Business Ethics Part 2

51. Which of the following was an employee complaint in the Enron case?

 

a. At the same time top executives were selling their stock, the same executives were encouraging employees to buy the stock.

 

b. During the period of the stock’s collapse, Enron employees were encouraged to sell their stocks.

 

c. While top executives were buying stock in the company, they were encouraging employees to sell their stocks.

 

d. Top management was encouraging employees to hold their stocks because they felt the stock would rebound.

 

 

52. Which of the following is a moral basis for disclosure of corporate information?

 

a. Each person has the right to know those actions of others that could benefit him.

 

b. Each person has the right to any information about a company he desires.

 

c. Each person has the right to enter a transaction fairly and thus is required to inform others of his intent.

 

d. Each person has the right to know those actions of others that will serious and adversely affect him.

 

 

53. Martha Stewart was charged with which of the following?

 

a. Making an insider trade

 

b. Lying in connection with making an alleged insider trade

 

c. Failing to disclose the financial position of her company

 

d. Obstructing justice by not providing proper documentation of workplace safety

 

 

54. In the Diamond Shamrock and Occidental Petroleum Corporation deal, which of the following best describes the actions of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken?

 

a. They shared inside information with intent to make a significant profit, but because of actions that neither foresaw, they lost money.

 

b. They shared inside information with the intent to make significant profit, but were found out and thus doomed the deal.

 

c. They traded inside information with intent to make significant profit, and, after the deal went through, both made substantial profits.

 

d. They traded insider information with intent to make significant profit, but decided that it was improper and so did not take advantage of the information.

 

 

55. At its height, the compensation of top executives at large companies was, on average, how much higher than the pay of the average worker?

 

a. 7 times greater

 

b. 20 times greater

 

c. Over 700 times greater

 

d. Over 300 times greater

 

 

56. What is the term that refers to compensation given the family of a CEO in the event that he dies in office?

 

a. The golden coffin

 

b. The golden parachute

 

c. The golden egg

 

d. The golden will

 

 

57. Until Ben Cohen retired as CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, the cap on executive pay was which of the following?

 

a. Twenty times that of the average worker

 

b. Seven times that of the lowest paid worker

 

c. Fourteen times that of the average worker

 

d. Fifty times that of the lowest paid worker

 

 

58. What is the first step in the assessment of safety?

 

a. Deciding how much safety is demanded with respect to a particular product or activity

 

b. Determining how much safety is attainable and how to attain it in a given endeavor

 

c. Ascertaining whether a particular instance of a product or activity comes up to standards of safety

d. Lowering the level of risk until it is found, by the ordinary person, to be acceptable

 

 

59. What is the second step in the assessment of safety?

 

a. Deciding how much safety is demanded with respect to a particular product or activity

 

b. Determining how much safety is attainable and how to attain it in a given endeavor

 

c. Ascertaining whether a particular instance of a product or activity comes up to standards of safety

 

d. Lowering the level of risk until it is found, by the ordinary person, to be acceptable

 

 

60. What is the third step in the assessment of safety?

 

a. Deciding how much safety is demanded with respect to a particular product or activity

 

b. Determining how much safety is attainable and how to attain it in a given endeavor

 

c. Ascertaining whether a particular instance of a product or activity comes up to standards of safety

 

d. Lowering the level of risk until it is found, by the ordinary person, to be acceptable

 

 

61. Which step in the assessment of safety is a technical question?

 

a. Deciding how much safety is demanded with respect to a particular product or activity

 

b. Determining how much safety is attainable and how to attain it in a given endeavor

 

c. Ascertaining whether a particular instance of a product or activity comes up to standards of safety

 

d. Deciding who will experience the risk

 

 

62. Which step in the assessment of safety involves a question of acceptable risk?

 

a. Deciding how much safety is demanded with respect to a particular product or activity

 

b. Determining how much safety is attainable and how to attain it in a given endeavor

 

c. Ascertaining whether a particular instance of a product or activity comes up to standards of safety

 

d. Deciding who will experience the risk

 

 

63. Which of the following is a problem with strict liability?

 

a. Manufacturers are given greater incentive to make their products safer.

 

b. The company is in the best position to fix a defect in its product.

 

c. A company has a “deep pocket,” and so is best able to accept the cost of harm.

 

d. No company can foresee all of the misuses of its product.

 

 

64. Which of the following is an example of preventing pollution at its source?

 

a. Reimbursing those harmed for the harm done

 

b. Disposing of the pollution in an appropriate way

 

c. Not allowing the pollution to develop

 

d. Properly creating a “paper trace” to track pollution

 

 

65. All of the following may result from whistle-blowing cases EXCEPT:

 

a. Most individuals are fired

 

b. Individuals are blackballed in the industry

 

c. Individuals may be shunted at promotion time

 

d. The possibility of promotion

 

 

66. Where does tradition with the corporate community tend to place the burden of justification in a whistle-blowing case?

 

a. On the whistle-blower’s co-workers who should support the whistle-blower

 

b. On the company as a whole

 

c. On the employee blowing the whistle

 

d. On the corporation’s senior management and corporate attorneys

 

 

67. Which of the following conditions is necessary for whistle-blowing to be morally permissible, but not morally obligatory?

 

a. The firm will do serious and considerable harm to employees or to the public.

 

b. The whistle-blower has documented evidence that would convince a reasonable, impartial observer that one’s view of the situation is correct, and that the company’s product poses a serious danger to the public.

 

c. The employee has good reason to believe that by going public, the necessary changes will be brought about.

 

d. The whistle-blower has reason to believe that he/she will be seen as failing to be loyal to the company.

 

 

68. Whistle-blowing is often thought to indicate the falsity of which common myth?

 

a. The Myth of Stakeholder Interest

 

b. The Myth of Amoral Business

 

c. The Myth of Moral Business

 

d. The Myth of Shareholder Interest

 

 

69. Which of the following conditions is necessary for whistle-blowing to be morally obligatory?

 

a. The employee has exhausted the internal procedures and possibilities within the firm, maybe even to the board of directors.

 

b. The employee has good reason to believe that by going public, the necessary changes will be brought about.

 

c. The firm will do serious and considerable harm to employees or to the public.

 

d. The employee has reported the serious threat to his/her immediate supervisor.

 

 

70. Which of the following describe “personal whistle-blowing”?

 

a. Morally permitted, but not morally required

 

b. Morally obligatory

 

c. Morally forbidden

 

d. Morally irrelevant

 

 

71. One might argue that attempts by the government to limit an individual’s of tobacco or alcohol is an example of which of the following?

 

a. Manipulation

 

b. Coercion

 

c. Fairness

 

d. Paternalism

 

 

72. Which are the only two developed nations that allow direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceutical drugs?

 

a. United States and Great Britain

 

b. United States and New Zealand

 

c. United States and Germany

 

d. United States and Canada

 

 

73. Which of the following is not a way in which a company undercuts the competition afforded by another unethically?

 

a. Pricing one’s product lower than one’s costs, thus making the competition operate at a loss.

 

b. Buying up competitor companies to eliminate competition.

 

c. Targeting products in one area to subsidize losses in another, thus driving out the competition.

 

d. By producing a better product and coming to dominate the field.

 

 

74. When, in the event of a civil emergency like a hurricane, merchants raise prices beyond what is considered a fair or reasonable price, the practice is called which of the following?

 

a. Price gouging

 

b. Price fixing

 

c. Price markups

 

d. Price jobbing

 

 

75. Which of the following is a way in which secret bidding tends to produce fairer bids?

 

a. If the process were open, a firm that could make a profit at a price considerably less than the competition might bid up the price to put pressure on that competitor.

 

b. If the competition were open, a firm might start out at a high bid to scare others off from bidding.

 

c. If the process were open, a firm that could make a profit at a price considerably less than the competition would make a bid only just enough less to win the contract.

 

d. If the competition were open, firms might get into a bidding war for the contract.

 

 

76. Which of the following is the argument offered against direct marketing in the form of junk mail?

 

a. It is a waste and misuse of paper, adding to the depletion of forests and overtaxing landfills.

 

b. It is an invasion of privacy.

 

c. It is time consuming and intrusive.

 

d. It is a significant inconvenience because of the considerable volume.

 

 

77. Which of the following is the argument offered against direct marketing in the form of spam?

 

a. It is a waste and misuse of paper, adding to the depletion of forests and overtaxing landfills.

 

b. It is an invasion of privacy.

 

c. It is time consuming and intrusive.

 

d. It is a significant inconvenience because of the considerable volume.

 

 

78. Which of the following is the argument offered against direct marketing in the form of direct phone solicitation?

 

a. It is a waste and misuse of paper, adding to the depletion of forests and overtaxing landfills.

 

b. It is time consuming and intrusive.

 

c. It is an invasion of privacy.

 

d. It is a significant inconvenience because of the considerable volume.

 

 

79. Which of the following is true about the rights and obligations of employers in the employment-at-will doctrine?

 

a. Employers are free to hire whomever they choose but must give just cause for firing them.

 

b. Employers must hire the best qualified person for the job and must give just cause for firing them.

 

c. Employers are free to hire whomever they choose and to fire them whenever they choose.

 

d. Employers must fire the best qualified person for the job but can fire them whenever they choose.

 

 

80. Which of the following is true about affirmative action?

 

a. Qualified women and minority members cannot be given preference on the basis of sex or race.

 

b. Affirmative action justifies hiring unqualified women or minority members in preference to men.

 

c. Preferential hiring is a mandatory way of making adequate progress toward achieving affirmative-action goals.

 

d. Qualified women and minority members can morally be given preference in order to achieve affirmative action goals.

 

 

81. Which of the following is not a criticism of the employment-at-will doctrine?

 

a. The relationship is not symmetrical because the employee can set the conditions of employment because it is his or her labor that is purchased.

 

b. The relationship is not symmetrical because ordinary workers must work to get the wherewithal to live, and so he is both forced to work and lives in fear of losing his job if he has no contract guaranteeing him a secure position.

 

c. The relationship is not symmetrical because ordinary workers are not free to set the conditions of employment they way the employer is free to set the conditions for the potential employee.

 

d. The relationship is not symmetrical because the employee cannot work for whatever company he or she chooses, but is limited by the openings available and by the choice or choices offered.

 

 

82. Workers have all of the following rights EXCEPT:

 

a. Vacations

 

b. Promotion

 

c. Rest periods

 

d. Workdays of reasonable length

 

 

83. Which of the following is a utilitarian argument against discrimination?

 

a. People are treated as members of class with a certain characteristic, not as persons. They are not ends in themselves, but because of that characteristic, they are denied equal treatment and respect.

 

b. Since the least advantaged in a society would be better off in a nondiscriminatory society than in one that discriminates, the rational person would see that nondiscrimination is morally preferable.

 

c. The dominant class has a desire to maintain its superiority and its class prerogatives.

 

d. Systematic discrimination produces a class of people who are arguably treated unjustly. Other groups in the society will also have cause to worry about whether they will be the next group to be discriminated against. On the whole, more harm than good is done.

 

 

84. Which of the following is a Kantian argument against discrimination?

 

a. Since the least advantaged in a society would be better off in a nondiscriminatory society than in one that discriminates, the rational person would see that nondiscrimination is morally preferable.

 

b. People are treated as members of class with a certain characteristic, not as persons. They are not ends in themselves, but because of that characteristic, they are denied equal treatment and respect.

 

c. The dominant class has a desire to maintain its superiority and its class prerogatives.

 

d. Systematic discrimination produces a class of people who are arguably treated unjustly. Other groups in the society will also have cause to worry about whether they will be the next group to be discriminated against. On the whole, more harm than good is done.

 

85. Which of the following is a Rawlsian argument against discrimination?

 

a. Since the least advantaged in a society would be better off in a nondiscriminatory society than in one that discriminates, the rational person would see that nondiscrimination is morally preferable.

 

b. People are treated as members of class with a certain characteristic, not as persons. They are not ends in themselves, but because of that characteristic, they are denied equal treatment and respect.

 

c. The dominant class has a desire to maintain its superiority and its class prerogatives.

 

d. Systematic discrimination produces a class of people who are arguably treated unjustly. Other groups in the society will also have cause to worry about whether they will be the next group to be discriminated against. On the whole, more harm than good is done.

 

86. Which of the following is an example of tangible property?

 

a. Land, buildings, and additions on the land

 

b. Money, stocks, bonds, financial securities

 

c. Expressions of ideas, inventions, discoveries

 

d. Some physical item that we can touch, though not usually land and buildings

 

 

87. Which of the following is an example of intangible property?

 

a. Land, buildings, and additions on the land

 

b. Money, stocks, bonds, financial securities

 

c. Expressions of ideas, inventions, discoveries

 

d. Some physical item that we can touch, though not usually land and buildings

 

 

88. Which of the following is an example of real property?

 

a. Land, buildings, and additions on the land

 

b. Money, stocks, bonds, financial securities

 

c. Expressions of ideas, inventions, discoveries

 

d. Some physical item that we can touch, though not usually land and buildings

 

 

89. Which of the following is an example of intellectual property?

 

a. Land, buildings, and additions on the land

 

b. Money, stocks, bonds, financial securities

 

c. Expressions of ideas, inventions, discoveries

 

d. Some physical item that we can touch, though not usually land and buildings

 

 

90. From an ethical perspective, which is the proper response with regards to the length of a copyright?

 

a. Ethics cannot provide a specific period.

 

b. The longer contemporary period is better than the shorter historical period.

 

c. The shorter historical period is better than the longer contemporary period.

 

d. Both the shorter historical period and the longer contemporary period are best for their time periods.

 

 

91. What can ethical reflection tell us about the proper length of a copyright period?

 

a. No particular length is justified.

 

b. The period should vary with the quality of the work.

 

c. Some length or other is justified and an indefinitely long period is too long.

 

d. Whatever legal definition of the period’s length is appropriate.

 

 

92. Which of the following is not covered by the doctrine of fair use?

 

a. Scholarly criticism and scholarship

 

b. Research

 

c. News reporting

 

d. Using copies instead of assigning a text

 

 

93. Which of the following is not an instance of privileged communication?

 

a. Patient-doctor confidentiality

 

b. Teacher-student confidentiality

 

c. Priest-penitent confidentiality

 

d. Lawyer-client confidentiality

 

 

94. Which of the following is an example of screening information that is provided for one purpose to see if new useful information can be derived about customers?

 

a. Data mining

 

b. Hacking

 

c. Cracking

 

d. Monitoring

 

 

95. To which of the following is email legally comparable?

 

a. Regular mail

 

b. Telephone use

 

c. Certified mail

 

d. None of these.

 

 

96. Accessing pornographic sites while at work can constitute sexual harassment for which of the following reasons?

 

a. It can be offensive to coworkers.

 

b. It can take too much time away from work activities.

 

c. It can produce a sexually hostile environment.

 

d. It can suggest a quid pro quo to coworkers.

 

 

97. Which of the following is true about the right to privacy with relation to the Internet?

 

a. The right to privacy is ethically covered, but not legally.

 

b. The right to privacy is legally covered, but not ethically.

 

c. The right to privacy is neither ethically nor legally covered.

 

d. The right to privacy is both legally and ethically covered.

 

 

98. The introduction of the computer into business raises new problems. Of which of those new problems is the use of viruses, worms, and spam?

 

a. Computer crime

 

b. Computers and corporate responsibility

 

c. Computers and privacy

 

d. The changing nature of work

 

99. The issue of the availability of personal information is a problem of which of the following?

 

a. Computer crime

 

b. Computers and corporate responsibility

 

c. Computers and privacy

 

d. The changing nature of work

 

 

100. Which of the following can be true or false and tends to obscure the issue and location of truth?

 

a. Facts

 

b. Information

 

c. Data

 

d. Mistakes