Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing key business ethics concepts across Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12, covering ethics programs, global business issues, ethical leadership, and technological disruptions.

Technology

The application of scientific knowledge to solve real-world problems efficiently, characterized by reach and self-sustaining growth.

Technology Disruption

A condition occurring when new innovations replace existing systems and habits.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The system of connected devices (such as smartphones, virtual assistants, and wearable technology) that can send and receive information over the internet.

Predictive Analytics

The practice of applying advanced tools to historical data to forecast future events and provide data-backed decision options.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Technology that enables machines to learn and perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence by utilizing algorithms and data.

Algorithm

A set of rules providing step-by-step instructions for problem solving.

Generative AI

A branch of artificial intelligence designed to create new content based on input received from text, images, video, or audio.

Big Data

Vast volumes of structured and unstructured data that require processing and analysis at very high speeds using advanced software.

Blockchain

A decentralized recordkeeping technology that maintains an immutable ledger of data blocks over time, increasing transparency and security.

Roboethics

A field concerning the design and implementation of an ethical code of conduct programmed directly into the artificial intelligence of a robot; also known as machine ethics.

AI and Its Enablers

A model showing Artificial Intelligence supported by core technological enablers: Big Data, Blockchain, Drones, and Robotics.

Right to Be Forgotten

A European Union ruling providing internet users a formal process to request the removal of unwanted links from Google search engine results.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

A U.S. law directing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish and enforce regulations governing children's online data privacy.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

A U.S. law enacted in 1998 to protect copyrighted digital and creative works distributed over the internet.

Costs of an Adverse Cyber Event

A framework mapping incident costs across magnitude and difficulty of quantification, ranging from easily quantified costs (forensics, penalties) to highly difficult intangible costs (reputational damage, loss of IP, increased cost of capital).

Digital Divide

The gap in access to information and communication technology among various social, geographic, and geopolitical groups.

Bioethics

The study of ethical issues and applications arising in medicine, healthcare, biotechnology, and the environment.

Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)

A corporate executive charged with formulating and executing organizational policies and procedures to ensure data privacy protection.

Technology Assessment

A procedure utilized by organizations to foresee and evaluate the potential impacts of new systems, products, and processes on business operations and stakeholders.

Ethical Leadership

The primary focus of Chapter 11 in Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (14th Edition) by O.C. Ferrell, John Fraedrich, and Linda Ferrell.

Moral Agent

The status of a corporation within society, making it accountable for fulfilling specific social functions and adhering to legal and ethical restraints.

Compliance Orientation

An organizational control system that enforces order by requiring employees to adhere to specific legal statutes, contracts, and penalties for noncompliance.

Values Orientation

An organizational control system that builds a shared set of organizational values, providing employees with a guiding ethical baseline to make decisions.

Code of Ethics

A formal document composed of general, aspirational statements and foundational principles that underpin organizational conduct.

Code of Conduct

A regulatory internal document that outlines acceptable and unacceptable behaviors expected of organizational members.

Value Statement

An organizational declaration outlining top priorities, designed to communicate fundamental commitments to the general public and stakeholders.

Ethics Officer

A high-ranking executive who manages ethics and legal compliance initiatives, updates codes, runs training, and investigates potential misconduct.

Ethics Audit

A systematic, documented assessment of an organization's ethics program and performance metrics to determine overall compliance and effectiveness.

Balanced Scorecard

A performance management framework that tracks organizational performance across financial and nonfinancial perspectives at four levels: strategy review, operations review, business unit, and individual employee.

Triple Bottom Line

A corporate performance framework evaluating social, environmental, and financial impacts, commonly summarized as the three Ps: Profits, People, and Planet.

ESG

An evaluation framework assessing a company’s operational impacts, risks, and standards across Environmental, Social, and Governance dimensions.

ESG Framework Example

A diagram mapping environmental criteria (biodiversity, climate change, pollution), social factors (human rights, labor standards, customer responsibility), and governance pillars (tax transparency, risk management, anti-corruption).

ISO 37301

A global management system standard providing prescriptive guidelines and requirements for designing, implementing, evaluating, and improving a compliance management system.

Global Business

Commerce involving individuals and organizations across different countries with diverse cultural backgrounds, regulatory systems, and ethical standards.

National Culture

The comprehensive set of human-made surroundings within a society, encompassing physical artifacts as well as intangible values, beliefs, and behavioral norms.

Individualism/Collectivism Dimension

A cultural metric measuring whether individuals in a society act predominantly from a self-oriented perspective or prioritize group cohesion.

Power Distance Dimension

A cultural dimension describing the perceived social and organizational inequality between authority figures and subordinates.

Uncertainty Avoidance

A cultural metric describing how comfortable or threatened members of a society feel when confronted with ambiguous or unpredictable situations.

Self-Reference Criterion (SRC)

The unconscious tendency to evaluate other cultures, behaviors, and ideas through the lens of one’s own ingrained cultural values and background.

Cultural Relativism

The philosophical belief that concepts of right and wrong are not universal, but rather determined and defined by the cultural context of each individual society.

Workplace Pressure to Bend Rules

A survey chart documenting the proportion of workers experiencing pressure to compromise ethics standards or the law, led by South America ($37\%$) and North America ($31\%$).

Risk Compartmentalization

A condition in which corporate profit centers operate in isolation, failing to recognize how their individual actions affect the overall risks of the firm as a whole.

Laissez-Faire

The economic doctrine linked to Adam Smith's 'invisible hand,' proposing that open market forces naturally maintain economic equilibrium without direct governmental intervention.

Socialism

An economic theory advocating for an equitable distribution of wealth and power across society based on the amount of labor contributed to production.

Social Democracy

An economic structure allowing private property ownership while utilizing strong government involvement to provide broad public services like universal healthcare and education.

Bimodal Wealth Distribution

An economic condition where the middle class diminishes, leading to high concentrations of wealth among the affluent alongside an expanding population living in poverty.

Rational Economics

An economic perspective assuming people act with predictable rationality, have full access to relevant information, and consistently maximize self-utility.

Behavioral Economics

An economic model asserting that human decision-making is often irrational due to emotions, cognitive biases, learned behaviors, and heuristics.

Economic Capitalism Country Differential

A matrix mapping nations on a grid defined by Capitalism versus Socialism on the vertical axis and Behavioral Economics versus Rational Economics on the horizontal axis.

Multinational Corporation (MNC)

A public enterprise operating on a global scale across multiple borders without exclusive reliance on any single home nation.

United Nations Global Compact

A voluntary initiative outlining 10 universal principles covering human rights, labor rights, environmental sustainability, and anti-corruption.

Rules-Based Accounting Standards

Precise, highly structured accounting rules (such as US GAAP) requiring strict compliance with exact wording to facilitate straightforward data comparisons and lower litigation risks.

Principles-Based Accounting Standards

Flexible reporting frameworks (such as IFRS) requiring professionals to adhere to broad conceptual principles and exercise sound professional judgment rather than follow strict rules.

Bribery

The act of giving money, gifts, or favors to an authority figure to secure an illicit business advantage.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

A U.S. federal law making it illegal for American companies to make corrupt payments or bribes to foreign government officials to win or retain business contracts.

Vertical System

A distribution channel setup where a single player (manufacturer, distributor, or retailer) commands authority over the entire supply channel through contracts, ownership, or market power.

Living Wage

The baseline income needed for an employee to afford standard basic living expenses within their local community.

Consumerism

An economic outlook positing that society's structure should serve consumer interests, associating personal well-being with continuous consumption of material products.

Made-to-Break

A business strategy involving the intentional engineering of products to wear out or become obsolete rapidly so consumers must repurchase them; also known as planned obsolescence.