when an individual must choose whether to advance his or her own interests, those of the organization, or those of some other group

bribery

the practice of offering something (often money) in order to gain an illicit advantage from someone in authority

active bribery

when the person who promises or gives the bribe commits the offense

passive bribery

offense committed by the official who receives the bribe

facilitiation payments

payments made to obtain or retain business or other improper advantages that do not constitute bribery payments for U.S. companies in some situations

corporate intelligence

the collection and analysis of information on markets, technologies, customers, and competitors, as well as on socioeconomic and external political trends

discrimination

prejudices based on race, color, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, public assistance status, disability, age, national origin, or veteran status; illegal in the U.S.

equal employment opportunity commission (eeoc)

federal agency that protects against workplace discrimination

age discrimination in employment act

outlaws hiring practices that discriminate against people of 40 yrs or older, as well as those that require employees to retire before the age of 70

affirmative action programs

involves effort to recruit, hire, train, and promote qualified individuals from groups that have traditionally been discrimination against on the basis of race, gender, or other characteristics

sexual harassment

any repeated, unwanted behavior of a sexual nature perpetrated upon one individual by another

hostile work environment

three criteria must be met: (1) the conduct was unwelcome (2) the conduct was severe, pervasive, and regarded by the claimant as so hostile or offensive as to alter his or her conditions of employment (3) the conduct was such that a reasonable person would find it hostile or offensive

dual relationship

a personal, loving, and/or sexual relationship with someone with whom you share professional responsibilities

fraud

any purposeful communications that deceives, manipulates, or conceals facts in order to harm others

accounting fraud

inaccurate information in a corporation’s financial reports, in which companies provide important information on which investors and others base decisions

marketing fraud

dishonestly creating, distributing, promoting, and pricing products

puffery

exaggerated advertising and boasting upon which no reasonable buyer would rely

implied falsity

a message that has a tendency to mislead, confuse, or deceive the public

literally false

when advertising says that tests prove (establishment claims), when the advertisement cites a study that establishes the claim; and bald assertions (non-establishment claims), when the advertisement makes a claim that cannot be substantiated

consumer fraud

when consumers attempt to deceive businesses for their own gain

insider training

the buying or selling of stocks by insiders who possess information that is not yet public

crisis management

the process of handling a high-impact event characterized by ambiguity and the need for swift action to access and respond to potential damage

ethical awareness

the ability to perceive whether a situation or decision has an ethical dimension

ethical issue intensity

the relevance or importance of an event or decision in the eyes of the individual, work group, and/or organization

moral intensity

individuals’ perceptions of social pressure and the harm they believe their decision will have on others

gender

in ethical decision making, research shows that in many aspects there are no differences between men and women

education

a significant factor in the ethical decision-making process; generally the more education or work experience people have, the better they are at making ethical decisions

nationality

the legal relationship between a person and the country in which they are born

age

an individual factor that has a complex relationship with business ethics

locus of control

individual differences in relation to a generalized belief about how one is affected by internal vs external events or reinforcements

external control

individuals with this locus of control see themselves as going with the flow because that is all they can do (life events are due to uncontrollable forces)

internal control

individuals with this locus of control believe they control the events in their lives by their own effort and skill; they view themselves as masters of their destinies and trust in their capacity to influence their environment

corporate culture

the shared beliefs top managers in a company have about how they should manage themselves and other employees, and how they should conduct their business(es)

ethical culture

acceptable behavior, defined by the company and industry

significant others

those who have influence in a work group, including peers, managers, coworkers, and subordinates

obedience to authority

a reason employees resolve business ethics issues by simply following the directives of a superior

opportunity

the conditions in an organization that limit or permit ethical or unethical behavior

immediate job context

where individuals work, whom they work with, and the nature of the work

normative approaches

how organizational decision makers should approach an issue

instrumental concern

focuses on positive outcomes, including firm profitability and benefits to society

institutional theory

theory that organizations operate according to taken-for-granted institutional norms and rules (ex: government, religion, and education influence creation of values, norms, and conventions)

veil of ignorance

a thought experiment that examined how individuals would formulate principles if they did not know their future position in society would be

equality principle

states that each person has basic rights that are compatible to the basic liberties of others

difference principle

states that economic and social equalities or inequalities should be arranged to provide the most benefit to the least-advantaged members of society

organizational culture

shared values, norms, and artifacts that influence employees and determine behavior

sarbanes-oxley 404

requires firms to adopt a set of values that forms a portion of the company’s culture

apathetic culture

minimal concern for either people or performance

caring culture

high concern for people but minimal concern for performance issues

exacting culture

little concern for people but a high concern for performance

integrative culture

high concern for people and performance

cultural audit

assessment of an organization’s values

compliance culture

a legalistic approach to ethics: codes of conduct established with compliance as their focus, revolves around risk management, lack of long-term focus on values and integrity

values-based ethics culture

relies on an explicit mission statement that defines the core values of the firm and how customers and employees should be treated (top-down integrity approach with shared values, norms that provide guides for behavior, and visible artifacts such as codes of ethics that provide a standard of conduct)

differential association

the idea that people learn ethical or unethical behavior while interacting with others who are part of their role-sets or belong to other intimate personal groups

whistle-blowing

exposing an employer’s wrongdoing to outsiders such as the media or government regulatory agencies

qui tam relator

an employee who provides information to the government about a company’s wrongdoing under the federal false claims act

centralized organization

decision-making authority is concentrated in the hands of top-level managers, and little authority is delegated to lower levels

decentralized organization

decision-making authority is delegated as far as down the chain of command as possible

formal group

an assembly of individuals with an organized structure that is explicitly accepted by the group (ex: committee, work groups, teams)

informal group

two or more individuals with a common interest but without an explicit organizational structure

group norms

standards of behavior groups expect of their members