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Chapter 01 - Ethics and Business

Chapter 01 Ethics and Business Globalization


True/False Questions

1. (p. 3) All decisions within an organization can be covered by economic, legal, or company rules and regulations. FALSE Not every decision can be covered by economic, legal, or company rules and regulations. More often than not, responsible decision-making must rely on the personal values and principles of the individuals involved.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 1

2. (p. 3) In business, every decision can be covered by economic, legal, or company rules and regulations. FALSE At some point every worker, and certainly everyone in a managerial role, will be faced with an issue that will require ethical decision-making. Not every decision can be covered by economic, legal, or company rules and regulations.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 1

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3. (p. 4) Few disciplines face the skepticism that a business ethics course commonly confronts. TRUE Few disciplines face the type of skepticism that commonly confronted courses in business ethics. Many students believed that, like "jumbo-shrimp," "business ethics" was an oxymoron.

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 1

4. (p. 5) Ethically responsible business decision makers should move beyond a narrow concern with company stockholders and understand how decisions will affect stockholders. FALSE Ethically responsible business decision-making therefore must move beyond a narrow concern with stockholders to consider the impact that decisions will have on a wide range of stakeholders.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Application Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 1

5. (p. 5) A firm's ethical reputation can provide competitive advantage or a disadvantage in the marketplace and with customers, suppliers, and employees. TRUE A firm's ethical reputation can provide a competitive advantage or disadvantage in the marketplace and with customers, suppliers, and employees.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 1

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6. (p. 7) Ethics mainly refers to the academic discipline, further confined to teachings of historical ethicists such as Aristotle, John Stuart Miller, and Immanuel Kant. FALSE Ethics refers not only to an academic discipline, but to that arena of human life studied by this academic discipline, namely, how human beings should properly live their lives.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 2

7. (p. 8) Ethical business leadership is the skill to create circumstances in which good people are able to do good, and in which bad people are taught to do good. FALSE Ethical business leadership is exactly this skill: to create the circumstances in which good people are able to do good, and bad people are prevented from doing bad.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Application Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 3

8. (p. 8) From a descriptive perspective, ethics seeks to provide an account of how and why people do act the way they do. TRUE Philosophers often emphasize that ethics is normative, in that it deals with our reasoning about how we should act. Social sciences such as psychology and sociology adopt a descriptive idea, and provide an account of how and why people do act the way they do.

AACSB: 5, 6 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

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9. (p. 10) The topic of 'social ethics' raises questions of justice, public policy, law, civic virtues, organizational structure, and political philosophy. TRUE How a society and social institutions such as corporations ought to be structured and about how we ought to live together is sometimes referred to as social ethics and it raises questions of justice, public policy, law, civic virtues, organizational structure, and political philosophy.

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

10. (p. 11) The promotion or the attainment of certain values held close by an individual or an organization by acting in a certain way is responsible for making a norm attractive. TRUE Norms establish the guidelines or standards for determining what we should do, how we should act, what type of person we should be. Another way of expressing this point is to say that norms appeal to certain values that would be promoted or attained by acting in a certain way.

AACSB: 3 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 4

11. (p. 12) Technically speaking, values need not all be positive or ethical in nature. TRUE In general, values are those beliefs that incline us to act or to choose one way rather than another. One important implication of this, of course, is that an individual or a corporation can have a set of unethical values.

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 4

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12. (p. 12, 13) Ethical values are personal codes of ethics that ensure that individually, a person meets his or her standards of well-being. FALSE It is important to know two elements of ethical values. First, ethical values serve the ends of human well-being. Second, the well-being promoted by ethical values is not a personal and selfish well-being. Thus, ethical values are those beliefs and principles that impartially promote human well-being.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 4

13. (p. 13) Since it is not required by the law, treating employees disrespectfully is not considered unethical. FALSE The law provides a very important guide to ethical decision-making, and this text will integrate legal considerations throughout. But legal norms and ethical norms are not identical nor do they always agree.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 5

14. (p. 13) Adherence to the prescribed law and compliance factors in a given country automatically ensures that the organization is ethically sound. FALSE Holding that obedience to the law is sufficient to fulfill one's ethical duties begs the question of whether or not the law itself is ethical. Dramatic examples from history, Nazi Germany and apartheid in South Africa being the most obvious, demonstrate that one's ethical responsibility may run counter to the law.

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 5

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15. (p. 13, 14) Societies that value individual freedom will be reluctant to legally require acts of charity, personal integrity, and common decency. TRUE Societies that value individual freedom will be reluctant to legally require more than just an ethical minimum. Such liberal societies will seek legally to prohibit the most serious ethical harms, but they will not legally require acts of charity, common decency, and personal integrity that may otherwise comprise the social fabric of a developed culture.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 5

Multiple Choice Questions

16. (p. 4) In accordance to the criticism aimed at studying business ethics, many viewed it as a mixture of _____ and personal opinion that could interfere with the functioning of a business. a. abstract thinking B. sentimentality c. religious connotations d. rigidity

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 1

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17. (p. 4, 5) Understanding the change in attitude towards studying business ethics includes the understanding that corporate scandals in the recent past have largely affected _____. a. stockholders b. employees c. directors D. stakeholders

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 1

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18. (p. 5) These business decision-making must move beyond the narrow concern with a stockholder towards considering the impact of decisions on stakeholders. A. Ethical b. Technological c. Human resource d. Accounting

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 1

19. (p. 7) Many businesses looking to hire graduates expect an impetus on teaching not just information and knowledge about ethics, but also: A. ethical behavior. b. to train others at the workplace. c. intervention in case of unethical practices. d. humanitarian, political and psychological perspectives.

AACSB: 5, 6 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 2

20. (p. 7) Learning about the history of ethics through the works of Aristotle, Immanuel Kant etc, involves an approach to ethics that focuses on the a. descriptive nature of ethics. b. accountability of human choices. C. informational content of the class. d. reasoning behind the action/ decision.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 2

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21. (p. 8) At its most basic level, _____ is/ are concerned with how we act and how we live our lives. a. laws b. regulations c. values D. ethics

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

22. (p. 8) The branch of ethics that deals with the reasoning about how one should act is called a. meta-ethics. b. humanistic ethics. C. normative ethics. d. descriptive ethics.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

23. (p. 8) The study of ethics is different from the study of psychology and sociology in that the latter fields are a. narrative in nature. B. descriptive in nature. c. quasi-experimental in nature. d. developmental in nature.

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 3

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24. (p. 10) Individual codes of conduct regarding how one should live, how one should act, what one should do, what kind of a person should one be, etc. is sometimes referred to as: A. morality. b. independence. c. leadership. d. rational motives.

AACSB: 3 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 3

25. (p. 10) Which among the following branches of study raises questions about justice, law, civic virtues, and political philosophy? a. Business studies b. Morality c. Descriptive ethics D. Social ethics

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

26. (p. 10) Examining business institutions from a social rather than an individual perspective is referred to as A. decision-making for social responsibility. b. corporate social responsibility. c. institutionalized ethical responsibility. d. institutional morality.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 3

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27. (p. 11) A/an _____ approach to business is at the center of business ethics. a. applied b. atheistic c. religious D. normative

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 4

28. (p. 11) _____ set the standards or guidelines for determining what one should do, how one should act, what type of person one should be. a. Roles b. Attitudes C. Norms d. Social ethics

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 4

29. (p. 11) The crux of normative ethics is that these disciplines A. presuppose some underlying values. b. underline certain ethical issues. c. support certain norms over others. d. branch away from social ethics to personal ethics.

AACSB: 3 BT: Application Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 4

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30. (p. 12) This inclines one to act or to choose one way rather than another. a. Norms b. Morality c. Social ethics D. Values

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 4

31. (p. 12) Those beliefs and principles that provide the ultimate guide in a company's decisionmaking are called a. transactions. B. core values. c. historical milestones. d. committee values.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 4

32. (p. 12) Which among the following phrases identifies norms that guide employees, implicitly more often than not, to behave in ways that the firm values and finds worthy? A. Organizational culture b. Human resource responsibility c. Organizational management d. Organizational behavior

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 4

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33. (p. 12) Derived from an understanding of the definition of values, it is possible that the corporate culture in any organization can also a. be exceedingly exaggerated. b. be nonexistent. c. be guided by employee expectations. D. be unethical in nature.

AACSB: 3 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 4

34. (p. 12) Different types of values are typically distinguished in terms of a. the history of its inceptions. b. the importance associated to it by a majority. C. the ends they serve. d. the geographic reach and acceptance of that value.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 4

35. (p. 12) Ethics requires that the promotion of human welfare be done a. keeping in mind the personal opinions of the decision maker. b. based on the level of need of the beneficiary. c. understanding the religious beliefs of the beneficiary. D. in a manner that is acceptable and reasonable from all relevant points of view.

AACSB: 5 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 4

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36. (p. 12) The primary aim of ethical values is that the well-being promoted through it is not of a/an _____ and _____ nature. a. religious, theological b. altruistic, familial C. personal, selfish d. esoteric, technological

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 4

37. (p. 13) In context to the subject, Nazi Germany and apartheid in South Africa reflect that a. societies valuing freedom welcome laws that require more than the ethical minimum. b. ethical responsibilities give rise to more and more regulations. C. obedience to law is insufficient to fulfill one's ethical duties. d. laws cannot anticipate every new business dilemma that might be faced.

AACSB: 6 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 5

38. (p. 14) Which among the following can result in a scenario where the number of regulated areas becomes improbable and unmanageable? A. Telling businesses that its ethical responsibilities end with obedience to law. b. Assuming that law can anticipate every new dilemma that businesses might face. c. Maintaining that obedience to law is sufficient to fulfill one's ethical duties. d. Assuming that freedom valuing societies welcome laws requiring more than just an ethical minimum.

AACSB: 3 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 5

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39. (p. 15) Respecting employee privacy while also adequately managing the workplace at a time when workplace e-mail was in its infancy, and no laws regarding it were in place, is an example for which one of the following? a. Societies valuing freedom welcome laws that require more than the ethical minimum. b. Ethical responsibilities give rise to more and more regulations. c. Obedience to law is sufficient to fulfill one's ethical duties. D. Laws cannot anticipate every new business dilemma that might be faced.

AACSB: 5 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 6

40. (p. 15) The Americans with Disabilities Act is an example best describing the fact that a. societies valuing freedom welcome laws that require more than the ethical minimum. B. a perspective that compliance is enough relies on a misleading understanding of law. c. obedience to law is sufficient to fulfill one's ethical duties. d. laws cannot anticipate every new business dilemma that might be faced.

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 6

Fill in the Blank Questions

41. (p. 5) In the context of ethics, a _____ will be anyone affected, for better or for worse, by the decisions made within a particular firm. stakeholder

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 1

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Chapter 01 - Ethics and Business

42. (p. 5) A firm's _____ can provide a competitive advantage or disadvantage in the marketplace and with customers, suppliers, and employees. ethical reputation

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 1

43. (p. 6) The authors of this text believe that responsible decision-making and _____ will result in more responsible behavior. deliberation

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 2

44. (p. 8) _____ is the skill of creating a circumstance in which good people are able to do good, and bad people are prevented from doing bad. Ethical business leadership

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 3

45. (p. 8) Ethics is - by virtue of dealing with how we act, choose, behave, and do things _____. practical

AACSB: 3 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 3

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46. (p. 10) Morality, in its element, is best described by the phrase _____'. personal integrity

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 3

47. (p. 11) _____ ethics asks us to simply step back from unavoidable everyday decisions to examine and evaluate them. Philosophical

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 4

48. (p. 11) Ethical decision-making involves the basic categories, concepts, and _____ of ethics. language

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 4

49. (p. 11) Normative disciplines presuppose some underlying _____. values

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 4

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50. (p. 12) In view of a business setup, and the definition of value, a _____ is as likely to ethical, as it is likely to be unethical. corporate culture

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 4

51. (p. 13) A common view is that an ethically responsible business decision is merely one that _____. complies with the law

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 5

52. (p. 15) One particular law that has had a significant impact on business decision-making is the _____. Americans with Disabilities Act

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 6

53. (p. 15) Most of the laws that concern business are based on past cases that establish _____. legal precedents

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 6

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54. (p. 17) According to _____, science is the greatest arbiter of truth. theoretical reason

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 7

55. (p. 17) Ethical theories are patterns of thinking, or _____, to help one decide what to do. methodologies

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 7

Essay Questions

56. (p. 3, 4) Explain in general, how ethical decisions are made by everybody, and how it has the capacity to influence more than just the decision maker. Ethical decision-making in business is not limited to the type of major corporate decisions with dramatic social consequences known in the form of Enron, JPMorgan, and WorldCom etc. At some point every worker, and certainly everyone in a managerial role, will be faced with an issue that will require ethical decision-making. Not every decision can be covered by economic, legal, or company rules and regulations. More often than not, responsible decisionmaking must rely on the personal values and principles of the individuals involved. Individuals will have to decide for themselves what type of person they want to be. At other times, of course, decisions will involve significant general policy issues that affect entire organizations, as happened in all the well-known corporate scandals. The managerial role especially involves decision-making that establishes organizational precedents and has organizational and social consequences.

AACSB: 5 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 1

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57. (p. 4) Explain how the study of ethics was viewed until recently, and what kind of shift in focus has occurred post the scandals. As recently as the mid-1990s, articles in such major publications as The Wall Street Journal , the Harvard Business Review , and U.S. News and World Report questioned the legitimacy and value of teaching classes in business ethics. Few disciplines face the type of skepticism that commonly confronted courses in business ethics. Many students believed that, like "jumbo-shrimp," "business ethics" was an oxymoron. Many also viewed ethics as a mixture of sentimentality and personal opinion that would interfere with the efficient functioning of business. But this simply is no longer the case in contemporary business. The questions today are less about why or should ethics be a part of business, than they are about which values and principles should guide business decisions and how ethics should be integrated within business. Students unfamiliar with the basic concepts and categories of ethics will find themselves as unprepared for careers in business as students who are unfamiliar with accounting and finance. Indeed, it is fair to say that students will not be fully prepared even within fields such as accounting, finance, human resource management, marketing, and management unless they are familiar with the ethical issues that arise within those specific fields.

AACSB: 3 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 1

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58. (p. 4, 5) Why is it important to move from a narrow perspective of decisions affecting stockholders, to decisions affecting stakeholders? Illustrate with an example. With Enron, Stockholders lost over $1 billion in stock value. Thousands of employees lost their jobs, their retirement funds, and their health care benefits. Consumers in California suffered from energy shortages and blackouts that were caused by Enron's manipulation of the market. Hundreds of businesses that worked with Enron as suppliers suffered economic loss with the loss of a large client. Enron's accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, went out of business as a direct result. The wider Houston community was also hurt by the loss of a major employer and community benefactor. Families of employees, investors, and suppliers were also hurt. This description of the consequences of the Enron collapse demonstrates the significant impacts that business decisions can have on a very wide range of people. Both cases dramatically affected the lives of thousands of people: employees, stockholders, management, suppliers, customers, and surrounding communities. For better or for worse, the decisions a business firm makes will affect many more people than just the decision maker. Ethically responsible business decision-making therefore must move beyond a narrow concern with stockholders to consider the impact that decisions will have on a wide range of stakeholders. In a general sense, a business stakeholder will be anyone affected, for better or worse, by decisions made within the firm.

AACSB: 5 BT: Application Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 1

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59. (p. 5, 6) Describe the disadvantages and the advantages associated with ethical decisionmaking. Unethical behavior not only creates legal risks for a business, it creates financial and marketing risks as well. Managing these risks requires managers and executives to remain vigilant about their company's ethics. It is very clear now that a company can lose in the marketplace, it can go out of business, and its employees can go to jail if no one is paying attention to the ethical standards of the firm. A firm's ethical reputation can provide a competitive advantage or disadvantage in the marketplace and with customers, suppliers, and employees. Managing ethically can also pay significant dividends in organizational structure and efficiency. Trust, loyalty, commitment, creativity, and initiative are just some of the organizational benefits that are more likely to flourish within ethically stable and credible organizations.

AACSB: 3 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 1

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60. (p. 7, 8) Discuss the hesitation (that may be justified) associated with teaching ethics. Explain briefly how the authors believe that ethics can be taught constructively in a class. Part of the hesitation about teaching ethics involves the potential for abuse; expecting teachers to influence behavior may be viewed as permission for teachers to impose their own views on students. Many believe that teachers should remain value-neutral in the classroom and respect a student's own views. Another part of this concern is that the line between motivating students and manipulating students is a narrow one. There are many ways to influence someone's behavior, including threats, guilt, pressure, bullying, and intimidation. But not all forms of influencing behavior raise such concerns. There is a major difference between manipulating someone and persuading someone, between threats and reasons. The authors believe that the tension between knowledge and behavior can be resolved by emphasizing ethical judgment, ethical deliberation, and ethical decision-making. They believe that the only academically and ethically legitimate way to do this is through careful and reasoned decision-making. The fundamental assumption is that a process of rational decisionmaking, a process that involves careful thought and deliberation, can and will result in behavior that is both more reasonable and more ethical. Thus, teaching ethics must, in this view, involve students thinking for themselves.

AACSB: 5, 6 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Hard Learning Objective: 2

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61. (p. 8) Define ethics. Differentiate between the normative and the descriptive disciplines of ethics. At its most basic level, ethics is concerned with how we act and how we live our lives. Ethics involves what is perhaps the most monumental question any human being can ask: How should we live? Ethics is, in this sense, practical, having to do with how we act, choose, behave, and do things. Philosophers often emphasize that ethics is normative, in that it deals with our reasoning about how we should act. Social sciences such as psychology and sociology also examine human decision-making and actions, but these sciences are descriptive rather than normative. They provide an account of how and why people do act the way they do; as a normative discipline, ethics seeks an account of how and why people should act, rather than how they do act.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Medium Learning Objective: 3

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62. (p. 10) Differentiate the concepts of morality and social ethics. The fundamental question of ethics "How should we live?" can be interpreted in two ways. "We" can mean each one of us individually, or it might mean all of us collectively. In the first sense, this is a question about how I should live my life, how I should act, what I should do, and what kind of person I should be. This meaning of ethics is sometimes referred to as morality, and it is the aspect of ethics that we refer to by the phrase "personal integrity." There will be many times within a business setting where an individual will need to step back and ask: "What should I do? How should I act?" In the second sense, "How should we live?" refers to how we live together in a community. This is a question about how a society and social institutions such as corporations ought to be structured and about how we ought to live together. This area is sometimes referred to as social ethics and it raises questions of justice, public policy, law, civic virtues, organizational structure, and political philosophy. In this sense, business ethics is concerned with how business institutions ought to be structured, about corporate social responsibility, and about making decisions that will impact many people other than the individual decision maker. This aspect of business ethics asks us to examine business institutions from a social rather than an individual perspective. This broader social aspect of ethics is referred to as decision-making for social responsibility.

AACSB: 5 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

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63. (p. 12) Define values, and discuss the element of corporate culture in detail. In general, values can be thought of as those beliefs that incline us to act or to choose one way rather than another. A company's core values, for example, are those beliefs and principles that provide the ultimate guide in its decision-making. Individuals can have their own personal values and, importantly, institutions also have values. A corporation's "culture" is a way of saying that a corporation has a set of identifiable values that establish the expectations for what is "normal" within that firm. These norms guide employees, implicitly more often than not, to behave in ways that the firm values and finds worthy. One important implication of this, of course, is that an individual or a corporation can have a set of unethical values. A case in point is Enron, where it seems to have been the culture to pushing the envelope of legality to as far as possible for personal means.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 4

64. (p. 13) Discuss the impact of maintaining that holding to the law is sufficient to fulfill one's ethical duties, and what it says about the law itself. Holding that obedience to the law is sufficient to fulfill one's ethical duties begs the question of whether or not the law itself is ethical. Examples from history, Nazi Germany and apartheid in South Africa being the most obvious, demonstrate that one's ethical responsibility may run counter to the law. On a more practical level, this question can have significant implications in a global economy in which businesses operate in countries with legal systems different from those of their home country. Some countries make child labor or sexual discrimination legal, but businesses that choose to adopt such practices do not escape ethical responsibility for doing so. From the perspective of ethics, you do not forgo your ethical responsibilities by a blind obedience to the law.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 5

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65. (p. 14, 15) Explain the difficulties associated with telling businesses that its ethical responsibilities end with obedience to the law. On a more practical level, telling business that its ethical responsibilities end with obedience to the law is just inviting more and more legal regulation. The difficulty of trying to create laws to cover each and every possible business challenge would be enormous. The task would require such specificity that the number of regulated areas would become unmanageable. Additionally, it was the failure of personal ethics among such companies as Enron and WorldCom, after all that led to the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and many other legal reforms. If businesses restrict its ethical responsibilities to obedience to the law, it should not be surprising to find a new wave of government regulations that require what were formerly voluntary actions.

AACSB: 3, 5 BT: Analysis Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 5 Learning Objective: 6

66. (p. 5) According to the authors, who are the stakeholders? In a general sense, a business stakeholder will be anyone affected, for better or worse, by decisions made within the firm.

AACSB: 1 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 1

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67. (p. 7) What is ethics? Ethics refers not only to an academic discipline, but to that arena of human life studied by this academic discipline, namely, how human beings should properly live their lives.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 2

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68. (p. 7) Why was teaching ethics and ethical behavior in a classroom met with hesitation? Part of the hesitation about teaching ethics involves the potential for abuse. Another part of this concern is that the line between motivating students and manipulating students is a narrow one.

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 2

69. (p. 7) To what do the authors attribute ethical behavior in an individual? The authors' fundamental assumption is that a process of rational decision-making, a process that involves careful thought and deliberation, can and will result in behavior that is both more reasonable and more ethical.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 2

70. (p. 8) Define ethics. Which question does ethics attempt to answer? At its most basic level, ethics is concerned with how we act and how we live our lives. Ethics involves what is perhaps the most monumental question any human being can ask: How should we live?

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

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71. (p. 10) In view of social ethics, what is business ethics concerned with? In the sense of social ethics, business ethics is concerned with how business institutions ought to be structured, about corporate social responsibility, and about making decisions that will impact many people other than the individual decision maker.

AACSB: 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 3

72. (p. 11) Why is ethics' considered a normative discipline? To say that ethics is a normative discipline is to say that it deals with norms, those standards of appropriate and proper (or "normal") behavior. Norms establish the guidelines or standards for determining what we should do, how we should act, what type of person we should be.

AACSB: 2, 3 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 4

73. (p. 12, 13) Describe the two elements of ethical values. First, ethical values serve the ends of human well-being. Acts and choices that aim to promote human welfare are acts and choices based on ethical values. Second, the well-being promoted by ethical values is not a personal and selfish well-being. Ethical values are those beliefs and principles that impartially promote human well-being.

AACSB: 5 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 4

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74. (p. 15) Identify the precedent for most laws concerning business. Most of the laws that concern business are based on past cases that establish legal precedents. Each precedent applies general rules to the specific circumstances of an individual case.

AACSB: 2 BT: Knowledge Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 6

75. (p. 16) Differentiate between practical reason and theoretical reason. Practical reason is described as reasoning about what we should do, whereas theoretical reason involves reasoning about what we should believe.

AACSB: 3 BT: Comprehension Difficulty: Easy Learning Objective: 6

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