Business 1305-Ch. 4

Which of the following actions best demonstrates the practice of corporate responsibility?

A company actively recruits and nurtures U.S. veterans

_____ are among the most challenging issues faced by companies and individuals that are involved in international businesses.

Bribery and corruption

Transparency International, a leading anticorruption organization, publishes a yearly index of "perceived corruption." In 2012, among 176 countries, _____ countries dominated the top of the list for lowest levels of corruption.

European

Jim was low on money and had access to the petty cash fund at work. One day, he thought of borrowing $100 from the petty cash fund with the intention of returning the money on his next payday. However, if he takes the money he knows that Sally, the receptionist, who also had access to the fund will get blamed and if he doesn't take the money, he will not be able to meet his expenses for the week. This is an example of an ethical dilemma.

True

A company with international operations may rely on universal ethical standards to guide:

decision making across a broad spectrum of situations.

Planned obsolescence is _____.

Deliberately designing products to fail in order to shorten the time between consumer repurchases

Zen Pharm, a pharmaceutical company, has incurred heavy loss due to the failure of its most recently launched drug for arthritis. However, the sales director suggests selling the drug under a different label, as a supplement. If Zen Pharm sells the drug with a different label, it will place patients at risk. If the company doesn't sell the drug, it will have to file for bankruptcy. This is an example of a(n):

Ethical Dilemma

A corporate code of ethics guarantees that employees will not participate in unethical behaviors while at work.

False

A social audit is an evaluation to measure the level of unethical practices a company is involved in to earn profit.

False

All stakeholders have the same needs, expectations, and levels of interest.

False

Human rights, worker safety, and wage practices are not factors a socially responsible business considers when deciding on what vendors and suppliers best meet its needs.

False

Most consumers are willing to pay significantly higher prices and accept somewhat lower performance in order to purchase goods that are environmentally friendly.

False

Organizational culture has little influence on the ethical conduct of individual employees.

False

Sally is responsible for ensuring that all equipment is placed in its proper location at the end of her work shift. She notices that one employee always leaves his equipment on the floor, but he is one of the top performers. Sally ignores the employee's negligence and stores the equipment in its proper location. Sally is displaying her individual ethics.

False

The easiest business challenges to address are those involving business ethics.

False

The federal government is a key stakeholder in all businesses.

False

Transparency International, a leading anticorruption organization, reports that the world's richest countries fall largely in the bottom half of the index of "perceived corruption," suggesting rampant corruption in developed countries.

False

The purpose of a written code of ethics is to:

To provide guidance to help employees make sound ethical decisions across a range of situations

A written code of conduct provides guidelines for ethical behavior in the workplace.

True

An individual's ethical beliefs are influenced by his or her social group and culture.

True

Ben has started a small, home remodeling business. As a for-profit business, his number-one goal is to generate long-term profits.

True

Ethical choices begin with ethical individuals.

True

In corporate philanthropy, some companies pay their employees to spend time volunteering at nonprofits.

True

It is possible for someone's actions to be completely legal, yet still be unethical.

True

Stakeholders are any groups that have a stake—or a personal interest—in the performance and actions of an organization

True

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits bribery and corruption on the part of U.S. businesses operating internationally.

True

_____ apply to everyone across a broad spectrum of situations regardless of political, religious, class, and ethnic divisions.

Universal ethical standards

To bring _____ to life, experts advocate a forceful, integrated approach to ethics that includes establishing expectations for ethical behavior at all levels of the organization, from the CEO to the night-time cleaning crew.

a code of ethics

PepsiCo recently calculated the carbon footprint for its Tropicana orange juice brand and was surprised to learn that one-third of its emissions came from:

applying fertilizer to the orange groves.

A unifying written document that articulates a firm's ethical priorities is described as the company's:

code of ethics.

Harbor Paint Products Inc. proactively implemented an incentive program that rewarded employees for soliciting customer feedback on its new deck stain product. Sales professionals, customer service representatives, and partner retail associates were asked to contribute a minimum of seven customer impressions every week to the company's marketing database. The program promoted:

consumerism and the right to be heard.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Character Counts has worked with educators, community leaders, and experts to establish a set of:

core ethical values that transcend political, ethnic, class, and religious differences.

The function of laws in the United States is to establish and enforce _____ that apply to everyone in society.

ethical norms

Universal ethical standards are _____.

ethical norms that apply to all people across a broad spectrum of situations

Perhaps the best-known code of ethics is the Johnson & Johnson Credo. One of the striking elements of the credo is the firm focus on _____.

fairness

Ben & Jerry's is recognized for being a socially conscious trendsetter. As a socially responsible company, this maker of high-quality ice cream is likely to focus on:

finding the proper balance between earning profits and meeting responsibilities to other stakeholders.

The spectrum of how firms address issues concerning social responsibility ranges from:

firms that never contribute to socially responsible causes to firms that choose to integrate social responsibility into their strategic plans.

The starting point for socially responsible employers is to meet _____.

legal standards

The goal of sustainable development is to:

meet the needs of the current generation without harming the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Corporate _____ includes all business donations to nonprofit groups, including both money and products.

philanthropy

Establishing a code of conduct for vendors in foreign nations:

requires American firms to deal with a wide range of issues involving human rights, wages, worker safety, and environmental protection.

The primary duty of socially responsible companies to their investors is to:

seek to generate long-term profits while meeting responsibilities to all stakeholders.

Ethics refer to _____.

sets of beliefs about right and wrong

The _____ of a company that produces gourmet coffee include its employees, coffee bean growers who supply the company, people who drink its gourmet coffee, and the people who live in the community where the company produces the coffee. Question 19 options:

stakeholders

Robert Lane, former CEO of Deere, a high-performing, highly-ethical corporation, declares that to establish an ethical culture, _____.

suppliers, dealers, and customers must be excluded from the ethical circle

McDonald's has worked hard to reduce waste by shipping orange juice as frozen concentrate, reducing orange juice packaging by 75%. The company has developed an extensive recycling program. These actions are examples of:

sustainable development