Deck 7: Ethics, Business Operations, and Rights

Question 1

It is illegal for an employer to look on MySpace in screening potential employees.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Your company's policy on company vehicles is that no family members may use them or ride in them.It would be unethical to use a company car to drive you and your spouse to a movie.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Deleted e-mail cannot be obtained during discovery when a company is in litigation.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

A supplier has just been awarded a large contract by your company.As an employee in purchasing, you were largely responsible for awarding that supplier the contract.The supplier's sales representative has just called and would like to take you to lunch to thank you for the support.Going to lunch with the sale representative does not present any ethical problems.

Question 5

E-mail can be obtained during discovery when a company is in litigation.

Question 6

Ms.Roehm was successful in her wrongful termination suit against Walmart.

Question 7

Employers are permitted to monitor employee e-mails and use of the Internet.

Question 8

Alice is a co-worker who is going through a divorce and has two small children.Alice's husband is not paying the child support the temporary court order requires.As a result, Alice is broke until she can get her court hearing.Alice has been able, through diverting checks returned to the company, to take about $2200 from the company to "temporarily help her cover her bills," as she has explained to you.You must report Alice's embezzlement.

Question 9

Accepting gifts from suppliers and vendors is not a problem so long as no bid decisions are pending.

Question 10

Your supervisor has had a calendar with pictures of naked women on the inside panel of his desk for several months.A secretary spotted the calendar and commented to your supervisor that it was not appropriate for an office.Your supervisor took down the calendar and has asked you to back him up if any complaints are filed.He has asked you to say that you never saw the calendar.It would not be unethical for you to do as your supervisor requests because he has removed the calendar.

Question 11

You are a building inspector for the county.A friend of yours is a plumbing contractor.Under county regulations, all steps in plumbing construction from the initial dig to the final installation of sink and bathroom fixtures requires an inspection sign-off.Your plumbing contractor friend has just called and wants to take you to dinner for your birthday at a five-star restaurant.Because you are friends anyway, the dinner presents no ethical problems.

Question 12

Walmart still retained the ad agency Ms.Roehm had selected for Walmart before her termination.

Question 13

Your supervisor has told you that he wants to "get rid of Jane."Jane is a Hispanic female co-worker who is very bright and capable and hardworking.Your supervisor has asked you to document everything Jane does and says that will help build a case for termination.You should do as your supervisor tells you.

Question 14

Attending a class on company time would be unethical.

Question 15

Alice is a secretary in your department.Alice is also a member of the American Guild of Organists.Alice has been placed in charge of the Guild's national convention.Each time you pass by Alice's desk or go to her to have some work done, you notice she is on the phone discussing or working on the convention.Alice's work on the convention during work hours is an ethical violation.

Question 16

You work for a school district as a facilities coordinator.You drive to the various schools in the district and supervise construction and remodeling and assess various building needs.When you are traveling around to the various schools, you use a district vehicle that is clearly marked as such.One day you stop at the country club and have lunch before heading to the next school since the country club is on the way.You also stop at the bank drive-thru teller to do some personal banking business.Both the lunch and the bank stop are ethical breaches.

Question 17

With respect to #9, using your work computer and paper to complete the case analyses would be unethical.

Question 18

You are taking a graduate level course in management that will help you in performing your duties at work.Each week you must submit case analyses to your professor.Using work time to complete the analyses would be unethical.

Question 19

Voice mail messages on employee phones can be monitored by employers.

Question 20

Your company has several outdated computers sitting in a storage closet that no one is using.You have taken one home and set it up for personal use.This is unethical conduct.

Question 21

It is an ethical violation to disclose personnel information about your co-workers even to your family.

Question 22

You need not disclose in your employment application those positions you held which will not result in good feedback about you if your supervisors there are contacted.

Question 23

Employers should try to control the sexually suggestive content of worker e-mails.

Question 24

A purchasing agent for a company could accept a Rolex from a supplier so long as there is no bid pending.

Question 25

One benefit of diversity is a better ability to understand customers.

Question 26

Violation of company rules is not considered an ethical violation.

Question 27

Employer hiring practices must be balanced with prospective employees' rights to privacy.

Question 28

Employee hotlines exist to help employees who feel they cannot communicate concerns through the lines of authority.

Question 29

When there is a developing safety issue in the workplace, it is best for an employer to just wait and see how much harm can result before taking precautions.

Question 30

Using things of minimal value that belong to your employer for personal reasons (such as paper, paper clips, pens) is not an ethical violation.

Question 31

Whistleblowers have both internal and external avenues for dealing with issues.

Question 32

Some employee screening devices are not as valid as others.

Question 33

It is not your responsibility to report a co-worker who leaves the office early each day without taking time off.

Question 34

Whistleblowers who turn to external avenues for dealing with issues are unethical.

Question 35

Employers cannot monitor employee e-mails.

Question 36

The failure to disclose a current employee's conduct that resulted in dismissal and harm to a prospective employer is a breach of ethics.

Question 37

A journalist who fails to disclose his or her financial interest in the subject of a story he or she is covering has a conflict of interest.

Question 38

Employer e-mail systems have been ruled as employer property in which employees have no rights of privacy.

Question 39

The safest and simplest conflict of interest policy for purchasing agents is to accept nothing from suppliers.

Question 40

If whistleblowers do not have internal avenues for dealing with issues, they will quit or turn to external avenues.

Question 41

Freedom from physical abuse is a basic fair employment practice.

Question 42

The federal government affected the entire oil industry with a temporary moratorium on offshore drilling following BP's Deepwater Horizon spill.

Question 43

Smart-pigging is used to detect weakness in deepwater oil wells.

Question 44

BP had no warnings about its pipeline problems in Prudhoe Bay.

Question 45

Confrontation is a key part of ethics.

Question 46

BP did not use a riskier design than the industry generally used on its Deepwater Horizon rig.

Question 47

Equal treatment and opportunity is generally a part of labor policies and principles.

Question 48

BP transferred employees who raised concerns about safety at its facilities.

Question 49

BP's focus on costs influenced its judgment and decisions on engineering issues.

Question 50

Confrontation is easy for most people.

Question 51

BP had unaddressed safety violations at the time of the Texas City Refinery explosion.

Question 52

A purchasing agent whose daughter works for a supplier has a conflict of interest.

Question 53

OSHA reportable injury figures are the same as injuries claimed under workers' compensation systems.

Question 54

BP traders squeezed the pipeline to affect oil prices.

Question 55

English-only policies in the workplace are not permitted by the EEOC.

Question 56

It is more ethical to remain silent about misdeeds.

Question 57

BP followed industry standards in its construction of Deepwater Horizon.

Question 58

BP had no way of knowing about the evolving issues at Deepwater Horizon.

Question 59

If an employee can return to work, there is not a lost work day even if the employee is on a stretcher.

Question 60

A purchasing agent who is an owner of 25% of the shares in a supplier does not have a conflict of interest.

Question 61

A member of the city council who is employed by a waste management firm would have a conflict of interest in voting on the city's award of a contract for the handling of the city's waste.

Question 62

A real estate agent who recommends a management firm to an apartment complex buyer without disclosing that the agent owns 50% of the firm has committed an ethical violation.

Question 63

A company can be relieved of its pension obligations in bankruptcy.

Question 64

The Prudhoe Bay and BP refinery problems had no effect on BP's stock price.

Question 65

Giving preferential treatment in contract bidding to the daughter of a member of the company board is not a conflict of interest.

Question 66

The American Medical Students Association has taken no position on perks from pharmas for docs.

Question 67

Ten years after the Valdez spill, scientists concluded there were no indications of continuing oiling effects.

Question 68

A physical fitness expert retained by a fitness magazine to evaluate walking shoes has a conflict of interest if she has an endorsement contract with one of the shoe companies that manufactures the shoes she will be evaluating.

Question 69

An agreement by an agent to accept a 10% commission from a seller who will sell goods to the agent's employer is ethical so long as the agent would have chosen that seller anyway.

Question 70

Commercial bribery is only a crime for the purchasing agent accepting the money.

Question 71

JC Penney missed signals on its buyer who was taking kickbacks.

Question 72

Physician referrals of patients to laboratories for work-ups when the physicians own all or part of the labs, but do not disclose such, is a conflict of interest.

Question 73

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 does not apply to all employers with pension plans.

Question 74

A physician conducting a study on a new prescription drug manufactured by a firm in which he is a 10% shareholder does not have a conflict of interest so long as his stock ownership is disclosed in his report on the drug.

Question 75

All damage cases from the Valdez spill are settled.

Question 76

Malden Mills employees continued to work for Malden and Feuerstein without any problems after Feuerstein paid them whilst the factory was being rebuilt.

Question 77

The American Medical Association has taken no position on doctors accepting perks from pharmaceutical companies.

Question 78

Pension accounting for ERISA differed from pension accounting for the SEC.

Question 79

A commercial broker who accepts fees from both the seller and the buyer of the business without disclosure to either has not committed an ethical violation if both parties are happy with the transaction.

Question 80

Malden Mills was able to emerge after the fire with a story of continuing success.