Business Ethics Exam 1 questions with verified solution 2023/2024

Business Ethics Exam 1Business Ethics - correct answer comprises organizational principles, values, and norms that may originate from individuals, organizational statements, or from the legal system that primarily guide individual and group behavior in business. The role that business ethics plays in an organization - correct answer Just being a good person and having sound personal values may not be sufficient to handle the ethical issues that arise in a business organization. Business strategy decisions involve complex and detailed discussions. Relationship between ethics and organizational success - correct answer It contributes to employee commitment, investor loyalty, customer satisfaction, and profits. Concerns include: a safe work environment competitive salaries and benefit packages fulfillment of contractual obligations Investor Confidence Companies perceived by their employees as having a high level of honesty and integrity are more profitable than companies with a low level of honesty and integrity. TIAA-CREF survey of investors found that 92% would invest in an ethical company rather than one promising higher returns. Ethical climates in organizations provide platform for: Efficiency Productivity Profitability (3-year total return to stock holders: Ethical companies = 101%; Unethical = 69%) Customer Satisfaction Consumers respond positively to socially concerned businesses. Being good can be extremely profitable. Customer satisfaction dictates business success. A strong organizational ethical climate often places the customer's interests first. Research shows a strong relationship between ethical behavior and customer satisfaction. Contributes to Profits Corporate concern for ethical conduct is increasingly being integrated with strategic planning to maximize profitability. Corporate citizenship is positively associated with: Return on investment and assets Sales Growth Verschoor (1998) studied 500 companies and found that those who commit to ethical behavior or emphasize ethical conduct have better financial performance Social responsibility and how it relates to ethics - correct answer an organization's obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and minimize its negative impact. Conferences were held to discuss the social responsibilities and ethical issues in government. Centers dealing with issues of business ethics were established. What is morality? - correct answer the effort to guides one's conduct by reason - that is to do what there are best reasons for doing - while giving equal weight to the interests of each individual who will be affected by one's conduct. Cultural Relativism - correct answer the concept that morality varies from one culture to another that "right" and "wrong" are defined differently. The customs of different societies are all that exist in ethics. Limitations: some actions are simply not acceptable If we buy into the assumption of Cultural Relativism that there is no measure of right or wrong other than what is found in the standards of individual societies there are serious consequences: We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior. We would have to stop condemning societies merely because they are "different" and not "wrong". Thus, we would have to stop criticizing less benign practices of some societies such as: slavery; anti-Semitism; or human rights violations. We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society. In 1975, most members of the South African society would have agreed that apartheid was morally right. Few of us think that our society's code of ethics is perfect and we can probably think of ways it could be improved. Yet Cultural Relativism would not only forbid us from criticizing the codes of other societies; it would stop us from criticizing our own. The idea of moral progress is called into doubt. In history, women could not vote, own property or hold public office. They were completely subject to the whims of their husbands. Likewise, at one point in