Ch 6 test

• Ethical decision-making process


  Recognizing that an ethical issue exists
• Spheres of influence


  • Workplace
  • Family
  • Religion
  • Legal system
  • Community
  • Profession
• Ethical issue intensity


  The relevance or importance of an ethical event or decision in the eyes of the individual, work group, and/or organization
• More than a third of the unethical situations that lower- and middle-level managers face come from internal pressures and ambiguity surrounding internal organizational rules
• Opportunity


  The absence of punishment provides opportunity
• The existence of good personal values or morals decreases unethical practices and increases positive work behavior
• Obedience to authority


  Subordinates simply follow the directives of a superior without question
• Organizational or social forces can alter an individual's intent to do the right thing
• Normative approaches


  Focus on how organizational decision makers should approach an issue
• Corporate culture


  A set of values, norms, and artifacts, including ways of solving problems shared by members of an organization
• External rewards


  What an individual expects to receive from others in the social environment in terms of overt social approval, status, and esteem
• An organization is more likely to develop a high integrity corporate culture when it is built on informal relationships
• Obedience to authority


  Following the ethical directives of a superior
• Significant others


  Those who have influence in a work group and provide advice and information in both formal and informal ways
• Significant others will have more impact on a worker's decisions on a daily basis than any other factor
• Opportunity


  External and internal rewards relate to opportunity
• Justice principles are beliefs that everyone can accept, according to philosopher John Rawls
• Guilt


  The first sign that an unethical decision has occurred
• External locus of control


  Belief that events in one's life are uncontrollable
• Individual factor


  Nationality affects business ethics
• Corporate culture


  Involves values and norms that prescribe a wide range of behavior for organizational members
• An ethical corporate culture needs shared values and proper oversight to monitor the complex ethical decisions being made by employees
• Significant others


  • Peers
  • Managers
  • Coworkers
  • Subordinates
• Research on the relationship between nationality and ethical decision-making ability is hard to interpret in a business context because of cultural differences
• Internal locus of control


  Belief that one controls the events in their life by their own effort and skill
• Justifications to reduce and eliminate guilt when beginning the value shift that leads to unethical decisions

  • I need a paycheck and can't afford to quit right now
  • Those around me are doing it so why shouldn't I?
  • If I don't do this, I might not be able to get a good reference from my boss when I leave
  • If I don't do this, I might never be promoted
• Ethical awareness


  The ability to perceive whether a situation or decision has an ethical dimension
• Opportunity


  Internal locus of control
• ANSWER: e
• REFERENCES: 6-1 A Framework for Ethical Decision Making in Business
• Justifications to reduce and eliminate guilt

  • I need a paycheck and can't afford to quit right now
  • Those around me are doing it so why shouldn't I
  • If I don't do this, I might not be able to get a good reference from my boss when I leave
  • If I don't do this, I might never be promoted
• ANSWER: a, b, c, d
• Ethical issue intensity


  Ability to perceive whether a situation or decision has an ethical dimension
• Moral intensity


  Individuals' perceptions of social pressure and the harm they believe their decisions will have on others
• Ethical decision-making process in business


  • Individual factors
  • Opportunity
  • Ethical issue intensity
  • Organizational factors
• Ethical culture


  Reflects the integrity of decisions made and is a function of many factors, including corporate policies, top management's leadership on ethical issues, the influence of coworkers, and the opportunity for unethical behavior
• Organizational factors


  • Employees approach ethical issues on the basis of what they learned from others in the organization
  • An alignment between a person's own values and the values of the organization help create positive organizational outcomes
  • Congruence in personal and organizational values is related to commitment, satisfaction, motivation, ethics, work stress, and anxiety
  • Just as a family guides an individual, specific industries give behavioral cues to firms
• Immediate job context


  The motivational "carrots and sticks" superiors use to influence employee behavior
• Institutions provide a foundation for normative values
• Descriptive approaches


  How organizational decision makers actually approach ethical issues