Chapters 5-8 Flashcards
integrity
one of the most important elements of virtue
refers to being whole, sounds, and in an unimpaired condition; implies a balanced organization
honesty
refers to truthfulness or trustworthiness
dishonesty
a lack or absence of integrity, incomplete disclosure, and an unwillingness to tell the truth
fairness
the quality of being just, equitable, and impartial
equality
refers to the fair and even distribution of benefits and resources
reciprocity
an interchange of giving and receiving in social relationships
optimization
the trade-off between equity (equality) and efficiency (maximum productivity)
three fundamental elements
equality
reciprocity
optimization
ethical ISSUE
a problem that requires you to choose among several actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong
ethical DILEMMA
a problems that requires you to choose among several actions that have negative outcomes
(no right choice, only less unethical)
commission lying
creating a perception or belief by words that intentionally deceives the receiver of the message
conflict of interest
when an individual must choose whether to advance their interests, those of the org, or those of another group
active bribery
when the person who promises or gives the bribe commits the offense
passive bribery
offense committed by the official who receives the bribe
facilitation payments
payments made to obtain or retain business or other improper advantages that do no constitute bribery payments for US companies in some situations
corporate intelligence
the collection and analysis of information on markets, technologies, customers, and competitors
equal employments opportunity commission (EEOC)
federal agency that protects against workplace discrimination
age discrimination in employment act
outlaws hiring practices that discriminate against people over 40 years old
affirmative action programs
involve efforts to recruit, hire, train, and promote qualified individuals from groups that have traditionally been discriminated against
sexual harassment
any repeated, unwanted behavior of a sexual nature perpetrated upon one individual by another
dual relationship
a personal, loving, or sexual relationship with someone with whom you share professional responsibilities
accounting fraud
inaccurate information in a corporation’s financial reports
marketing fraud
dishonestly creating, distributing, promoting, and pricing products
puffery
exaggerated advertising and boasting upon which no reasonable buyer would rely
implied falsity
a message that has a tendency to mislead, confuse, or deceive the public
consumer fraud
when consumers attempt to deceive businesses for their own gain
insider trading
the buying or selling of stocks by insiders who possess information that is not yet public
crisis management
the process of handling a high-impact event characterized by ambiguity and the need for swift action to access and respond to potential damage
ethical awareness
the ability to perceive whether a situation or decision has an ethical dimension
ethical issue intensity
the relevance or importance of an event or decision in the eyes of the individual
moral intensity
individuals’ perceptions of social pressure and the harm they believe their decisions will have on others
locus of control
individual differences in relation to a generalized belief about how one is affected by internal versus external events or reinforcements
external - life events are due to uncontrollable forces
internal - masters if their own destinies
ethical culture
acceptable behavior, defined by the company and industry
corporate culture
a set of values, norms, and artifacts, including solving problems that employees of the organization share
how managers decide to manager other employees
opportunity
the conditions in an organization that limit or permit ethical or unethical behavior
immediate job context
where individuals work, whom they work with, and the nature of the work
normative apporaches
how organizational decision makers should approach an issue
instrumental concern
focuses on positive outcomes, including firm profitability and benefits to society
institutional theory
theory that organizations operate according to taken-for-granted institutional norms and rules
veil of ignorance
a thought experiment that examined how individuals would formulate principles if they did not know what their future position in society would be
equality principle
states that each person has basic rights that are compatible to the basic liberties of others
difference principle
states that economic and social equities or inequalities should be arranged to provide the most benefit to the least-advantaged members of society
moral philosophy
the specific principles or values people use to decide what is right or wrong
economic freedom
a concept based on self-ownership, the right to choose, voluntary exchange, open markets, and clearly defined and enforced property rights
economic value orientation
associated with values by monetary means
according to this theory, if an act produces more economic value for its effort, then it should be accepted as ethical
idealism
a moral philosophy that places special value on ideas and ideals as products of the mind
realism
the view that an external world exists independent of our perceptions
monists
believe only one thing is intrinsically good
quantitative hedonists
those who believe more pleasure is better
hedonism
the idea that pleasure os the ultimate good, or the best moral end involves the greatest balance of pleasure over pain
qualitative hedonists
those who believe it is possible to get too much of a good thing
pluralists
often referred to as non-hedonists
take the opposite position that no one thing is intrinsically good
instrumentalists
reject the ideas that (1) ends can be separated from the means the produce them and (2) ends, purposes, or outcomes are intrinsically good
goodness theories
focus on the end result of actions and the goodness or happiness created by them
obligation theories
emphasize the means and motives by which actions are justified
egoism
defines right or acceptable behavior in terms of its consequences for the individual
consequentialism
teleological philosophies that assess the moral worth of a behavior by looking at its consequences
teleology
refers to moral philosophies in which an act is considered morally right or acceptable of it produces some desired result
utilitarianism
seeks the greatest good for the greatest number of people
rule utilitarians
argue that general rules should be followed to decide which action is best
act utilitarians
the rightness of each individual action mist be evaluated to determine whether it produces the greatest utility for the greatest number of people
deontology
refers to moral philosophies that focus on the rights of individuals and the intentions associated with a particular behavior rather than its consequences
rule deontologists
conformity to general moral principles based on logic determines ethicalness
act deontologists
hold that actions are the proper basis to judge morality or ethicalness
relativist perspective
definitions of ethical behavior are derived subjectively from the experiences of individuals and groups
acknowledges that people have many different views
descriptive relativism
relates to observations of other cultures
meta-ethical relativism
proposes that people naturally see situations from their own perspectives
normative relativism
the assumption that one person’s opinion is as good as another’s
virtue ethics
argues that ethical behavior involves not only adhering to conventional moral standards by also considering what a mature person with a “good” moral character would deem appropriate in a given situation
justice
fair treatment and due reward in accordance with ethical or legal standards
distributive justice
based on the evaluation of the outcomes or results of a business relationship
procedural justice
considered the processes and activities that produce a particular outcome
interactional justice
based on the relationships between organizational members, including the way employees and management teat one another
white-collar crime
crimes committed by nonviolent criminals
SOX 404
requires firms to adopt a set of values that forms a portion of the company’s culture
cultural audit
assessment of an organization’s values
apathetic culture
minimal concern for either people or performance
caring culture
high concern for people but minimal concern for performance issues
exacting culture
little concern for people but a high concern for performance
integrative culture
high concern for people and performance
the 4 organizational culture classifications
apathetic
caring
exacting
integrative
compliance culture
a legalistic approach to ethics
values-based ethics culture
relies on an explicit mission statement that defines the core values of the firm and how customers and employees should be treated
differential association
the idea that people learn ethical and unethical behavior while interacting with others who are part of their role-sets or belong to other intimate personal groups
whistle-blowing
exposing an employer’s wrongdoing to outsiders such as the media or gov’t regulatory agencies
Qui tam relator
an employee who provides information to the gov’t about a company’s wrongdoing under the Federal False Claims Act
centralized organization
decision-making authority is concentrated in the hands of top-level managers, and little authority is delegated to lower levels
decentralized organization
decision-making authority is delegated as far down the chain of command as possible
formal group
an assembly of individuals with an organized structure that is explicitly accepted by the group
informal group
two or more individuals with a common interest but without an explicit organizational structure
group norms
standards of behavior groups expect of their members
(helps define acceptable and unacceptable behavior)
