Exam 3: Conducting Business Ethically and Responsibly

What is a social audit?

How may a business firm show that it is socially responsible in dealing with its employees? Explain your response.

What is a whistle-blower?

The president of a company has paid himself a large salary, a handsome bonus, received a large number of lucrative stock options, and hired his family members at high salaries. The president is probably guilty of collusion. improper financial management. cheque kiting. misrepresentation of finances. insider trading.

Jays Inc. dumped toxic chemicals in the river next to their factory. Upon being caught, Jays Inc. not only denied their wrongdoings, they went to great lengths to hide their behavior. Jays Inc. is taking a(n) ________ stance to social responsibility. defensive accommodative proactive obstructionist reactive

What is cheque kiting?

Counterfeit goods are a problem mainly for products like luggage, pharmaceuticals, designer clothing, and watches, but not much of a problem for products like fine wines.

A plumbing supply firm can win a contract with a home-building business by promising to get 500 faucet assemblies of a certain make by Tuesday morning. Actually, the customer representative finalizing the deal knows that their supplier normally takes an extra day to get them to the firm. But lately, due to the housing slowdown, shipments have been arriving a day earlier. The customer representative therefore promises Tuesday delivery to the home-building business, reasoning that if the faucets do come a day later, as they often do, he can come up with a plausible excuse. Which of the following, if true, would justify the customer representative's ethical position? The home-building firm sometimes picks up shipments of supplies several days after they arrive. The customer rep knows that if the faucets do come in early, the home-building firm will choose to do business with them more often. The home-building firm has a brief written code of ethics that has no statement that applies specifically to this situation. When phoned for advice, the plumbing supply firm's CEO told the customer rep that it was OK to "fib a little" to get a contract like this. The faucet shipment comes with a tracking number and goes to a distribution center within driving distance, so that, if necessary, the plumbing firm can expedite its arrival.

The second step in the simplified three-step model for applying ethical judgments to situations that may arise during the course of business activities is to determine the implications of violating company policy. determine the norms that relate to the situation. determine the most appropriate moral values. gather the relevant factual information. make an ethical judgment based on the rightness or wrongness of the proposed activity or policy.

How do organizations exercise social responsibility toward customers?

Social responsibility is an attempt by a business to balance its commitments to groups and individuals in its environment, including customers, other businesses, employees, and investors.

Social activism dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers in their dealings with businesses is called whistle-blowing. kiting. price gouging. consumerism. collusion.

Most companies that strive to be responsible to their stakeholders concentrate on five main groups: customers, employees, investors, suppliers, and creditors.

Which three countries are the worst greenhouse gas emitters per capita? China, India, and Russia the United States, Canada, and Australia China, Russia, and the Australia China, the United States, and Canada Japan, China, and Russia

When Procter & Gamble claimed that its Pantene shampoo made hair "10 times stronger," the Chinese government decided that this constituted advertising of a counterfeit brand. morally objectionable advertising. lack of truth-in-advertising. misleading price advertising. stealth advertising.

Collusion occurs when two or more firms agree to collaborate on wrongful acts such as price fixing.

Brantford Corp. has decided to commit to an active social responsibility program. Top management has already developed and published a policy statement outlining the company's commitment. What does Brantford need to do next? Conduct a social audit Survey the various causes that they might support Select an individual to run the program Develop a policy statement outlining the firm's commitment Form a committee of top managers to develop a detailed plan

Pandora Products is a national company that produces a line of hot breakfast cereals, mainly featuring flavored instant oatmeal. Its products are sold in grocery stores across the country, but the company has faced stiff competition from larger, well established companies. The public relations department of Pandora has recommended to the CEO that Pandora become involved in cause-related marketing to increase its positive brand image and goodwill for the company. The PR department recommends that the National Heart Association would be a good tie-in for the oatmeal line, and it could emphasize the heart-healthy aspects of the products. The CEO argues that aligning the products with the Heart Association would not be good for Pandora. Which of the following consumer survey results, if true, would support the argument made by the CEO? 59 percent indicate that too much publicity about a company's alignment with a charity leads to increased concerns about commercial gain. 54 percent say they are willing to pay more for a brand that is associated with a cause. 66 percent indicate they would switch brands to support a particular cause. 78 percent state they are more likely to purchase a brand associated with a cause that they care about. 84 percent say that cause-related marketing increases the positive image of a company.

The Canadian Competition Bureau investigated possible __________ by Hershey, Nestle, and Cadbury. unit pricing demand pricing price fixing price gouging price leadership

"Cooking the books" to make a company's financial situation look better than it really is illustrates a behaviour that most people would see as ethical but illegal. ethical and illegal. unethical but legal. unethical and illegal. the is no consensus on how this behaviour should be classified.