Ethics Test 2

Question 1

civil law

Answer 1

defines the rights and duties of individuals and organizations (including businesses)

Question 2

consumer protection law

Answer 2

laws protecting consumers that require businesses to proved accurate information about products and services and to follow safety standards

Question 3

criminal law

Answer 3

not only prohibits specific actions - such as fraud, theft, or securities trading violations - but also imposes fines or imprisonment as punishment for breaking the law

Question 4

Environmental Protection Agency

Answer 4

created in 1970 to coordinate environmental agencies involved in enforcing the nation’s environmental laws; the major area of environmental concerns relates to air, water, and land pollution

Question 5

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Answer 5

enforces the Occuptional Safety and Health Act of 1970, which mandates that employers provide safe and healthy working conditions for all workers; makes regular surprise inspections to ensure that businesses maintain safe working environments

Question 6

philanthropy

Answer 6

giving back to communities and causes

Question 7

corporate culture

Answer 7

a set of values, norms, and artifacts - including ways of solving problems - that members (employees) of an organization share

Question 8

ethical culture

Answer 8

a function of many factors, including (1) corporate policies on ethics, (2) top management’s leadership on ethical issues, (3) the influence of coworkers, and (4) the opportunity for unethical behavior

Question 9

ethical-issue intensity

Answer 9

the relevance or importance of an ethical issue in the yes of the individual, work group, and/or organization

Question 10

leadership

Answer 10

the ability or authority to guide and direct others toward achievement of a goal

Question 11

obedience to authority

Answer 11

employees simply follow the orders of authority figures to resolve ethical issues

Question 12

opportunity

Answer 12

the conditions in an organization that limit or permit ethical or unethical behavior

Question 13

act utilitarian

Answer 13

individual who examines a specific action itself, rather than the general rules governing it, to assess whether it will result in the greatest utility

Question 14

consequentialism

Answer 14

teleological theories that assess the moral worth of a behavior by looking at its consequences

Question 15

deontology

Answer 15

moral philosophies that focus on the rights of individuals and on the intentions associated with a particular behavior rather than on its consequences

Question 16

distributive justice

Answer 16

justice based on the evaluation of the outcomes or results of the business relationship

Question 17

economic value orientation

Answer 17

a theory associated with values that can be quantified by monetary means

Question 18

egoism

Answer 18

theory that defines right or acceptable behavior in terms of its consequences for the individual (maximizes individual’s self-interest)xb

Question 19

idealism

Answer 19

a moral philosophy that places special value on ideas and ideals as products of the mind, in comparison with the world’s view

Question 20

instrumentalist

Answer 20

rejects the idea that (1) ends can be separated from the means that produce them and (2) ends, purposes, or outcomes are intrinsically good in and of themselves (you eat to work, and work to eat - ends and means are mere perspective)

Question 21

justice

Answer 21

as applied in business ethics, involves evaluations of fairness or the disposition to deal with perceived injustices of others

Question 22

Kohlberg’s model of cognitive moral development

Answer 22

theory stating that people make different decisions in similar ethical situations because they are in different stages of six cognitive moral development stages:

1) Punishment and Obedience
2) Individual Purpose or Exchange (what is best for me?)
3) Interpersonal Relationships, Expectations, and Conformity (what is fair to me and others?)
4) Social System and Conscious Maintenance (duty to society)
5) Prior rights, Social contract, or Utility
6) Universal Ethical Principles

Question 23

moral philosophy

Answer 23

the specific principles or rules that people use to decide what is right or wrong

Question 24

relativism

Answer 24

holds that definitions of ethical behavior are derived subjectively from the experiences of individuals and groups

Question 25

teleology

Answer 25

moral philosophies in which an act is considered morally right or acceptable if it produces some desired result such as pleasure, knowledge, career growth, the realization of self-interest, utility, wealth or even fame

Question 26

utilitarianism

Answer 26

theory that seeks the greatest good for the greatest number of people by making decisions that result in the greatest total utility and that achieve the greatest benefit for all those affected

Question 27

virtue ethics

Answer 27

posits that what is moral in a given situation is not only what conventional morality or moral rules current societal definitions require, but also what the mature person with a “good” moral character would deem appropriate

Question 28

white-collar crime

Answer 28

an individual or group committing an illegal act in relation to his/her employment, who is highly educated (college), in a position of power, trust, respectability and responsibility, within a profit/nonprofit business or government organization and who abuses the trust and authority normally associated with the position for personal and/or organizational gains

Question 29

code of ethics or code of conduct

Answer 29

company statement and/or guidelines describing acceptable behavior for employees. It may also contain rules for behavior in certain scenarios or situations

Question 30

conflict of interest

Answer 30

when an individual must choose whether to advance his or her own interest, those of the organization, or those of some other group

Question 31

consumerism

Answer 31

the belief that the consumer, rather than the interests of producers, should dictate the economic structure of a society; the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable and equates personal happiness with the purchase and consumption of material possessions

Question 32

core human values

Answer 32

according to Donaldson, these are values that should inform any company’s action: they include (1) respect for human dignity, (2) respect for basic rights and (3) good citizenship

Question 33

country common values

Answer 33

values that are specific to groups, sects, regions, or countries that express actions, behavior, and intent

Question 34

cultural relativism

Answer 34

the concept that morality varies from one culture to another and that business practices are therefore differentially defined as right or wrong by particular cultures

Question 35

culture

Answer 35

everything in our surroundings that is made by people - both tangible items and intangible things like concepts and values; includes language, law, politics, technology, education, social organizations, general values, and ethical standards

Question 36

failure to report

Answer 36

provision in some university honor codes that says that failing to report an Honor Code violation is itself an Honor Code violation (lying to cover up another person’s violation)

Question 37

Foxconn

Answer 37

electronics manufacturing company in China that supplies products to Apple and other major consumer electronics companies worldwide. Foxconn is accused of unsafe and unethical labor practices

Question 38

honor code

Answer 38

code of conduct at some universities that prohibit and define penalties for cheating, lying, plagiarism, and other forms of academic misconduct

Question 39

human rights

Answer 39

the concept of an inherent dignity with equal and inalienable rights as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world

Question 40

laissez fare

Answer 40

theory that assumes the market, through its own inherent mechanisms, will keep commerce in equilibrium

Question 41

multinational corporation

Answer 41

public companies that operate on a global scale without significant ties to any one nation or region

Question 42

outsourcing

Answer 42

the practice of hiring another company to perform some part of your value chain activities, such as manufacturing

Question 43

plagiarism

Answer 43

taking credit for someone else’s ideas by using them without citing the original source

Question 44

rational economics

Answer 44

based upon the assumption that people are predictable and will maximize the utility of their choices relative to their needs and wants

Question 45

shared value

Answer 45

concept advanced by Porter and Kramer that companies can and should address societal needs at the same time as creating economic value

Question 46

sustainable development

Answer 46

a systematic approach to achieving human development in such a way that the earth’s resources are preserved for future generations

Question 47

whistleblower bounty program

Answer 47

Federal program that rewards whistleblowers in cases of government fraud by paying up to 30% of the recovered money or fine to the whistleblower

Question 48

whistleblower protection

Answer 48

Federal laws that prohibit employers from taking or threatening to take retaliatory action against employees who report wrongdoing in their companies such as fraud or safety violations. Employers may not fire, demote, harass, or threaten the employee who reports the wrongdoing