Exam 1 Flashcards
Who’s impacted by business decisions?
Shareholders Workers Customers Society Stakeholders The business
How many admitted to cheating on state tests in Arizona?
50%
How many admitted to changing answers in students tests or encouraging students to avoid a test altogether?
1%
Define business ethics …
The principles, values, and standards that guide behavior in the world of business
What are principles?
Specific and pervasive boundaries for behavior that are universal and absolute
Often become the basis for rules
Example: civil rights, freedom of speech
What are values?
Used to develop norms that are socially enforced
Examples: trust, integrity, accountability
How many employees reported observing at least 1 misconduct?
49%
How many reported a misconduct to management?
63%
What are the 5 stages of business ethics development?
Before 1960 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
What was President Harry S Truman’s Fair Deal program?
Defined such matters as civil rights and environmental responsibility as ethical issues that businesses had to address
Who outlined the consumer bill of rights?
1962 President John F Kennedy
What is the Consumer Bill of Rights?
The right to safety, to be informed, to choose, to be heard
What does the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act state?
Makes it illegal for US businesses to bribe government officials of other countries
Under who’s administration was the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act passed?
President Jimmy Carter
Who and when was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed?
By Congress in 2002
What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act all about?
Makes securities fraud a criminal offense
Stiffens penalties for corporate fraud
Created an accounting oversight board that requires corporations to establish codes of ethics for financial reporting and to develop greater transparency in financial reports to investors and other interest parties
Requires top executives to sign off on their firms’ financial reports risking fines and prison time
Requires executives to disclose stock sales immediately
Prohibits companies from giving loans to top managers
Define ethical culture …
The character of the decision-making process that employees use to determine whether their response to ethical issues are right or wrong
Component of corporate culture that captures the values and norms that an organization defines as appropriate conduct
Whats the goal of ethical culture?
Minimize the need for enforced compliance of rules and maximize the use of principles that contribute to ethical reasoning in difficult or new situations
What does ethical culture create?
Shared values and support for ethical decisions
Who promotes ethical decision making?
Top management
What does business ethics focus on?
Organizational concerns (legal and ethical - employees, customers, suppliers, society)