What is a code of ethics?

Correct answer: A formal statement of a company’s values concerning ethics and social issues.

Explanation

This question tests the fundamental definition of a 'code of ethics' as a tool for managing ethics in an organization.

Other questions

Question 1

What is the term for the code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviors of a person or group with respect to what is right or wrong?

Question 2

According to the three domains of human action described in the chapter, which domain has no specific laws but has standards of conduct based on shared principles and values?

Question 3

A Gallup poll mentioned in the chapter regarding the perception of business leaders found what percentage of respondents rated leaders' honesty and ethical standards as 'high' or 'very high'?

Question 4

According to a survey of Wall Street workers by the law firm Labaton Sucharow, what percentage of finance professionals indicated they would cheat to make 10 million dollars if they could get away with it?

Question 5

Which of the following is one of the four primary ways ethical managers behave, as detailed in Exhibit 5.2?

Question 6

The chapter highlights a significant increase in the ratio of CEO pay to the average worker's pay. In 1980, CEO pay was about 42 times that of the average worker. What was this ratio in 2012?

Question 7

What is an ethical dilemma?

Question 8

Which ethical decision-making approach holds that the moral choice is the one that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people?

Question 9

Which ethical framework asserts that human beings have fundamental rights and liberties, such as the right to privacy and free speech, that cannot be taken away by an individual's decision?

Question 10

Distributive justice, a concept within the justice approach to ethics, requires that:

Question 11

Which ethical decision-making framework sidesteps debates about what is right or wrong in a moral sense and instead bases decisions on prevailing standards of the profession and the larger society?

Question 12

At the preconventional level of personal moral development, what is the primary motivation for an individual's behavior?

Question 13

At which level of personal moral development do people learn to conform to the expectations of good behavior as defined by society, and at which the 'great majority of managers operate'?

Question 14

According to the chapter, what percentage of American adults reach the postconventional stage of moral development?

Question 15

Based on the research by Adam Grant at the Wharton School, what did he find to be the single biggest predictor of a team’s effectiveness?

Question 16

What is the formal definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR)?

Question 17

What is a stakeholder in an organization?

Question 18

What is the purpose of stakeholder mapping?

Question 19

A recent survey on the green movement found that what percentage of Americans think that businesses should implement environmentally friendly practices?

Question 20

What is sustainability in the context of corporate social responsibility?

Question 21

The triple bottom line, a way of measuring corporate success under a sustainability philosophy, refers to which three performance dimensions?

Question 22

According to the model for evaluating corporate social performance, total CSR can be divided into which four primary criteria?

Question 23

The profit-maximizing view of economic responsibility, advocated by Nobel economist Milton Friedman, argues that a corporation's sole mission is to:

Question 24

Which level of corporate social responsibility is purely voluntary and is guided by a company’s desire to make social contributions not mandated by economics, law, or ethics?

Question 25

The term for an organization that pursues a positive human impact, moral goodness, and unconditional society betterment for its own sake is known as:

Question 26

What is meant by the term 'ethical leadership'?

Question 28

What is the role of a chief ethics officer?

Question 29

What is whistle-blowing?

Question 30

In the context of the three domains of human action, a manager's choice of which of two well-qualified candidates to hire for an open position falls into which domain?

Question 31

One survey cited in the chapter found that more than 75 percent of people agree that corporate America's moral compass is 'pointing in the wrong direction'. What percentage said that executives rarely consider the public good?

Question 32

Which ethical approach contends that acts are moral when they promote the individual's best long-term interests, with the idea that if everyone pursues self-direction, the greater good is ultimately served?

Question 33

Which type of justice argues that individuals should be compensated for the cost of their injuries by the party responsible?

Question 34

Which groups are considered primary stakeholders, without whom the organization cannot survive?

Question 35

In the triple bottom line framework, the 'People' component looks at how socially responsible the organization is in terms of what?

Question 36

The 'Planet' aspect of the triple bottom line measures an organization's commitment to what?

Question 37

What is the first and most basic criterion of social responsibility in the four-part evaluation model?

Question 38

Behaviors that are not necessarily codified into law and may not serve a corporation's direct economic interests, but are based on principles of equity and fairness, fall under which category of corporate social responsibility?

Question 39

The individual who must make an ethical choice in an organization is known as the:

Question 40

Codes of ethics that define fundamental values and contain general language about company responsibilities and product quality are known as what type of statements?

Question 41

What is an ethics committee?

Question 42

When the justice approach to ethics requires that rules be clearly stated, and consistently and impartially enforced, it is referring to which type of justice?

Question 43

A study by Walker Research indicates that, with price and quality being equal, what proportion of customers would switch brands to do business with a company that is ethical and socially responsible?

Question 44

A survey cited in the chapter found that a whopping 94 percent of respondents say that executives make decisions based primarily on what motivation?

Question 45

Which normative approach to ethics is considered closest to the thinking underlying the domain of codified law because it assumes that justice is applied through rules and regulations?

Question 46

In the model of personal moral development, which leadership style is associated with the preconventional level?

Question 47

According to the model of moral development in Exhibit 5.3, what leadership style and employee behavior are characteristic of the conventional level?

Question 48

What type of leadership is associated with the postconventional, or principled, level of moral development?

Question 49

As a response to the potential problems of MBO, such as an overemphasis on 'meeting the goals', the chapter on planning (Chapter 7) introduces a new systematic approach that focuses attention on the methods and processes used to achieve goals. What is this approach called?

Question 50

Which of the following best describes the primary goal of stakeholder mapping as practiced by companies like Gap Inc.?