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Q:
"Facilitating payments" are payments to secure contracts that would not otherwise be secured.
Q:
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act outlawed the paying of bribes to foreign government officials to gain business.
Q:
Leon Sullivan argued that it was ethically justified for Western businesses to operate in South Africa so long as the companies obeyed the apartheid laws.
Q:
Many of the ethical issues in international business are rooted in the fact that political systems, law, economic development, and culture vary significantly from nation to nation.
Q:
The term ethics refers to accepted principles of right or wrong that govern the conduct of a person, the members of a profession, or the actions of an organization.
Q:
Describe the five-step process involved in ethical decision making.
Q:
Who are a firm's stakeholders? What are the two types of stakeholders?
Q:
What kind of an organization culture should a business develop in order to foster ethical behavior?
Q:
What are the seven things that an international business and its managers can do to make sure ethical issues are considered in business decisions?
Q:
Discuss John Rawls's principles of justice.
Q:
Discuss the utilitarian approach to business ethics and examine its weaknesses.
Q:
Compare and contrast cultural relativism and righteous moralism.
Q:
Discuss any two straw men approaches to business ethics.
Q:
Why are home-country managers working abroad in multinational firms (expatriate managers) likely to experience more than the usual degree of pressure to violate their personal ethics?
Q:
Discuss the concept of an ethical dilemma.
Q:
Discuss the arguments that are for and against the payment of bribes and speed money.
Q:
What are grease payments?
Q:
Discuss the global tragedy of the commons.
Q:
Discuss the environmental issues related to businesses operating in developing nations.
Q:
Describe how violation of the apartheid laws by Western businesses helped improve human rights in South Africa.
Q:
When an employee says no to a supervisor because what he or she was asked to do was unethical, it exhibits the employee's:
A.moral courage.
B.organizational citizenship.
C.ethical dilemma.
D.cross-cultural literacy.
E.cultural relativism.
Q:
Which of the following is most likely to be a function of ethics officers in firms?
A.Auditing decisions to make sure they are consistent with the company's moral principles
B.Identifying the ethical principles followed by competing companies
C.Ensuring that the economic interests of stakeholders is given prime importance
D.Training managers to avoid moral imagination and veil of ignorance
E.Informing external stakeholders about the moral intent of a decision
Q:
Which of the following steps in ethical decision making is most likely to help businesspeople know if their decision process is working and if changes should be made to ensure greater compliance with a code of ethics?
A.Judging the ethics of the proposed decision
B.Auditing past decisions
C.Establishing a moral intent
D.Involving in moral imagination
E.Identifying the concerned stakeholders
Q:
Which of the following is the last step in ethical decision making?
A.Judging the ethics of the proposed decision
B.Establishing moral intent
C.Auditing of decisions
D.Engaging in ethical behavior
E.Identifying the stakeholders a decision would affect
Q:
Which of the following practices should be avoided by a company to ensure ethical decision making?
A.Auditing past decisions made in the company
B.Protecting the fundamental rights of stakeholders
C.Taking care of the interests of external stakeholders
D.Placing its economic interests before its moral principles
E.Adopting the moral principles specified in the code of ethics of the company
Q:
Which of the following statements is true about ethical decision making?
A.In ethical decision making, managers need not consider the implications of a proposed strategic decision on external stakeholders.
B.In ethical decision making, it is illegal to apply the moral principles articulated in any company document other than the code of ethics.
C.Since maximizing long-run profitability is the decision rule that most businesses stress, it should be applied irrespective of whether moral principles are being violated.
D.Companies should place their narrow economic interests before the interests of stakeholders.
E.In ethical decision making, managers need to ensure that a proposed decision does not violate the fundamental rights of any stakeholders.
Q:
The process of ethical decision-making or ethical algorithm typically begins with:
A.identifying which stakeholders a decision would affect and in what ways.
B.judging the ethics of the proposed strategic decision.
C.managers establishing a moral intent.
D.auditing a decision to check for its consistency with ethical principles.
E.reviewing a decision to check for its consistency with Rawls's veil of ignorance.
Q:
Which of the following terms means standing in the shoes of a stakeholder and asking how a proposed decision might impact that stakeholder?
A.Corporate espionage
B.Ethical dilemma
C.Cultural relativism
D.Moral imagination
E.Moral courage
Q:
Elephas Inc. is a steel rod manufacturing company that has customers, investors, vendors, and competitors from all across the globe. Of the following business associates, who would fall into the category of internal stakeholders?
A.Ace Globe Inc., a firm that supplies machinery to Elephas
B.Matt, a prominent member of the top management of Elephas
C.Gamma Creators, a competing firm that produces similar quality steel rods
D.The government of the home country of Elephas
E.Wendy, a major buyer of Elephas steel rods
Q:
Who falls into the category of external stakeholders of an organization?
A.Employees
B.Customers
C.Trustees
D.Board of directors
E.Stockholders
Q:
In a business setting, which of the following practices is most likely to be considered as unethical?
A.Allowing managers within a company to act in accordance with rights theories
B.Promoting employees who engage in ethical behavior and penalizing those who do not
C.Hiring independent auditors to ensure that subcontractors used by the company are living up to its code of conduct
D.Making sure that key business decisions make good economic sense irrespective of their social costs and risks
E.Informing prospective employees about the ethical climate in the organization
Q:
The code of ethics of a company draws heavily upon documents such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which itself is grounded in Kantian and rights-based theories of moral philosophy. In the context of this information, this company is most likely to:
A.restrict its employees from joining a trade union.
B.set unrealistic performance goals for its employees.
C.promote employees on the sole basis of their particular characteristics such as race, sex, nationality, and class.
D.make its employees work under unfavorable working conditions.
E.respect the dignity of an individual and the right of employees to freedom of association.
Q:
Businesses can make sure that they are hiring individuals with strong personal ethics by:
A.employing only those people who have a very high intelligence quotient.
B.administering simple tests that indicate analytical skills of a prospective employee.
C.asking for letters of reference from the prospective employees.
D.hiring only those people who are relatives of current employees.
E.spying on prospective employees.
Q:
The primary purpose for which managers use a moral compass is to:
A.help them navigate through difficult ethical dilemmas.
B.maximize stockholders' wealth.
C.legally justify their unethical behavior.
D.identify new markets that have the best growth potential.
E.establish political imperialism in host countries.
Q:
Which of the following terms, developed by Rawls, indicates that inequalities are justified if they benefit the position of the least-advantaged members of society?
A.Difference principle
B.The tragedy of the global commons
C.The theory of private equity
D.Unity of command
E.Laws of equivalent trade
Q:
According to Rawls, which of the following principles would be unanimously accepted by people under the veil of ignorance?
A.People should be discriminated on the basis of cast and class.
B.Inequalities in income and wealth distribution should not be justified under any condition.
C.The political and economic freedom of people should be highly restricted in order to promote collective goals.
D.Each person should be permitted the maximum amount of basic liberty that is compatible with a similar liberty for others.
E.All property should be owned by the government and people should not have the freedom or right to hold personal property.
Q:
Under John Rawls's concept of veil of ignorance, people are imagined to be ignorant of their:
A.fundamental duties.
B.fundamental rights.
C.particular characteristics such as race, sex, and nationality.
D.political and economic freedom.
E.social responsibilities.
Q:
Which of the following concepts was developed by John Rawls and posited that everyone is imagined to be oblivious to all of his or her particular characteristics, such as, race, sex, intelligence, nationality, family background, and special talents?
A.Tragedy of the commons
B.Naive immoralism
C.The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
D.Veil of ignorance
E.Difference principle
Q:
The veil of ignorance, a conceptual device designed by John Rawls, supports:
A.impartiality in justice.
B.oppression of people by totalitarian governments.
C.economic suppression of people.
D.apartheid laws.
E.cultural relativism.
Q:
Who asserts that all economic goods and services should be distributed equally except when an unequal distribution would work to everyone's advantage?
A.John Rawls
B.Leon Sullivan
C.Garrett Hardin
D.Milton Friedman
E.Carol Gilligan
Q:
Justice theories primarily focus on:
A.minimizing the amount of political liberty permitted to each person.
B.the attainment of fair and equitable distribution of economic goods and services.
C.the attainment of maximum business profits.
D.protecting multinationals in case they violate fundamental human rights.
E.minimizing the amount of economic freedom permitted to each person.
Q:
What does Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights convey?
A.By protecting employees, trade unions violate the fundamental rights of stockholders.
B.It is ethical to pay less than subsistence wages, if that happens to be the practice in some countries.
C.Multinationals can compensate for the violation of fundamental rights by taking up social expenditures.
D.Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of a person is possible.
E.Nations should vary the fundamental rights granted to their citizens based on their respective cultures.
Q:
Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights implies that it is unethical to employ child labor in sweatshop settings and pay less than subsistence wages, even if that happens to be common practice in some countries. This is in contrast to:
A.Kantian ethics.
B.cultural relativism.
C.rights theories.
D.Marxism.
E.justice theories.
Q:
In stating that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood, Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights echoes:
A.the Friedman doctrine.
B.naive immoralism.
C.cultural relativism.
D.Kantian ethics.
E.teleological theory.
Q:
Which of the following statements is true about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
A.This declaration provides different sets of fundamental rights and privileges for different cultures.
B.According to this declaration, it is unethical to employ child labor in sweatshops even if that happens to be common in some countries.
C.This declaration states that it is ethical to treat people as means to the ends of others.
D.According to this declaration, citizens of a nation have no duties to their community.
E.According to this declaration, people do not have a right to join trade unions for the protection of their interests.
Q:
While making a business decision, a manager who believes in rights theories is most likely to focus on:
A.respecting fundamental human privileges.
B.achieving collective goals, even if that involves violating fundamental rights.
C.propagating home-country standards of ethics.
D.weighing the associated social benefits, costs, and risks.
E.maximizing stockholders' wealth and profits.
Q:
According to the theory of rights:
A.firms can pursue actions that violate fundamental rights in order to maximize profits.
B.collective good forms the basis for the moral compass that managers should use when making ethical decisions.
C.fundamental human rights and privileges transcend national boundaries and cultures.
D.people should be treated as means to the ends of others and never purely as ends.
E.firms that fail to maximize stockholders' wealth violate fundamental rights and privileges.
Q:
Which of the following is a violation of ethics according to Kantian philosophy?
A.Employing people to work at sweatshops
B.Treating people as ends rather than as means
C.Practicing superior standards of employment in the host country
D.Empowering people with fundamental rights and privileges
E.Treating employees as conscious moral beings
Q:
Some contemporary moral philosophers view Kant's ethical philosophy as incomplete because his system has no place for:
A.basic human rights.
B.the moral worth of actions.
C.moral emotions and sentiments.
D.just and fair treatment of a minority.
E.human dignity.
Q:
Which of the following philosophies of ethics holds that people should be treated as ends and never purely as means to the ends of others?
A.Kantian ethics
B.The Friedman doctrine
C.Cultural relativism
D.Righteous moralism
E.Naive immoralism
Q:
Which of the following is a drawback of the utilitarian approach to business ethics?
A.It omits the consideration of justice.
B.It fails to consider the benefits, costs, and risks of a course of action.
C.It advocates moral imperialism and ethnocentrism.
D.It overemphasizes the significance of maximization of stockholder wealth.
E.It recognizes that actions have multiple consequences.
Q:
Adoption of which of the following ethical approaches is most likely to cause a company to use tools such as cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment to weigh all of the social benefits and costs of a business action?
A.Naive immoralism
B.Friedman doctrine
C.Ethnocentrism
D.Utilitarianism
E.Righteous moralism
Q:
The best decisions, from a utilitarian perspective, are those that:
A.maximize a firm's profit.
B.maximize stockholders' wealth.
C.have greater social costs than benefits.
D.produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
E.result in the justified treatment of a minority.
Q:
Which of the following approaches to ethics holds that an action is judged desirable if it leads to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad consequences?
A.Ethnocentric
B.Utilitarian
C.Cultural relativist
D.Naive immoralist
E.Righteous moralist
Q:
The utilitarian philosophy for business ethics primarily focuses on:
A.applying home-country standards of ethics in foreign countries.
B.adopting the ethics of the culture in which a business operates.
C.maximizing business profits by increasing employee productivity.
D.ensuring justified treatment of any minority.
E.weighing the benefits, costs, and risks associated with a course of action.
Q:
Which of the following statements is true of the utilitarian approach to business ethics?
A.It holds that an action is judged desirable if it leads to the maximization of stockholders' wealth.
B.The best decisions, from a utilitarian perspective, are those that produce the greatest profits for businesses.
C.It recognizes that a business should pursue only those actions where the social benefits outweigh the costs.
D.It asserts that managers should not follow ethical norms if they see that others firms are also not following them.
E.It fails to consider the idea that actions have multiple consequences.
Q:
An American manager of a multinational company who is working in one of the company's production plants located in the country of Cadmia employs child labor at the manufacturing unit he is in charge of. On being criticized as unethical, the manager argues that such actions are ethically defensible because everyone in Cadmia is doing it. Which of the following straw men approaches to ethics is most likely demonstrated by the manager?
A.Utilitarianism
B.The righteous moralist
C.The naive immoralist
D.Kantian ethics
E.Ethnocentrism
Q:
A multinational corporation that adopts the naive immoralist approach to ethics will most likely:
A.lack cultural sensitivity.
B.demonstrate moral imperialism.
C.be highly ethical in its business in a host nation irrespective of the ethical standards followed by other corporations in that host nation.
D.believe that, in a host country, any action is ethically justified if everyone is doing it.
E.demonstrate a high degree of ethnocentrism.
Q:
Maverick Stars Inc., a U.S.-based multinational company, applies its home-country standards of employment and production in its manufacturing facilities located in some less-developed host nations. In this context, the company is most likely to be criticized for:
A.applying low standards of business ethics in its host nations.
B.exploiting the national differences in factors of production.
C.opposing ethnocentrism and righteous moralism.
D.nullifying the reasons for investing in those countries.
E.adopting cultural relativism as its approach to ethics.
Q:
Silver Meteorite Inc. is a multinational company whose home country, Palumbia Republic, considers grease payments as both illegal and unethical. Hence, the company has a zero-tolerance approach toward grease payments irrespective of any of its host nations' perspectives toward such payments. In this context, Silver Meteorite Inc. is following the approach to ethics known as:
A.naive immoralist.
B.righteous moralist.
C.cultural pluralist.
D.cultural relativist.
E.ethnocentric.
Q:
Jonathan is the manager of his company's facilities in the Philippines. He believes in ensuring the exact same standards of working conditions, wages, and labor management in the Philippines as practiced by the company's corporate office in its home country, the United States. His policy does not always lead to profits because of the vast cultural differences between the two nations. Which of the following straw men approaches to ethics is most likely being adopted by Jonathan?
A.Naive immoralism
B.Cultural relativism
C.Righteous moralism
D.Sullivan principles
E.Just distribution
Q:
The straw man approach of righteous moralism is typically associated with managers from:
A.developing countries.
B.totalitarian nations.
C.BRIC nations.
D.developed nations.
E.war-torn countries.
Q:
A righteous moralist is most likely to claim that:
A.a multinational's home-country standards of ethics are the appropriate ones for companies to follow in foreign countries.
B.a firm should adopt the ethics of the culture in which it is operating.
C.people should be treated as ends and never purely as means to the ends of others.
D.human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures.
E.inequalities are justified if they benefit the position of the least-advantaged person.
Q:
Shangrilah Sandals is a manufacturing firm in a developing country, where it routinely uses grease payments to local officials to expedite overseas shipments. It has decided to open a plant in the United States, and has determined that it would not offer any facilitating payments to U.S. officials. Shangrilah's behavior illustrates the straw man approach of:
A.the righteous moralist.
B.cultural relativism.
C.ethnocentrism.
D.just distribution.
E.cultural convergence.
Q:
Three Torque Inc., a U.S.-based multinational company, allows its managers to make facilitating payments in host countries to expedite government formalities. However, in countries where such payments are considered as unethical, the company restricts its managers from indulging in such activities. This behavior of the company illustrates the straw man approach of:
A.the righteous moralist.
B.cultural relativism.
C.ethnocentrism.
D.just distribution.
E.cultural convergence.
Q:
Neon Synergy Inc. operates in three different countries, and is headed by a CEO who believes that the best approach to ethics is cultural relativism. In this context, which of the following statements is most likely to be true regarding Neon Synergy?
A.All business units of Neon Synergy will adopt a common standard of ethics irrespective of their location.
B.Business decisions made by managers of Neon Synergy will be solely based on the goal of maximization of societal good.
C.The business units of Neon Synergy will be empowered to adopt the standards of ethics followed in their respective host nations.
D.Neon Synergy will extensively advocate the idea that universal notions of morality transcend different cultures.
E.Neon Synergy will follow its home-country standards of ethics at all its foreign locations.
Q:
Green Quantum Inc. has research and production units all across the globe. The company expects its expatriate managers to adopt the ethics propagated by the culture in which they operate their respective units. Even in situations when others consider certain actions as unethical, the company allows its managers to pursue such actions if they are permitted in the host nation. Green Quantum is most likely following:
A.the Friedman doctrine.
B.Sullivan's principles.
C.righteous moralism.
D.Kantian ethics.
E.cultural relativism.
Q:
Which of the following straw men approaches to business ethics is best summarized by the maxim "When in Rome, do as the Romans"?
A.Cultural relativism
B.Just distribution
C.Kantian ethics
D.Righteous moralist
E.Sullivan principles
Q:
Cadmium Technologies Inc. believes that the sole purpose of its existence is to maximize profits for its stockholders. The firm has often been criticized for not engaging in any social investments. However, the firm has been appreciated for abiding by the laws while earning profits. According to this information, which of the following approaches to ethics is most likely being adopted by Cadmium Technologies?
A.Friedman doctrine
B.Utilitarianism
C.Kantian ethics
D.Sullivan's principles
E.Naive immoralist
Q:
Who asserted that the only social responsibility of business is to increase profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law?
A.Milton Friedman
B.Leon Sullivan
C.Karl Marx
D.Immanuel Kant
E.David Hume
Q:
Which of the following is a straw man approach to business ethics?
A.The Friedman doctrine
B.Kantian ethics
C.Sullivan's principles
D.Utilitarian philosophy
E.Just distribution
Q:
Which of the following explicitly rejects the idea that businesses should undertake social expenditures beyond those mandated by the law and required for the efficient running of a business?
A.The Friedman doctrine
B.The Sullivan principles
C.Utilitarianism
D.Marxism
E.Kantian ethics
Q:
Which of the following is detrimental to an ethical business setting?
A.Keeping in mind that each decision has a moral dimension
B.Encouraging leaders to demonstrate strong personal ethics
C.Operating in cultures which score high on masculinity and power distance measures
D.Setting realistic, achievable performance goals for employees
E.Frequently auditing the activities of expatriate managers
Q:
The CEO of United Synergy Inc., a company in its embryonic stage, believes that unethical behavior will result in premature decline of the company. In order to ensure that the company starts operating in the most ethical manner, the CEO should:
A.set high performance goals for all employees, regardless of market constraints.
B.shun the concept of noblesse oblige.
C.outsource the majority of the jobs in his company to a developing nation which has lax business regulations.
D.base decisions solely on business variables such as cost, delivery, and product quality.
E.hire employees with strong personal ethics.
Q:
The CEO of Gold Chip Software engages in corruption and uses his power in the company to enrich himself and his family members. Consequently, his employees also engage in the same behavior. In this case, the roots of unethical behavior can be traced to:
A.unrealistic performance expectations.
B.organizational leadership.
C.noblesse oblige and social responsibility.
D.varying ethical standards in different cultures.
E.geographical distance between employees and the parent company.
Q:
Unipeg Corporation has uniform high sales targets for its employees all across the globe, regardless of the environmental constraints in each market. Employees are penalized for any shortfall. This has caused many employees to falsify the values of their sales. In this context, the roots of unethical behavior can be traced to:
A.unrealistic performance expectations.
B.cultural differences of countries.
C.strong personal ethics among employees.
D.varying ethical standards in different nations.
E.national differences in factors of production.
Q:
Which of the following is most likely to reduce the pressure on managers to violate their personal ethics?
A.Making managers work away from their ordinary social context and supporting culture
B.Keeping managers psychologically and geographically close to the parent company
C.Pressuring managers to meet unrealistic business goals
D.Adopting an organizational culture which emphasizes that all decisions should be purely economic
E.Pressuring managers to shun the concept of noblesse oblige
Q:
In a business setting, managers sometimes do not realize they are behaving unethically, primarily because they:
A.fail to take into account the ethical dimension of business decisions.
B.ignore business variables such as cost, delivery, and product quality.
C.have a strong system of personal ethics.
D.abide by the concept of noblesse oblige.
E.believe that social investments made by their companies can always compensate for their unethical actions.
Q:
Which of the following is most likely to lead to unethical behavior in a business setting?
A.A strong sense of personal ethics exhibited by employees
B.Expatriate managers working away from their ordinary social context and supporting culture
C.Providing managers with a moral compass or an ethical algorithm
D.Large business corporations making social investments in host countries
E.Multinational corporations advocating the concept of noblesse oblige
Q:
Which of the following best exemplifies an ethical dilemma?
A.Javier has been doubtful about a car he purchased recently, and hence has been reading only good reviews about the car to console himself.
B.After seeing a whole new collection of phones at a store, Max is regretting the purchase of an outdated phone he made last month.
C.The manager at Almas Inc. has to make a vendor choice between his underqualified cousin and a highly experienced, trusted supplier.
D.Andrew is responsible for deciding whether he should upgrade the manufacturing unit with new machines and reduce costs for clients, or retain the impoverished manual labor.
E.Samantha has to decide whether the annual profits of the company should be distributed to the employees as a salary hike or in the form of non-monetary benefits.