Deck 6: Strategic Approaches to Improving Ethical Behavior

Question 1

Transactional leadership

A) promotes workplace activities and behaviors through a shared vision and sense of mission.
B) creates employee satisfaction by negotiating for levels of performance or "bartering" for desired behaviors.
C) is practiced by middle managers who are striving to become top managers.
D) is least effective in firms with an emphasis on manufacturing and industrial products.
E) cannot be implemented for quickly changing ethical climates or for reacting to ethical problems or issues.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is not one of the elements of Texas Instruments' Ethics Quick Test?

A) Is the action legal?
B) Does it comply with our values?
C) If you do it, will you feel bad?
D) How will it look in the newspapers?
E) What will your coworkers think?

Answer 2

E

Question 3

____ expose an employer's wrongdoing to outsiders, such as the media or government regulatory agencies.

A) Private investigators
B) Whistleblowers
C) Secret shoppers
D) Malcontents
E) Fraud-finders

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following statements about codes of conduct is false?

A) They are formal statements of what an organization expects in the way of ethical behavior.
B) They guarantee an ethical business climate.
C) They help employees determine what behaviors are acceptable.
D) They provide rules and guidelines for employees to follow.
E) They should be specific enough to be reasonably capable of preventing misconduct.

Question 5

A behavioral simulation, or role play exercise, is a relatively new ethics training device that

A) requires the use of technology, including video and the computer.
B) has been found to be less effective than traditional lecture training methods.
C) can only be used in small organizations.
D) focuses on legal issues in the workplace and the skills that employees need to resolve legal concerns.
E) recreates the complexities of organizational relationships and aids the development of analytical skills for resolving ethical issues.

Question 6

Which of the following statements is true about codes of conduct?

A) Codes are mostly standardized throughout all industries.
B) Codes are informal ideals about organizational expectations.
C) Few organizations have written ethical guidelines.
D) Codes are designed to resolve every ethical dilemma a company may face.
E) Codes are formal statements describing organizational expectations.

Question 7

Five bases of power, including ____, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert power, can be used to motivate individuals either ethically or unethically in the workplace.

A) executive
B) peer
C) reward
D) formal
E) diverse

Question 8

According to the National Business Ethics Survey, ____ is a primary reason that employees do not report misconduct.

A) the fear of retaliation
B) a concern about safety regulations
C) having poor personal moral values
D) the absence of an ethics hotline
E) a lack of interest

Question 9

Toll-free hotlines that companies set up to give employees a place to report misconduct are associated with which aspect of ethics programs?

A) Continuously improving the program
B) Consistently enforcing standards, codes, and punishments
C) Communicating standards and procedures via ethics training programs
D) Establishing systems to monitor and enforce ethical standards
E) Establishing codes of conduct that are reasonably capable of detecting and preventing misconduct

Question 10

About half of the issues raised on ethics help or assistance hotlines relate to

A) advertising and marketing concerns.
B) accounting and financial misrepresentations.
C) improper quality standards.
D) human resource issues and complaints.
E) questions about top management's behavior.

Question 11

The implementation of an ethics program

A) is primarily directed at training top managers and developing compensation plans that will insure top managers are ethical.
B) translates a plan of action into operational terms and establishes a means by which organizational ethical performance will be monitored, controlled, and improved.
C) starts with training and ends with the development of a code of conduct.
D) will not be successful unless the chief executive officer (CEO) is using a transactional leadership approach.
E) will be the same from organization to organization, as there is little need to tailor any aspect of the program.

Question 12

Which of the following is not likely to be a benefit from an ethics training program?

A) To educate employees about the firm's ethical policies and expectations
B) To empower employees to ask tough questions and make ethical decisions
C) To ensure that employees' personal values are in line with those of the organization
D) To make employees aware of available resources
E) To demonstrate the importance the organization places on ethics

Question 13

Which of the following is not one of the keys to successful ethics training addressed in Chapter 6?

A) Give employees a means to address ethical issues.
B) Make employees aware that their actions can define the company's ethical posture.
C) Help employees understand the ambiguity inherent in ethical situations.
D) Eliminate the belief that unethical behavior is ever justified.
E) Provide specific evidence of punishment for an employee who committed an ethical infraction.

Question 14

In the "bad apple-bad barrel" analogy,

A) no one has the right to label some conduct as unethical.
B) "bad apples" refer to an unethical corporate culture.
C) the code of conduct is used to solve all ethical dilemmas faced in the workplace.
D) "bad apples" are people who will always do things in their own self-interest regardless of organizational standards of conduct.
E) a code of conduct is not taken seriously as a key component of an ethics program.

Question 15

One of the most effective methods of ethics training is

A) getting employees involved in resolving ethical dilemmas that relate to actual situations in the workplace.
B) providing a video of the ethics officer.
C) testing employees on the code of conduct.
D) discussing cognitive moral development.
E) providing a CD-ROM of material for employees to view on their own.

Question 16

Which of the following is not a typical activity for an ethics officer?

A) Coordinating the U.S. Sentencing Commission annual ethics audit
B) Assessing needs and risks of the ethics program
C) Developing, revising, and disseminating a code of ethics
D) Developing effective training programs
E) Monitoring and auditing ethical conduct

Question 17

____ leadership is best suited for higher levels of ethical commitment among employees and strong stakeholder support for an ethical climate.

A) Territorial
B) Transactional
C) Transcendental
D) Tactical
E) Transformational

Question 18

Communication is important in keeping a firm on its ethical course because

A) centralization may reduce the opportunity for unethical conduct.
B) top executives must enforce overall ethical standards within the organization.
C) the moral philosophies of employees are always consistent with the moral philosophies of top management.
D) employees must learn when unethical behavior is appropriate to maximize profits.
E) issues such as price collusion and bribery must be decided on a decentralized basis.

Question 19

Which of the following is not a recommended step for changing the ethical culture of an organization?

A) Avoid the perception of hidden agendas.
B) Implement communications and education strategies.
C) State your position, philosophy, or belief.
D) Avoid the use of informal systems to communicate expectations.
E) Reinforce the policy through measurements and rewards.

Question 20

Which of the following statements best reflects a strategic approach to creating and maintaining an ethical corporate culture?

A) "Our code of conduct is window-dressing."
B) "People are raised with strong personal values and should use them at work to resolve ethical conflict."
C) "A decentralized approach to decision making produces the most ethical corporate culture."
D) "Hiring and promoting good, ethical managers will automatically produce an ethical organization."
E) "Reducing unethical behavior is a business goal no different from increasing profits."

Question 21

Describe the role that annual performance evaluations can play in creating a strong ethical work climate.

Question 22

How can an organization develop an effective ethics program?

Question 23

Describe the differences between a compliance orientation and a values orientation to a company's control system.

Question 24

What are the key responsibilities of ethics officers? How would the employment background, personality, and reputation of an ethics officer affect his or her performance on the job?

Question 25

How does a training and communication plan assist in the implementation of an ethics program? What are some unique ways that organizations could train and communicate about ethics?

Question 26

Describe the importance of codes of conduct to organizations. What aspects of the Texas Instruments' code of ethics are most useful and effective?

Question 27

Imagine you have just taken a job as CEO of a firm with a recent history of ethical transgressions. What steps would you take to begin changing the ethical culture of the organization?

Question 28

Describe each group in the 10-40-40-10 model of Variation in Employee Conduct. What does the model indicate about managing the ethical culture of an organization?

Question 29

How can an employee hotline be used to advance a company's ethics policies?