Chapter 1 Business Ethics

Federal guidelines that encourage, but do not require, companies to implement policies and procedures that reinforce ethical behaviors; if an employee commits a federal crime, the number and authenticity of business ethics best practices implemented by the company affect the fine assessed against the organization.

Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

A law or rule developed by government that regulates conduct.

Government regulation

What conclusion about ethical corporate behavior can be drawn from the lawsuits and payouts that firms such as R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, and Philip Morris continue to be subject to?

Just because an organization's behavior is legal does not mean there will not be ethical and financial costs.

Identifying ______ is an excellent way to signal that ethics matters to a company.

ethical risks

Living wage

The amount of money a full-time employee needs to exceed the poverty threshold or afford the basic necessities of life.

Which of the following statements about lying and cheating in high school and college is accurate?

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

According to Jean Piaget, what does a child possess at 18 months that they do not possess earlier in life?

feelings such as pride and shame

What is the goal of websites like Glassdoor and Just Capital?

forcing transparency on the ethics of many companies

Which of the following was a core demand of colonial leaders seeking independence from England as expressed in the Declaration of Independence?

government based on the consent of the governed

Studies have shown that ______ to ethical behaviors had a major effect of misconduct and unethical behaviors committed by employees.

employee resistance

Community of people on a common mission to be effective, efficient, and ethical.

Well-managed organization

While all children might lie in situations where doing so would benefit them, ______ are also viewed as innate.

helping behaviors

What morally admirable accomplishment does the text credit to the United States during its development between the 1700s and 1900?

increasing life expectancy

Which of the following could be classified as a stakeholder of a local clothing retail business?

a person who buys clothes from the business

For what common social function does lying serve as a defense mechanism?

hiding our flaws and imperfections

What is the most likely cause for an individual to take a job at an unethical organization over an ethical one?

much higher pay and benefits

When asked to rate professions by how much they were trusted, what was the only profession Gallup Poll respondents rated higher than fifteen percent?

nurses

The Ethical Systems Model synthesizes best practices for what purpose?

reducing ethical risks

Document protecting freedom of speech, press, and religion; freedom to petition the government; and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.

Bill of Rights

An economic system based on freedom and competition in both product and labor markets, as an economic system ethically superior to highly regulated mercantilism.

Capitalism

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

Legislation that outlawed monopolies to increase competition.

How does the state of unions in 2016 differ from that at the end of WWII?

Overall membership is far lower, and the movement is politically weaker

An individual who places greater weight on achieving favorable outcomes; also known as a consequentialist.

Pragmatist

Which of the following statements about the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance is accurate?

Research increasingly shows a positive causal relationship between the two.

The set of principles a person uses to determine whether an action is good or bad.

Ethics

A period in the late 1700s and 1800s when hand tools were replaced with new manufacturing power-driven machines, such as the steam engine, and manufacturing companies grew into large establishments

Industrial Revolution

According to Lawrence Kohlberg's moral development theory, which of the following is a factor that influences passage through the stages of moral development?

age

.If a company wants to be recognized as an ethical company, one of its first actions should be to ______.

build an ethical culture

How did Adam Smith define self-interest?

concern for self in relation to others

Total quality management of ethics is a process that helps businesses by providing a systematic approach for identifying ______.

why immoral actions occur

.Which of the following conditions inspired the establishment of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSG) in 1991?

wide variation in sentencing decisions for work-related crimes.

An initiative from the defense industry whereby companies voluntarily agree to implement self-regulatory conditions.

Defense Industry Initiative (DII)

How did Franklin Roosevelt's establishment of the minimum wage fit with Adam Smith's economic philosophy?

It satisfied Smith's argument for a livable wage for every full-time worker.

How did the Obama administration differ from the Reagan and Bush administrations with respect to business ethics?

It sought to increase general regulation of business

Which of the following statements about the Ethical Systems Model?

Its ultimate goal is to reduce ethical defects as close to zero as possible.

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 or Plato have interpreted this action?

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

.One of the most important steps to take when examining unethical behavior is ______.

.determining the circumstances that led to unethical behaviors

Ethical behaviors are by and large the result of ______.

.organizational culture

Which general statement about early child development accurately explains infant moral development?

A child's most direct role model is his or her parents.

Which of the following statements about the "living wage" concept is accurate?

A living wage calculation is specific to geographic region or city.

Industrial Revolution

A period in the late 1700s and 1800s when hand tools were replaced with new manufacturing power-driven machines, such as the steam engine, and manufacturing companies grew into large establishments.

A system in which individuals are owned by other people.

A system in which individuals are owned by other people.

According to Jean Piaget, what does a child possess at 18 months that they do not possess earlier in life?

According to Jean Piaget, what does a child possess at 18 months that they do not possess earlier in life?

Consists of the motivation behind the act, the act itself, and the consequences of the act.

Action sequence

(1723-1790) One of the most influential systematic social philosophers in the history of Western civilization, applied the concept of "liberty" to economic matters.

Adam Smith

The deliberate pursuit of actions intended to benefit the interests or welfare of others.

Altruistic behaviors

An individual who places greater weight on achieving favorable outcomes; also known as a pragmatist.

Consequentialist

Granted by the British government to allow several people to create an organization by pooling their financial resources; owners of chartered organizations were exempt from debtor's prison if the business venture failed

Charters

Occurs when an individual holds inconsistent or contradictory attitudes and beliefs, which creates an unpleasant state of mind.

Cognitive dissonance

Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

Companies that report unethical employee behaviors to the appropriate government agency are clearly concerned with complying with ______.

The voice of pure goodness within us.

Conscience

How work tasks are segmented to improve efficiency.

Division of labor

Which of the following was a major legislative act of regulation or deregulation under the Obama administration?

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Which statement about the cognitive development of children is accurate as articulated by Jean Piaget?

Empathy usually appears by age three.

A model that synthesizes the various approaches of organizational ethics into a systematic best practices framework for reinforcing ethical behaviors, and reducing ethical risks, throughout the workplace.

Ethical Systems Model

A situation in which it is not clear whether an action is morally right or wrong, or when you know an action is right or good, but you are instead tempted to do what is wrong or bad.

Ethical dilemmas

Companies that report unethical employee behaviors to the appropriate government agency are clearly concerned with complying with ______.

Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

The moral, psychological, and social characteristics of human beings.

Human nature

An individual who places greater ethical weight on having proper motives.

Idealist

Belief that a morally damaged soul joins the body at birth and needs to be healed.

Inherited sin

An illustrative tool for understanding the interaction among businesses, nonprofits, individuals, and government.

Interpenetrating Systems Model

An association of employees that advances its members interests, such as wages, benefits, work rules, and other conditions of employment, through collective bargaining with an employer.

Labor union

(1927-1987) Harvard psychologist influenced by the writings of Jean Piaget who sought to answer the question of why some people only consider their own interests when making a decision but others make decisions based on living for the sake of others; he developed the six stages of moral development.

Lawrence Kohlberg

Which can help build a culture of ethical behavior in a business?

Make a list of reasons why ethical behavior is good for the bottom line.

Principles compelling people to action, found in all cultures and major world religions.

Moral imperatives

What ethics trend was uncovered in the Institute of Leadership & Management's survey of managers in the UK?

Most managers observed taking shortcuts or lying to cover up mistakes.

The 2019 Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) survey of 18,000 employees globally observed that employees who witnessed ethical violations had what response?

Most reported the misconduct.

moral behavior

Organizational culture is shaped by the degree to which ______ matters in the pursuit of business goals.

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?

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

A theory maintaining that business issues can be separated from moral issues.

Separation thesis

Refers to an evolutionary process that describes how individuals morally reason about the rightness or wrongness of events that occur in their lives.

Stages of moral development

Any person or organization that is affected by, or could affect, an organization's goal accomplishment.

Stakeholder

Which of the following statements about the minimum wage is accurate?

States can establish their own minimum wages, but only if they are higher than the federal minimum wage.

Defined by John Locke as a blank slate, on which people store moral rules and knowledge based on life experiences.

Tabula rasa

How do Hindu and Buddhist beliefs about human moral imperfection differ from those of Roman Catholics and Protestants?

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

What does research show about Wall Street investors' response to new accounting laws requiring financial transparency?

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

According to the "born good" philosophy of human nature, a person is imbued with ______ from birth.

a conscience that represents pure goodness

owered employee morale

a conscience that represents pure goodness

"Do not lie" is an example of which of the following found in all major cultures and world religions?

a moral imperative

Which is one general reason that good people sometimes behave unethically?

causing, but not intending, an unethical outcome

Businesses can communicate the importance of ethics to their stakeholders by taking what action?

centering ethics in their strategic plans

Which of the following is perhaps the easiest way to quantify the costs associated with unethical behaviors?

looking at lawsuits

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?

lowered employee morale

Do not lie" is an example of which of the following found in all major cultures and world religions?

moral imperiative

Karen and her friend were in a hurry, so they jumped to the front of the line at the café in order to get their coffee quicker. Karen's friend said, "That wasn't good of us." Her friend just ______.

performed an ethical analysis

What part of the Bill of Rights' Fifth Amendment is particularly salient to healthy commerce?

property rights

What component must be present for a person to advance from one stage of moral reasoning to the next?

psychological pain

Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations encourages ethical behaviors by providing ______.

punishment for unethical activity

In terms of union organization and management, the experience of Cezar Chavez is most representative of which of the following qualities?

self-sacrifice for the plight of the laborer

Ethics can be defined as the ____.

set of principles a person uses to determine whether an action is good or bad

What positive correlation appeared within the evidence of the ERC survey into organizational culture at for-profit organizations?

strong ethical culture and lower levels of misconduct

Altruistic behaviors are best defined as ______.

the deliberate pursuit of actions intended to benefit the interests or welfare of others

A person who reasons at the postconventional level is most influenced in their decisions by ______.

their conscience

Which of the following is one of the four types of ethical dilemmas based on competing values?

truth versus loyalty

.What 1970s trend among major American businesses damaged the integrity of capitalism and required passage of a major regulatory act in 1977?

unfair tactics to reduce the power of unions