International Business - Chapter 5

Business ethics

are the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of business people

false

Neither Utilitarianism nor Kantian ethics can be considered useful today as their development in the 18th and 19th centuries were fundamentally different that the 21stcentury.

true

Just as societies have cultures, so do organizations, and the values and norms of the organization have important influences of the ethics of the business's decision making.

4

Justice theories focus on: treating people well based on a listing of the fundamental rights and privileges all human beings share. applying ones home-country standards to other countries. increasing a company's profits through any reasonable means. attaining a just distribution of economic goods and services.

2

Many of the ethical issues in international business are rooted in the fact that ______________________. business cannot afford the cost of ethics as a part of decision making political systems, laws, economic development, and culture vary from nation to nation businesspeople are, in general, amoral and cannot be bogged down by ethical considerations in decision-making in the fast-paced 21st environment none of the global institutions has raised ethical concerns to the forefront of consideration

true

Moral courage enables managers to walk away from a decision that is profitable but unethical.

2

Part of the ethical decision-making process requires managers to establish moral intent, which is _________________________. another term for an international business codes of ethics placing moral concerns above other concerns when the fundamental rights of stakeholders or key moral principles have been violated the element of corporate culture dealing with relations with internal and external stakeholders a carefully reading of the host-country laws and regulations affecting ethical decision-making

true

The tragedy of the commons explains how countries and individual companies can indulge in practices such as uncontrolled pollution and over-fishing without being called to account.

Ethics

are accepted principles of right or wrong that govern the conduct of a person, the members of a profession, or the actions of an organization

Ethical dilemmas

are situations in which none of the available alternatives seems ethically acceptable

Ethical strategy

is a strategy, or course of action, that does not violate these accepted principles

3

Developed in the 20th century, _____________________ recognize that human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures. existentialist philosophies the Nobel Peace and Economics Prizes rights theories international cultural conventions

3

Expatriate managers (home-country managers working abroad in multinational firms) may _______________ as they are away from their ordinary social context and supporting culture, they are psychologically and physically distant from the parent company, and they may be based in a culture that does use the same norms they usually use. choose the least restrictive ethical practices in the region create a free-standing code of ethics different form the parent company's experience more than the usual degree of pressure to violate their personal ethics use creative approaches to ethical dilemmas as a foundation for promotion within the firm

4

Which of the following is not one of the important elements in building an ethical organizational culture? Explicitly articulate the values that emphasize ethical behavior Demonstrate ethical behaviors and emphasize their importance Incentive and reward systems that support ethical behaviors Locating operations only in countries with ethical political leaders

1

An ethical question for international businesses concerning global warming is: Is it ethical to move production to countries with low environmental standards to avoid tight regulation in others? Is it ethical to be in violation of the Kyoto accords if the country where the firm is headquartered is not a signatory? Is it ethical to develop processes to help reduce carbon dioxide production if that process is profitable? Is it ethical to ignore protests about global warming since there is no consensus or accumulated evidence that global warming exists?

4

A recent study of the impact of societal culture and business ethics found that countries where individualism and uncertainty avoidance were _______________ to emphasize the importance of ethics than countries where masculinity and power distance are important attributes. less likely no different unwilling more likely

false

Power is no more morally neutral than is the use of power.

2

Real-world decisions that may be complex, difficult to frame and involve consequences that are hard to quantify can cause __________________ for executives in international business. legal challenges ethical dilemmas ethical conclusions moral controversies

4

Straw men approaches to business ethics are used to demonstrate that they offer inappropriate guidelines for ethical decision making in a multinational business enterprise. Which of the following is NOT one of these straw man approaches? Cultural relativism The righteous moralist The naïve immoralist Justice theories