 Show Chapter 1 The U.S. Business Environment 1) Which environment is NOT an important dimension of a business organization's external environment? A) The political-legal environment B) The sociocultural environment C) The technological environment D) The corporate cultural environment E) The global business environment Answer: D Explanation: D) The external environment consists of everything outside an organization's boundaries that might affect it. The corporate cultural environment is internal to the organization. Difficulty: Easy AACSB: Application of knowledge Objective: 1.1: Define the nature of U.S. business, describe the external environments of business and discuss how these environments affect the success or failure of organizations. 2) What is profit? A) Total money taken in by a corporation B) Increases in income from year to year C) Increases in a corporation's stock price D) Revenue generated by goods and services E) Difference between revenues and expenses Answer: E Explanation: E) Profits represent the difference between an organization's revenues and its expenses and profits are the goal of most businesses and allow people to open and expand businesses. Difficulty: Moderate AACSB: Application of knowledge Objective: 1.1: Define the nature of U.S. business, describe the external environments of business and discuss how these environments affect the success or failure of organizations. 3) What is the environment where a firm conducts business known as? A) Global business environment B) Economic environment C) Domestic business environment D) Technological environment E) Political-legal environment Answer: C Explanation: C) The domestic business environment is where a firm conducts its operations. A firm positions themselves close to customers, suppliers, and similar type firms. Difficulty: Moderate AACSB: Application of knowledge Objective: 1.1: Define the nature of U.S. business, describe the external environments of Teaching Tips: Objective 2: Distinguish social responsibility from ethics, identify organizational stakeholders, and characterize social consciousness today. Objective 3: Show how the concept of social responsibility
applies both to environmental issues and to a firm’s relationships with customers, employees and investors. Answers should include one of the stakeholder groups noted above. Environmental issues could include things such as pollution, global warming, environmental advertising, etc. Teaching Tips Objective 5: Explain how issues of social responsibility and ethics affect small business. You will also understand the ethical and responsible actions of the businesses you deal with as a consumer and as an investor or other stakeholder. Teaching Tips: These include ethics, or beliefs about what is right and wrong or good or bad. In addition we need to examine ethical behavior, which is behavior conforming to individual beliefs and social norms about what’s right and good. What is unethical behavior? It is behavior confirming to individual beliefs and social norms about what is defined as wrong and bad. In order to succeed in business, we need to address the ethical or unethical behavior by employees in the context of their jobs. Teaching Tips: First, a person can develop personal values through their own childhood responses to adult behavior. An example could include seeing parents yell at each other or at their children whenever something goes wrong in the household, whenever the child does not do something the parent likes, etc. By doing this, the child internalizes that whenever anything bad happens, they should yell or scream at the other people in their lives. On the opposite side, if children see that whenever they make an honest mistake or make an error, their parents correct them and demonstrate the appropriate behavior and give them a hug, then in the future, these children probably would be more patient with others when they make mistakes, correct them in an even tone, and show empathy. People may also be influenced by their peers, whether they are other children, teenagers or adults. For example, in middle school, one of the teens in a group of friends gets some cigarettes. They go behind the school and start smoking, then offer the cigarettes (or yes, it could be weed!) to their friends. The friends think it is cool and so they try it too. They may continue the behavior because they think it makes them look better in front of their friends. Adults do the same thing. They may see their friends buying new cars, new furniture and other things, and adults think they need to buy the same type of things, even though they may not have the money. Instead of paying cash, they use credit cards, and end up with a huge credit card balance they cannot pay. Other experiences in adulthood can also impact an individual’s values or codes. For example, an adult may decide they love working for their employer, and offer to stay late and work harder, but then when it comes time for a promotion, they are overlooked by someone who may have offered favors or friendship to the boss. The hard worker may begin to think it is not worth it to work hard. Of course, all of the above develop morals and values in a person. These are the foundation for their behavior both personally and within the workplace. Their morals and values seem correct to the individual, and so employees may need special attention or training if they come from another culture, where, for example, it is OK to stand very close to other people, while in the U.S. culture, people like to have about 3 feet of personal space around them in a business setting. Teaching Tips: Using your example from our last exercise, please remain in your teams and write down the possible source or personal code of ethics that might cause the ethical or unethical business behaviors you shared with the class. Once you have discussed these, we will share them with the class. Answers will vary but will include religion, family upbringing, culture or subculture, social class and income levels, etc. Employees: For example, in a case in which an employee is constantly late for work, if a manager’s ethics include perfection in attendance, this could present an issue. The organization: For example, if the organization is very open and wants employee suggestions, this could cause discord for employees reporting to a manager who is not accustomed to this type of input. Other stakeholders or economic agents such as customers, competitors, stockholders, suppliers, dealers and unions: For example, a manager may have developed a certain communication style across his or her career, and may have a specific manner of dealing with such agents, or may hold them as equals or as outsiders. Ethical concerns that should be considered when addressing business
situations can include many issues. Let’s look at two examples: First, it is important to gather the relevant factual information. This could include the example of a customer requiring a billing prior to work being provided in a consulting situation. Second, we need to analyze the facts to determine the most appropriate moral values to apply. In our example of the prepayment for consulting fees, we find that the customer’s fiscal year is ending, they have budgeted the money for this year, and will lose it if the billing is not presented by your firm right now, and your firm will lose the opportunity for this work. And finally we will make an ethical judgment based on the rightness or wrongness of the proposed activity or policy. In our example, we could say it is wrong to accept money for work we have not yet performed. However, we can bill the customer in advance, noting this on the invoice. When the money is received, we can create an “escrow” account in our accounting system and place the funds there, like a pre-paid receivable, and as the work is performed per a plan we have submitted to the client, which the client has approved, we internally bill the work and send a client a report on hours worked against their prepayment for services. Teaching Tips: Utility: Utility answers the question, “Does a particular act optimize the benefits to those who are affected by it?” and the question, “Do all relevant parties receive ‘fair’ benefits?”. Rights: Rights answers the question, “Does the act respect the rights of all individuals involved?”. Justice: Justice answers the question, “Is the act consistent with what’s fair?”. Caring: Caring answers the question, “Is the act consistent with people’s responsibilities to each other?”. If we return to our example of the prepayment for consulting services by one of our customers, let’s apply these four ethical norms: Teaching Tips: Adopting written codes of conduct and establishing clear ethical positions for the conduct of business. These codes can include rules of conduct, for example not allowing employees to accept gifts from suppliers or customers. Having top management demonstrate its support of ethical standards. This can include having management be very public in its manner of following the rules established for employees, as in not accepting gifts, trips, event tickets, etc. Instituting programs to provide periodical ethics training. This can include providing media training for key managerial employees so if they are contacted by the media during a potential crisis or product recall situation, they will know exactly what to say. Establishing ethical hotlines for reporting and discussing unethical behavior and activities. This practice encourages employees to call in and report on or discuss unethical behavior or activities in an anonymous manner. Teaching Tips: Who are stakeholders? They include groups, individuals, and organizations that are directly affected by the practices of an organization and therefore have a stake in its performance. Teaching Tips: Customers: Businesses work to treat customers fairly and honestly. For example, car dealers are required to disclose financing deals to customers within their advertising. Employees: Businesses treat employees fairly, make them feel like they are part of the team, and respect their dignity and basic human needs. For example, a multinational corporation would commit to paying fair wages to employees in third-world developing countries and to not allowing children to work in sweat shops. Investors: Businesses follow proper accounting procedures, provide information to shareholders about financial performance and protect shareholder rights and investments. For example, a large publicly held consulting firm would report the prepayment for services by their customers as a pre-paid receivable asset in its accounting statement to shareholders. Suppliers: Businesses emphasize mutually beneficial partnership arrangements with suppliers. For example, Mercury SUVs promote the fact that they have Microsoft Sync technology in their vehicles. Microsoft is a supplier to Lincoln Mercury. The local and international communities in which the company operates: Businesses try to act in a socially responsible manner. For example, Microsoft has established the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which offers medical assistance to eliminate malaria in Africa and meeting other United Nations Millennium Goals. Teaching Tips: What does this mean? It could mean, for example, that a company has a duty to place information on its website about product content, potential side effects from its use, or potential harm that could come if the product is not used properly, like not following directions for use or instructions on installation or assembly. Teaching Tips: Which ethical norm considers whether an act is consistent with peoples?Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another.
What is the ethical norm of utility?The principle of utility states that actions or behaviors are right in so far as they promote happiness or pleasure, wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness or pain.
What ethical norm addresses people's responsibilities to each other?Social responsibility is an ethical theory in which individuals are accountable for fulfilling their civic duty, and the actions of an individual must benefit the whole of society.
What are the 4 views of ethical behavior?Others would recommend considering ethical problems from a variety of different perspectives. Here, we take a brief look at (1) utilitarianism, (2) deontology, (3) social justice and social contract theory, and (4) virtue theory.
|
Which ethical norm considers whether a particular act optimizes the benefits to those who are affected by it group of answer choices?
zusammenhängende Posts
Urheberrechte © © 2024 WIKIFI Inc.
