Deck 10: Moral Choices Facing Employees

Question 1

Inside traders ordinarily defend their actions by claiming that they don't injure

A) the boss.
B) their family.
C) the President.
D) anyone.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

A) doesn't apply to countries where bribery is common.
B) is alleged by its critics to put American companies at a disadvantage.
C) carefully distinguishes bribery from extortion payments.
D) outlaws "grease payments".

Answer 2

B

Question 3

To resolve difficult moral dilemmas, the better we understand the exact ramifications of the alternatives-the more likely we are

A) to make a sound moral decision.
B) to drive the boss crazy.
C) to be a success.
D) to go to jail.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Some writers deny that employees have any obligation of loyalty to the company, because

A) companies are not the kind of things that are properly objects of loyalty.
B) you cannot trust anyone.
C) it's every man for himself.
D) companies just aren't the same any more.

Question 5

The Donald Wohlgemuth case shows that

A) trade secrets can be patented.
B) trade secrets often become an integral part of an employee's total job skills and capabilities.
C) employees need to divest themselves of any skill acquired while handling trade secrets.
D) "noncompete" or "nondisclosure" contracts are always legally valid.

Question 6

When an employee's interests are likely to interfere with the employee's ability to exercise proper judgment on behalf of the organization, what exists?

A) a golden opportunity
B) a conflict of interest
C) a balance of power
D) a disaster

Question 7

Based on guidelines of employer/employee relations, which statement is true?

A) company loyalty is an outmoded, illegitimate concept that employees today reject
B) the traditional law of agency obliges employees to act loyally and in good faith and to carry out lawful instructions
C) an employee's work contract is irrelevant to his or her moral obligations
D) no value is more important than loyalty, whether to a person or an organization

Question 8

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

A) makes it easier to fire whistle blowers.
B) reduces the law's protection of employees who disclose securities fraud.
C) makes it illegal for executives to retaliate against employees who report possible violations of federal law.
D) provides penalties for blowing the whistle illegitimately or maliciously.

Question 9

U.S. companies have a history of paying off foreign officials for business favors. Such acts were declared illegal by

A) the U.S. Customs department.
B) the Vice President.
C) the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977.
D) the United Nations.

Question 10

According to Professor Norman Bowie, which of the following factors is relevant to determining the morality of blowing the whistle?

A) the whistle blower's motive
B) whether internal channels have been exhausted
C) whether the whistle blowing has some chance of success
D) all of the above

Question 11

In discussing the case of the truck stop cashier who is asked to write up phony chits or receipts, the text argues that

A) there is nothing wrong with writing up the chits.
B) she should resign immediately.
C) she may be justified in "going along," at least temporarily.
D) morality never requires us to sacrifice our own interests.

Question 12

Conflicts of interest

A) have become less frequent today.
B) always involve personal financial gain.
C) are morally worrisome only when the employee acts to the detriment of the company.
D) occur when employees' private interests are substantial enough to potentially interfere with their job duties.

Question 13

A whistle-blower

A) doesn't have to be a past or present member of the organization.
B) doesn't have to report activity that is illegal, immoral, or harmful.
C) is any employer who spreads gossip.
D) far from being disloyal, may be acting in the best interest of the organization.

Question 14

Whistle-blowing involves exposing activities that are

A) sports related.
B) immoral or illegal.
C) too close to call.
D) boring and need some excitement.

Question 15

A "trade secret"

A) is legally equivalent to a patent or copyright.
B) need not be treated confidentially by the company in order to be protected.
C) can become part of an employee's technical knowledge, experience, and skill.
D) is a narrow, precise concept that the law defines in great detail.

Question 16

According to the Supreme Court,

A) there is nothing improper about an outsider's using information, as long as the information is not obtained from an insider who breaches a legal duty to the corporation's shareholders.
B) anyone buying/selling stock based on nonpublic information is guilty of inside trading.
C) insider trading violates the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution.
D) it should be left up to the company, not the government, to decide whether or not to prohibit insider trading.

Question 17

Shaw and Barry mention three arguments for legally protecting trade secrets. Which of these is one of them?

A) Trade secrets are the intellectual property of the employee who developed them.
B) Employees who disclose trade secrets
Violate the confidentiality owed to their employers
C) Trade secrets are patented.
D) Trade secrets are trademarked.

Question 18

In the 1997 case of U.S. v. Hagan, the Supreme Court found that Hagan

A) had been discriminated against because of whistle blowing.
B) was innocent of insider trading.
C) violated the FCPA despite never having gone overseas.
D) had misappropriated confidential information.

Question 19

In determining the morality of giving and receiving gifts in a business situation, which of the following factors is MOST relevant?

A) the purpose of the gift
B) the size of the business
C) amount of the cash
D) whether the company is privately held or publicly held

Question 20

Insider trading is

A) the buying or selling of stocks (or other financial securities) by business "insiders" on the basis of information that has not yet been made public and is likely to affect the price of the stock.
B) a corporate merger.
C) knowing when to make the best buy.
D) giving great advice on a deal.

Question 21

Conflicts of interest may exist when employees have financial investments

A) in suppliers, customers, or distributors with whom their organizations do business.
B) in sports teams.
C) and question the wisdom of the deal.
D) that lead to office romance.

Question 22

A conflict of interest arises when an employee has private interests that are substantial enough to potentially interfere with his or her job duties.

Question 23

The law precisely defines the concept of a trade secret, just as it does patents and copyrights.

Question 24

Experimental studies suggest that when informed that the advice they're receiving may be biased because of a conflict of interest,

A) those who disclose a conflict of interest rarely end up giving more biased advice than those who do not disclose
B) those who disclose a conflict of interest always end up giving more biased advice than those who do not disclose
C) People tend to fail to discount the advice as much as they should.
D) people tend to discount the advice as much as they should.

Question 25

Which act provides sweeping new legal protection for employees who report possible securities fraud, making it unlawful for companies to "discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any other manner discriminate against" them?

A) Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
B) Foreign Corruption Act
C) Economic Espionage Act
D) U.S. vs. O'Hagan

Question 26

Prudential reasons are reasons that refer to the interests of others and the demands of morality.

Question 27

All gifts are bribes.

Question 28

A bribe is remuneration for the performance of an act that's inconsistent with the work contract or the nature of the work one has been hired to perform.

Question 29

A kickback is a kind of bribe.

Question 30

According to Norman Bowie, whistle blowing can never be justified because it involves violating one's duties to the organization.

Question 31

By definition, whistle-blowing can only be done by a past or present member of the organization.

Question 32

As a general rule, if the contents of the work agreement that exists between the employee and the employer are legal and if the employee freely consents to them, then the employee is under an obligation to fulfill the terms of the agreement.

Question 33

Employees have no obligations to people with whom they have no business relations.

Question 34

An employee can have a conflict of interest even if he or she doesn't act to the detriment of the organization.

Question 35

Insider trading is the buying or selling of stocks by insiders on the basis of information attained by an "insider" that has not yet been made public and is likely to affect the price of the stock.

Question 36

The use of one's official position for what always raises moral concerns and questions?

A) power trips
B) egos
C) stepping stones to success
D) personal gain

Question 37

Whistle-blowers are only human beings, not saints, and they sometimes have their own

A) salary.
B) self-serving agenda.
C) bandwagon.
D) office.

Question 38

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) outlaws grease payments.

Question 39

The Supreme Court has rejected the idea that inside trading involves "misappropriating" confidential information.

Question 40

A common argument against the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is that it illegitimately imposes parochial American standards on foreign countries.

Question 41

According to one expert's definition, whistle blowing is conceptually restricted to reporting on activities that are harmful to third parties, violations of human rights, or contrary to the public purpose and legitimate goals of the organization.

Question 42

When does a conflict of interest arise?

Question 43

Justice Ginsberg and Arthur Levitt suggest that allowing insider trading could lead to a widespread perception that "the game is rigged."

Question 44

Employees have certain general duties to their employers, and because of the specific business, professional, or organizational responsibilities they have assumed, they may have other more precise role-based obligations.

Question 45

According to Norman Bowie, a discussion of whistle blowing in the 1990s parallels the discussion of civil disobedience in the 1960s.

Question 46

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 forbids companies to pay kickbacks in the United States, but permits them to pay kickbacks to companies outside the United States.

Question 47

Sometimes companies require employees to sign contracts restricting their ability to get a job with, or start, a competing company. Because they can conflict with freedom of employment, not all such "noncompete" or "nondisclosure" contracts are legally valid.

Question 48

According to Jennifer Moore the real reason insider trading should be prohibited is that it undermines the fiduciary relationship that is at the heart of business management.

Question 49

When faced with a moral decision, employees should follow the two-step procedure of identifying the relevant obligations, ideals, and effects; and then decide where the emphasis should lie among these considerations.

Question 50

Prudential reasons are those moral reasons that are separate from self-interest.

Question 51

What is insider trading?

Question 52

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act weakened legal protections for whistle blowers.