Business Ethics Quiz 1

1) a moral imperative

"Do not lie" is an example of which of the following found in all major cultures and world religions? 1) a moral imperative 2) a stage of moral reasoning 3) cognitive dissonance 4) conventional reasoning

2) monitoring costs

There is a high level of mistrust between construction owners and contractors. When these two groups must work together on a project, this high level of mistrust is going to raise what cost in particular? 1) reputation costs 2) monitoring costs 3) direct costs related to theft 4) legal costs

4) their conscience

A person who reasons at the postconventional level is most influenced in their decisions by ______. 1) the laws that govern the community 2) the will of the majority 3) the need to be a good role model 4) their conscience

4) It is based more on societal order.

According to Lawrence Kohlberg, how does right behavior at the conventional level of reasoning differ from right behavior at the preconventional level? 1) It is less concerned with being a good role model. 2) It has a higher component of pain avoidance. 3) It is based more on universal ethical principles. 4) It is based more on societal order.

4) age

According to Lawrence Kohlberg, which of the following is a factor that influences passage through the stages of moral development? 1) avoidance of pain 2) empathy for people at lower stages 3) moral comfort 4) age

1) An uncle gives Ali a present, and Ali says, "Thank you."

Ali is old enough to have developed the capacity for mental scripts. Which of the following scenarios demonstrates enactment of a mental script? 1) An uncle gives Ali a present, and Ali says, "Thank you." 2) His mother smiles at him, and he smiles back. 3) Ali recognizes that others might feel bad even though he feels good. 4) A stranger appears, and Ali tries to crawl away from him.

2) their superiors

Based on self-reporting in one study, from where did middle managers find that most pressure to write fraudulent internal reports originate? 1) customers and clients 2) their superiors 3) themselves 4) employees seeking more resources

4) much higher pay and benefits

Which of the following reasons most causes an individual to take a job at an unethical organization over an ethical one? 1) greater opportunity for personal enrichment through rule breaking 2) belief that workload will be easier/smaller 3) individual ignorance about ethics 4) much higher pay and benefits

1) a community of people on a common mission to be effective, efficient, and ethical

How does the text define "well-managed organization"? 1) a community of people on a common mission to be effective, efficient, and ethical 2) a community of people seeking a common goal in the marketplace 3) an efficient hierarchy of managers and employees operating under conditions of discipline and trust 4) a community of employees and managers working together to provide a net benefit to society

2) culture

Five-year-old Duanna steals candy from the grocery store even though she knows it is supposed to be paid for. If Aristotle or John Locke were asked to explain the origin of Duanna's sense of morality, what would they most likely say? 1) God 2) culture 3) inherent conscience 4) her soul prior to birth

4) They are likely to have fewer well-educated employees who are less committed to the organization.

How are small businesses different from large businesses with respect to ethics violations? 1) The difficulties of managing morally questionable employees are somewhat smaller with small businesses. 2) They are less susceptible to bullying issues with large clients. 3) They are likely to have more respectful and less contentious relationships with clients and customers. 4) They are likely to have fewer well-educated employees who are less committed to the organization.

2) They believe moral imperfections comes from previous humans, not from original sin.

How do Hindu and Buddhist beliefs about human moral imperfection differ from those of Roman Catholics and Protestants? 1) They believe moral imperfections come from God, not from original sin. 2) They believe moral imperfections comes from previous humans, not from original sin. 3) They believe the soul joined to the body is perfect at birth and learns immorality. 4) They believe the soul joined to the body is not imperfect at birth.

1) It increasingly considers ethical behavior as an aid to financial performance.

How has the theoretical debate over ethics and organizational performance changed in recent years? 1) It increasingly considers ethical behavior as an aid to financial performance. 2) It increasingly focuses on the choice between financial performance and ethical behavior. 3) It increasingly acknowledges that ethical behavior has little impact on organizational performance. 4) It focuses on the short-term benefits to financial performance of unethical action.

2) the company must do anything it can to succeed in the marketplace

If a sales manager asks her subordinates to falsify their sales numbers and justifies it by saying, "The end justifies the means," she is likely making an argument that ______. 1) lying is essentially a victimless crime 2) the company must do anything it can to succeed in the marketplace 3) helping her subordinates do well justifies the minor ethical issue with lying 4) loyalty is no excuse for poor work performance

1) organizational culture

If an office worker sometimes takes supplies home for personal use without asking and justifies it because others in the company do the same, what is she using to justify the action? 1) organizational culture 2) avoiding pain 3) short-term gain for long-term success 4) deserved reward

3) stage four, the "law-abiding citizen" stage

In Lawrence Kohlberg's moral stages, most adults never advance beyond ______. 1) postconventional moral reasoning 2) the preconventional level 3) stage four, the "law-abiding citizen" stage 4) stage three, the "Good Boy-Nice Girl" stage

1) In an unconscious ethical dilemma, you are not aware of the moral issue occurring.

In which of the following ways does an unconscious ethical dilemma differ from a conscious one? 1) In an unconscious ethical dilemma, you are not aware of the moral issue occurring. 2) In an unconscious ethical dilemma, you know the action you are taking is wrong. 3) In an unconscious ethical dilemma, you know an action is right, but you are very tempted to do what is wrong. 4) In an unconscious ethical dilemma, you are aware a decision is a moral issue, but others are not.

4) ongoing legal defenses

Indira's financial services company knowingly financed high-risk securities during a time when all their competitors were doing the same, and like others, they were caught in the process. Over the next decade, what is likely to be the most quantifiable cost to the company? 1) fired employees and associated severance packages 2) lowered budgets for projects beginning the year the unethical conduct occurred 3) lowered employee morale 4) ongoing legal defenses

2) Janele already knew in her soul that taking the juice was wrong (she was born with this knowledge) and chose to do it anyway.

Janele is three years old. While playing with another child, she takes the juice from the other child's hands and drinks it herself. How would Socrates have interpreted this action? 1) Janele might have known taking the juice was wrong, but she would have learned about that wrongness from the culture around her. 2) Janele already knew in her soul that taking the juice was wrong (she was born with this knowledge) and chose to do it anyway. 3) Janele was born good, so she must have learned this behavior from a corrupt adult. 4) Janele was born with inherited sin, which manifested in the theft of the juice.

1) charging for unearned billable hours

Joan works as a personal injury attorney, and her husband, Ali, is a consultant for a financial services firm. What particular type of ethical misconduct might they both be tempted to commit that is a common issue in, and somewhat unique to, their professions? 1) charging for unearned billable hours 2) overusing unpaid internships 3) dishonesty with clients 4) colluding with competitors to guide the market

4) performed an ethical analysis

Karen spilled some coffee on the counter at a coffee shop and failed to wipe it up, and her friend said, "That was bad." Her friend just ______. 1) misapplied ethical reasoning 2) rejected analytical perspective 3) became a stakeholder 4) performed an ethical analysis

3) directives from a boss

The Society for Human Resource Management and the Ethics Resource Center found the most common reason an employee was pressured to act unethically was ______. 1) schedule stress 2) wanting to help the team 3) directives from a boss 4) need for personal gain

3) Pay the higher price for the product from the ethical company.

Two companies produce different proprietary versions of the same product. The two versions are very alike in quality and effectiveness, but the product from the company with a strong reputation for ethical performance costs slightly more. Given statistical research findings, what will most Americans who want this type of product do assuming they are familiar with the two companies? 1) Base their purchase on convenience and disregard ethical reputation. 2) Base their purchase not on ethics or price but solely on user reviews. 3) Pay the higher price for the product from the ethical company. 4) Pay the lower price for the product from the company with no reputation for ethics.

4) conscious and unconscious

What are the two core types of ethical dilemma? 1) motivated and unmotivated 2) action and inaction 3) emotional and analytical 4) conscious and unconscious

3) psychological pain

What component must be present for a person to advance from one stage of moral reasoning to the next? 1) a significant advancement in age 2) empathy for others 3) psychological pain 4) a moral script

4) Unethical or immoral behavior must be learned from others after birth.

What do the "born good" and "tabula rasa" approaches to human morality have in common that the other approaches lack? 1) Humans must relearn after birth what they already knew before birth. 2) Humans have a "conscience" that is basically good. 3) Soul is joined to the body before birth. 4) Unethical or immoral behavior must be learned from others after birth.

4) They respond favorably because investors prefer higher ethical behavior in companies in which they invest.

What does research show about Wall Street investors' response to new accounting laws requiring financial transparency? 1) They seek to invest in companies they believe will be most talented at avoiding the provisions of such laws. 2) They do not factor it into their calculations because such laws are applied across all companies. 3) They react poorly because they know companies will be less capable of maximizing profits. 4) They respond favorably because investors prefer higher ethical behavior in companies in which they invest.

3) Public image and admiration and ethical misconduct are not mutually exclusive characteristics.

What point is the text making about ethical misconduct when it describes the Wells Fargo employee practice of creating fraudulent checking and savings accounts? 1) Managerial negligence is typically the starting place for organizational corruption. 2) Governmental negligence in policing misconduct can be a major determinant of how commonly it occurs. 3) Public image and admiration and ethical misconduct are not mutually exclusive characteristics. 4) Organizational culture can be blamed for ethical misconduct as much as individual behavior.

4) fostering trust, efficiency, integrity, and effectiveness across a range of actions for employees and customers

What should be the primary ethical goal of managers in an organization? 1) creating a common mission for employees 2) appropriately serving the needs of customers 3) producing a trustworthy product 4) fostering trust, efficiency, integrity, and effectiveness across a range of actions for employees and customers

2) Acts are morally neutral, while consequences have ethical weight.

When considering ethics, how does an action differ from the consequences of that action? 1) Acts carry moral weight, while consequences are neutral to the person taking the action. 2) Acts are morally neutral, while consequences have ethical weight. 3) Acts carry concrete moral implications, while consequences are subject to interpretation. 4) An act has moral implications for the actor, while consequences have moral implications only for those acted upon.

4) Children exhibit helping behaviors before they learn speech.

Which of the following best characterizes the finding about childhood morality by childhood psychologist Michael Tomasello? 1) Children demonstrate the capacity to deceive before learning language. 2) Because helping behaviors do not appear until two years of age, we cannot determine if they have innate components. 3) Children must learn helping behaviors from their parents. 4) Children exhibit helping behaviors before they learn speech.

2) choosing not to justify an unethical behavior

Which of the following does not qualify as a general reason that good people sometimes behave unethically? 1) causing, but not intending, unethical outcome 2) choosing not to justify an unethical behavior 3) failing to prevent an unethical behavior out of fear of retaliation 4) choosing one set of values over a competing set of values

1) Generation X had the highest rate of volunteerism of the various age groups.

Which of the following is TRUE of helping behaviors in American adults? 1) Generation X had the highest rate of volunteerism of the various age groups. 2) A little less than half of American households donate money to charity. 3) Helping behavior decreases dramatically in the adult years. 4) Volunteering time was a minimal helping behavior for Americans, with just a few million reporting hours given to volunteering.

4) Newborns have moral capacities.

Which of the following is a component of the "born morally neutral" philosophy of human nature? 1) Prior to birth, the mind exists in a spiritual realm. 2) Kindness is part of the human DNA. 3) Children have an innate "moral sense." 4) Newborns have moral capacities.

3) a store manager using a waste disposal service that secretly pollutes

Which of the following qualifies as an unintended unethical behavior? 1) punching a stranger because they insulted you 2) failing to report an unwanted sexual advance for fear of being fired 3) a store manager using a waste disposal service that secretly pollutes 4) going along with a boss's unethical request because one values loyalty highly

3) All organizations are ethically challenged.

Which of the following statements about ethics and organizations at large is accurate? 1) Organizations must work hard to maintain an internal culture free of ethical challenges. 2) Organizations face ethical challenges only if they fail to both engage in ethics training and in hiring ethical employees. 3) All organizations are ethically challenged. 4) Most organizations are ethically challenged.

2) The incidence of cheating is lower in college than in high school, though still very high.

Which of the following statements about lying and cheating in high school and college is accurate? 1) Less than half of high school students thought it was important to display good character. 2) The incidence of cheating is lower in college than in high school, though still very high. 3) Most college students admit to wanting to cheat, though most do not. 4) Over 90 percent of high school students admit to cheating in the last year.

2) Reporting of incidents by one female employee typically encourages others to come forward.

Which of the following statements about sexual harassment in the workplace is accurate? 1) The legal profession has the highest rate of reports for sexual harassment among professions. 2) Reporting of incidents by one female employee typically encourages others to come forward. 3) Roughly half of women subjected to sexual harassment report the incident. 4) In surveys, some 60 percent or more of women report having been sexually harassed.

2) Empathy usually appears by age three.

Which of the following statements about the cognitive development of children is accurate as articulated by Jean Piaget? 1) Conscience forms soon after a child is capable of mental scripts. 2) Empathy usually appears by age three. 3) A child is sociocentric at about 18 months. 4) Concepts of good and bad appear at about four years of age.