Ethics & Social Responsibility

Question 1

What is Ethics?

Answer 1

The set of moral principles or values that defines right and wrong for a person or group

Question 2

What is workplace deviance?

Answer 2

Unethical behaviour that violates organisational norms about right and wrong

Question 3

What is hurting the quality and quantity of work produced called?

Answer 3

Production deviance

Question 4

What is property deviance?

Answer 4

Aimed at the organisations property or products

Question 5

What is the theft of company merchandise called?

Answer 5

Employee shrinkage

Question 6

What is sing one’s influence to harm others in the company called?

Answer 6

Political deviance

Question 7

What is the role of ethical regulatory agencies?

Answer 7

Not only to punish but to encourage

Question 8

What is ethical intensity?

Answer 8

The degree of concern people have about an ethical issue

Question 9

What is ethical intensity dependant on?

Answer 9

Magnitude of consequences
Social consensus
Probability of effect
Temporal immediacy
Proximity of effect
Concentration of effect

Question 10

What is meant by Magnitude of consequences?

Answer 10

The total harm or benefit derived from an ethical decision

Question 11

What is meant by Social consensus?

Answer 11

Agreement on whether behaviour is good or bad

Question 12

What is meant by Probability of effect?

Answer 12

The chance that something will happen and then harm others

Question 13

What is meant by Temporal immediacy?

Answer 13

The time between an act and the consequences is produces

Question 14

What is meant by Proximity of effect?

Answer 14

The social, psychological, cultural or physical distance of a decision maker from those affect by their decision

Question 15

What is meant by Concentration of effect?

Answer 15

The total harm or benefit that an act produces on the average person

Question 16

What are the three levels of moral development?

Answer 16

Preconventional level of moral development
Conventional level of moral development
Postconventional level of moral development

Question 17

What level of moral development are most people in?

Answer 17

Conventional level of moral development

Question 18

What do people in the preconventional level of moral development do?

Answer 18

People make decisions based on selfish reasons

• Punishment & Obedience (avoid trouble)
• Instrumental Change (own wants & needs)

Question 19

What do people in the conventional level of moral development do?

Answer 19

People make decisions that conform to societal expectations

• Good Boy, Nice Girl
• Law & Order

Question 20

What do people in the postconventional level of moral development do?

Answer 20

People make decisions based on internalised principles

• Social Contract (Make society better off, don’t infringe on rights)
• Universal Principles (Even if principles conflict with others views/law)

Question 21

What are the principles of moral decision making?

Answer 21

• Principle of long term self-interest
• Principle of personal virtue
• Principle of religious injunctions
• Principle of government requirements
• Principle of utilitarian benefits
• Principle of individual rights
• Principle of distributive justic

Question 22

What is the Principle of long term self-interest?

Answer 22

You should never take any action that is not in your or your organisation’s long-term self interest

Question 23

What is the Principle of personal virtue?

Answer 23

You should never do anything that is not honest, open and truthful and that you would not be glad to see reported to the public

Question 24

What is the Principle of religious injunctions?

Answer 24

You should never take any action that is not kind and does not build a sense of community

Question 25

What is the Principle of government requirements?

Answer 25

You should never take any action that violates the law i.e. minimum moral standard

Question 26

What is the Principle of utilitarian benefits?

Answer 26

You should never take any action that does not result in greater good for society

Question 27

What is the Principle of individual rights?

Answer 27

You should never take any action that infringes on others agreed-upon rights

Question 28

What is the Principle of distributive justice?

Answer 28

You should never take any action that harms the least fortunate in society

Question 29

What techniques can be used to implement organisational ethics through employee selection?

Answer 29

* Overt integrity test | * Personality-based integrity test

Question 30

What is an overt integrity test?

Answer 30

A test that estimates job applicants honesty by directly asking them what they think about punishment of unethical behaviour

Question 31

What is a personality-based integrity test?

Answer 31

A test that indirectly estimates job applicants honesty by measuring psychological traits such as dependability and conscientiousness

Question 32

What factors are key to maintaining a code of ethics?

Answer 32

- A company must communicate its code inside and outside the company - Manager must develop practical ethical standards and procedures specific to the company’s line of business

Question 33

What are the steps to ethics training?

Answer 33

- Develop employees awareness of ethics - Achieve credibility with employees - Teach employees a practical model of ethical decision making

Question 34

What is the most important ethical influence on employees?

Answer 34

Managers

Question 35

What is social responsibility?

Answer 35

A business’s obligation to pursue policies, make decisions and take actions that benefit society

Question 36

What is the shareholder model and what is its justification?

Answer 36

- An organisations overriding goal should be profit maximisation for the benefit of the shareholders - Organisations cannot act effectively as moral agents for all company shareholders - Money and attention diverted to social causes undermine market efficiency

Question 37

What is the stakeholder model?

Answer 37

An organisations most important responsibility, long term survival, is achieved by satisfying the interests of multiple corporate stakeholders

Question 38

What are primary stakeholders? Examples:

Answer 38

Groups which the organisation depends on for its long term survival Shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, governments and local communities

Question 39

What are secondary stakeholders? Examples:

Answer 39

Groups that can influence or be influenced by a company and can affect public perceptions about its socially responsible behaviour Media, special interest groups, trade associations

Question 40

What are the corporate social responsibilities?

Answer 40

- Economic responsibility - Legal responsibility - Ethical responsibility - Discretionary responsibility (The expectation that a company will voluntarily serve a social role beyond its economic, legal and ethical responsibilities )

Question 41

What are the strategies for social responsiveness?

Answer 41

* Reactive strategy * Defensive strategy * Accommodative strategy * Proactive strategy

Question 42

What is the reactive social responsiveness strategy?

Answer 42

Company does less than society expects, deny responsibility or fight suggestions that company should fix it

Question 43

What is the defensive social responsiveness strategy?

Answer 43

Company admits to a problem but does the least required to meet societal expectations

Question 44

What is the accommodative social responsiveness strategy?

Answer 44

Company accepts responsibility for a problem and does all that society expects to solve that problem

Question 45

What is the proactive social responsiveness strategy?

Answer 45

Company anticipates responsibility for a problem before it occurs and does more that society expects to address the problem

Question 46

What do ethical answers depend on?

Answer 46

Ethical intensity of decision Moral development of decision maker Ethical principle used

Question 47

What are the steps in the model of ethical decision making?

Answer 47

1. Identify the problem. 2. Iden'fy the constituents. 3. Diagnose the situation. 4. Analyse your options. 5. Make your choice. 6. Act.

Question 48

How can managers encourage more ethical decision making in their organisations?

Answer 48

* Select and hire ethical employees. * Establish a code of ethics. * Train employees to make ethical decisions. * Create an ethical climate.

Question 49

How can managers create an ethical climate?

Answer 49

- Managers act ethically - Top management support - Reporting system - Fairly & consistently punish