Business Ethics Study Guide

What is the best description for what it means to be a professional of integrity?

Having an ethical mindset in business

What is ethics?

Standards of behavior for professional and personal lives

Why do businesses care about ethics?

To uphold honorable standards of behavior

What most likely contributes to a corporation's positive work atmosphere over the long term?

Being committed to ethical business practices

What are the universal principals of behavior?

Honesty and integrity

The environment is not considered a stakeholder. T or F?

False

Goodwill only applies to shareholders, and it is the amount of money a shareholder could make after selling a holding in a company. T or F?

False

Most admired companies are typically the least profitable. T or F?

False

The prevailing current business philosophy is that the sole purpose of business is to make money for shareholders. T or F?

False

Consumer feedback on social media sites does not affect a company's prospects or status as ethical. T or F?

False

For utilitarianism, the intent of the actors and how humanely people are treated are the determining factors. T or F?

False

Individual's, in Aristotle's view, are the most basic ethical unit. T or F?

True

Virtue emphasizes the formation of character. T or F?

True

Laws and regulations set the maximum standards by which society lives out ethical norms. T or F?

False

Morality, as considered by Kant, _____________?

Embraces freedom and a sense of divinity.

The advantage of justice theory over other ethical systems is its______________?

Emphasis on method as opposed to content.

Virtue ethics is an ethical system based on the exercise of which virtues?

Courage, honor, and loyalty

Ethics are the ____________ to which we hold ourselves accountable in our professional and personal lives.

Standards of behavior

What best exemplifies what Ancient Athenian ethicists believed?

Ethics is the guiding principle for dealing with others

How did Aristotle reconcile his distrust of business?

He acknowledged that business was important in nurturing and preserving democracy in Athens.

CSR and greenwashing are the same concepts. T or F?

False

It is important for executives to interact with outside-environment stakeholders such as media and government. T or F?

True

The most important function of the board of directors is to hire the president or chief executive officer. T or F?

True

All stakeholders must be treated the same. T or F?

False

What is the opposing views of how large, publicly held corporations should approach social responsibility and ethics?

Business should behave ethically, being responsible to all stakeholders.

What are the Starbucks' stakeholders?

Milk producers, urban and suburban communities, and coffee and tea growers.

What is not a stakaholder of a nonprofit business?

Competitors

What is an example that best demonstrates the burden of the social contract that companies have with shareholders?

Samsung's recall paid refunds and limited potential lawsuits.

What was the reason for Scarlett Johansson's withdrawal from a recent movie?

Her portrayal of the character offended stakeholders

What best relates to prioritizing stakeholders?

Customers are considered high-priority stakeholders.

Sustainability is a short-term approach to the interaction between business activity, environmental responsibility, and social impact on the environment and other stakeholders. T or F?

False

Social responsibility does not have to mean being unprofitable. T or F?

True

The concept of limited liability means the owners of corporations are protected by laws stating that, in most circumstances, their losses in case of business failure cannot exceed the amount they paid for their shares of ownership. T or F?

True

What court decision rules that corporate and nonprofit business entities may seek to persuade the voting public by spending an unlimited amount of money on political advertisements?

Citizens United

What is "pay-to-pollute" system that charges a fee or tax to those who discharge carbon into the air?

Carbon tax

A "moral minimum" means what?

Actions a firm undertakes to satisfy the base threshold for acting ethically.

How is the concept of corporate personhood defined?

The doctrine that a corporation has some of the same legal rights and responsibilities enjoyed by natural persons

What are the three components of the triple bottom line?

People, planet, and profit

Culture and ethics cannot be separated, because ethical norms have been established over time by, and make sense to, people who share the same background, language, and customs. T or F?

True

During the Industrial Revolution and the postindustrial era, the goal of business was to earn as high a profit as possible for shareholders, with little concern for outside stakeholders. T or F?

True

Even in business, ethics is not about human morality but rather about human consumption. T or F?

False

Unless key leaders have a vision for the organization and themselves, and a path to achieving it, there can be no balance of beliefs about profitability and responsibility, or integration of business with culture. T or F?

True

Religion's role in business is less certain today; we are perhaps more likely to see a universal, secular code of ethics develop than to see religion served as a common ground for different cultures to come together. T or F?

False

Businesses that wish to achieve the dual goal of human flourishing and responsible profits should model which ethical behavior?

Humanistic business model

What best defines consumerism?

The lifestyle characterized by the acquisition of goods and services.

Which commercial transaction in the New World exemplifies the complexity that results when different cultures, experiences, and ethical codes come into contact?

The "purchase" of Manhattan

South Korean companies like LG and Samsung employ 52,000 workers in the United States, and many U.S. companies now manufacture their products abroad. This is an example of________?

Globalization

What is the best definition for moral agency?

The freedom and ability to make choices based on one's perception of right and wrong

In a company, if the majority has voted to be represented by a union, the workers must join and do not have the chance to opt out. T or F?

False

A woman with the same direction, experience, and skills, doing the same job as a man, is still likely to earn less, at all levels from bottom to top. T or F?

True

The two complaints most frequently filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which strives to eliminate racial, gender, and religious discrimination in the workplace, are sexual harassment and racial harassment. T or F?

True

OSHA does not have the authority to levy criminal fines against companies that commit serious violations. T or F?

False

Finding of the Center for Financial Services studies indicate that employee financial stress permeates the workplaces of virtually all industries and professions. T or F?

True

Whose responsibility is it to prevent harassment in the workplace?

Management

The unwelcome touching, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature from a supervisor, coworker, client, or customer is known as____________?

Sexual Harassment

In the U.S., the pay of a person with a high status in the workplace, such as a CEO, is, on average, ______________ times higher then the pay of an average worker at the same company.

300

What is a positive attribute of unions from a manager's perspective?

Unions create a formal dispute resolution process for workers.

What is the difference between nominal wage and real wage?

Nominal wage represents the actual amount of money a worker earns per hour; real wage represents the nominal wage adjusted for inflation.

The common law (case law) of agency at the state level is often the source of the rules governing an employment relationship. T or F?

True

The first Amendment protects employees at work who criticize their boss or their company. T or F?

False

A good employee should care about the way he or she treats customers. T or F?

True

U.S. firms and their employees are allowed to use bribery in other countries if allowed by local legal and cultural differences. T or F?

False

In the new "gig" economy, people who work for themselves are known as what?

Freelance workers

Everyone has different "workplace" personalities, which often express what?

The way we think and act on the job

If you decide to report an employer to a governmental entity for violating the law, you are a _____________?

Whistleblower

What is especially important for developing and maintaining employee loyalty to the brand?

Empowerment

An employee who works in the graphic design department of a large advertising agency most likely cannot moonlight after business hours for a friend's_________.

Web design business

What best describes info that has economic value because it is not generally known to the public and is kept secret by reasonable means?

Trade secrets

The law requires that an employee disclose having a particular "disability" or needing a particular "reasonable accommodation" under the Americans for Disabilities Act when requesting some type of assistance. T or f?

False

The gap in earnings between the affluent upper class in the U.S. an the rest of the nation continues to grow every year. T or F?

True

All states in the U.S. have some form of laws to protect animals. T or F?

True

For consumer product testing, which is controversial, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires that animal tests be conducted to demonstrates the safety of cosmetics. T or F?

False

Cases of workplace discrimination can be based on cultural heritage or religion. T or F?

True

Title VII of the CRA, which governs nondiscrimination, mandates four tenets that all employers should follow. What are tenets?

Nondiscrimination, nonharassment, reasonable accommodation

What best describes income inequality?

The imbalance in the distribution of income among people within an economy

The entitlement of nonhuman animals to ethical treatment is referred to as____________.

Animal rights

What county has the most significant regulatory oversight of animal testing?

United Kingdom

Businesses can best help workers move to, or stay in, the middle class by doing what?

Raising their own minimum wage

In some cases, start-up founders can achieve "rock star status." T or F?

True

Consumer responsibility is diminished if advertising is directed toward children. T or F?

True

Even after a founder leaves a successful business, the philosophy and principles become enmeshed in the company lore. T or F?

True

Companies always stick with the same leadership ethos throughout the years as they grow. T or F?

False

What does an entrepreneur typically need to be willing to do to start a business?

Select a product or service that will be sustainable.

Max Weber characterized the private economy as what?

A money economy is a presupposition of bureaucracy.

How can a company be nimble?

Adapt to change and risk identification

What best defines entrepreneurial culture?

Combination of management style and personality

Why do people buy products that are harmful to them?

People desire these products even if they do not need them

Puffery refers to what?

Exaggerated claims

Companies should have written policies for telecommuting employees that specify communications expectations. T or F?

True

Stressed workers are less productive in the workplace. T or F?

True

There is a prevailing view that all employees offering more perks do so because they expect more from employees. T or F?

False

Flextime is a practical way to job share. T or F?

False

Automation advancements are likely to result in reduction in the workforce and higher unemployment. T or F?

True

What is a good example of bias against work start-time flexibility, of flextime?

Managers view early starters as more motivated.

What percent of employees report having high amounts of stress?

25%

What corporate culture challenge exists when employees are allowed to work remotely?

Employees may slack off if not supervised.

What percentage of workplace activities could be automated with artificial intelligence?

50%

What is a positive workplace safety outcome from the use of robots?

Employees can be protected from dangerous work.