,File: Chapter 1, Introducing Straight Talk about Managing Business Ethics: Where we’re Going
and Why
True/False
1. The interest in business ethics is just a fad that has only recently been created by popular
scandals (i.e., Enron, WorldCom, etc.) reported in the news.
Ans: False
Response: See page 2.
Difficulty: Easy
2. Discarding the few “bad apples” will usually solve all of the ethical problems within an
organization.
Ans: False
Response: See page 14.
Difficulty: Easy
3. Good character is the main factor determining whether an individual acts ethically within an
organization.
Ans: False
Response: See page 16.
Difficulty: Moderate
4. Federal laws define what is ethical. Therefore, all unethical behavior is considered unlawful.
Ans: False
Response: See page 21. Some unethical behavior is not covered by law (for example, lying to a
manager about the reason for taking a sick day).
Difficulty: Difficult
5. Both characteristics of the environment and the individual contribute to unethical behavior.
1
,Ans: True
Response: See page 15.
Difficulty: Easy
6. When employees come to an organization, they have already developed into “good” or “bad”
apples. Therefore, there is little a manager can do to impact an employee’s ethical behavior.
Ans: False
Response: See page 14.
Difficulty: Moderate
7. According to the authors, most people are guided by a strict internal moral compass and will
not be swayed by organization factors.
Ans: False
Response: See page 15.
Difficulty: Moderate
8. By ignoring the topic of ethical behavior, an organization may actually be encouraging
unethical behavior through benign neglect.
Ans: True
Response: See page 19.
Difficulty: Easy
9. It is unethical for managers to “control” employees’ ethical behavior through direct
management and the organization’s formal and informal cultural systems.
Ans: False
Response: See page 19.
Difficulty: Difficult
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, 10. For individuals, values can be defined as “one’s core beliefs about what is important, what is
valued, and how one should behave across a wide variety of situations.”.
Ans: True
Response: See page 30.
Difficulty: Moderate
Multiple Choice
11. Which of these is Adam Smith’s first book?
a) Wealth of Nations
b) The Theory of Moral Sentiments
c) The Corporation
d) The Moral Dimension
Ans: b
Response: See page 3.
Difficulty: Moderate
12. The implosion of the financial markets in 2008 was largely the result of:
a) illegal behavior
b) the Federal government intervention
c) government regulation
d) unethical activities in that they ultimately produced great harm
Ans: d
Response: See page 4.
Difficulty: Moderate
13. According to the authors, all of these are factors that laid the groundwork for the disaster in
the United States in 2008 EXCEPT:
a) borrowing was expensive
b) real estate became the investment of choice
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and Why
True/False
1. The interest in business ethics is just a fad that has only recently been created by popular
scandals (i.e., Enron, WorldCom, etc.) reported in the news.
Ans: False
Response: See page 2.
Difficulty: Easy
2. Discarding the few “bad apples” will usually solve all of the ethical problems within an
organization.
Ans: False
Response: See page 14.
Difficulty: Easy
3. Good character is the main factor determining whether an individual acts ethically within an
organization.
Ans: False
Response: See page 16.
Difficulty: Moderate
4. Federal laws define what is ethical. Therefore, all unethical behavior is considered unlawful.
Ans: False
Response: See page 21. Some unethical behavior is not covered by law (for example, lying to a
manager about the reason for taking a sick day).
Difficulty: Difficult
5. Both characteristics of the environment and the individual contribute to unethical behavior.
1
,Ans: True
Response: See page 15.
Difficulty: Easy
6. When employees come to an organization, they have already developed into “good” or “bad”
apples. Therefore, there is little a manager can do to impact an employee’s ethical behavior.
Ans: False
Response: See page 14.
Difficulty: Moderate
7. According to the authors, most people are guided by a strict internal moral compass and will
not be swayed by organization factors.
Ans: False
Response: See page 15.
Difficulty: Moderate
8. By ignoring the topic of ethical behavior, an organization may actually be encouraging
unethical behavior through benign neglect.
Ans: True
Response: See page 19.
Difficulty: Easy
9. It is unethical for managers to “control” employees’ ethical behavior through direct
management and the organization’s formal and informal cultural systems.
Ans: False
Response: See page 19.
Difficulty: Difficult
2
, 10. For individuals, values can be defined as “one’s core beliefs about what is important, what is
valued, and how one should behave across a wide variety of situations.”.
Ans: True
Response: See page 30.
Difficulty: Moderate
Multiple Choice
11. Which of these is Adam Smith’s first book?
a) Wealth of Nations
b) The Theory of Moral Sentiments
c) The Corporation
d) The Moral Dimension
Ans: b
Response: See page 3.
Difficulty: Moderate
12. The implosion of the financial markets in 2008 was largely the result of:
a) illegal behavior
b) the Federal government intervention
c) government regulation
d) unethical activities in that they ultimately produced great harm
Ans: d
Response: See page 4.
Difficulty: Moderate
13. According to the authors, all of these are factors that laid the groundwork for the disaster in
the United States in 2008 EXCEPT:
a) borrowing was expensive
b) real estate became the investment of choice
3
