Exam 2: Business Ethics And Social Responsibility

E-presto,Inc.has established an EthicsLine.EthicsLine is a toll-free phone number that employees can call any time of the day,any day of the week to discuss ethics and report suspected unethical or improper conduct.Why would E-presto establish the EthicsLine?

Oxtron,Inc.is considering establishing a program that actively encourages ethical behavior.What reasons would support Oxtron's adoption of an ethics program?

Which of the following is NOT a stakeholder?

Zeno,Inc.is considering relocating its manufacturing facility from Illinois to Mexico City.The stakeholders in this decision might include:

A company that engages in unethical behavior may suffer severe consequences.

Unethical behavior is a bar to financial success.

There are values,such as integrity,that are generally considered universal.

John Akers,former chairman of IBM,argues that ethics are not important to economic competitiveness.

Don runs a construction company.He hires people to work on his projects and tells them they are all "independent contractors." Legally,they are not independent contractors since Don tells the workers when to come to work,how long to work,what days to work,what they are to do each day,and so forth.At the end of each week,Don pays his workers in cash rather than with a check.Also,he does not withhold any state,federal or local withholding tax (since he claims the workers are independent contractors).Which statement is correct?

Lois is running for political office.She trails the incumbent and decides to start running a series of "attack ads." The attack ads are very effective and one week before the election it appears that she has drawn even with her opponent.Lois admits that the attack ads were exaggerations and contained some distortions.Which statement is correct?

Tianhui was recently hired as a sales representative by Oxtron,Inc.Before leaving on his first sales trip,a number of the other sales representatives take Tianhui aside and tell him that it is customary for the sales representatives to "pad" (increase)their expense reports each month by 20%.Use utilitarian ethics to decide what Tianhui should do about the expense report he submits to Oxtron.

Charlie Sheen's drug use and violent behavior:

The behavior of top executives regarding ethical issues has little effect on the behavior of the employees of the organization.

Nortron Corporation wants to create an ethical environment in its company.Which of the following has been found to help foster a sense of ethics within an organization?

Kent needed to reduce his workforce by five people.Before notifying them,he thought about how he would feel if he were the one receiving the news and he tried to find ways to help the employees in their transition.Kent was exercising the value of:

Why do many major corporations actively encourage ethical behavior?

Life Principles are set by your parents and do not change over time.

There is strong evidence that ethical behavior pays off financially for businesses.

Wever,Inc.is considering relocating a facility to Mexico.The interests of the various stakeholders affected by this decision may conflict.

Ethics is the study of how people should act.