Chapter 2

Which of the following is an example of an ethical business activity?

The employee reported to his supervisors that a co-worker had misappropriated company funds.

A retailer that allowed its employees to handle a customer complaint without having to ask for permission or direction from management would have...

Empowered its employees to help customers.

___ contributes to an employee's self-worth, which, in turn increases productivity and reduces absenteeism.

Empowerment.

A company can only be concerned about its ___ responsibilities once it has met its economic and legal responsibilities.

Ethical.

___ is the set of moral standards for judging whether something is right or wrong.

Ethics.

(T/F) Enlightened firms are realizing that empowerment puts too much stress on employees and are eliminating empowerment programs.

False.

(T/F) The philosophy of utilitarianism is used to explain why restaurants, theaters, and hotels should make themselves handicapped accessible.

False.

(T/F) Ethics training programs typically teach how to disguise unethical behavior and not how to avoid unethical behavior.

Flase.

One of the keys to ethical business behavior is...

How the company's top management conducts themselves.

Utilitarianism...

Is difficult to implement because it is hard to tell how one decision will impact a large number of people.

Another factor influencing business ethics is ___, or what is fair according to prevailing standards of society.

Justice.

(T/F) It is a firm's responsibility to its customers to deliver what is has promised.

True.

(T/F) Social responsibility is a voluntary obligation.

True.

(T/F) The most basic responsibility of all businesses is its economic responsibility.

True.

Which of the following statements about utilitarianism is true?

Utilitarianism is designed to create both winners and losers.

During a two-month period Lladro Comercial, S.A., the manufacturer of handcrafted porcelains, donated ten percent of its retail profits to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The action was legal and ethical and allowed the company to still be profitable. According to the pyramid of corporate social responsibility, it was acting at the ___ responsibilities level.

Philanthropic.

Strategic giving...

Refers to the practice of tying philanthropy closely to the corporation's mission or goals.

Alonzo Dwork will not buy stock in a company that sells bottled water because more than 1.5 million barrels of oil are used annually to make the plastic bottles used for water, and nearly 90 percent of these bottles are disposed of after one use. Dwork is a strong believer in environmental protectionism, and this ___ is his way of expressing that belief.

Social investing.

___ is the concern of businesses for the welfare of society as a whole.

Social responsibility.

Which of the following statements about ethics training is true?

Ethics training is formal training to develop awareness of inappropriate behavior and to practice appropriate responses.

For Lladro Comercial, S.A., the manufacturer of handcrafted porcelains, its employees, suppliers of the paints used to decorate its porcelains, retailers of its products, and people who benefit from its philanthropy are all...

Stakeholders.

___ are all the individuals or groups to whom a business has a responsibility.

Stakeholders.