Homework - BA 388: Globalization and Business Environment
Which statement characterizes the moral reasoning typically found in a child?
"I'll let you play with my toy if I play with yours."
A bottom-line mentality in business is reflected in which statement?
"We have to beat the others at all costs."
Give an example and explain why stakeholder materiality is important to both the company and its stakeholders.
- Adaption of an accounting term that focuses on the importance or significance of something - Used to help identify stakeholders and their importance/ relevance by analyzing websites, CSR, mission statements etc - Helps companies identify highly influential groups to the issue and what will have the greatest impact
Provide three arguments in favor of corporate social responsibility.
- Availability of resources with Business: Business enterprises have huge financial resources, very efficient managers & contacts and thereby they can ensure that a social problem can be solved easily. - Converting problems into opportunities: Business means risk. And turning risky situations into profits can also be related to solving social problems. - Holding Business responsible for Social problems: Business enterprises are responsible for many problems such as pollution, discriminated employment, corruption, etc. It is the duty of the business to solve the problems created by them.
Income inequality has grown in the United States since the 1980s. In what ways do businesses contribute to this trend? What, if anything, can businesses do to reduce income inequality?
- Businesses contribute to this in that some businesses are enormously succesful and this means that the owners and its immediate employees benefit from this. However for smaller businesses, success is harder to come buy and this widens the gap in income between businesses and people. - Businesses can reduce income inequality by employing all workers at a standardized industry set wage and also to record all their income and conduct less cash transactions. Busineses can also send less of their work abroad to subsidiaries and keep more of their work within the US. This will allow US workers to earn more income and help reduce income inequality.
Define and discuss the six stages of moral development. What is the ethics referent at each stage? What is the basis of ethics reasoning at each stage?
- Childhood Stage 1: punishment avoidance: avoid harm, obedience to power Ego-centered reasoning - Adolescence, youth Stage 2: Reward seeking: self-interest, own needs, reciprocity Ego-centered reasoning - Early Adulthood, adolescence Stage 3: Social groups: friends, school, coworkers, family Group centered reasoning - Early Adulthood, adolescence Stage 3: Social groups: friends, school, coworkers, family Group centered reasoning - Mature adulthood Stage 5: Moral beliefs above and beyond specific social custom: human rights, social construct, broad constitutional Ethics are primarily based on religious beliefs.principles Principle-centered reasoning - Mature adulthood Stage 6: Universal principles: justice, fairness, universal rights Principle centered reasoning
Supporters of the stakeholder theory of the firm make three core arguments for their position. Define and provide examples of each.
- Descriptive: view is more realistic on how companies really work. Example: Wall Street. Managers must pay close attention to their quarterly and annual financial performance. -Instrumental: stakeholder management is more effective as a corporate strategy. Example: Mike Trout doing a Subway commercial. He not only is making money but he's also advertising Subway. -Normative: simply the right thing to do. Example: When skilled Microsoft worker who solves a difficult programming problem. They have a moral right to some claim on the corporations rewards.
How are firms honored for their efforts to create an ethical climate? Provide examples of role model companies and what efforts they took to develop effective ethics programs.
- HCL: adopted an Environment Management Policy under HCL EcoSafe, recovering and recycling products in an environmentally responsible manner. - McDonalds:it's restaurant's napkins; bags are made of recycled paper - Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. has taken steps for restricting air and water pollutants
Identify and compare the four reasons why governments turn to regulation as a way to solve their problems.
-Market failure: The marketplace fails to adjust prices for the true cost of a firm's behavior. Ex: minimum antipollution standard since there is no demand for pollution control equipment. -Negative externalities: Result when the manufacture or distribution of a product gives rise to unintended costs to customers. Ex: Patients took Vioxx and emerged with cardiovascular risk. -Natural monopolies: Company creates a product or service pushing away all other competitors. Ex: electric utility industry -Ethical arguments: Deals with the ethical part of the way businesses run and operate. Ex: Food companies providing info so consumers know how healthy the food is that they are eating.
What could the United States government do about the out of control costs of regulation and the staffing of regulatory agencies in the United States?
-The test of cost-benefit analysis...The government could lower the control of pollution and lower the watch on safety for work environments. They could also higher less people to lower the cost. -Deregulation: removal or scaling down of regulatory authority and regulatory activities of the government. This was a popular idea in the 1980's, which was campaigned by Ronald Reagan. -Reregulation: Increase or expansion of government regulation, especially in areas where the regulatory activities have been reduced.
How do governments seek to cooperate with or oppose business? Does it matter whether the government is legitimately elected or has illegitimately acquired power?
-They find businesses with similar goals and work together to achieve them. Countries within Asia and Europe work together as a "family" that benefits both society and the government. -When a major crisis occurs is another good time for businesses to work together to make the process easier. Sometimes the businesses goals and objectives are at odds resulting in an adversarial relationship causing them to work at arms length from each other. -Political leaders may illegally assume lawmaking power, which can lead to economic power over businesses. Elections can be rigged or military force can be used to acquire governmental control. -Business managers are challenged with the dilemma of doing business in such a country where their business dealings would support this illegitimate power.
Describe the roles of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization as international financial and trade institutions.
-World Bank: set up in 1944 to provide economic loans to its member nations. It motivation was war-torn economies in Europe. -International Monetary Fund: World Bank's sister organization. Its purpose is to make currency exchange easier for countries so that cab participate in global trade. -World Trade Organization: founded as a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Objective is to promote free trade in order to eliminate barriers to trade among nations.
What is a stakeholder map? Why is it a useful tool?
-it is a graphical representation of the relationship of stakeholder salience to a particular issue. -vertical= salience of stakeholder horizontal= "for" or "against" -this is useful because it shows the position of various stakeholders on an issue.
Identify the eight strategic radar screens that enable public affairs managers to scan their business environment. Briefly discuss the issues involved with each environment.
1. Identify the issue- involves anticipating emerging concerns that may become an issue. 2. Analyze issue- In the long run, how is the issue going to evolve and how is it going to affect them. 3. Generate options- they must generate, evaluate and then select among their possible options. They must use complex problem solving skills while also remaining ethical. 4. Take action- once an option has been chosen the organization must design and implement a plan of action. 5. Evaluate results- must continue to assess the results and make adjustments as necessary.
There are four reasons stated in the textbook as to why ethical problems occur in business. Identify the nature of each ethical problem and the typical approach taken in response to the problem.
1. Personal gain and self interest- egotistical mentality- they put their own welfare before others to promote their own personal gain. 2. Competitive pressures on profits - bottom-line mentality- price fixing or a violation of competition law. 3. Conflict of interest- "favoritism mentality" When an individual's self-interest conflicts with acting in the best interest of another, when the individual has an obligation to do so. 4. Cross cultural contradictions- ethnocentric mentality. Policymakers and strategic planners in all multinational corporations, regardless of the nation where they are head- quartered, face this kind of ethical dilemma
According to the United Nations, how many transnational corporations operate in the global economy?
104,000
The percentage of global wealth concentrated at the Bottom of the Pyramid is:
70 percent.
According to a Forbes study, what percentage of executives agreed that diversity encourages innovation?
85 percent.
What is a transnational corporation? How do these corporations operate in the global marketplace?
A Transnational corporation is a firm that controls assets abroad and operates the global marketplace because they produce GDP and employ 80 million workers. They have 9 times the amount of business relationships and stick to smaller but powerful firms to conduct global business.
Explain why a business should seek to balance its economic, legal and social obligations.
A business that can balance all 3 will be successful, and can develop strategies to enable those obligations to reinforce each other.
A society where economic power is concentrated in the hands of government officials and political authorities is called:
A central state control system.
Which of the following examples does not show a company guided by enlightened self-interest?
A company breaking past records by maximizing quarterly profits.
Which of the following companies is being the most socially responsible?
A company trying its best to operate in a way which will help local students get education and jobs.
The emergence of a public issue indicates that:
A gap has developed between what stakeholders expect and what an organization is actually doing.
Recently released workplace statistics for high tech companies reveal:
A majority of their workers are white or Asian.
Deregulation is often:
A politically popular idea.
What is a public issue and how do they impact modern firms?
A public issue is any issue that is of mutual concern to an organization and one or more of its stakeholders. If a firm does not plan or anticipate a public issue they can hurt the company, but if they recognize the public issue and address it, then they can gain the trust of customers. This can sometimes create a competitive advantage for themselves.
The Mullahs in Iran is an example of the power of government derived from:
A religious authority.
Which of the following is not an example of stakeholders' economic power?
A social group protests a government's decision to raise taxes.
Because of the risks and opportunities public issues present, organizations need:
A systematic way of identifying, monitoring, and selecting public issues.
Why does a diverse and inclusive workforce benefit a firm supporting a global market?
A variety of language skills serves the global customer base well.
A company can increase diversity and inclusion in the workforce by:
Accommodating family needs outside of work.
Which statement is not correct about the business-society interdependence?
Actions by governments rarely significantly affect business.
Executive Order 11246, established in 1965, mandates:
Affirmative action for all federal contractors and subcontractors.
Which of the following government rules on equal treatment of employees does not apply to businesses?
Affirmative action plans must be permanent
Under the World Trade Organization's most-favored nation rule:
All import restrictions are illegal unless proven scientifically.
The core components upon which a company's ethical performance depends include:
All of the Above - The values and virtues of the managers. - The personal character of the managers and employees. - The traditions, attitudes, and business practices built into a company's culture.
The most effective ethics programs utilize which of the following?
All of the Above - Written policy. - Posters. - Quick reference guides.
Which of the following statements is (are) correct about stakeholders' power?
All of the Above: - Different stakeholders have different types and degrees of power. - Stockholders' voting power is limited to the percentage of stock owned by the stockholder. - It uses resources to achieve a desired decision or outcome.
Corporations that run their operations according to the stakeholder theory of the firm create value by:
All of the Above: - Innovating new products - Increasing their stock price. - Developing their employees' professional skills.
The fiduciary duty of managers benefits a firm's:
All of the Above: - Stockholders. - Customers. - Employees.
What stakeholder group(s) can exercise legal power?
All of the Above: -Employees -Customers -Shareholders
Stakeholder groups can include:
All of the Above: -Stockholders -The Media - Environmental Activist
What kind of power might a local community use to influence a company's decisions?
All of the Above: - Publicizing an issue. - Lobbying government policy makers for regulations. - Challenging whether a business activity should continue to operate.
Which of the following examples best illustrates the boundary exchanges a company would encounter according to the general systems theory?
All of the Above: -An industrial company installs new equipment in its plant to comply with environmental regulations. -A software company develops an application for a client. - A purchasing department employee negotiates a price on parts from a supplier.
An example of an international financial and trade institution is:
All of the above - Word Bank - International Monetary Fund - World Trade Organization
The components of a typical issues management process include:
All of the above - Identify issue. - Generate options. - Take action.
Why does the inclusion of women on corporate boards improve company performance?
All of the above. - Alternative courses of action are more realistically considered. - Women bring different life experiences to discussions. - Women are more likely to raise multiple stakeholder concerns.
According to the United Nations, a feature of democracy is:
All of the above. - Fair elections. - An independent media. - A government with power balanced among executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
An individual who is a supporter of globalization would argue that it helps the developing world by:
All of the above. - Giving entrepreneurs access to foreign investment funds to support economic development. - Allowing new ideas and technological innovations to spread quickly. - Providing people in developing countries with more jobs.
Global social audit standards concentrate on:
All of the above. - Internally focused economic benefits for the firm. - Externally focused social benefits for the environment. - Externally focused social benefits for key stakeholders.
Which of the following is (are) true about child care assistance in the workplace?
All of the above. - It helps reduce employee absenteeism and tardiness. - It aids in recruiting workers by making the company more attractive to parents. - It helps retain talented employees.
The reason(s) behind the uncertainty of an ethical or unethical decision is (are) that different people and groups:
All of the above. - May honestly and genuinely use different sources of information. - May rank various rights in different ways. - May not share the same meaning of justice.
The growing diversity in the U.S. workforce is due to:
All of the above. - Millennials entering the workforce. - Immigration from other countries. - Shifting patterns of work and retirement.
A survey of hiring managers indicated that millennials were:
All of the above. - More technologically adept than their seniors. - Narcissistic and hard to retain - Expected to stay in their jobs less than three years.
Why should business be ethical?
All of the above. - 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.
Which of these statements is (are) true regarding sexual harassment
All of the above. - Most sexual harassment incidents target women. - Sexual harassment is illegal in the United States. - The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is empowered to sue on behalf of victims.
Businesses are expected to be ethical in their relationships with:
All of the above. - Stockholders. - Customers. - Competitors.
Good corporate citizens:
All of the above. - Strive to conduct all business dealings in an ethical manner. - Make a concerted effort to balance the needs of all stakeholders. - Work to protect the environment.
Reason(s) for adopting an enlightened self-interest approach is (are):
All of the above. - The stockholders' pressures for short-run profits are satisfied. - The public's attitude toward the company is positive in the long run. - Reasonable short-run costs are incurred, but socially responsible activities are promoted.
Which of the following is (are) true about Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)?
All of the above. - They offer counseling and follow-up to alcohol and drug abusers. - Almost all employers with 1,000 or more workers offer EAPs. - Nearly three-quarters of small companies with 50 to 99 employees offer EAPs.
A member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA) must:
All of the above. - Promote the integrity of and uphold the rules governing global capital markets. - Act with integrity, competence, diligence, respect, and in an ethical manner with the public. -Maintain and improve their professional competence
Government has distinctive resources and competencies including:
All of the above. - Knowledge of public policy. - Ability to enforce the rules - Revenue from taxation.
Which of these cost-savings measures saved U.S. regulatory agencies nearly $2 billion since 2011?
All of the above. - Promotion of telemedicine in rural areas. - Coordination of hazards warning with other nations. - Removal of redundant reporting requirements.
A leadership role in addressing emerging management issues in often taken by:
All of the above. - The public affairs department. - The government relations department. - The department of sustainability or environmental, health and safety.
Which of the following is not true about employee theft?
Almost half of all employees have stolen from an employer at least once in his or her career.
Once an issue has been identified, its implications must be:
Analyzed.
Antitrust laws protect consumers from:
Anticompetitive practices by business.
Which ethnic group, as defined by the U.S. Census, represents the fastest-growing segment of the labor force?
Asians.
Positive reputation can be valued as an intangible corporate:
Asset
By law, the financial records of publicly held companies are required to be:
Audited by a certified professional accounting firm.
An emerging business model that attempts to strategically balance the interests of all stakeholders to solve social and environmental problems is called:
B Corporation.
Government's role is to create and enforce laws that:
Balance the relationship between business and society.
Microfinance refers to:
Banks lending money to low-income businesses.
All of the following values are present in most ethical decisions except:
Be kind
What is the role of government in the area of equal employment opportunity? Discuss from a historical perspective.
Before the Civil Rights Act in the USA was passed in 1964, discrimination in the workplace was an accepted practice. - The first step toward equal employment was taken by the US government in 1965 with the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC). - In 1967, the Congress passed an act to care for people between 40- 65 years of age from discrimination at work. - Two years, later the EEOC organized hearings on discrimination against women and racial minorities working in various industries. The committee had the right to conduct investigations but could not actively initiate legal proceedings. - In a milestone declaration in 1978, the Congress included discrimination against pregnant women as a kind of sex discrimination at work.
A just or fair ethical decision occurs when:
Benefits and burdens are distributed equally.
Which of the following is the result of an inseparable relationship between business and society?
Both A & B: - All business decisions have a social impact. - The vitality of business depends on society's actions and attitudes.
A stakeholder map is a useful tool because:
Both A &B: - It enables mangers to see quickly how stakeholders feel about an issue. - It allows managers to evaluate what outcomes are likely regarding an issue.
Proponents against corporate social responsibility feel that public officials, not business people, should solve societal problems because:
Both A and B - The private sector is not mandated to solve these issues. - Business people do not have the skill-set to solve societal problems.
A strong employer-employee relationship is central to:
Both A and B, but not C. - Achieving a corporation's economic goals. - Satisfying the wishes of those who contribute their skills and talents to the company.
Companies can combat sexual and racial harassment—and protect themselves from expensive lawsuits—by:
Both A and B, but not C. - Developing a zero-tolerance policy on harassment and communicate it clearly to employees. - Bribing employees with money to avoid a lawsuit.
Mature adults typically base their ethical reasoning on broad principles and relationships such as:
Both A and B, but not C. - Human rights and constitutional guarantees of human dignity. - Universal principles of justice.
Which statement(s) below are true about global income?
Both A and B, but not C. - Income is how much one earns in a day or a year. - Income at the bottom of the pyramid varies from place to place.
Employees in the United States have a legal right to:
Both A and B, but not C. - Organize and bargain collectively. - A safe and healthy workplace.
Which of these statements is true regarding women in the United States workforce?
Both A and B, but not C. - The percentage of working women declined slightly in 2013. - A lack of family-friendly business policies has made it difficult for working mothers.
Only after which of the following conditions is (are) met, should the whistle-blower go public?
Both A and B, but not C. - The unreported act would do serious and considerable harm to the public. - The employee has tried and failed to resolve the issue internally.
By raising and lowering the interest rates at which private banks borrow money from the government, the Federal Reserve Bank:
Both A and B, but not C. - Influences the size of the nation's money supply - Minimizes investor confidence about the nation's future
Public issues are also sometimes referred to as:
Both A and B. - Social issues - Sociopolitical issues
Which of the following statements accurately describe the practice of tax inversion?
Both A and C, but not B. - A company shifts their headquarters to a foreign country. - A company increases debt in their home country.
Which of the following statements is true about corporate social responsibility?
Both A and C, but not B. - Businesses should monitor and prevent social problems in advance of their becoming major issues. - Corporations should be accountable for any actions that affect people, their communities, and the environment.
Which of these statements accurately describe(s) the "gig" (or sharing) economy?
Both A and C, but not B. - Many companies have become more cost-efficient. - In many cases, income has decreased.
As of 2013, which of the following accurately describe(s) the pay gap for full-time working women and minorities in the United States, as compared to white men?
Both A and C, but not B. - On average, women and persons of color earn lower pay. - The pay gap has decreased by about 5 percent for both Hispanic men and women.
Ethical challenges for information technology employees include:
Both A and C, but not B. - Data privacy. - Copyright protection.
According to the U.S Department of Labor:
Both A and C, not B. - Annually, more than 3 million workers in the private sector are hurt or become ill on the job. - Three out of every 100 workers are hurt or become ill on the job annually.
Companies demonstrate global corporate citizenship by:
Both B and C, but not A - Finding business opportunities that serve society - Integrating concern for both financial and social performance.
Where are workers not permitted to form independent unions?
Both B and C, but not A. - Some communist countries. - Some military dictatorships.
Managers' understanding of government regulations is:
Both a domestic and international issue.
A corporation's issue management activities are usually linked to:
Both the board of directors and top management levels.
Departments, or offices, within an organization that reach across the dividing line that separates the company from groups and people in society are:
Boundary-spanning departments.
Customers can exercise economic stakeholder power by:
Boycotting products if they believe the goods are too expensive.
Which country recently enacted new laws to counter bribery and corruption?
Brazil.
Which of the following represents a structural remedy for an antitrust violation?
Breaking up a monopoly.
Define bribery. Explain why certain countries are less likely to participate in such acts.
Bribery is the act of giving or receiving something of value in exchange for some kind of influence or action in return, that the recipient would otherwise not offer. In some countries, this practice is the norm, often resulting from a developing nation not having the tax structure to pay civil servants an adequate salary. Nevertheless, most economists regard bribery as a bad thing because it encourages rent seeking behaviour.
According to a 2013 opinion poll, Americans hold a dim view of:
Business executives
Failure to understand the beliefs and expectations of stakeholders:
Causes the performance-expectations gap to grow larger.
Some companies have created a department of corporate citizenship to:
Centralize under common leadership wide-ranging corporate citizenship functions.
As an additional employee benefit to promote spirituality, companies have begun to provide employees with the services of:
Chaplains.
Integrity-based ethics program
Combines concern for the law with an emphasis on employee responsibility.
Deregulation has occurred in the following industries:
Commercial airlines, railroads, and financial institutions.
Which of these actions can businesses take to reduce income inequality?
Commit to paying a living wage to all employees.
Past decisions of the courts, the original basis for the U.S. legal system, are called:
Common laws.
Stakeholders have been able to form international coalitions more successfully through use of:
Communications Technology
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), passed in 1993:
Companies that employ 50 or more people must grant unpaid, job protected leaves of up to 12 weeks to employees faced with serious family needs.
According to the new social contract:
Companies try to attract workers by giving them interesting and challenging work.
Compare and contrast economic policies with social assistance policies.
Compare- they're both are implemented to assist government or citizens. They are both available to help to make life easier whether you are a government official or just a citizen abiding by the rules. Contrast- economic policies deal directly with the overview of the government and social assistance deals with people and how they will pay for things like healthcare. -Economic deals with government regulations and social assistance deals with problems amongst the people.
Compare and contrast the world's political and economic systems and their effects on globalization.
Compare: -There is always a leader that has say in political/economic decisions -The goal by the 20th century was to enable all countries to have their freedom to vote which almost every country can now. Contrast: -Some are democracy some are dictatorship. -In the free enterprise system everyone has freedom and the ability to accumulate goods and services. In a central control system the freedom is limited and all of the power is in the hands of one leader. Effects: -If a company is doing business in country that doesn't allow women's rights then it will be tough for that company to succeed with women employees. Also, a company that provides services that could be life saving should offer it for little to no cost in countries that can't afford it.
What is competitive intelligence? Why is it important to the public affairs function?
Competitive intelligence refers to the systematic and continuous process of gathering, analyzing and managing external information about organizations competitors that can affect the organizations, plans, decisions and operations. It enables managers in companies to make well informed decisions that can help them make business strategies that may allow them to become the leader in the industry.
When attempting to build ethical safeguards into the company, businesses can take the following specific approaches:
Compliance and Integrity.
A purchasing agent directing her company's orders to a firm which she received a valuable gift, is an example of:
Conflict of interest.
Legal environmental intelligence includes:
Considerations of patents, copyrights, or trademarks.
The right to free speech is protected in the United States by the:
Constitution.
The costs of corporate social responsibility may ultimately be passed on to the:
Consumer through high prices.
Which of these statements is true about the U.K. Bribery Act?
Contains a strict liability offense for failure to prevent bribery by commercial organizations.
When working well, the issue management process:
Continuously cycles back to the beginning and repeats.
Which of the following is not an example of an ethical criterion?
Corporate driven.
Stakeholder partnerships, high-tech communication networks, and sustainability audits are examples of:
Corporate/Global Citizenship.
The SEC filed civil false-certification charges against which U.S. financial institution?
Countrywide
Modern corporations should be socially responsible because they:
Create jobs, influencing the lives of employees.
Which of the following is not considered to be a nonmarket stakeholder?
Creditors
As business becomes increasingly global:
Cross-cultural contradictions will increase.
The explosive use of social media is an example of:
Customer environment.
Economic regulations:
Cut across industry lines.
Since the mid-1950s the proportion of American workers represented by unions has:
Decreased.
Explain the process called stakeholder analysis. Include a description of its four key questions.
Definition: An important part of the managers job to identify relevant stakeholders and understand both their interests and the power they have to assert these interests. - question 1 "What are the interests of each stakeholder" Stakeholders have a unique relationship to the organization and managers must respond accordingly. -question 2 "What is the power of each stakeholder" using stakeholder power to make an event happen to secure a desired outcome. -question 3 "How are the coalitions likely to form" when interests are similar, stakeholders may form an alliance to pursue a common interest. -question 4 "Who are the relevant stakeholders" Identify and understand their interest, power, and legitimacy.
Customer environmental intelligence includes:
Demographic factors.
Which argument says that stakeholder management realistically depicts how companies really work?
Descriptive argument.
BSR (formerly Business for Social Responsibility) helps its 300 member companies:
Develop sustainable business strategies.
Cross-cultural contradictions arise due to:
Differences between home and host countries' ethical standards.
Which of the following is an argument in favor of corporate social responsibility?
Discourages government regulation.
Variation in the important human characteristics that distinguish people from one another is called:
Diversity
All of the following are commitments of the Principles of the Code of Professional Conduct of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants except:
Due Process
A free enterprise system refers to:
Economic assets that are privately owned and exchanged in an open market.
If a manager approaches ethical issues with a self-centered approach, emphasis will be on:
Economic efficiency.
Government regulations come in different forms. Discuss the major types of government regulations of business.
Economic regulations: Modify the operations of the free market and the forces of supply and demand. This regulation can be put into place because the free market is distorted by the size or power of companies. EX: Dodd-Frank Act. Antitrust: Special kind of economic regulation that occurs when the government acts to preserve competition in the marketplace, thereby protecting consumers. This prohibits unfair, anticompetitive practices by businesses. Social regulations: Protect customers and provide workers a safe and healthy working condition. Equal employment opportunity, protection of pension benefits, and health care for citizens are important too.
When a government orders companies not to conduct business in another country because of a war, human rights violations, or lack of a legitimate government; these orders are called:
Economic sanctions.
Which ethical criterion is described by the idea that a company should strive for efficiency?
Egoism.
According to management scholar Karl Albrecht, scanning to acquire environmental intelligence should focus on:
Eight strategic radar screens.
Sexual harassment applies to:
Either men or women who are being harassed.
Which of the following are examples of natural monopolies?
Electric utilities and railroads.
The purpose of the World Trade Organization is to:
Eliminate barriers to free trade among nations.
Some people believe that the right of privacy should be extended to the workplace. Others feel that, on the contrary, that such an extension would constitute an unwarranted incursion into management's right to manage. Please comment on this debate, using examples from the text discussion of electronic monitoring, romance in the workplace, employee drug testing, and employee honesty testing. Are there particular circumstances under which it is, or is not, appropriate for employers to monitor employee behavior?
Employers must consider employees' expectations of privacy in the use of electronic media. In the context of litigation relating to any of these issues, organizations must be mindful of the discoverability of electronic communications; however, employees who have sued their employers for invasion of privacy based on e-mail monitoring generally have not enjoyed much success
As the use of electronic communication at work has risen, new ethical issues involving worker privacy have emerged. Should employers be allowed to read employee e-mail, inspect their Facebook pages or blogs, or access files located on a personal computer at work? Why or why not?
Employers should not be allowed to read employee e-mail, inspect their Facebook pages or blogs, or access files located on a personal computer at work. Traditional concerns for employers have included: - Harassing or other discriminatory actions -Other conduct leading to liability to third-parties - Forbidden fraternizing - Criminal activity
Ethics policies typically cover all of the following issues except:
Encouraging discriminatory personnel practices.
The issue of reactive management policies occurs in which stage of global corporate citizenship?
Engaged.
Define and provide an example of a business practicing enlightened self-interest.
Enlightened self-interest is providing consumers with good value in return of trust. An example would be GAP and its increase in rewards, enhanced reputation, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, and global community support.
The practice of adapting the job to the worker is called:
Ergonomics.
Ethisphere Magazine recognizes and rewards ethical leadership and business practices worldwide according to their:
Ethical Quotient (EQ).
Discuss why businesses should be ethical.
Ethical behaviour and corporate social responsibility can bring significant benefits to a business. For example, they may: - Attract customers to the firm's products, which means boosting sales and profits - Make employees want to stay with the business, reduce labour turnover and therefore increase productivity - Attract more employees wanting to work for the business, reduce recruitment costs and enable the company to get the most talented employees - Attract investors and keep the company's share price high, thereby protecting the business from takeover.
The unspoken understanding among employees of what is and is not acceptable behavior is called:
Ethical climate.
The most significant motivator of corporate social reporting is:
Ethical concerns.
Construct a comprehensive ethics program using four of the five ethical safeguards identified in the textbook.
Every Business have regular ethics training programs.The main idea behind this is to let employees know the rules and regulations of the company and what the company expects from each individual. Ethics Program should have ethical policies,so to guide the managers whenever he faces ethical conflicts and dilemmas. The People of the senior level should follow their duties and guidelines.So that they act as an inspiration to the newly joined staff. Accountants often are faced with conflicts of interest.Honesty, integrity, and accuracy are absolute requirements of the accounting function.This should be involved in ethical program.
Over time, the nature of business's relationship with its stakeholders often:
Evolves through a series of stages.
Which type of employee is most likely to report ethical issues in the workplace?
Executives.
A national health care policy is an example of an economic policy.
False
A public issue exists when there is agreement between the stakeholders' expectations of what a business firm should do and the actual performance of that business firm.
False
According to Figure 16-5, the country with the highest percentage of women holding board member positions is the United States.
False
According to the latest government data, in about 30 percent of all married couples with children, both parents worked at least part-time.
False
All ethics issues in business are the same.
False
An ethical egoist acts for the benefit of others and sacrifices self-interest.
False
Because managers make major decisions, they have limited opportunity to influence the ethical tone of the firm.
False
Because the public issues that garner the most public attention change over time, companies do not waste time tracking them
False
Being socially responsible means that a company must abandon its other missions.
False
Business cannot expect to be profitable while adhering to ethical principles of conduct.
False
Business must develop its own definition of what is right and wrong, apart from ethics.
False
Businesses and society are independent of one another.
False
Corporate citizenship refers to a set of beliefs stating that socially responsible behavior is a good idea.
False
Corporate power says that in the long run, those who do not use power in ways that society considers responsible will tend to lose it
False
Critics of globalization support the spread of American ideals and culture throughout the rest of the world.
False
Dialogue between a single firm and its stakeholders is always sufficient to address an issue effectively.
False
Enlightened self-interest is the idea that the wealthiest members of society should be charitable toward those less fortunate.
False
Ethics are primarily based on religious beliefs.
False
Financially sound companies do not need to understand how a public issue is likely to evolve, or how it will affect them.
False
Global corporate citizenship refers to putting an organization's commitment to social and environmental responsibility into practice locally.
False
Globalization is accepted worldwide and creates little controversy.
False
Government and business together establish the regulatory rules under which business operates in society.
False
In Europe, unions are prohibited by law to be on businesses' administrative boards.
False
In most companies, a moral atmosphere cannot be detected.
False
In recent years, the use of drug testing in the workplace has increased as drugs have become more available.
False
In the United States, most ethics policies are primarily based on the company's mission and vision.
False
It is impossible for multiple ethical climates to exist within one organization.
False
Legal environment includes the structure, processes, and actions of government at the local, state, national, and international levels.
False
Managers in the same company are likely to be at the same stages of moral reasoning at any given time.
False
Market stakeholders include nongovernmental organizations and the media.
False
Most nations in the world share similar political, social and economic beliefs.
False
Nonmarket stakeholders are those that engage in economic transactions with the company as it carries out its primary purpose of providing society with goods and services.
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
Only manufacturing jobs are being lost through globalization.
False
Organizations always have full control of a public issue.
False
Policies and practices that leverage a variety of perspectives, life experiences, and approaches that every individual brings to the workplace, are referred to as diversity.
False
Public policy effects are always unintended consequences of an action.
False
Public policy is a plan of action undertaken by business to influence the government.
False
Regulation cannot be applied to international business behavior.
False
Sexual and racial harassment will happen, and there is little a business can do to eliminate the problem.
False
Sexual harassment is limited to overt acts of individual coworkers or supervisors
False
Some scholars have suggested that managers pay the most attention to stakeholders possessing the least salience.
False
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Code directs accountants to be responsible to their clients and their profession, but not to the public.
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
The U.S. Constitution protects the right to free speech—which means only the government can take away this right.
False
The U.S. Department of Labor has ruled that employees who are economically dependent on the employer should be classified as independent contractors.
False
The United Nations oversees all international agreements concerning regulations between nations.
False
The World Bank makes currency exchange easier for member countries so that they can participate in global trade
False
The World Trade Organization conducts negotiations, called "cycles," on various topics, rotating its meetings among different cities.
False
The capability of corporations to influence government, the economy, and society, based on their organizational resources is called the big business principle.
False
The external environment of business is static.
False
The importing of foreign goods by U.S. firms is called foreign direct investment.
False
The level of income inequality in the United States has fallen since the 1980s.
False
The major agency charged with enforcing equal opportunity laws and executive orders in the United States is the Americans with Disabilities Council (ADC).
False
The majority of large U.S. corporations do not have codes of ethics.
False
The normative argument for the stakeholder theory of the firm says that the stakeholder view is simply a more realistic description of how companies really work.
False
The problem of alcohol-related accidents in the workplace is caused almost entirely by hard-core alcoholics.
False
The stakeholder theory of the firm argues that a firm's sole purpose is to create value for its shareholders.
False
The term pay gap refers to the inequitable concentration of a group, such as minorities or women, in a particular job category.
False
Today, more companies than ever, are turning to formal ethics audits to measure the quality of their ethics programs.
False
Urgency refers to the extent to which a stakeholder's actions are seen as proper or appropriate by the broader society.
False
When a company publishes the results of a social audit they are meeting the demands of local governments' taxation policies.
False
An example of a regulatory agency charged with enforcing social regulation is:
Federal Trade Commission.
The term "Glass walls" refers to:
Fewer opportunities to move sideways into jobs that lead to the top.
Recipients of the corporate ethics awards show that:
Firms can be financially successful and ethically focused.
Patterns of government taxing and spending that are intended to stimulate or support the economy are:
Fiscal policies.
The issue management process has how may stages?
Five
One important aspect of the new social contract is:
Fixed pension benefits have been eliminated in the U.S. by around 90 percent.
This inter-American organization (North and South America) was created to unite organizations focusing on corporate social responsibility from Canada to Chile.
Forum Empresa.
If a manger approaches ethics with benevolence in mind, he or she would stress what?
Friendly relations with an employee.
In 2012 the European Union imposed a carbon emissions fee on all airlines flying in and out of EU airspace that:
Generated great opposition from more than two dozen countries.
When a company puts its commitment to social and environmental responsibility into practice worldwide, not only locally or regionally it is called:
Global Corporate Citizenship.
Explain global wealth and power inequalities. What are the special challenges of serving the "bottom of the pyramid" sector?
Global wealth is defined as the value of all financial and non-financial assets owned by households/individuals across the globe for all countries combined, less their debts. Power inequality arises due to wealth owned by individuals/households. This is basically the inequality between the rich and the poor. Wealth inequality is slightly different from income inequality, however, accumulation of income as savings leads to wealth creation. The special challlenges of serving the "bottom of the pyramid" sector are: 1. Profitability: One of the main concerns is this - how to produce product with really low COGS so that it can be matched with the willingness to pay of the bottom of the pyramid customers. 2. Determining willingness to pay: It is really difficult to determine how much would such poor people be willing to pay for using a product.
The drivers of stakeholders of engagement are:
Goals, motivation, and operational capacity
Engaging interactively with stakeholders carries a number of potential benefits. Discuss.
Goals- shares a problem they both want solve and are passionate about Motivation- Both sides depend on each other Organizational Capacity- Needs support for funding and from top leadership to be productive
Governments hold the power to:
Grant or refuse permission for many types of business activity.
Experts attribute the growth of nongovernmental organizations to:
Greater openness in many societies.
Polygraph testing:
Has been replaced by written psychological tests.
Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, corporations are required to:
Have executives vouch for the accuracy of a firm's financial reports.
Among minority-owned firms in the mid-2010s, the most numerous were those owned by:
Hispanics.
An issue's public profile indicates to managers:
How significant an issue is for the organization, but it does not tell them what to do.
Who do you believe should be primarily responsible for the advancement of minorities in the workplace: the individual, the government, or businesses? Why?
I feel businesses should be primarily responsible for the advancement of minorities in the workplace. Minority individuals can't be held responsible as they find it hard to advance themselves due to oppression. Whereas the government has made laws for this in terms of the appointment and behaviour at the workplace, so it can't be held responsible. It's the businesses which help in the advancement of minorities, because of their talent or any other reasons for the benefit of the business. So, it's the businesses which should be primarily responsible.
Do you believe companies are ever justified in treating women or minority employees differently, with respect to wages, benefits, job assignments, or promotions? If not, why not? If so, under what conditions, and why?
I think companies are justified in treating women or certain minority employees, who have a genuine reason to be provided with certain benefits in order to come at par with the rest of employees. For example, women or minority are vulnerable to discrimination at workplace, so they may be accorded protection to prevent harassment and discrimination at workplace. Women employees are not capable of doing certain jobs because of physical limitations, so they may be given job assignments etc. based on their physical capabilities. This kind of different treatment to women or minorities is done in order to give them appropriate justified opportunities to perform to their potential, and to help them overcome their limitations which put them at disadvantageous position against other employees.
Business managers need a set of ethical guidelines to help them:
Identify and analyze the nature of ethical problem.
Provide an example where employee whistle-blowing is justified and an example where it is not. Provide support for each example.
If an employee in organization, notices that his organization's top executives are involved in unethical accounting practices and then he reports those actoivities to Chief Financial Officer, but CFO asks to delay the investigation of this whistleblowing. After justified whistleblowing, then he approaches to board of directors informing on accounting malpractices, who took the action to correct unethical behavior. This is what is expected out of justified whistleblowing. Unjustified whistle-blowing: If I have seen my colleagues taking bribe for procurement of some laptops for the organization and came to know that he is doing it from past few years and buying laptops at high cost. In this case, if I am approaching my colleague and asking for share in his profit to keep quite and not to inform on him to supervisor / manager is unjustified whistleblowing. If I am going to my manager as he didnt allow me to gain share in profit, I informed on him. So this whistleblowing is unethical as I was doing it for my personal gain.
All of the following are considered to be ethical issues for marketing professionals except:
Ignoring market fair dealing.
The iron law of responsibility says that:
In the long run, those who do not use power responsibly will lose it.
Describe how general systems theory can be applied to a business.
The general systems theory is a perspective that argues that all organisms are open to and interact with their external environments. Business utilizes this theory by being embedded in a broader social structure which it must constantly interact with customers, gov., media and so on.
Reregulation is
The increase or expansion of government regulation.
The critical component in installing an effective ethics program is:
The integration of various ethics safeguards into a comprehensive program.
Describe the iron law of responsibility.
The iron law of responsibility says in the long run, those who do not use power in ways that society considers responsible will tend to lose it.
Which of the following is not true about occupational segregation?
The large pay gap for Hispanic workers partly reflects their concentration in several high-paying occupations.
The current trend in the United States of firms' eliminating domestic partner benefits is largely due to:
The legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015.
How do effective diversity and inclusion programs typically impact a firm's reputation?
The number of discrimination lawsuits decreases.
Describe how a firm might implement the "Say No Toolkit" to help combat corruption. How could potential employee resistance be overcome? Could there be any downsides to using the tool? In what ways could the firm benefit?
The organizational culture plays an important role in employee resistance while implementing ERM. The managers and the senior level may bring in changes without taking proper feedback from the employees. Instead of implementing changes, they might be pressurizing employees to embrace changes without making it clear as to why change is being brought around.
Stakeholder engagement is:
The process of ongoing relationship building between a business and its stakeholders.
Which of the following is not true about justice reasoning?
The reasoner is interested in the net value of benefits.
Representation on the World Bank's board of directors is based on:
The size of the member nation's economy.
Define ethical climate. Discuss the differences and similarities among the ethical climates outlined in the textbook.
The unspoken understanding among employees of what is and is not acceptable behavior. Egoism is the self-centered approach that has little regard for others, while benevolence and principle exhibit concern for others and for society as a whole.
Global market channels involve a firm producing goods in:
Their home country and exporting them to other countries.
People's ethical beliefs come from:
Their religious background, family, and education
Which of the following is not a benefit of managing diversity and inclusion effectively?
These businesses get tax breaks from the federal government.
Cooperation between business and government often occurs when:
They encounter a common problem or enemy.
Racial harassment is illegal under:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
A reason for an increase in employee monitoring does not include:
To reduce the employer's health insurance premiums.
Managers responding to the needs of the local education system as a normal or routine aspect of its operations is an example of an organization in the:
Transforming stage.
A business is any organization that is engaged in making a product or providing a service for a profit.
True
A cooperative government-business relationship on one issue does not guarantee cooperation on another issue.
True
A diversity council is a group of managers and employees responsible for developing and implementing specific action plans to meet an organization's diversity goals.
True
A social audit is a systematic evaluation of an organization's social, ethical, and environmental performance.
True
A stakeholder map is a useful tool, because it enables managers to see quickly how stakeholders feel about an issue and whether salient stakeholders tend to be in favor or opposed.
True
According to a recent Transparency International survey, Denmark and New Zealand are two countries that are least likely to be subjected to bribery.
True
According to utilitarian reasoning, an action is ethically preferred when its benefits outweigh its costs.
True
Although many firms conduct business across national boundaries, most global commerce is carried out by a small number of powerful firms.
True
An argument against corporate social responsibility is that it imposes unequal costs among competitors.
True
At the beginning of the 20th century, no country in the world had universal suffrage.
True
Beginning on a major scale in the 1960s, U.S. presidents issued executive orders and Congress enacted laws intended to promote equal treatment of employees.
True
Being ethical includes developing a sense of trust, which promotes positive alliances among business partners
True
Bribery is found in nearly every sector of the global marketplace, but can be worse in some parts of the world
True
Business managers should use all four methods of ethical reasoning - virtues, utility, rights and justice - to better understand ethical issues at work.
True
Companies are learning that it is important to take a strategic approach to the management of public issues, both domestically and globally.
True
Competitive intelligence enables managers in companies of all sizes to make informed decisions in all areas of the business.
True
Corporate social responsibility is the idea that businesses interact with the organization's stakeholders for social good while they pursue economic goals.
True
Cost-benefit analysis is often used to determine the costs of regulation.
True
Critics have argued that honesty tests discriminate disproportionately against minorities.
True
Drug testing for cause is commonly used after an accident or some observable change in behavior
True
Economic regulations aim at modifying the normal operations of the free market and the forces of supply and demand
True
Emerging public issues are both a risk and an opportunity.
True
Employees in the United States have the right to organize and bargain collectively.
True
Employers are not required by law to agree to the union's demands, but they are required to bargain in good faith.
True
Employment-at-will is a legal doctrine that means employees are hired and retain their jobs at the sole discretion of the employer.
True
Environmental analysis is a method managers use to gather information about external issues and trends.
True
Environmental intelligence is the acquisition of information gained from analyzing the multiple environments affecting organizations.
True
Ethical ideas are present in all societies, all organizations, and all individual persons.
True
Ethics training is typically the most costly element of an ethics program.
True
Even small local businesses often compete with global companies from around the world.
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
For stakeholder engagement to occur, both the business and the stakeholder must be motivated to work with one another to solve the problem.
True
Global corporate citizenship activities help companies create value, reputation, and competitive advantage.
True
Globalization directly and indirectly influences the politics, environment, geopolitics, and economics of virtually every country in the world.
True
Government can be considered both a market and nonmarket stakeholder.
True
Honesty, integrity and accuracy are absolute requirements of the accounting function.
True
Huge businesses can disproportionately influence politics, shape tastes, and dominate public discourse.
True
If all people relied on ethical relativism, there would be no universal ethical standards on which people around the globe could agree.
True
In a benevolence ethical climate, the interests of the company's employees and external stakeholders most likely would be given high priority.
True
In a business context, privacy rights refer to protecting an individual's personal life from unwarranted intrusion by his or her employer.
True
In non-democratic countries, the power of government may derive from a monarchy, military dictatorship, or religious authority.
True
In the United States, immigrants are more likely than non-immigrants to start their own business, having been responsible for 30 percent of small business growth.
True
In the first stage of corporate citizenship, the elementary stage, managers are uninterested and uninvolved with social issues.
True
In the issue management process, identifying the issue involves anticipating emerging issues.
True
Managers, as major decision-makers, are one of the keys to whether a company will act ethically or unethically.
True
Marketing ethics include having concern for consumer health and safety issues.
True
Monetary policies refer to policies that affect the supply, demand and value of the nation's currency.
True
One of the most appealing arguments in favor of corporate social responsibility for business supporters is that voluntary social acts may head off increased government regulation.
True
Personal values and moral character play key roles in improving a company's ethical performance.
True
Predatory pricing is a violation of antitrust laws.
True
Productivity rises more quickly when countries produce goods and services for which they have a natural talent.
True
Regulatory activity often is cyclical.
True
Some firms require managers to sign a consensual relationship agreement to protect against harassment suits related to failed office romances.
True
Some labor unions have exerted their influence through political action committees.
True
Some women and persons of color have spoken out against affirmative action, preferring to achieve personal success without receiving preferential treatment.
True
Sometimes national leaders resist the notion of international regulation, seeking to control matters of commerce themselves within their own countries.
True
Stakeholder materiality is a method companies use to prioritize the relevance of the stakeholders and their issues.
True
Stakeholders involved with one part of a company often may have little or no involvement with another part of the company.
True
The Occupational Safety and Health Act gives workers the right to a job "free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm."
True
The U.S. Corporate Sentencing Guidelines provide a strong incentive for businesses to promote their ethics at work.
True
The concept of corporate social responsibility is rooted in the meaning "to pledge back," creating a commitment to give back to society and the organization's stakeholders.
True
The employment relationship confers rights and duties on both sides.
True
The instrumental argument for the stakeholder theory of the firm says that companies perform better if they consider the rights and concerns of multiple groups in society.
True
The interests of different stakeholders often coincide.
True
The main purpose of inversion is to reduce corporate income tax obligations.
True
The proportion of working women that have told researchers they have been sexually harassed on the job is between 40 and 70 percent
True
The term diversity refers to variation in the important human characteristics that distinguish people from one another.
True
The term sector refers to broad divisions of a whole.
True
Under the Family Medical Leave Act, companies that employ 50 or more people must grant unpaid, job-protected leaves for up to 12 weeks to employees with serious family needs, including the birth or adoption of a baby
True
Under the World Trade Organization's most favored nation rule, member countries may not discriminate against foreign products for any reason.
True
Understanding and responding to changing societal expectations is a business necessity.
True
Walmart has been called a "template for 21st century capitalism."
True
Workforce diversity represents both a challenge and an opportunity for businesses.
True
Which law allows individuals who sue federal contractors for fraud to receive up to 30 percent of any amount recovered by the government?
U.S. False Claims Act (as amended in 1986)
European Union regulators accused Uber of engaging in:
Unfair competition.
Regulation can be argued as justified based on:
Utilitarian and justice grounds.
When the benefits of an action outweigh its costs, the action is considered ethically preferred according to:
Utilitarian reasoning.
The leading cause of death on the job is due to:
Vehicle accidents.
Single-party rule by communist parties still remains in:
Vietnam.
What are the four methods of ethical reasoning? Discuss the limitations of each of the four methods.
Virtues- Subjective or incomplete set of good virtues Utilitarian - Difficult to measure some human and social costs; majority may disregard rights of the minority Rights- Difficult to balance conflicting rights Justice- Difficult to measure benefits and costs; lack of agreement on fair shares
The five types of stakeholders' power recognized by most experts are:
Voting, economic, political, legal, and informational power
What U.S. company is the best example of using globalization to reduce the price of its products?
Walmart.
A critic of globalization might argue that companies decide to manufacture in China mainly because of China's:
Weak health and safety regulations.
Assets that a person accumulates and owns at a certain point in time are called:
Wealth.
Discuss working conditions around the world. What challenges face multinational corporations? What approaches are companies using to establish fair labor standards? Are there circumstances under which some approaches might work better than others?
When we talk about the multinational companies and their challenges then these companies have their own working conditions and they have to check that their suppliers working condition are matching and are appropriate as per the standard of multinational form. For example is known for healthy and friendly working environment for workers but their suppliers like foxconn has been reported various issues where human rights has been exploited.
When an employee believes their employer has done something that is wrong or harmful to the public, and he or she reports alleged organizational misconduct to the media, government, or high-level company officials, what has occurred?
Whistle-blowing.
Interactions between business and society occur:
Within a finite natural ecosystem.
In 2015 only 5 percent of chief executive officers of the S&P 500 companies were women. What factor best explains this fact: women's education and job experience, discrimination against women by companies, preferences of women employees, different family roles and responsibilities between women and men, or something else? Why do you think so?
Women are more than half of the world population.They are the mother of other half. As mother and careers, as producers and farmers, the work of women supports their families and communities. Yet, throughout the world, women face an increasing level of voilence because of their gender. Historically, women in both eastern and western societies were viewed as the weaker sex and this view placed women in the category of a lesser being. Even today women in most of the world are less well-nourished than men, less healthy, more vulnarable to physical voilence and sexual abuse and less paid. In the workplace, women are frequently subjected to subtle discrimination by both sexes. Qualified women may be passed over for promotions because they become pregnant or because they might become pregnant. Jobs may offered to a less qualified male applicant just because he is male. Women are also likely to be judged by their looks and how they dress than are their male counterparts.
Economists reported that the costs of regulatory compliance were highest for:
Worker safety.
Discuss why a manager should, or should not, be considered a stakeholder.
Yes for the followin reasons - directly impacted by a firms decisions - their compensation, more than a regular employees as expected - their managerial roles provide opportunities for professional advancement, social status, and power.
Which of these components are not considered during a risk assessment audit to gauge the effectiveness of a firm's ethics programs?
The financial bottom line.
The primary purpose of the International Monetary Fund is to:
Lend foreign currency to member countries.
Which law eliminated certain time restrictions for filing pay discrimination lawsuits?
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.
The primary goal of a "vulture fund" is to:
Make a profit.
All of the following are external stakeholders of the firm except:
Managers
Which of the following is true about romantic relationships in the workplace?
Many companies allow managers to become romantically involved with subordinates, so long as they do not supervise them directly.
When the market fails to adjust for the full costs of a firm's behavior, this is called:
Market failure.
When undertaking social initiatives, a company:
May sacrifice short-term profits.
Do you believe that support programs for work and family primarily benefit women employees, men employees, or both equally? Explain.
Men are more likely than women to feel confident they are en route to an executive role, and feel more strongly that their employer rewards merit. Women, meanwhile, perceive a steeper trek to the top. Less than half feel that promotions are awarded fairly or that the best opportunities go to the most-deserving employees.
The purpose of the Institute of Business Ethics' mobile application "Say No Toolkit" is to:
Minimize the risk of corruption
Policies that affect the supply, demand, and value of a nation's currency are:
Monetary policies.
Aristotle argued:
Moral virtue is a mean between two virtues.
The instrumental argument says stakeholder management is:
More effective as a corporate strategy
Under U.S. laws:
Most private and public workers have the right to hold an election to choose what union they want to represent them, if any.
The term "race to the bottom" refers to:
Moving production jobs to the country with the lowest labor cost.
Proactive companies are:
Much less likely to be blindsided by crises and negative surprises.
Which of the following is not an example of a social regulatory agency?
National Labor Relations Board.
Which one of the following is considered to be a nonmarket stakeholder of business?
Non governmental organizations
The Heritage Foundation scored which nation of the world among the most repressed in 2012?
North Korea.
According to an annual Gallup poll, which occupation was consistently ranked the highest for honesty and ethics?
Nurses.
Business executives are finding that a trusting, ethical relationship with a business partner is:
Often essential in conducting business.
A company that channels employee behavior in a lawful direction by emphasizing the threat of detection and punishment is
Operating under the compliance-based approach.
Over time the workforce will continue to change. How do you see the face of the workforce in 20 years? In what ways will continued diversity create competitive advantages for companies? Discuss based on the material in the textbook.
Over 20 years, I feel that the workforce will be highly skilled in terms of using different technologies in their work drastically reducing the task lead times and improving productivity. It will also mean that a lot of the workforce will be rendered unemployed due to automation possibilities and most of the work being carried out by machines. A chunk of workforce will move towards artificial intelligence which is really going to be the thing of the future and since people are not going to carry out tasks manually, they would be involved in either developing AI or harnessing AI to benefit organizations. Diversity has significant advantages in terms of bringing in diverse perspective and solutions to existing problems a company faces. These are fresh and new perspectives never seen by the company before. Continued diversity will fuel innovation and reduce issue resolution times for the companies.
Which of the following statements are not true about the right to a safe and healthy workplace?
Over recent years no new categories of accidents or illnesses have emerged.
When a mother or father is granted time off when children are born or adopted and during the early months of a child's development, this is called:
Parental leave.
Business leaders, like automaker Henry Ford developed these programs to support the recreational and health needs of their employees.
Paternalistic programs.
Philanthropic funding and public relations are two examples of corporate social responsibility:
Policy instruments of the Corporate Social Stewardship phase.
An analysis of the stability or instability of a government is an example of scanning the:
Political environment.
Scholars found that spirituality:
Positively affects employee and organizational performance
Stakeholders stand out to managers when they exhibit:
Power, legitimacy, and urgency
States that have adopted right-to-work laws:
Prevented unions from requiring all workers they represent to pay fees or dues.
Age, ethnicity, gender, mental or physical abilities, race, and sexual orientation are what dimensions of diversity?
Primary
The theory of comparative advantage states that:
Productivity rises more quickly when countries produce goods and services for which they have a natural talent.
Discuss the pros and cons of the new social contract from the viewpoint of an employer and employee. What duty does an employer have to provide job security to its workers?
Pros: Employment contracts may also be very valuable if you wish to have manipulate over the employee's capacity to leave your online business. For example, if finding or training a replacement will probably be very pricey or time-consuming in your manufacturer, you would want a written contract. It may lock the employee into a targeted term (for example, two years) or require the employee to provide you with ample detect to search out and coach a compatible replacement (for illustration, ninety days' observe). Cons: An employment contract shouldn't be a one-way avenue. The contract binds each you and the worker, so it limits your flexibility. This will pose a problem if you happen to later make a decision that you don't like the contract phrases or the wants of your business alternate. In those instances, if you want to trade the contract or terminate it early, you'll have got to renegotiate it -- and there isn't a assurance the worker will agree to what you wish to have.
Discuss the importance of ethics training at different levels of an organization. Is it more important for mangers to receive ethical training? Why or why not?
Providing ethical training is one of the major task towards their employees is very important in an organization, which helps in order to ensure that their employees adhere to organizational policy of compliance & ethical behavior. Another major factor in getting employees in order to be able to recognize the importance of these ethics training is the mid & top level management as a manager is someone who inspires & models the right behavior. Just in case if a manager keeps on promoting such ethics training regularly, the chances are more that it may more likely to resonate with the team he is taking care of or may be the project team member he must be leading.
Which of these is not an objective of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)?
Providing tax incentives for global corporate citizens.
A firm that would like to develop a global supply chain would:
Purchase raw materials, components, or supplies from sellers in other countries.
Firms that generally act only when forced to do so, and then in a defensive manner are:
Reactive companies.
Most ethics or compliance officers are generally entrusted to:
Reduce the risks to the company of employee misconduct.
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 primary way of accomplishing public policy is through:
Regulation.
Stakeholder engagement is, at its core, a:
Relationship.
Which of the following is not a driver of the Corporate Social Responsiveness phase of Corporate Social Responsibility?
Religious/ethnic beliefs.
Which company ethics safeguard is commonly implemented as an employee "helpline"?
Reporting mechanisms.
Which of the following is an argument against corporate social responsibility?
Requires skills businesses may lack.
At the core of rights reasoning is the belief that:
Respecting others is the essence of human rights.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act makes it illegal for employers to:
Retaliate against whistle-blowers who report information that could have an impact on the value of a company's shares.
If someone is entitled to be treated in a certain way, this refers to a(n):
Right
People everywhere depend on ethical systems to tell them whether their actions are:
Right or wrong.
The phenomenon of a person or group holding multiple stakeholder duties is referred to as:
Role Sets
When something stands out from a background, is seen as important, or draws attention it is:
Salient
The three strategies of globalization can be summarized using what three words?
Sell, make, and buy.
A giant step is taken toward improving ethical performance throughout the company when:
Senior-level managers signal to employees that they believe ethics is a high priority.
Which of the following actions can a company take to effectively manage diversity and inclusion?
Set up a diversity council to monitor the company's goals.
A firm subscribing to the ownership theory of the firm would mainly be concerned with providing value for its:
Shareholders.
Total social regulation costs are:
Significantly higher than total economic regulation costs.
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.
Some studies have shown that the burden of complying with safety regulations falls hardest on:
Small businesses.
What is a social audit? Describe one of the three ways audit standards can be created.
Social audit is an assessment of your company's performance on corporate social responsibility objectives. It evaluates measurable goals intended to help your business meet the expectations your stakeholder groups have regarding your social and environmental responsibilities. 1. companies can develop standards designed to set expectations of performance for their suppliers (apple developed its own supplier code) 2. companies within industry can agree on common industry wide standard (electronics industry citizenship coalition code of conduct and industry wide social performance standard developed by fair labor association - when setting expectations for worker safety and pay in apparel and footwear industries) 3. global nongovernmental organizations or standard setting organizations
The role of special interest groups is an important element in acquiring intelligence from the:
Social environment.
According to Barlow v. A.P. Smith Manufacturing:
Socially responsible actions are an investment in the future, thus an allowable expense.
Global corporate citizenship is more than espoused values; it requires action. Discuss some of the ways forward-thinking companies are changing to improve their ability to act as responsible citizens.
Some companies are making efforts to be good global corporate citizens by giving back to less fortunate areas they operate in and by donating to various worldly causes. One example of this is Timberland, which donated money, materials, and its workers time in order to help improve the conditions in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010.
A firm that has global operations has:
Some or all of their manufacturing or service operations abroad.
Around the world, government:
Sometimes cooperates and sometimes is in conflict with business.
A business and its stakeholders coming together for face-to-face conversations about issues of common concern is:
Stakeholder dialogue.
The relevance and importance of stakeholders and their issues is known as:
Stakeholder materiality.
Corporations working collaboratively with other businesses and concerned persons and organizations is an example of:
Stakeholder networks.
Briefly discuss the meaning of ethics.
Study of universal values such as the essential equality of all men and women, human or natural rights, obedience to the law of land, concern for health and safety and, increasingly, also for the natural environment.
Once an organization has implemented the issue management program, it must:
Study the results and make necessary adjustments.
A living wage has been defined as a wage that:
Support half the basic needs of an average-sized family, based on local prices.
As shown in Figure 2, in 2013 the countries with the highest and lowest percentages of unionized labor, respectively, were:
Sweden, United States.
The issues management process is a:
Systematic process companies use when responding to public issues that are of greatest importance to the business.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act gives workers the right to a job:
That is free from recognized hazards that are likely to cause death or serious injury.
A number of European countries require public companies to include employee members on their boards of directors, so:
That their interests will be explicitly represented.
An example of a Global Action Network, or GAN, is:
The Kimberley Process.
Explain the purpose of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. What issues does the act address? Is this Act still a potent government tool?
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is an act handed by way of U.S. Congress in 2002 to preserve traders from the likelihood of fraudulent accounting activities with the aid of companies. The SOX Act mandated strict reforms to reinforce economic disclosures from companies and avert accounting fraud. The SOX Act was created in line with accounting malpractice within the early 2000s, when public scandals similar to Enron organization, Tyco global plc, and WorldCom shook investor self belief in financial statements and demanded an overhaul of regulatory requirements
Which U.S. Act prohibits executives representing U.S.-based companies from paying bribes to foreign government officials, political parties, or political candidates?
The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The most important agreement which codifies human rights is the:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Which of the following statements is not true about the interactive social system?
The boundary between business and society is clear and distinct.
Corporate power refers to:
The capability of corporations to influence government, the economy, and society, based on their organizational resources.
Identify and discuss the five steps to the Issues Management Process.
- Issue identification:Organizations should track the alternative press mainstream media online chat groups, blogs, and the newsletters of activist groups to learn what issues and concerns are being discussed. A trend line of coverage should then be established by the organization. -Issue Analysis: Once an emerging issue has been identified from a trend line of coverage, the next step is to assess its potential threat to the organization and determine whether the organization is vulnerable on this issue. -Strategy options: If the emergency issue is decided to be potentially damaging, strategy options must be considered, with the pros and cons of each option being weighed against what is most practical and economical for the organization. -Action plan: Once an option has been chosen and a policy decided on, the organization must communicate it to all its interested publics. The action plan is intended to positively influence key publics and reduce if not douse the emerging issue. -Evaluation of results: With the new policy in place and communicated, the final step is to evaluate the results. If the company has acted soon enough, perhaps the greatest measurement of success is avoiding the media coverage that occurs if a problem becomes a crisis.
Compare and contrast the relationships a firm may have with market and non-market stakeholders.
- Market: based on unique transaction and 2 way exchange. Stockholders invest in firm and in return may receive capital gains. Employees contribute their skills and knowledge in return for wages. -Non-market: people and groups who although they do not engage in direct economic exchange with the firm, are effected by its actions. Include the community, various levels of govt, media, competitors and the general public.
How does a person's spirituality influence his/her ethical behavior? How have organizations responded to increased attention to spirituality and religion at work attempting to accommodate their employees?
- Scholars have found that spirituality positively affects employee and organizational performance by enhancing intuitive abilities and individual capacity for innovation, as well as increasing personal growth, employee commitment, and responsibility. - Organizations have responded to the increased attention to spirituality and religion at work by attempting to accommodate their employees. For Example: The chief diversity officer at PricewaterhouseCoopers found office space in their Asia-Pacific region facility to provide a prayer room for their Muslim employees. In the United States, employers are required by law to make substantial accommodations for their employees' religious practices, as long as it does not create major hardships for the organization. Ford's Interfaith Network, a group of employees focusing on religious issues, successfully lobbied the company to install sinks designed for the religious washings that Muslim employees perform.
Government regulations ban both sexual and racial harassment. Discuss both kinds of harassment and why they are a concern to employers. What can companies do to combat sexual and racial harassment?
- Sexual harassment is unwelcomed gesture or sexual advances, verbal or physical contact of sexual nature, asking for sexual favours etc. by individuals towards other people. This can be done on the condition of offering job or promotions, favours in academic institutions etc. Such conditions disturb people's mental balance and rejecting such offers may end in failing an exam or losing a job - Racial harassment can be defined as when a person or group repeatedly uses discriminatory remarks, behaviours or practices to show racial intolerance against a co-worker or their colour, descent, culture, language or religion. People calling names, showing offensive gestures etc., to an individual or a group of other culture, race, language, religion or nationality to tease them. The companies can do the following things to combat the cases of sexual and racial harassment: - Displaying strict warning signs at the work place the offenders will be prosecuted severely and such acts are not accepted by the organization. - Making strict rules and informing the employees about it that this could happen when they indulge themselves in the acts of harassing people.
Provide three arguments against corporate social responsibility.
- Side effects on Consumers: Customers suffer because of the solving social problems and taking social care require huge financial investment. As the money within the business is used in social help, the business increase the cost of their products and services. - Lack of Social skills: It is often stated that businessmen don't fully under the social problems and thus can't solve them efficiently. - Personal resistance: People tend to dislike interference from businesses in their problems.
Describe and give examples of the external forces that shape the relationship between business and society.
-"explosion of new technology and innovation" tech moves so fast it is hard to keep up with and its a big part of todays world. iPhone example. -"changing societal expectations" everyone expects businesses to change quickly and be responsible with social issues. Example is dealing with world hunger
Discuss the benefits and costs of globalization. Provide examples of how globalization has helped or harmed individual nations and the world economy.
-Benefits: Increases economic productivity, reduces consumer prices, and transfers technology. -Costs: Causes job insecurity, weakens environmental standards, and erodes culture -Help: Globalization tends to reduce prices at US stores like Wal-Mart. Gives third world countries access to the latest trends. -Harm: Nike moved from India to China so a lot of Indonesian workers lost their job.
Define each key element of the public policy process and provide an illustration or example for each element.
-Fiscal policy- refers to patterns of government collecting and spending funds that are intended to stimulate or support economy. EX: Bailouts -Monetary policy- refers to policies that affect the supply, demand, and value of a nations economy. EX: Federal Reserve Bank -Social assistance policies- produced to enhance the well being of people across the globe. EX: health care
How can global action networks help global problem solving?
-GANs are the development of collaborative partnerships focused on social issues or economic problems. -The Kimberly Process is an example of a GAN as it tracks diamonds all the way from the mine to the jewelry store so the consumers know the gem was conflict-free.
Explain the theory of competitive advantage.
The competitive advantage theory attempts to correct for this issue by stressing maximizing scale economies in goods and services that garner premium prices.
A conception of right and wrong is:
The definition of ethics.
Workers in the United States enjoy several important legal guarantees. Discuss three major worker rights. What are the U.S. laws and regulations that govern each? How do such policies compare with those of other countries?
In which employees pay are covered with minimum wages and hours of workers i wage, 1.5 times pay for overtime etc. It is governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act Workplace safety and health of workers in which employers should comply with the safety standards and provide basic amenities required for worker's health. In case of workers handling hazards are also taken care. It is governed by Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides employees to be given unpaid job-protected leaves for child delivery, illness recovery of self, children, spouse and parents. It is right to have leaves in case of emergency. These policies are more or less same with other countries. Workers are always provided priority when employed. The employers provide benefits to workers. It can be clarified with several laws and regulations like consent of workers is required only in India and Vietnam before taking any decisions but in Sri Lanka, China, USA, UK consent is not required.
Firms that believe they can make decisions unilaterally, without taking into consideration their impact on others are:
Inactive companies.
What are the various stages of the business-stakeholder relationship?
Inactive- ignore stakeholder concerns Reactive- only act when forced to in a defensive manner Proactive- Try to anticipate stakeholder concerns Interactive- actively engage with stakeholders
Public policy tools involve a combination of:
Incentives and penalties.
With the explosive growth of technologies that facilitate the sharing of information, this kind of stakeholder power has become increasingly important:
Informational Power
A religious authority.
Input.
Building ethical safeguards into a company's everyday routines is called:
Institutionalizing ethics
Not all ethics issues in business are the same. Discuss the distinct ethical issues across three different organizational functions. Highlight details of the professional codes of conduct for each.
Integrity means equal treatment for all within the organization. Organizational policy should be treat to all as one. None can get any preferences in terms of relaxation when failure to any rules or guidelines . Integrity should also focus to develop each office location of the organization. Managers should promote integrity in each segments of its business. Trust must be developed among individuals it gives an edge to mangers that they will be in position to commit any deadline with the clients which they will do if trust will be present there. Diversity should be managed carefully. As we know that people come across from the different background to join the organization so if they will be given a chance to grow with the organizational policies and ethical guidelines then they will adopt and learn. Decsion making must be based on rationality. It should also reduce the guess and hunches of the many people rather particiaption is key to it. Each stakeholders must be satisfied while taking any critical decsion. Each members of the organization must be clearly understood the compliance of the oragnizational policies. Non compliance should be followed by a disciplinary action. Governance means board of director how manages the organization with an view to make it a place with thousands of opportunities for all the stakeholders? Rules regulations and ethical guidelines must be inherited in each activities of the organization. People should motivated to follow the general guidelines of the top management.
A stakeholder analysis:
Involves understanding the nature of stakeholder interests
Contemporary issue management:
Is an interactive, forward thinking process.
The main drawback to utilitarian reasoning is that:
It is difficulty to accurately measure both costs and benefits.
Which of the following is an argument against affirmative action?
It is inconsistent with the principles of fairness and equality.
Why does international regulation occur? Discuss the conditions that affect the regulation of business in a global context.
It occurs because it unites people and businesses in new ways as consumers always buy food, cars, and clothing from Asia, Canada, and Europe. - Countries do not want to accept dangerous products that could cause harm - No government wants to see its economy damaged due to unfair competition from foreign competitors. - If businesses operate in multiple countries, then regulations imposed in one jurisdiction can affect companies operating out of others.
Which of the following is true about random drug testing of employees?
It screens randomly-selected employees at various times through the year.
When a community group sues a company for health effects caused by the unsafe disposal of toxic chemicals, this is an exercise of a stakeholder's:
Legal Power
Which of the following examples best illustrate an ethics issue based on cross-cultural contradictions?
Legally marketing a pesticide abroad that has been banned in the U.S