Deck 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Obligations

Question 1

Which of the four moral standards discussed in Chapter 2 concerns obligations-things owed to someone or to which someone is entitled?

A) rights
B) justice
C) utility
D) care

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What is the challenge in trying to apply the four moral standards from ethicist Manuel G. Velasquez described in Chapter 2?

A) The four standards cannot be applied in a systematic way.
B) Sometimes one standard conflicts with another standard.
C) The standards are imprecise.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of these is most likely to help a company's employees act ethically?

A) a statement, translated into relevant languages, affirming that the company supports ethical behavior
B) a code of conduct that encourages employees to be loyal
C) a code of conduct that encourages ethical behavior but avoids listing penalties that might worry employees
D) a corporate culture that supports and rewards ethical behavior from the top of the organization downward

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In one state, West County and East County share a border. The state capital is in East County. Many residents of West County (almost half of all adults in the county) commute to East County for work. East County has high levels of air pollution, and residents there must get their car exhaust systems tested every two years. Although West County has less air pollution than East, the pollution levels in West are rising. The state's Department of Environmental Regulation orders that residents of West County must now get their car exhaust systems tested every two years as well. What moral standard best explains this decision by the Department of Environmental Regulation?

A) care
B) utility
C) rights
D) clarity

Question 5

what do court rulings in lawsuits about consumer products tend to reinforce?

A) Consumers must sometimes choose between safe products and effective products.
B) Consumers have a right to expect that companies will consider utility when creating products.
C) Consumers have access to a lot of information, so consumers must be expected to choose the safest, best products.
D) Companies know more about their products than consumers do, so companies have a responsibility to make products that are safe and effective.

Question 6

Chapter 2 encourages writers to avoid misleading readers. Which of these might mislead a reader?

A) a statement using a euphemism
B) a statement demonstrating the principle of the moral minimum
C) a statement that reproduces material under the fair-use concept
D) a statement with a visual image to reinforce its meaning

Question 7

what is a problem with using someone else's material under the fair-use concept?

A) Citations can become lengthy and difficult to manage.
B) Creative Commons stipulations do not apply to fair use.
C) Fair use is a general concept and not a strict set of rules you can follow with absolute certainty.
D) Fair use applies to written works but not to visual images or music.

Question 8

which of these topics is NOT likely to be covered in a typical company's code of conduct?

A) avoiding conflicts of interest
B) avoiding discrimination
C) protecting employees from consequences of their behavior
D) protecting the company's intellectual property

Question 9

When your state's revenues for the year are 40 percent below estimates, the state legislature cuts education funds by 40 percent but reduces farmers' subsidies by only 20 percent. Which moral standard does this action violate?

A) care
B) utility
C) justice
D) rights

Question 10

Chapter 2 identifies an employee's obligations to the employer. Which two of those obligations have the most to do with people outside of the company or organization?

A) competence
B) confidentiality
C) generosity
D) candor

Question 11

Your company, Acme Co., is sponsoring a three-hour field day for children at a local park, featuring games, sports, and snacks. Parents must sign up their children online. Your company wants to take pictures of children at the event, but it needs parents' permission. Which option below best describes an ethical way to get parents' permission?

A) At the bottom of the online form, place a checkbox on the online form that reads "I agree to the terms and conditions of the field day" and provide a link to a separate page of terms and conditions. Design the form so that this checkbox is already checked when the parent gets to that page.
B) Provide a link to a separate page of terms and conditions. Have the company lawyers write the terms and conditions in legal language and with citations of relevant laws in case another lawyer reads them.
C) Place a checkbox on the top of the online form, in emphasized type, that reads "I agree to allow Acme Co. to take pictures of my child or children to record and promote field-day activities." Design the form so that this checkbox is not checked when the parent gets to that page.
D) All options are equally ethical.

Question 12

Susan was assigned to analyze the process her company uses to write proposals. She worked on her report for more than a month. Stacy in the marketing department and John in the finance department gave Susan a lot of information and had several meetings with her. Susan placed an acknowledgments section in her report, where she thanked Stacy and John. What moral standard best explains Susan's decision to provide acknowledgments?

A) justice
B) rights
C) utility
D) care

Question 13

What is the main purpose behind copyright law?

A) to prevent plagiarism
B) to allow those who create intellectual property (such as stories, films, and music) to control how it is copied
C) to ensure that each copy of a document is right or correct
D) to ameliorate inadvertent misappropriation of content

Question 14

Chapter 2 identifies groups to whom employees have ethical obligations. Which of these obligations is NOT among those identified in the chapter?

A) obligations to law enforcement officials
B) obligations to the public
C) obligations to the environment
D) obligations to one's employer

Question 15

You are writing the second edition of a user manual to be included with software sold to the general public. You want to reuse a portion of the introductory materials from the first edition but cannot determine who wrote that section or what the contractual conditions were. You know that your company has customarily required that freelance writers sign work-made-for-hire agreements. What should you do?

A) Rewrite the introductory materials yourself.
B) State in a footnote that the excerpt was written under a work-made-for-hire agreement.
C) Register the work with the appropriate government agency.
D) Include a disclaimer when you insert the materials from the first edition.

Question 16

What is the difference between libel and slander?

A) Slander involves printed statements, while libel involves spoken statements (including in-person statements and recorded statements in audio or video).
B) Libel involves printed statements, while slander involves spoken statements (including in-person statements and recorded statements in audio or video).
C) Libel involves statements that are false, while slander involves statements that are unpleasant but true.
D) Libel is a concept applied only to professional relationships, while slander is a concept applied only to personal relationships.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a guideline for using social media ethically and legally, according to Chapter 2?

A) Keep your private social-media accounts separate from those at work.
B) Avoid revealing unauthorized news about your own company.
C) Work efficiently by repurposing pieces of content you wrote for other workplace documents.
D) Avoid false endorsements.

Question 18

ethicists such as Manuel G. Velasquez (2011) argue that whistle-blowing is justified if three conditions are satisfied. One condition is that there is strong evidence that the organization is doing something that is hurting or will hurt other parties. What are the other two conditions?

A) The employee has made a serious but unsuccessful attempt to resolve the problem through internal channels.
B) Whistle-blowing is reasonably certain to prevent or stop the wrongdoing.
C) The employee has suffered personal harm as a result of the wrongdoing, such as the loss of a promotion, a substantial decrease in salary, or physical injury.
D) The wrongdoing involves members of a minority group or affects individuals granted specific rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Question 19

The standard of utility is concerned with which of the following?

A) the relationships we have with other individuals
B) whether the positive and negative effects of an action or a policy will be distributed fairly among a group
C) the positive and negative effects that an action or a policy has, will have, or might have on others
D) the basic needs and welfare of individuals

Question 20

Which of the following statements about false endorsements is true?

A) The most common type of false endorsement involves an employee misrepresenting the benefits of his or her company's product.
B) Statements about what constitutes a false endorsement are often ambiguous and are best left to lawyers to interpret.
C) It is permissible to endorse a company product you have used without noting your relationship to the company.
D) The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is a resource for those who wish to learn more about what constitutes false advertising.

Question 21

Plagiarism is a legal issue and not an ethical issue.

Question 22

Under the concept of work made for hire, anything written on the job by an employee being paid by an organization remains the employee's intellectual property.

Question 23

The practice of trimming involves providing data on studies that have not been conducted.

Question 24

Chapter 2 states that plagiarism is an ethical issue, not a legal issue. Why isn't plagiarism a legal issue?

Question 25

Fair use is best described as a set of general guidelines on ways to use small parts of someone else's copyrighted material for purposes such as commentary, criticism, and research.

Question 26

The standard of utility is concerned with what?

Question 27

When exporting goods, U.S. companies can face ethical challenges that they do not face when selling goods in the United States.

Question 28

Whistle-blowing is defined as talking to your direct supervisor about an issue at your company that worries you.

Question 29

Chapter 2 states that you have five obligations to your employer. One obligation is honesty and candor. What are two of the other obligations?

Question 30

To be effective, a code of conduct must stipulate penalties.

Question 31

Only professionals with management responsibilities have ethical responsibilities to the environment.

Question 32

According to the principle of the moral minimum, it is permissible for companies to passively reinforce patterns of discrimination in product information if the audience to which the product is being sold practices that discrimination.

Question 33

using social media ethically entails avoiding false endorsements. What are three other guidelines for the ethical use of social media?

Question 34

what is the potential downside to whistle-blowing?

Question 35

Why is it a good idea to keep your private social-media accounts separate from your company-sponsored accounts?

Question 36

Chapter 2 describes the work-made-for-hire concept. If you sign a work-made-for-hire agreement to write an environmental-assessment report for XYZ Corporation, who owns that report?

Question 37

When you post messages to social media, you lose control over them.

Question 38

An effective code of conduct has three characteristics. One is that it protects the public rather than members of the organization or profession. What is one other characteristic of an effective code of conduct?

Question 39

What term is used to describe the act of publishing a document you have already published elsewhere?

Question 40

How is the moral standard of rights different from the moral standard of care?