CH6

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) operates a program that rewards per cent of recovered unpaid taxes to those who provide information about tax fraud.

15 to 30

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines stipulate that fines can be substantially reduced - by as much as ______ per cent - if the company can show that it has an effective ethics program in place, and as long as the illegal behavior is promptly reported and was not committed by high-level employees.

90

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

A U.S. law that makes bribery illegal and requires companies to maintain adequate internal accounting systems and accurate records of transactions

Values Statement

A formal statement of the core beliefs, principles, and priorities that are shared within an organization

Ethics assist line (or ethics hotline)

A mechanism that employees can use to seek advice on handling ethical issues and to report unethical behavior in the workplace

Code of conduct

A set of rules, principles, standards, and policies regarding acceptable and unacceptable behavior by organizational members

Ombudsperson

An employee who has been designated to hear anonymous or confidential claims of ethics violations, investigate these claims, decide how the claim should be handled, and implement appropriate changes

Values-based ethics program

An ethics program (also known as an integrity-based program) that emphasizes living up to shared ethical values in addition to compliance with laws

Compliance-based ethics program

An ethics program that sets out rules for behavior and punishes failure to comply with those rules

Ethical organization

An organization into which ethical values have been built into every element

If top ethics officers are seen as close confidantes of the ______, then their efforts are taken more seriously in the company.

CEO

The ______ ensure that sentences imposed for corporate crimes are consistent for all organizations and establish incentives for organizations to detect and prevent corporate crimes.

Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

Which legislation made bribery illegal and required companies to maintain adequate internal accounting systems and accurate records of transactions?

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO)

Guidelines to ensure that sentences imposed for corporate crimes are consistent for all organizations, and to establish incentives for organizations to detect and prevent corporate crimes

Fraud

Illegal deception for the purpose of financial or other personal gain

Organic organizations

Organizations that are able to adapt to their environments. They are characterized by low degrees of specialization and formalization, decentralized decision-making, and a flat hierarchy

Mechanistic Organizations

Organizations that operate precisely and efficiently. They are characterized by highly specialized and formalized work, centralized decision-making, and a tall hierarchy

Organizational Culture

Shared assumptions and values regarding the appropriate ways to think and behave and the artifacts that express them

Discrimination

The act of treating a person unfairly based on the social category one puts that person into

Organizational Structure

The arrangement of employees, groupings, tasks, and authority within an organization

Ethical Climate

The atmosphere of an organization regarding how to address ethical issues

Money Laundering

The concealment of illegally obtained money, typically by transferring it through a seemingly legitimate transaction

Chief ethics officer

The employee with primary responsibility for ensuring ethical behavior by and within the organization

Tax Evasion

The illegal nonpayment or underpayment of taxes owed

Servant Leadership

The leadership philosophy that emphasizes putting others first and helping them develop and perform at their best

Bribery

The making of a corrupt payment to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person

Vision

The organization's objective; the state it hopes to attain

Mission

The organization's purpose; what it is and why it exists

Ethical values

The organization's values that explicitly pertain to ethics; the principles that govern behavior in addressing ethical issues

Ethics Program

The policies and procedures for promoting and ensuring law-abiding and ethical behavior within an organization

Values

The principles by which the organization will conduct itself as it seeks to achieve its vision

Ethical Leadership

The process of taking ethical actions to influence others to act ethically to achieve organizational goals

Embezzlement

Theft of anyone's identity and core beliefs, and how it lives them out systematically through its activities and engagement with stakeholders

A set of rules, principles, standards, and policies regarding acceptable and unacceptable behavior within an organization is a(n) ______.

code of conduct

An employee who has been designated to hear anonymous or confidential claims of ethics violations, investigate these claims, decide how the claim should be handled, and implement appropriate changes is known as a(n) ______.

omsbudperson

The US Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after investigations revealed that numerous companies were ______.

paying bribes to foreign government officials in exchange for business favors

In general, social media use policies should seek to strike a balance between ______ and ______.

protecting the company's legitimate business interests; respecting employees' rights to privacy and freedom of speech

Cindy is an accounting professional for a small engineering firm and notices that some of the managers do not accurately report losses in their areas of operation. She reports this misconduct to her boss, which is the company's CFO. Her actions make her a(n) ______.

whistleblower