CH 5 - Ethics and Ethical Reasoning

According to a 2017 survey, Americans hold a dim view of:

Business executives.

An ethics issue based on cross-cultural contradictions is best illustrated by which example?

Legally marketing a pesticide abroad that has been banned in the U.S.

A recent study found that, compared to the 1980s, managers today place what importance on moral values, such as honesty and forgiveness?

Slightly more important.

People's ethical beliefs come from:

Their religious background, family, and education.

The reason(s) behind the uncertainty of an ethical or unethical decision is (are) that different people and groups:

All of these answers are correct. May honestly and genuinely use different sources of information. May rank various rights in different ways. May not share the same meaning of justice.

Why should business be ethical, according to Figure 5.1?

All of these answers are correct. Most people want to act in ways that are consistent with their own sense of right and wrong. Ethical behavior protects business firms from abuse by unethical employees and competitors. Society's stakeholders expect it from businesses.

Businesses are expected to be ethical in their relationships with:

All of these answers are correct. Stockholders. Customers. Competitors.

Mature adults typically base their ethical reasoning on broad principles and relationships such as:

Both of these answers are correct: Human rights and constitutional guarantees of human dignity; and universal principles of justice.

As an additional employee benefit to promote spirituality, companies have begun to provide employees with the services of:

Chaplains.

A purchasing agent directing her company's orders to a firm from which she received a valuable gift, is an example of:

Conflict of interest.

As business becomes increasingly global:

Cross-cultural contradictions will increase.

Cross-cultural contradictions arise due to:

Differences between home and host countries' ethical standards.

Because managers make major decisions, they have limited opportunity to influence the ethical tone of the firm.

False

Business cannot expect to be profitable while adhering to ethical principles of conduct.

False

Moral intensity refers to the perception of how illegal an ethical issue is.

False

Only in the last few years have scholars found a positive relationship between an organization's economic performance and attention to spiritual values.

False

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that firms maintain good financial practices, apart from high ethical standards, in how they conduct and monitor business operations.

False

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, corporations are required to:

Have executives vouch for the accuracy of a firm's financial reports.

Business managers need a set of ethical guidelines to help them:

Identify and analyze the nature of ethical problem.

People everywhere depend on ethical systems to tell them whether their actions are:

Right or wrong.

One factor in determining the moral intensity of an ethical issue is how quickly the consequences take effect, a factor that is known as:

Temporal immediacy.

A conception of right and wrong is:

The definition of ethics.

When the benefits of an action outweigh its costs, the action is considered ethically preferred according to:

Utilitarian reasoning.

Aristotle argued:

Moral virtue is a mean between two virtues.

Scholars found that spirituality affects employee and organizational performance in what way?

Positively.

Which statement characterizes the moral reasoning typically found in a child?

"I'll let you play with my toy if I play with yours."

In the case LafargeHolcim and ISIS in Syria, a utilitarian benefit of keeping the plant open was:

Employees received paychecks.

Managers in the same company are likely to be at the same stages of moral reasoning at any given time.

False

Under the U.S. Corporate Sentencing Guidelines, if a firm has developed a strong ethics program, corporate executives found guilty of criminal activity may have their sentence:

Reduced.

The U.S. Corporate Sentencing Guidelines provide a strong incentive for businesses to promote their ethics at work.

True

All of the following values are present in most ethical decisions except:

Be kind.

The main drawback to utilitarian reasoning is that:

It is difficulty to accurately measure both costs and benefits.

A high magnitude of consequences that increases the moral intensity of an ethical issue is best exemplified by which of the following?

A food product contaminated with salmonella was distributed to stores.

A just or fair ethical decision occurs when:

Benefits and burdens are distributed in fair proportions.

If all people relied on ethical relativism, there would be no universal ethical standards on which people around the globe could agree.

True

Ethics are primarily based on religious beliefs.

False

An ethical egoist acts for the benefit of others and sacrifices self-interest.

False

Business must develop its own definition of what is right and wrong, apart from ethics.

False

According to an annual Gallup poll, which occupation was consistently ranked the highest for honesty and ethics?

Nurses.

Which of the following is not true about justice reasoning?

The reasoner is interested in the net value of benefits.

Business managers should use all four methods of ethical reasoning—virtues, utility, rights, and justice—to better understand ethical issues at work.

True

Ethical ideas are present in all societies, all organizations, and all individual persons.

True

For managers who reason at stages 2 and 3, their personal rewards, recognition from others, or compliance with the company's rules become their main ethical compass.

True

At the core of rights reasoning is the belief that:

Respecting others is the essence of human rights.

According to utilitarian reasoning, an action is ethically preferred when its benefits outweigh its costs.

True