Exam 6: Managing Responsibly and Ethically

Both social responsiveness and social responsibility go beyond merely meeting a firm's basic economic and legal requirements.

In stage 2 of corporate social responsibility,managers expand their responsibilities to employees.

When a firm engages in social actions because of its obligation to meet certain economic and legal responsibilities,it is said to be socially responsive.

In the socioeconomic view of social responsibility,management's responsibility includes protecting and improving society's welfare.

The board of directors of Acme Generating Corporation is meeting to consider the construction of a new electricity generation facility somewhere along the Muspetan River basin. The city of Muspetan has a high Air Pollution Index and the increasing amount of garbage is adding to the city's woes. Director Appleton would like the facility to be a coal-burning plant located in a remote area because the cost involved is moderate. Director Witworth wants a nuclear plant because this will not add to the city's already serious pollution problem, while taking care of its electricity requirements. Director Jossleman wants a plant that uses combustible fuels collected from the city's garbage. He wants the plant to be located near the downtown government area so that the steam could be used for heating the government buildings after it has passed through the generating turbines. -Director Appleton is following which of the social responsibility views?

Vancouver-based Cummins Westport has earned a reputation as a "dark green" company that produces the world's widest range of low-emissions engines for commercial transport applications.Cummins Westport illustrates the ________ approach toward environmental issues.

Because shared values influence the way work is done,employees can become more enthusiastic about working together to support the values they believe in.This illustrates which purpose of shared organizational values?

Ethical reasoning at the ________ level of moral development indicates that moral values reside in maintaining expected standards and living up to the expectations of others.

Max Proffit, director of research and development for NexGen Products Company, has learned that a new material has been developed in his department that will help reduce production costs without any accompanying loss in quality. He has discussed the potential savings with his two assistants, Angel Lee and Moe Gaines, as well as the vice-president of product development, Rush Onward. Angel has stated her opposition to the use of the new material because its durability and fire-resistant properties have not been fully tested nor certified by the company's third-party testing laboratory. Moe argues that the initial tests that their R&D department has run indicated minimal problems with both durability and fire resistance. Rush stated that he has been in several meetings lately where the need to increase earnings-per-share has been repeatedly emphasized by the company president. Rush has told Max that a decision has to be made within the week about the use of the new material in NexGen's products. -Angel's opposition to the use of the new product is an indication that she probably ________.

At the principled level of moral development,an individual values the rights of others and upholds absolute values and rights regardless of the majority's opinion.

Though the outcomes are not perfectly measured,the majority of research studies show a positive relationship between corporate social involvement and economic performance.

Marco was confused. His management class was focusing on social responsibility, and his assignment was to find examples of businesses that used different approaches toward social responsibility. He had three good examples but was not sure which case was an example of which concept. The first business was a fishing company that had been subject to protests from environmentalists. In their efforts to balance the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders, the company decided to change their harvesting methods so that dolphins would no longer be caught with tuna. The second company was a fast-food restaurant whose primary objective was to maximize profits for its owners. Restaurant employees were paid minimum wages and benefits in accordance with local labour laws. The third business was a bank that spent millions of dollars a year on charitable causes. The bank's managers felt they had an ethical responsibility to do the right things and act in ways that are good for society. -The approach taken by managers at the fishing company is best described as social ________.

The board of directors of Acme Generating Corporation is meeting to consider the construction of a new electricity generation facility somewhere along the Muspetan River basin. The city of Muspetan has a high Air Pollution Index and the increasing amount of garbage is adding to the city's woes. Director Appleton would like the facility to be a coal-burning plant located in a remote area because the cost involved is moderate. Director Witworth wants a nuclear plant because this will not add to the city's already serious pollution problem, while taking care of its electricity requirements. Director Jossleman wants a plant that uses combustible fuels collected from the city's garbage. He wants the plant to be located near the downtown government area so that the steam could be used for heating the government buildings after it has passed through the generating turbines. -Director Witworth is following which of the social responsibility views?

Rick is president of a company that manufactures secondary wood products for the construction industry. Recently, there have been many reports of a plywood sub-flooring product that has been failing in a number of commercial locations, resulting in several complaints about ruined floor coverings and, in one instance, the partial collapse of a floor, which injured three people. The manager of research and development has asked marketing to stop selling the product while he runs some tests to determine the source of the problem. However, third-quarter earnings reports are due out in two weeks and public knowledge of problems concerning this lucrative product are likely to delay the financing of the company's expansion plans and cause stock prices to tumble. Rick has a dilemma. Should he continue to sell the product and delay research efforts in order to maintain the expansion plans, but risk causing more damage and injury? Or should he immediately stop sales of the product and run the necessary tests, thereby placing the expansion plans at risk and causing potential losses for the company's shareholders? -The other three managers expressed concern that many more people could eventually be injured if the company did not quickly correct the problem.This relates to which determinant of issue intensity?

Natural resource depletion,global warming,pollution,and toxic wastes are examples of ________.

According to the model of the evolution of an organization's social responsibility,stage 3 is characterized by an added interest in ________.

According to the classical view of social responsibility,management's only social responsibility is to maximize profits.

A firm that follows the social obligation approach engages in social actions in response to some popular social need.

A personality measure of a person's convictions is ________.

Ethical behaviour is ingrained in individuals and cannot be taught.