Deck 1: An Overview of Ethics

Question 1

Lawrence Kohlberg found that many factors stimulate a person's moral development, but one of the most crucial is monetary reward for good behavior.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Ethics defines one's personal beliefs about right and wrong.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Apple was the highest rated U.S.-based, publicly held IT company by Business Ethics magazine based on its performance between 2000 and 2007.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The risks associated with inappropriate behavior have decreased, both in their likelihood and in their potential negative impact.

Question 5

The Department of Justice has established sentencing guidelines that suggest stiffer penalties for convicted executives if their companies have ethics programs.

Question 6

Employees may suppress their tendency to act in a manner that seems ethical to them and instead act in a manner that will protect them against anticipated punishment.

Question 7

The goal of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was to renew investor's trust in corporate executives and their firm's financial reports following numerous financial scandals in the early 2000's.

Question 8

The stock price of Hewlett-Packard dropped dramatically as a result of a scandal involving the leaking of information about HP's long term strategy to the news media.

Question 9

A rapid increase in the appointment of corporate ethics officers typically follows the revelation of a major business scandal.

Question 10

Well over half of all organizations include ethical conduct as part of an employee's performance appraisal.

Question 11

Pretexting involves the use of false pretenses to gain access to the personal records of individuals.

Question 12

An organization's mission statement highlights its key ethical issues and identifies the overarching values and principles that are important to the organization and its decision making

Question 13

There is near universal opposition to the practice of illegally making copies of software or enabling others to access software to which they are not entitled.

Question 14

Multinational and global organizations must not present a consistent face to their shareholders, customers, and suppliers but instead must operate with a different value system in each country they do business in.

Question 15

A stakeholder is someone who stands to gain or lose, depending on how a situation is resolved.

Question 16

An individual who exhibits few vices and many virtues is said to be a person of high integrity.

Question 17

The United States Supreme Court has established that an employer cannot be held responsible for the acts of its employees if the employees act in a manner contrary to corporate policy and their employer's directions.

Question 18

The United States has one of the lowest software piracy rates in the world, along with Luxembourg and New Zealand.

Question 19

Companies that are viewed as harmful to their community may find that negative publicity reduces sales, impedes relationships with some business partners, and attracts unwanted government attention.

Question 20

Morality refers to social conventions about right and wrong that are so widely shared that they become the basis for an established consensus.

Question 21

The general public does not understand the critical importance of ethics as they apply to IT, as too much emphasis has been placed on technical issues.

Question 22

The development of a good problem statement is the most critical step in the decision-making process.

Question 23

The utilitarian approach to ethical decision making treats everyone the same and shows no favoritism or discrimination.

Question 24

Most of us have developed a decision-making process we use almost automatically, without thinking about the steps we go through.

Question 25

A set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior within a society is called ____.

A) laws
B) moral code
C) ethics
D) morals

Question 26

In the business world, important IT decisions are too often left to the technical experts; general business managers must assume greater responsibility for these decisions.

Question 27

Arthur Andersen, once a major international accounting firm, was indicted for obstruction of justice, lost its auditing license, and eventually closed its U.S. offices based on the actions of a few employees even though they were performing in a manner contrary to corporate policy and their employer's directions. This is an example of the principle called respondeat superior or ____.

A) "let the buyer beware."
B) "let the punishment match the crime."
C) "the die is cast"
D) "let the master answer."

Question 28

____ is a system of rules that tells us what we can and cannot do.

A) Laws
B) Ethics
C) Morals
D) Virtues

Question 29

Habits that incline people to do what is acceptable are called ____.

A) ethics
B) integrity
C) vices
D) virtues

Question 30

Problem stakeholders who stand to lose or gain from a situation should be kept out of the decision making process as they will simply introduce their personal biases.

Question 31

____ had one of the highest software piracy rates in 2007.

A) Armenia
B) United States
C) United Kingdom
D) New Zealand

Question 32

The virtue ethics approach to decision making states that you should choose the action or policy that has the best overall consequences for all people who are directly or indirectly affected.

Question 33

Each society forms a set of rules that establishes the boundaries of generally accepted behavior. These rules are often expressed in statements about how people should behave, and they fit together to form the ____ by which a society lives.

A) moral code
B) ethical code
C) virtues
D) laws

Question 34

If the desired results are not achieved upon implementation of the solution, one should return to the "identify alternatives" step of the decision making process and rework the decision.

Question 35

In 2007, ____ of all software in circulation worldwide was pirated.

A) less than 33%
B) around 38%
C) about 54%
D) over 63%

Question 36

____ describes standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group (nation, organization, profession) to which an individual belongs.

A) Morals
B) Laws
C) Virtues
D) ethics

Question 37

An individual's manager has very little impact on his/her ethical behavior.

Question 38

To the detriment of all concerned, the importance of ethics and human values have been over emphasized in the midst of many IT breakthroughs in recent years.

Question 39

____ hired private investigators to identify members of its board of directors who were responsible for leaking confidential company information to the press.

A) Oracle
B) IBM
C) Microsoft
D) Hewlett-Packard

Question 40

Someone who stands to gain or lose, depending on how a situation is resolved is called a(n) ____.

A) shareholder
B) business partner
C) stakeholder
D) philanthropist

Question 41

In a(n) ____, an organization reviews how well it is meeting its ethical and social responsibility goals, and communications its new goals for the upcoming year.

A) ethics review
B) performance report
C) social audit
D) morals assessment

Question 42

____ is a likely cause of employees feeling "No one will ever know the difference, and if they do, so what?"

A) Management setting and holding people accountable to meet "stretch" goals, quotas, and budgets
B) Management failing to provide a corporate code of ethics and operating principles to guide decisions
C) Management failing to act in an ethical manner and instead setting a poor example for others to follow
D) Management failing to hold people accountable for unethical actions

Question 43

One characteristic of an organization that has a successful ethics program is that ____.

A) employees are not prepared to handle situations that could lead to misconduct.
B) employees have a negative feeling about their company.
C) employees do not seek advice about ethical issues that arise.
D) employees are rewarded for ethical behavior.

Question 44

While nearly half of all employees surveyed saw some form of ethical misconduct in 2007, less than ____ of those employees reported the misconduct to management.

A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 60%

Question 45

A judge found ____ guilty of not providing timely on-site technical support that customers were entitled to and, as a result, lost its place as the world's largest computer manufacturer.

A) Hewlett-Packard
B) Dell
C) IBM
D) Apple

Question 46

An approach to ethical decision making that states you should choose the action or policy that has the best overall consequences for all people who are directly or indirectly affected is the ____ approach.

A) common good
B) fairness
C) utilitarian
D) virtue ethics

Question 47

Part of developing a good problem statement includes ____.

A) involving others, including stakeholders, in brainstorming
B) identifying and evaluating alternative solutions
C) providing leadership to overcome resistance to change
D) determining who is directly affected by the problem

Question 48

An approach to ethical decision making that is based on a vision of society as a community whose members work together to achieve a common set of values and goals is the ____ approach.

A) virtue ethics
B) utilitarian approach
C) fairness
D) common good

Question 49

The term morality refers to social conventions about ____________________ that are so widely shared that they become the basis for an established consensus.

Question 50

The practice of illegally making copies of software or enabling others to access software to which they are not entitled is called __________________.

Question 51

Ethical conduct criteria that could be used in an employee's performance evaluation includes ____.

A) the employee's overall contribution to moving the business ahead
B) successful completion of projects and tasks
C) operating effectively in a multicultural environment
D) maintenance of good customer relations

Question 52

In a for-profit organization, it is the primary objective of the ____ to oversee the organization's business activities and management for the benefit of shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and the community.

A) Chief Executive Officer
B) Chief Ethics Officer
C) Board of Directors
D) Chief Compliance Officer

Question 53

The step in the five-step decision-making process during which the decision maker(s) consider laws, guidelines, policies, and principles that might apply to the decision is the ____ step.

A) develop problem statement
B) implement decision
C) identify alternatives
D) evaluate and choose alternative

Question 54

Each society forms a set of rules that establishes the boundaries of generally accepted behavior. These rules are often expressed in statements about how people should behave, and they fit together to from the ____________________ by which a society lives.

Question 55

Companies that develop and maintain strong employee relations ____.

A) avoid costly product recalls
B) retain customers
C) suffer lower turnover rates
D) place a priority on working with companies that operate in an ethical manner

Question 56

The step of the five-step decision process during which those who will be affected by the decision are identified is the ____ step.

A) develop problem statement
B) evaluate result
C) identify alternatives
D) implement decision

Question 57

People develop habits that make it easier to choose between what society considers good or bad. ____________________ are habits of unacceptable behavior.

Question 58

Ethics must begin at the top of an organization. It is a leadership issue, and the ____________________ must set the example.
or

Question 59

The Department of Justice established sentencing guidelines that suggest more ____ treatment for convicted executives if their companies have ethics programs.

A) stringent
B) intense
C) lenient
D) fair

Question 60

A rapid increase in the appointment of corporate ethics officers typically follows ____.

A) the acquisition of one company by another.
B) the revelation of a major business scandal.
C) the appointment of a new CEO.
D) a substantial decrease in the stock price of the firm.

Question 61

In a 1909 ruling (United States v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Co.), the U.S. Supreme Court established that an employer can be held responsible for the acts of its employees even if the employees ____________________.

Question 62

Employees must have a ____________________ with whom they can discuss perceived unethical practices.

Question 63

The board of directors of an organization must create an environment in which employees feel they can seek ____________________ about appropriate business conduct, raise issues, and report misconduct through appropriate channels.

Question 64

____________________ acts conform with what an individual believes to be the right thing to do.

Question 65

____________________ states that annual reports must contain a statement signed by the CEO and CFO attesting that the information contained in all of the firm's Securities and Exchange Commission filings is accurate.

Question 66

Development of a ____________________ is the most crucial step in the decision-making process.

Question 67

The existence of a formal ethics training program can ____________________ a company's liability in the event of legal action.

Question 68

It is especially important for multinational or global organizations to present a ____________________ face to their shareholders, customers, and suppliers no matter where those stakeholders live or operate their business.

Question 69

A ____________________ provides an organization with vision and leadership in the area of business conduct.

Question 70

____________________ are one's personal beliefs about right and wrong.

Question 71

____________________ is the key to helping people accept change.

Question 72

Fines for criminal violations by the executives of organization can be lowered by up to 80 percent if an organization has implemented an ____________________ and cooperates with authorities.

Question 73

The ____________________ is an annual quality survey conducted by the University of Michigan.

Question 74

The ____________________ of the law profession demand that defense attorneys defend an accused client to the best of their ability, even if they know that the client is guilty of the most heinous and morally objectionable crime one could imagine.

Question 75

A person who acts with ____________________ acts in accordance with a personal code of principles.

Question 76

A ____________________ is a statement that highlights an organization's key ethical issues and identifies the overarching values and principles that are important to the organization and its decision making.

Question 77

A ____________________ is a clear, concise statement of the issue that needs to be addressed.

Question 78

In a(n) ____________________, an organization reviews how well it is meeting its ethical and social responsibility goals, and communicates its new goals for the upcoming year.

Question 79

During the problem definition process, you must be extremely careful that you do not make ____________________ about the situation.

Question 80

The ____________________ that socially responsible activities create can make it easier for corporations to conduct their business.
or