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Module 12 (Chapter 5) [SA]
Ethics and Social Responsibility
38
Business
Undergraduate 1
12/01/2015

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Term
Ethics are...
Definition
Standards of moral behaviour; that is, behaviour that is accepted by society as right versus wrong.
Term
Compliance-based ethics codes are...
Definition
Ethical standards that emphasize preventing unlawful behaviour by increasing control and by penalizing wrongdoers.
Term
Integrity-based ethics codes are...
Definition
Ethical standards that define the organization's guiding values, create an environment that support ethically sound behaviour, and stress a shared accountability among employees.
Term
Whistle-blowers are...
Definition
People who report illegal or unethical behaviour.
Term
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is...
Definition
A business's concern for the welfare of society as a whole.
Term
Corporate philanthropy is...
Definition
The dimension of social responsibility that includes charitable donations.
Term
Corporate social initiatives are...
Definition
The dimension of social responsibility that includes enhanced forms of corporate philanthropy in that they are more directly related to the company's competencies.
Term
Corporate responsibility is...
Definition
The dimension of social responsibility that includes everything from hiring minority workers to making safe products.
Term
Corporate policy is...
Definition
The dimension of social responsibility that refers to the position a firm takes on social and political issues.
Term
Insider trading is...
Definition
An unethical activity in which insiders use private company information to further their own fortunes or those of their family and friends.
Term
Social audit is...
Definition
A systematic evaluation of an organization's progress toward implementing programs that are socially responsible and responsive.
Term
Obeying laws
Definition
Ethics goes beyond...
Term
Ethics involves...
Definition
Abiding by the moral standards accepted by society
Term
How is legality different from ethics?
Definition
Ethics reflects people's proper relation with one another. Legality is more limiting; it refers only to laws written to protect people from fraud, theft, and violence.
Term
What influences our ethical decision making?
Definition
Ethical behaviour starts with you and me. We are influenced by our society and what it considers to be ethical, the behaviour of others (both socially and in a work setting), and by our own personal values and beliefs.
Term
How can we tell if our business decisions are ethical?
Definition
Our business decisions can be put through an ethics check by asking three questions:

1) Is it legal?
2) Is it balanced?
3) How will it make me feel?

Companies (and individuals) that develop strong ethics codes and use these three questions have a better chance than most of behaving ethically.
Term
Some managers think that ethics...
Definition
Is an individual issue and has nothing to do with management while others believe that ethics has everything to do with management.
Term
What is management's role in setting ethical standards?
Definition
Managers often set formal ethical standards, but more important are the messages they send through their actions.
Term
Written ethics codes do
Definition
Management's tolerance of intolerance of ethical misconduct influences employees more than...
Term
What's the difference between compliance-based and integrity-based ethics codes?
Definition
Compliance-based ethics codes are concerned with avoiding legal punishment whereas integrity-based ethics codes define the organization's guiding values, create an environment that supports ethically sound behaviour, and stress a shared accountability among employees.
Term
Merely being ethical
Definition
Corporate social responsibility goes beyond...
Term
Corporate social responsibility is...
Definition
The concern businesses have toward stake-holders
Term
Many stakeholders
Definition
Business has a responsibility to...
Term
What responsibility do businesses have to customers?
Definition
To satisfy them with goods and services of real value.
Term
What responsibility do businesses have to investors?
Definition
To make money for its investors. Implicit is that decisions are good not only for the economic bottom line but also for the social responsibility bottom line.
Term
What responsibility do businesses have to employees?
Definition
To create jobs, to maintain job security, and to see that hard work and talent are fairly rewarded. This should be accomplished within a safe work environment.
Term
What responsibility do businesses have to society?
Definition
To create new wealth, to promote social justice, and to contribute to making its own environment a better place.
Term
What responsibility do businesses have to the environment?
Definition
To minimize its negative impact on the environment.
Term
How are a company's social responsibility effects measured?
Definition
A corporate social audit measures an organization's progress toward social responsibility. Some people believe that the audit should sum the organization's positive actions and then subtract the negative effects of business to get its net social benefit.
Term
Several
Definition
How many dimensions of corporate social responsibility are there?
Term
Corporate philanthropy includes...
Definition
Charitable donations to non-profit groups
Term
Corporate responsibility includes...
Definition
Everything from hiring minority workers to making safe products
Term
Corporate policy refers to...
Definition
The position a firm takes on social and political issues
Term
What are the six steps that can improve business ethics?
Definition
1) Top management must adopt and support an explicit corporate code of conduct
2) Employees must understand that expectations for ethical behaviour begin at the top and that senior management expects all employees to act accordingly
3) Managers and others must be trained to consider the ethical implications of all business decisions
4) An ethics office must be set up and phone lines to the office should be established
5) Outiders such as suppliers, subcontractors, distributors, and customers must be told about the ethics program
6) The ethics code must be enforced
Term
A six-step process
Definition
Business ethics can be improved if companies follow...
Term
6) The ethics code must be enforced

In order for a company's ethics policy to be taken seriously, it must be enforced.
Definition
Which step is the most critical in the six-step process?
Term
Discuss the strategic approach.
Definition
The strategic approach requires that management's primary orientation be toward the economic interests of shareholders. This approach encourages managers to consider actions' effects on stakeholders other than owners, but ultimately others' interests are secondary. Often these interests are considered only when they would adversely affect profits if ignored.
Term
Discuss the pluralist approach.
Definition
The pluralist approach recognizes the special responsibility of management to optimize profits, but not at the expense of employees, suppliers, and members of the community. This approach recognize the moral responsibilities of management that apply to all human beings. The guiding philosophy for the twenty-first century will be some version of the pluralist approach.
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