IB 320F - Chapter 5 Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Sustainability

According to the text, which three actions can managers take to ensure that ethical issues are considered in business decision making?

1) Build an organizational culture that values ethical behavior 2) Favor hiring and promoting of people with a sense of personal ethics 3) Implement decision-making processes that consider ethical aspects of business decisions

The straw men approach to ethics is comprised of which four approaches?

1) Cultural relativism 2) Naive immoralist 3) Righteous moralist 4) Friedman Doctrine

It is wrong to cheat on a test. Conversely, it is right to

Accept responsibility for your actions

______ refers to the moral obligation to act in an honorable and benevolent manner.

Noblesse oblige

Certain theories accept that there are rights, both positive and negative, that all humans have simply because they are human. These are called ______ theories.

Rights

Which approach to business ethics includes cultural relativism, the righteous moralist, and the naive immoralist?

Straw Men

General Motors adopted the ______ principles in order to continue business operations in South Africa during the apartheid movement.

Sullivan

Which description of leader behavior is most likely to promote a strong ethical culture in an organization?

The boss who consistently demonstrates strong personal ethics in all dealings with clients.

In an organization where personal ethics are important, which individual should be considered for a job opening?

The individual who has a disappointing interview but has glowing letters of recommendation that attest to his integrity.

True or false: Business people may behave unethically simply because they forget to ask whether the decision or action they are making is ethical.

True

True or false: Companies can use psychological tests in the hiring process to help identify people who have a strong sense of personal ethics.

True

True or false: The decision-making process is one of the determinants of ethical behavior.

True

Which ethical theory emphasizes that the best actions are those that benefit the most number of people and harm the least number of people?

Utilitarianism

Which company is contributing to the global tragedy of the commons?

Virtual-Day Inc. moved production to a South American country with lower environmental regulations and sends pollutants freely into the air.

Ethical issues arise in international business when

environmental regulations in host nations are less stringent than those in the home country.

Employees, directors, and stockholders are examples of ______ stakeholders

internal

Rights that are taken for granted in developed nations, such as freedom of association and freedom of speech are

not universally accepted.

When making ethical decisions, ______ factors are stressed in Japan, while ______ factors are more important in the United States.

organizational; individual or personal

A(n) _____ strategy helps a company make good profits but does so without harming the environment.

sustainable

What are four determinants of ethical behavior?

Organizational Culture Societal Culture Personal ethics Leadership

What is an example of a sustainable strategy?

A strategy designed to reduce CO2 emissions

Many companies develop a formal statement of primary values and ethical standards for employees and managers to follow. This is called a

Code of Ethics

A company's organizational _____ reflects the values and norms that are shared among employees of an organization.

Culture

What management position serves as the organization's internal control point for improprieties?

Ethics Officer

Sanjay told his staff that the company didn't care if the components came from a company using sweatshop labor, the parts were needed to meet the order and the company needed the order to make the sales quota. In this situation, the company makes this decision based on purely _____ terms.

Economic

______ ethics measure actions on a cost-benefit scale.

Utilitarian

Marietta is visiting her company's manufacturing subcontractor in Pakistan. She notices children working on the machinery with no air conditioning and little access to water. But she also knows these children are probably supporting their families. Marietta can't decide if children working in the factory is appropriate or inappropriate. This is an example of a(n) ______.

ethical dilemma

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was amended to include _____ because some U.S. businesses complained the act would put U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage.

facilitating payments

Unrealistic performance goals can often only be attained by

taking shortcuts or behaving in an unethical manner.

An accurate description of the apartheid system in South Africa is it

mandated segregation between whites and nonwhites.

Celeste, a manager at a multinational investment firm located in Italy, knows that the company isn't reporting accurate profits to the government. She explains that this action is fine because all the multinational investment firms behave in the same manner. Celeste can be described as a(n) ______.

naive immoralist

James is an expatriate from Nebraska managing a tech support center in India. He is a firm believer in the minimum wage and treating employees fairly. Yet he sees his assistant manager firing an employee and hiring his neighbor to do the job at a lower rate. Knowing this would never be accepted in the United States, James confronts his assistant manager, claiming this behavior isn't right. He is displaying the ______ approach to ethics.

righteous moralist

The idea that business people should favor decisions that have both good economic and social consequences is called corporate

social responsibility.

Which two theories provide the moral compass that is important when thinking through the ethical implications of decisions in a systematic way?

1) Rights theories 2) Rawl's theory of justice

Which aspect of international business convinced Leon Sullivan to lead the way in eliminating apartheid in South Africa?

Ethics

Lucia is responsible for establishing a confidential service that employees can use to question if a practice is unethical and she also makes sure the company complies with government laws and regulations. Lucia is an example of a(n) _____.

Ethics officer

The ______ believes that if a multinational firm sees that other firms are not following ethical norms, then they don't have to either. Multiple choice question.

Naive Immoralist

The generally accepted principles and values that govern interactions between individuals are called

Personal Ethics

In a business setting, noblesse oblige refers to _____ behavior considered to be the responsibility of successful enterprises. Multiple choice question.

benevolent

Generon Inc. has moved its production to a new nation. It freely dumps its harmful waste in the rivers and causes environmental degradation there. In this case, Generon has contributed to the

global tragedy of the commons

Maria's boss asked her to do whatever it takes to secure a contract. Maria knows that paying a bribe would ensure that the contract would be signed, but walks away because she knows that while paying the bribe would ensure large profits, doing so would be unethical. Maria is demonstrating moral ______.

Courage

True or false: Sustainable strategies adopted by a company typically only benefit upper management.

False

The straw men theory that states that businesses should behave in a socially responsible manner, according to ethical custom and without deception and fraud is the _______.

Friedman Doctrine

According to the Friedman Doctrine, what is the only social responsibility a company has as long as it stays within the rules of law?

Increasing Profits

The fair and equitable dissemination of economic goods and services is the focus of a(n) _____ distribution.

Just

What theories concentrate on the fair distribution of economic goods and services in a society?

Justice

______ ethics hold that one should always respect the humanity in others and act in accordance with rules that could apply to everyone.

Kantian

The _____ theories recognize that there are things we CANNOT do against individuals because they have certain moral, fundamental rights.

Rights

A policy of racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against nonwhites in South Africa was known as the

apartheid system.

TimeTurner Corp. is a company based in the United States that manufactures luxury wrist watches. By western standards, if the company uses sweatshop labor to make these watches, it is most likely to be considered

Unethical

Scandinavia scores high on the individualism and uncertainty avoidance measures of societal culture. According to Hofstede's dimensions of societal culture, Scandinavia is more likely to engage in ______ business behavior than— for example—Russia.

Ethical

Young children are permitted to work in the manufacturing of soccer balls in Pakistan, but this would not be legal in the United States. However, a company wants to sell these soccer balls in the United States to Kick-Rite Sports Equipment and Kick-Rite is not sure it wants to sell these particular soccer balls. This is an example of a(n) ______ dilemma.

Ethical

The belief that ethics are culturally determined and a firm should adopt the ethics of the country it is doing business in is

Cultural relativism