Deck 8: Ethics and Social Responsibility of Business

Question 1

Utilitarianism is a moral theory with its origins in the works of Immanuel Kant.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The False Claims Act is also known as the Whistleblower Act.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Although much of the law is based on ethical standards,not all ethical standards have been enacted as law.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The law establishes a maximum degree of conduct expected by persons and businesses in society.

Question 5

Taken to an extreme,the result of ethical fundamentalism could be considered unethical under most other moral theories.

Question 6

Adhering to the teachings and philosophies of Karl Marx is a form of ethical fundamentalism.

Question 7

The law may permit something that would be ethically wrong.

Question 8

One advantage of utilitarianism is that there is no need for measuring the good of an action for society.

Question 9

Adhering to the Koran is a form of ethical fundamentalism.

Question 10

Following the theory of utilitarianism,if an action would increase the good of twenty-five people by one unit each and an alternative action would increase the good of one person by twenty-six units,the former action should be taken.

Question 11

Utilitarianism requires taking the course of action that provides at least some good to the greatest number of people.

Question 12

Adhering to the Bible is a form of ethical fundamentalism.

Question 13

Businesses organized in the United States are subject to the laws of other countries in which they operate.

Question 14

A qui tam lawsuit brought under the federal False Claims Act permits private parties to sue companies for fraud on behalf of the government.

Question 15

Adhering to a company's code of ethics is a form of ethical fundamentalism.

Question 16

Utilitarianism requires providing the greatest good to the greatest number of people,rather that the greatest good to society.

Question 17

Whistle-blowers can be awarded up to 25% of the amount recovered by the federal government.

Question 18

Utilitarianism has been applauded because it is easy to estimate the "good" that will result from different actions.

Question 19

Critics argue that ethical fundamentalism does not permit people to determine right and wrong for themselves.

Question 20

Under ethical fundamentalism,persons look internally and decide for themselves whether a course of action is appropriate.

Question 21

The social justice theory has been criticized because its principles of justice are supposed to be chosen by persons who do not know their position is society,something that is unrealistic.

Question 22

A whistle-blower can recover an award even if they were a co-conspirator in perpetrating the fraud.

Question 23

Under Rawl's social justice theory,the principle of equal opportunity in employment would be promulgated by people who would not yet know if they were in a favored class.

Question 24

Immanuel Kant believed that people owe moral duties based on universal rules.

Question 25

Utilitarianism has been criticized because it treats morality as if it were an impersonal mathematical calculation.

Question 26

Jeremy Bentham is the best-known proponent of duty ethics.

Question 27

Ethical relativism requires a person to decide what is ethical based on how their peers view right and wrong.

Question 28

John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau proposed a "social contract" theory of morality.

Question 29

According to Kantian ethics,if you rationalized that it is acceptable for you to engage in deceptive practices,it is acceptable for competitors to do so also.

Question 30

Under social contract theory,each person is presumed to have entered into a social contract with all others in society to obey moral rules that are necessary for people to live in peace and harmony.

Question 31

The universal rules of Kantian ethics are based on two (2)important principles: 1)variability; and 2)irreversibility.

Question 32

Immanuel Kant's philosophy is based on the premise that people can use reasoning to reach ethical decisions.

Question 33

The implied contract of social contract theory states "I will keep the rules if everyone else does."

Question 34

Under the social contract theory of societal justice,members of society are obligated to obey the moral rules of society regardless of whether others obey those rules.

Question 35

According to Kantian ethics,keeping a promise to abide by a contract is a moral duty,unless the contract turns out to be detrimental to the obligated party.

Question 36

Under Rawl's social justice theory,fairness is considered a secondary benefit of justice.

Question 37

A criticism of Kantian ethics is that it is easy to reach consensus as to what the universal rules should be.

Question 38

The universal duties under Kantian ethics were agreed upon,with some modification,shortly after being proposed by Kant.

Question 39

A company is trying to determine whether it should close an unprofitable plant located in a small community.Utilitarianism would require that the benefits to shareholders from closing the plaint be compared with the benefits to employees,their families,and others in the community in keeping it open.

Question 40

Duty ethics is also known as Kantian ethics.

Question 41

Under the maximizing profits theory of the social responsibility of business,a business should never voluntarily reduce its prices.

Question 42

Under Rawls's social justice theory,each individual has the same responsibility to use his or her own efforts to realize his or her own potential without consideration for the least advantaged in society.

Question 43

Ethical relativism allows an individual to evaluate the ethics of his actions based on his own feelings about what is ethical.

Question 44

Under the moral minimum theory of the social responsibility of business,businesses are presumed to operate in order to generate profits and thus have minimal moral obligations.

Question 45

Ethical relativism holds that individuals must decide what is ethical based on their own feelings about what is right and wrong.

Question 46

Someone that follows the principle: "Get rich or die trying" is adhering to the categorical imperative.

Question 47

"I will keep the rule if you do" is an underlying concept in Rawls concept of ethics.

Question 48

Maximizing profits is a traditional theory of business responsibility saying that profits should be maximized for the benefit of officers and employees.

Question 49

According to the theory of ethical relativism,if a person meets his or her own moral standards in making a decision,no one can criticize him or her for it.

Question 50

Few philosophers advocate ethical relativism as an acceptable moral theory.

Question 51

Under the maximizing profits theory of the social responsibility of business,it is improper for a business to undertake charitable acts for the benefit of society if doing so reduces profits.

Question 52

Under the moral minimum theory of the social responsibility of business,it is acceptable for a business to injure others so long as the business adequately compensates those who are injured.

Question 53

Milton Friedman was a strong critic of the theory of maximizing profits for shareholders.

Question 54

According to the moral minimum theory,a corporation that pollutes a body of water and then compensates those affected by the pollution has met its moral minimum duty of social responsibility.

Question 55

One reason for criticizing Rawl's theory of social justice is that the blind "original position" for choosing moral principles is impossible in the real world.

Question 56

According to the maximizing profits theory,the interests of constituencies such as employees,suppliers,and residents of the communities in which businesses are located are important to consider in determining the social responsibility of businesses.

Question 57

One reason for criticizing Rawl's theory of social justice is that many persons would choose not to maximize the benefit to the least advantaged persons in society.

Question 58

According to the theory of ethical relativism,there are universal ethical rules to guide a person's conduct.

Question 59

Ethical relativism has been criticized because action that is usually thought to be unethical would not be unethical if the perpetrator thought it was in fact ethical.

Question 60

The theory of basing ethical business conduct on stakeholder interest is widely accepted because it is usually possible for businesses to balance stakeholder interests so that each stakeholder is satisfied and protected.

Question 61

Which of the following is not one of the five major theories of ethics?

A) ethical fundamentalism
B) utilitarianism
C) ethical nihilism
D) Kantian ethics
E) Rawl's social justice theory

Question 62

Kantian ethics is also known as:

A) duty ethics.
B) utilitarian ethics.
C) ethical fundamentalism.
D) ethical relativism.
E) the social contract theory of morality.

Question 63

Utilitarianism can best be characterized by:

A) the consultation of an outside source, such as a book or person, for guidance.
B) the belief that the moral rules should be determined by persons who have a "veil of ignorance" about their place or station in society.
C) the belief that a person must decide what course of action is proper based on that person's own set of beliefs or feelings.
D) determining which course of action produces the greatest amount of good for society.
E) a set of universal rules based on reasoning which must be applied in all situations and are characterized by reversibility.

Question 64

Corporate citizenship theory contends that corporations owe a duty to promote the same social goals as individual members of society.

Question 65

Because they are not shareholders or employees,students at a college or university would not be considered stakeholders in the school they are attending.

Question 66

The legislative and judicial branches of government have established laws that enforce the moral minimum of social responsibility on corporations.

Question 67

Under ethical ________,a person looks to a(n)________ source for ethical rules or commands.

A) fundamentalism; inside
B) fundamentalism; outside
C) fundamentalism; religious
D) absolutism; inside
E) absolutism; outside

Question 68

Which of the following statements is true regarding the relationship of law and ethics?

A) The legal requirements will almost always be the same as the ethical requirements, because the law is based on the ethical standards.
B) In some cases ethics will require a higher standard of conduct than the law, but never vice versa.
C) In some cases the law will require a higher standard of conduct than ethics, but never vice versa.
D) Depending on the circumstances, the law can require a higher, lower, or the same standard of conduct as ethics demands.
E) There is substantial disagreement about legal standards of conduct, but not about ethical standards of conduct.

Question 69

Prior to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,companies with established codes of ethics often did not include senior financial officers under the code.

Question 70

The moral theory of ethical fundamentalism can best be characterized by:

A) the consultation of an outside source, such as a book or a person, for ethical guidance.
B) the belief that the moral rules should be determined by persons who have a "veil of ignorance" about their place or station in society.
C) the belief that a person must decide what course of action is proper based on that person's own set of beliefs or feelings.
D) determining which course of action produces the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.
E) a set of universal rules based on reasoning which must be applied in all situations and is characterized by reversibility.

Question 71

According to ________,if an action would increase the good of twenty-five people by one unit each and an alternative action would increase the good of one person by twenty-six units,the latter action should be taken

A) ethical relativism
B) ethical absolutism
C) ethical fundamentalism
D) utilitarianism
E) Kantian ethics

Question 72

Someone who believes that moral decisions should be made such that the greatest amount of good in total results from his or her actions believes in which moral theory?

A) ethical relativism
B) utilitarianism
C) ethical fundamentalism
D) Kantian ethics.
E) Rawls's distributive justice theory

Question 73

A major criticism of corporate citizenship theory is that the duty of a corporation to do good cannot be expanded beyond certain limits.

Question 74

Which of the following is not one of the five major theories of ethics?

A) ethical absolutism
B) ethical relativism
C) ethical fundamentalism
D) utilitarianism
E) Kantian ethics

Question 75

Which course of action would utilitarianism require be taken?

A) the one that provides at least some good to the greatest number of people
B) the one that provides the greatest overall good to society, even if the benefit of that alternative flows to only one person
C) the one that harms the smallest number of individuals
D) the one that places the greatest number of people in a better position than they were in previously
E) the one that reduces risk-taking

Question 76

Under the corporate citizenship theory of the social responsibility of business,a business has multiple obligations,but these obligations are only to those who have some direct interest or connection with the business.

Question 77

A criticism of utilitarianism is that:

A) moral and ethical rules are too rigid and fixed over time.
B) some persons would take actions that they believe to be moral, but which most persons in society believe to be immoral.
C) decisions require the measurement of qualities that are not subject to precise measurements.
D) decisions are not allowed to take into account an individual's station or place in society.
E) the legal standard of behavior often exceeds the ethical standard of behavior established by utilitarianism.

Question 78

Under the stakeholder interest theory of the social responsibility of business,a business has obligations to both shareholders and employees,but not to others.

Question 79

When a business makes a promise of performance that it knows the law will not enforce:

A) the business has violated ethics by making the promise knowing that it is unenforceable.
B) the promise will be enforced if it can be shown that it would be unethical to not do so.
C) the promise will not be enforced, but the business will be liable for the ethical violation.
D) a court will generally not enforce the promise, even if the court recognizes that the business made an ethical violation by not keeping the promise.
E) The promise will be enforced and the business will be legally liable for the ethical violation.

Question 80

Social audits have recently become mandatory for publicly-traded corporations.