Ethics and Social Responsibility

According to a government report, the Department of Defence alone maintains an inventory of at least $100 billion in spare parts, clothing, medical supplies and fuel. And even though the Defence Department doesn’t classify pilferage as a major problem, its annual inventory shrinkage alone runs a billion or two a year. The intentional theft and sale of defence secrets would have greater ethical intensity than this pilferage due to:

• magnitude of consequences

• magnitude of influence

• location immediacy

• probability of response

Doug has a low-paying job for a telecommunications company. Every day when he goes home from work, Doug puts a headset, a stapler or something similar in his lunch box and takes it with him. Doug sees nothing wrong with his behaviour since he feels inadequately paid. In terms of the stages of moral development, Doug is operating at which level?

• Conventional

• Legally mandated

• Pre-conventional

• Post-conventional

To encourage more ethical decision making in an organisation, managers should:

• increase the ethical diversity of new staff

• adopt a code of ethics from an industry leader

• allow the ethical climate to organically develop

• train employees in how to make ethical decisions

The code of ethics for members of the Society of Non-profit Chartered Accounts instructs them to act professionally and serve their clients ethically by inspiring, guiding and governing members in the conduct of their professional lives. In addition, the society’s code of ethics should:

• include standards and procedures specific to the accounting profession

• demonstrate post-conventional morality

• determine what ethical principle will guide the actions of non-profit accountants

• remain general in non-profit ethos

In June 2016 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that the Federal Court ordered Woolworths Limited to pay penalties totalling $9 million for contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Woolworths admitted to being knowingly concerned in the making of, and giving effect to, an understanding between Colgate, Cussons and Unilever which gave effect to cartel and other anticompetitive arrangements, including price-fixing ring. The employee who informed the ACCC is a known as a:

• whistleblower

• ethical ombudsman

• secondary stakeholder

• covert stakeholder

Bayer AG, Syndial SpA, Crompton Corp., DuPont Dow Elastomers and Zeon Chemicals are all international manufacturers of rubber chemicals. They have all been indicted as participants in a price-fixing scheme that drove up the costs of rubber chemicals used to make shoes, tyres and other products. These companies would most likely to use the _______ model to justify their actions.

• economic

• stakeholder

• shareholder

• accounting

In recent years Farmer Bob’s Organic Markets expanded by purchasing four existing stores. One of the stores was located in Delwonton, a lower-class community unlike the store’s typical upscale customer demographic. Rather than sell the property, the owners decided they had an obligation to provide a neighbourhood grocery store to that community. Which of the following is an example of a primary stakeholder group for Farmer Bob’s Organic Markets?

• Community activists

• City parks board

• Customers in the Delwonton neighbourhood

• Newspapers that carry ads for stores

Under the stakeholder model, ________ would be an example of a stakeholder group that does not engage in regular transactions with the company and is not critical to its long-term survival, but can still affect public perceptions and opinions about the company’s socially responsible behaviour.

• the media

• suppliers

• governments

• employees

A consumer advocacy group is critical of ads by Australia Post that claim its ‘priority mail’ is a low-cost, two-day service while failing to disclose that first-class letters generally reach their destination just as quickly and for a tenth the cost. The consumer advocacy group wants Australia Post to take _________ responsibility for its actions and do what is right

• utilitarian

• fiscal

• legal

• ethical

DIY Hardware became a retailing giant by selling hammers, nails and wood at discount prices. Then, the Rainforest Action Network launched a bruising PR campaign in 2007 to stop it from selling old growth wood. After two years of bad publicity and resistance to new store locations, DIY Hardware surrendered. Today, its suppliers are working with environmental and forestry groups to certify that their wood products are not from endangered areas. DIY Hardware used a(n) ________ strategy to respond to demands that it be socially responsible.

• proactive

• accommodative

• defensive

• offensive