Business Ethics Ch. 1-3

Explain the term code of ethics

A company's written standards of ethical behavior that are designed to guide managers and employees in making decisions and choices they face every day.

explain the difference between a descriptive and prescriptive approach to business ethics.

A descriptive approach is simply documenting what is happening while the prescriptive is recommending what should be happening.

What is a moral compass, and how would you apply it?

A moral compass are your ethical standards that provide a sense of personal direction to guide you in the choices you make.

Explain the difference between intrinsic and instrumental values?

An intrinsic is a value that is a good thing in itself and is pursued for its own sake (like happiness, health and self-respect) While an instrumental value is when the pursuit of one value is the way to reach another value (money is valued for what it can buy rather than itself)

Explain the three-step process for resolving an ethical dilemma.

Analyze the consequences: Who will be helped by what you do? who will be harmed? What kind of benefits and harm are we talking about? How does all of this look over the long run as well as the short run? Analyze the actions: Consider all the options from a different perspective. How do the actions measure up aainst moral principles like honesty, fairness, equality, respecting the dignity of others, and people's rights? Make a decision: Take both parts of your analysis into account, and make a decision

Identify a key development in business ethics in the last five decades.

Business regulations mandate stronger ethical safeguards in the 90's.

List the three primary areas of the finance function in an organization

Financial transactions, accounting, and auditing

Explain how the accounting profession is governed by GAAP.

GAAP is a set of generally accepted accounting principles. These principles are accepted as standard operating procedures within the industry.

What are Kohlberg's three levels of moral development?

Preconventional Conventional Postconventional

Define the term corporate governance.

The system by which business corporations are directed and controlled

List the four types of ethical conflict.

Truth vs. Loyality Short term vs. Long term Justice vs. Mercy Individual vs. community

Explain why HR personnel might consider themselves to be the conscience of the organization.

if the right people are hired in the first place then many other problems are avoided down the road.

Identify a major ethical dilemma in the last five decades.

in the 1960's there were environmental and civil right issues.

explain the term business ethics.

involves the application of standards of moral behavior to business situations.

Which argument do you support?

it depends

explain why marketers feel that their involvement in the production and delivery of goods and services is an ethical one?

it justifies the methods because people that buys the products are satisfied with it.

identify six stakeholders of an organization

stockholders employees customers suppliers retailers federal government community

Define the term value chain.

the key functional inputs that an organization provides in the transformation of raw materials into a delivered product or service.

Define applied ethics

the study of how ethical theories are put into practice

Define ethical relativism.

the traditions of their society, their personal opinions, and the circumstances of the present moment define their ethical principles.

is the term business ethics an oxymoron? explain.

business ethics is not exactly an oxymoron but the business world has proven that there has been a lot of ethical dilemmas. I think a business can be ethical but it is determined by the specific business and who is running it.

Explain the term organizational culture.

values, beliefs, and norms shared by all the employees of that organization.

Why have ethics policies and ethics training suddenly become so important?

for legal matters

Give four examples of the cliches employees often hear when faced with an ethical dilemma.

1. Consult the company code of ethics 2. Do what's rightfor the organizations stakeholders 3. Do what is legal 4. Use your best judgement

List the four primary line functions

1. Human resource management 2. Finance, internal and external accounting personnel 3. information systems (IT) 4. Management

What are the six stages of development in those three levels?

1. Obedience and punishment orientation 2. individualism, instumentalism and exchange 3. good boy/nice girl orientation 4. law-and-order orientation 5. social contract 6. Principled conscience

List the five key functional areas within an organization.

1. Research and development (develops and creates new products) 2. Manufacturing (which sources the components and builds the product) 3. Marketing 4. Sales 5. Customer service

What are the eight questions you should consider in resolving an ethical dilemma?

1. What are the facts? 2. What can you guess about the facts you don't know? 3. What do the facts mean? 4. What does the problem look like through the eyes of the people involved? 5. What will happen if you choose one thing rather than another? 6. What do your feelings tell you? 7. What will you think of yourself if you decide one thing or another? 8. Can you explain and justify your decision to others?

What is the Golden Rule?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or treat others as you would like to be treated.

List the three principles available to you in resolving an ethical dilemma.

Ends-based: which decision would provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people Rules-based: What would happen if everyone made the same desision

List the four basic categories of ethics.

Simple truth ( right and wrong) Integrity (a question of someones personal character) Rules of appropriate individual behavior Rules of appropriate behavior for a community or society

give four examples of how stakeholders could be negatively impacted by unethical corporate behavior

Stockholders: loss of stock value employees: loss of employment customers: poor service quality Community: unemployment of local residents

Explain the opposing argument that marketing is an unethical process.

That they are selling products that people do not need, and how it is more misleading.

Define the term oxymoron and provide three examples.

The combination of two contradictory terms deafening silence jumbo shrimp

What is the definition of ethics?

The manner by which we try to live our lives according to a standard of "right" or "wrong" behavior-- in both how we think and behave toward others and how we would like them to think and behave toward us.

List the three basic ethical theories.

Virtue ethics Ethics for the greater good (utilitarianism) Universal ethics

Identify the limitations of each theory.

Virtue ethics: Societies can place different emphasis on different virtues Untilitarianism ethics: the idea that the ends justify the means. Universal ethics: no one is accountable for the consequences of the actions taken to abide by those principals

Provide an example of each theory in practice.

Virtue: Greek society valued wisdom, courage and justice while Christians value faith, hope and charity. utilitarianism: Hitler with having a national genocide to restore the Aryan race. Universal: Use of stem cells to research a cure for parkinsons disease. (both lives are valued, so what is the right choice?)

Why would audited accounts be regarded as being clean?

When the statements have been certified by an objective third party to be clean.

What is an ethical dilemma?

Where there is no obvious right or wrong decision but more so a right or right answer.