Ethics Final Revised 2

Corporate social responsibility is best defined as:

The duty of a corporation to create wealth in ways that avoid harm, protect others, or enhance societal assets As of 2026, which statement about ESG implementation in the United States is accurate?

1953: Bowen's "Social Responsibilities of the Businessman"

The milestone marking early foundations of Corporate Social Responsibility.

1994: John Elkington

The year and author who coined the term "Triple Bottom Line."

2004: "Who Cares Wins" Report

The UN-backed report that officially coined the term "ESG."

EU CSRD Omnibus (2026)

A retrenchment move that narrowed the scope of European double materiality reporting to firms with over 1,000 staff.

Creating Shared Value (CSV)

A CSR strategy focused on strengthening stakeholders to strengthen the firm by rethinking products, value chains, and industry clusters.

Heterotopia

A physical and mental space completely separated from the norms, values, and oversight of mainstream society.

Sadism (in an organizational context)

An ethical orientation based entirely on the convenience and pleasure of individuals in power, devoid of reciprocity and degrading to non-elites.

Burn Pits

Unregulated open-air landfills in Iraq and Afghanistan where contractors used jet fuel to incinerate human, chemical, and medical waste near living quarters.

Sergeant Brian Alvarado

A former Marine who dropped from 146 to 116 pounds and requires a feeding tube due to severe illnesses from burn pit exposure.

"Military Bearing" Justification

The arbitrary excuse used by a unit commander to forbid gate guards from wearing protective masks near the burn pits.

Unequal value of harm

The theme illustrated when a senior officer's food poisoning resulted in immediate action, while junior enlisted burn pit victims were completely ignored.

Secret Pentagon Metric

An unpublished, non-peer-reviewed standard used by the military to falsely justify safe human exposure levels to the burn pits.

Restorying

An act of resistance used in the autoethnography to give voice to the voiceless and regain control over the burn pit narrative.

Supremacy Clause (State vs. Federal Law)

A state may set a stricter standard (e.g., emissions) than the federal one, as long as it furthers the federal law's intent Market Flaws (Reasons for Gov. Intervention)

What was the main long-run effect of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, according to the lecture?

Other countries retaliated with their own tariffs, shrinking foreign markets for U.S. goods

Under the WTO's Most Favored Nation principle

A trade privilege, such as a tariff cut, granted to one WTO member must be extended to all members

Which of the following best describes franchising, as opposed to licensing?

A local business pays for the trademark and is trained in the company's methods, tools, and processes

The Transnationality Index (TNI) is calculated as the average of which three ratios?

Foreign assets ÷ total assets, foreign sales ÷ total sales, and foreign employment ÷ total employment

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, which invests oil revenue in global stocks to fund future pensions, is the lecture's example of:

Avoiding the resource curse through long-term portfolio investment

In the lecture, "bluewashing" refers to:

Signing on to the UN Global Compact halfheartedly to project a responsible image while changing little

What is DiMaggio and Powell's central argument about why organizations are becoming more similar?

The engine of rationalization has shifted from market competition to the state and the professions, so similarity no longer guarantees efficiency

DiMaggio and Powell define an "organizational field" as:

Organizations that together make up a recognized area of institutional life: key suppliers, consumers, regulators, and producers of similar products

On a consultant's advice, a public TV station switched to a multidivisional structure. Its executives doubted the change was more efficient but hoped it would make the station look "more business-minded." This best illustrates:

Mimetic isomorphism

According to DiMaggio and Powell, normative isomorphism stems primarily from:

Professionalization: formal university education, professional networks, and the filtering of personnel

Hypothesis A-1 states that the greater an organization's dependence on another organization, the more similar it becomes to that organization. Which organization is MOST likely to become like another, by this hypothesis?

A supplier that depends heavily on a single large customer

In the study of U.S. civil-service reform that DiMaggio and Powell cite, what pattern did they highlight?

Early adoption was predicted by each city's own characteristics, while later adoption reflected institutional definitions of the legitimate form

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs Ethical consumerism

McKinsey's definition of Diversity

The representation of diverse talent in an organization, primarily measured by gender and ethnic/cultural percentages on executive teams and boards

McKinsey's definition of Inclusion

The actual workplace experience of employees, encompassing equality, openness, and belonging

Equality (Inclusion Indicator)

Fairness and transparency in promotions, pay, recruitment, and equal access to sponsorship

Openness (Inclusion Indicator)

An organizational culture where people treat each other with respect, and where bias, bullying, and microaggressions are actively tackled

Belonging (Inclusion Indicator)

An outcome where employees feel supported, connected to their community, and able to bring their "whole selves" to work

Outside-in Sentiment Analysis

McKinsey's method of analyzing public Glassdoor and Indeed employee reviews using natural language processing to measure true inclusion sentiment

Correlation vs. Causation (McKinsey Data Limit)

The limitation that McKinsey's data proves diverse companies are more likely to be profitable, but cannot definitively prove that diversity directly causes the higher profitability

Diversity Leaders

The cohort of companies showing sustained I&D improvement, taking a systematic, business-led approach, and approaching parity

Fast Movers

The cohort of companies showing exceptional I&D improvement off a previously very low baseline

Resting on Laurels

The cohort of companies that started with high diversity in 2014 but made no progress or slipped backward by 2019 (e.g., many healthcare firms)

Laggards

The cohort of companies whose already low diversity declined further, typically due to a lack of data and fragmented, bottom-up initiatives

Line vs. Staff Roles

A limitation in diversity metrics where women may have high executive representation overall, but only one-third actually occupy direct, profit-influencing decision-making positions