International Business TB Chapter 5

cultural relativism suggests that

a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating

the righteous moralist suggests that

a multinational's home country standards of ethics are the appropriate ones for companies to follow in foreign countries

under the veil of ignorance, everyone is imagined to be ignorant of

all of his/her particular characteristics

a situation in which none of the available alternatives seems morally accepted is called

an ethical delima

what is the term for a company's formal statement of the ethical priorities it expects all of its employees to follow

code of ethics

the _____ obliges member states to make the bribery of foreign public officials a criminal offense and excludes facilitating payments made to expedite routine government action from the convention

convention of international business transactions

Child labor is permitted and widely employed in Country X. A multinational company entering Country X decides to employ minors in its subsidiary, even though it is against the multinational's home-country ethics. Which of the following approaches to business ethics would justify the actions of the multinational company?

cultural relativism

a multinational company is accused of paying bribes to the government of a host country to obtain permission to build a production factory. the public relations manager of the company defends the company's actions as being ethically sound; he states that in the host country, paying bribes to government officials is the accepted norm and is in keeping with the social practices in the host country. the public relations manager is using which of the following philosophical doctrines to defend the actions of the company

cultural relativism

according to the _____ point-of-view, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is pperating

cultural relativism

in its extreme viewpoint, ____ suggests that if a culture supports slavery, it is all right to use slave labor in the country

cultural relativism

which of the following is an example of an external stakeholder?

customers

Rawls' philosophy that inequalities are justified if they benefit the position of the least- advantaged person is known as the:

difference principle

according to John Rawls

each person should be permitted the maximum amount of basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others

identify the INCORRECT statement about environmental regulations

environmental regulations are similar across developed and developing nations

it is in the best interest of prospective employees to find out all they can about the

ethical climate in an organization

a firm's ____ include customers, suppliers, and lenders

external stakeholders

the convention on combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions excludes

facilitating payments made to expedite routine government action

according to rawls, inequalities are unjust even if the system that produces inequalities is to the advantage of everyone

false

corporations can contribute to the global tragedy of the commons by not pumping pollutants into the atmosphere or dumping them in oceans or rivers

false

cultural relativism suggests that even if slavery is culturally acceptable in a country, a foreign firm operating in that country should avoid using slave labor

false

ethical strategies are the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of businesspeople

false

international businesses cannot gain economic advantages by making payments to corrupt government officials

false

societal business ethics are divorced from personal ethics

false

the Friedman doctrine is the belief that ethics are nothing more than a reflection of culture and therefore, a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating

false

the Sullivan principles mandated that GM could operate in South Africa as long as the company complied with the apartheid laws

false

the ethical obligations of a multinational corporation toward employment conditions, human rights, environment pollution, and the use of power are always clear-cut

false

the foreign corrupt practices act originally allows "facilitating payments" to secure contracts that would not otherwise be secured

false

the righteous moralist approach to ethics is typically associated with managers from developing and under-developed nations

false

the utilitarian approach to ethics is a straw men approach to business ethics that has some inherent value, but is unsatisfactory in important ways

false

to establish moral intent, managers need to stand in the shoes of a stakeholder and ask how a proposed decision might impact that stakeholder

false

to foster ethical behavior, many businesses draft a code of ethics, which is an informal statement of the ethical priorities the company follows

false

utilitarian philosophy takes into consideration the principle of justice

false

ethical dilemmas exist because many real-world decisions involve

first, second and third-order consequences that are hard to quantify

often, the code of ethics draws heavily upon documents such as the _____, which itself is grounded in kantian and rights-based theories of moral philosophy

foreign corrupt practices act

the ____ outlawed the paying of bribes to foreign government officials to gain business

foreign corrupt practices act

an international US based company sets up a production unit in a developing country with poor environmental regulations. this contributes to the

global tragedy of the commons

identify the correct statement about the rights theories

human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries

According to the naive immoralist,

if firms in a host nation do not follow ethical norms then the manager of a multinational should also not follow ethical norms there.

which of the following persons believed that people should be treated as ends and never purely as means to the ends of others

immanuel kant

according to john rawls's difference principle,

inequalities are justified if they benefit the position of the least advantaged person

which of the following statements is true about the united nations universal declaration of human rights?

it transcends national borders

the veil of ignorance was developed by ____ as part of his approach to justice theories

john rawls

Article 1 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." This best echoes:

kantian ethics

any person or institution that is capable of moral action such as a government or corporation is a(n) ___

moral agent

____ enables managers to walk away from a decision that is profitable but unethical

moral courage

companies can strengthen the _____ of employees by committing themselves to not retaliate against employees who complain about unethical actions

moral courage

which of the following enables managers to walk away from a decision that is profitable, but unethical

moral courage

____ means standing in the shoes of a stakeholder and asking how a proposed decision might impact the stakeholder

moral imagination

establishing _____ involves a business to resolve to place moral concerns ahead of other concerns in cases where either the fundamental rights of stakeholders or key moral principles have been violated

moral intent

An American manager in Colombia routinely pays off the local drug lord to guarantee that his plant will not be bombed and that none of his employees will be kidnapped. The manager argues that such payments are ethically defensible because everyone is doing it. the manager's argument exemplifies which of the following ethical approaches?

naive immoralist

a(n) ____ asserts that if a manager of a multinational sees that firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should not either

naive immoralist

an american firm that sets up production units in china is accused of releasing untreated chemical waste into water bodies. the manager of the firm defends the firm stating that factories in china set up by french and british firms also release untreated chemical waste into water bodies. what approach to business ethics is the manager using

naive immoralist

BP, one of the world's largest oil companies, has made it part of the company policy to undertake "social investments" in the countries where it does business. There was no economic reason for BP to make this social investment, but the company believes it is morally obligated to give something back to the societies that have made their success possible. BP's actions are an example of

noblesse oblige

___ is a french term that refers to the honorable and benevolent behavior considered the responsibility of people of high (noble) birth

noblesse oblige

which of the following, in a business setting, is taken to mean benevolent behavior that is the responsibility of successful enterprises

noblesses oblige

which of the following refers to the values and norms that the employees of an organization share

organization culture

the kantian approach to ethics suggests that

people should be treated as ends and never purely as means to the ends of others

facilitating payments are

permitted under the amended foreign corrupt practices act

talking with ____ is a good way to discern a potential employee's ethical predisposition

prior employers regarding someone's reputation

the united nations universal declaration of human rights, related to employment, upholds which of the following

protection against unemployment

which of the following is a reason why managers behave in a manner that is unethical

psychological and geographical distances of a foreign subsidiary from the home office

according to the ____, even if a manager of a multinational sees that firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should maintain the standards of the the company's home country

righteous moralist

____ recognize that human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures

rights theories

the idea that businesspeople should consider the social consequences of economic actions when making business decisions and that there should be a presumption in favor of decisions that have both good economic and social consequences is known as

social responsibility

facilitating payments are also known as

speed money

____ approaches to business ethics are raised by business ethics scholars primarily to demonstrate that they offer inappropriate ethical decision making in a multinational enterprise

straw men

business ethics that either deny the value of business ethics or apply the concept in a very unsatisfactory way are termed _____

straw men

which of the following was designed to allow GM to operate ethically in south africa as long as the company did not obey the apartheid laws in its own south african operations

sullivan principles

according to ____, the social responsibility of business is to increate profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law

the Friedman doctrine

which of the following ethical theories explicitly rejects the idea that businesses should undertake social expenditures beyond those mandated by the law and required for the efficient running of a business

the Friedman doctrine

which of the following observations about the foreign corrupt practices act is true

the act outlawed the paying of bribes to foreign government officials to gain business

justice theories of business ethics focus on

the attainment of an equitable distribution of goods and services

in the international business setting, one of the most common ethical issues involves ______

the moral obligation of multinational corporations

the utilitarian approach to business ethics suggests that

the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences

expatriate managers may experience more than the usual degree of pressure to violate their personal ethics because of which of the following

they may be based in a culture that does not place the same value on ethical norms important in the manager's home country

the ___ occurs when a resource is shared by all, but owned by no one, is overused by individuals resulting in its degradation

tragedy of the commons

the ____ occurs when a resource held in common by all, but owned by no one, is overused by individuals, resulting in its degredation

tragedy of the commons

Milton Friedman's basic position is that the only social responsibility of business is to increase profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law

true

a firm's organizational culture refers to the values and norms that are shared among employees of an organization

true

an individual with a strong sense of personal ethics is less likely to behave in an unethical manner in a business setting

true

building an organization culture that places a high value on ethical behavior requires incentive and reward dystems

true

ethical dilemmas are situations in which none of the available alternatives seems ethically acceptable

true

ethics officers are hired by many businesses to make sure that all employees are trained to be ethically aware and that ethical considerations enter the business decision-making process at all levels of the organization

true

in a business setting, noblesse oblige is taken to mean benevolent behavior that is the responsibility of successful enterprises

true

most moral philosophers see value in utilitarian and kantian approaches to business ethics

true

social responsibility refers to the idea that businesspeople should favor decisions that have both good economic and social consequences

true

what is considered normal business practice in one country may be considered unethical in other countries

true

external stakeholders

typically comprise customers, suppliers, lenders, etc.

according to the _____ approach, the best decisions are those that produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people

utilitarian

the ____ appraches to ethics hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences

utilitarian

The products of Carmen Stores, an international sports apparel chain, are manufactured in sweat factories in China. According to the company president, using sweatshop labor offers a means of livelihood to children and young adults, as well as supplies good quality apparel to customers at a lower cost. She asserts that the actions of the company are justified because it results in the benefit of the maximum number of people. The company president's argument is based on which of the following ethical viewpoints?

utilitarian approach to business ethics

____ arguments suggest that improving working conditions beyond the level required by the law and necessary to maximize employee productivity will reduce profits and are therefore not appropriate

Friedman's

_____ are the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of businesspeople

business ethics

employees in a business often take their cue from ____

business leaders

according to the Friedman doctrine

businesses should not undertake social expenditures beyond those mandated by the law and required for the efficient running of a business