Exam 2: Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Which of the following is not an ethical breach?

"If you think what we're doing now is bad, you should have seen 10 years ago at this company..." is an example of:

Jane Eyring works for PharmaMeds, Inc. Jane is a physician-scientist who is responsible for running the pilot tests on PharmaMed's new oral spray medication for individuals with adult onset diabetes. Jane has discovered that if those in the test group do not spray the medicine correctly or if they spray for too short of a time, the medicine is not effective, or as effective, and insulin shock has resulted in a few of the patients. Jane talks with one of her colleagues who responds, "Look, there's no need to stop the testing or the drug's release. Just tell them in the test and in the brochures that will be with the spray, 'Spray correctly! If you do not, you may not receive your necessary dose.'" Jane is not sure anyone can be 100% accurate in spraying all the time. What risks does the company run if the spray doesn't work for the patients?

ABC, Inc. is the manufacturer of a line of bumper stickers and T-shirts that display the phrase "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll." Evaluate the ethical posture of the firm.

Harvard University recently sold most of its investments in tobacco companies. The investments were quite profitable for the Harvard endowment. Derek Bok, who was Harvard's president at that time, said the divestiture was prompted by recognition of the dangers of smoking and concern over aggressive marketing tactics to promote tobacco products to teenagers and in countries where the dangers of smoking are not widely known. Bok stated the university was "motivated by a desire not to be associated as a shareholder with companies engaged in significant sales of products that create a substantial and unjustified risk of harm to other human beings." Harvard owned $58 million in tobacco company shares. An investment analyst noted that Harvard's action will have a "strong ripple effect across the country." Evaluate the actions of Harvard and evaluate the conduct of the tobacco companies to this point using both the Blanchard/Peale model and the moral reasoning process.

Which of the following is not a benefit of using ethics as a business strategy?

Training employees in ethics is a factor that reduces a company's sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines.

Which school most parallels the Friedman model for social responsibility?

Which of the following models has a question that requires analysis of the effect of a decision on stakeholders?

Enron's failure to disclose its off-the-book debts was legal. Which of the following ethical categories do you think apply to that type of financial reporting?

Pressure contributes to the use of the either/or test for resolving ethical dilemmas.

Under which of the schools is the corporation best served by serving only the shareholders?

Having a code of ethics does not reduce a company's sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines.

A code of ethics is an individual firm's behavior standard for employees.

Business self-regulation has been effective in solving social problems.

The first question of the Blanchard/Peale model for resolving ethical dilemmas is whether the conduct is legal.

Once a legal loophole has been used to the advantage of business and the disadvantage of a customer, the number of options for self-regulation declines.

Which of the following is not a requirement of Sarbanes-Oxley?

An ombudsperson and/or ethics hotline are both critical to an ethical culture in a company.

An employer instituted a wellness program for all employees. The wellness program includes an exercise facility and several pay incentives for losing weight, quitting smoking, or beginning an exercise program. The program is not required under any state or national laws. Which of the following schools of social responsibility applies to this employer?