business management chapter 4

Which of the following is NOT a weakness of the rationalization, "I was just following orders" that employees sometimes use to justify unethical conduct?

Authority figures in the organization are a powerful influence.

judge an action by whether it infringes on individual rights or universal principles, such as the Golden Rule, equality, or justice.

Deontologists

Which of the following statements about business ethics is false?

It concerns the impact of a business's activities on society.

Which of the following characteristics relates to business ethics?

Principles, values, and codes of conduct that define acceptable behavior in business

What name is given to the obligation a business assumes to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on society?

Social responsibility

What is meant by consumerism?

The activities undertaken by independent individuals, groups, and organizations to protect their rights as consumers

The consumers of Enviroconscious, a Midwest city, demand a reduction in solid waste in their community, since their landfill is 90 percent full and leaking toxins into their water supply. They protest, however, when a recycling program increases their garbage pickup costs by 25 percent. This is an example of

an environmental tradeoff.

You are a kid who loves cookies, and your parents are gone for at least an hour. The cookie jar is full and is within easy reach on the shelf. Like every cookie-loving kid in the world, you can recognize

an opportunity.

All of the following are arguments in favor of social responsibility EXCEPT

businesses may lose their focus on profit-making.

An area in which businesses are beginning to take more responsibility for training and placement is with the

hard-core unemployed.

You fabricate a fabulous flivver that flies and floats with flair and finesse. It is the finest and fastest flying and floating flivver, ever. Despite its fine safety record, both flying and floating, one day you tell your 40 flivver-fabricating employees that the time has come to install a seat belt in the fabulous flivver. You do this because you

hope to head off increased government regulation.

In Japan, if a businessperson failed to bring a gift to a prospective client on their first meeting, he or she would be considered

impolite

The phrase caveat emptor means

let the buyer beware

You are the CEO of a money-losing lead-plating company, and you are a heavy polluter. A local EPA official tells you to begin cleaning up your pollution act, but two major stockholders tell you to clean up your financial act. Your first priority will probably be to

make a profit

Social responsibility is the obligation a business has to

maximize its positive impact on society and minimize its negative impact.

A set of principles that describe what a person believes is the right way to behave is called

moral philosophy

Although your employees are sometimes rude, abrasive, loud, and obnoxious, you unfailingly treat them with courtesy and respect. You have learned in your childhood to turn the other cheek. Your courteous behavior is the result of your

moral philosophy

For a company to maintain ethical behavior, its policies, rules, and standards to encourage ethical decision making

must be enforced by rewards for proper behavior and punishments for unacceptable behavior.

When a number of Chinese firms were found guilty of defects related to lead paint in toys, an ethical issue arose in the area of

operations and communications.

Compounding the waste disposal problem is the fact that more than 50 percent of all solid waste is comprised of , which do not decompose.

plastic goods

Your company has hired a group of 50 homeless persons as assembly-line workers. You talk to your managers about this program, and they tell you the formerly homeless workers are productive and fit in well, despite higher initial training costs. You have conducted an informal

social audit.

has become a leading issue in the 21st century as both business and the public acknowledge the damage done to the environment by past generations.

sustainability

Your fellow employees regularly take home company supplies such as paper, pens, tape, and glue for their personal use. Although you feel it is wrong to do so, you begin taking home company supplies too. The strongest influence on your behavior is

the overall moral climate of your organization.

When confronted with an ethical issue, the manager weighs the costs and benefits of the consequences of all possible alternatives, and then chooses the one that benefits the most people

utilitarian

According to research, the most important factor affecting daily ethical decisions at work is the

work group or the perceived ethicalness of the work group.