HRM 2

Which term refers to the discipline that deals with what is good and bad or right and wrong?

• morals and traditions

• social responsibility

• cultural norms

• ethics

Answer explanation

Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad, or right and wrong, or with moral duty and obligation

Ethics, corporate social responsibility, and corporate sustainability are everyone's business, including HR professionals

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Ethics, CSR, and corporate sustainability are everyone's business. Human resources (HR) professionals particularly concern themselves with establishing policies to promote ethical behavior and unethical behavior. In addition, the human resource management (HRM) function's leadership works with other executive leadership to identify training opportunities for educating employees about how they may make positive contributions to these objectives and developing performance-based pay programs that align employee performance with CSR and social responsibility goals.

Which of the following firms has NOT been exposed for ethical abuses and corrupt conduct?

• Enron

• Lehman Brothers

• WorldCom

• General Electric (GE)

Answer explanation

Enron, Lehman Brothers, and WorldCom have been involved with ethical and illegal problems. General Electric (GE) has a history of honesty and transparency.

The CEO of GE begins and ends each annual meeting by ________.

• introducing the firm's senior officials

• reviewing the firm's financial details

• restating the firm's integrity principles

• asking stockholders for their opinions

Answer explanation

Jeff Immelt, GE's CEO, begins and ends each annual meeting of 220 officers and of its 600 senior managers by restating the company's fundamental integrity principles: "GE's business success is built on our reputation with all stakeholders for lawful and ethical behavior. Commercial considerations never justify cutting corners. Upholding this standard is the specific responsibility of the leaders in the room."

A major source of ethical guidance is the behavior and advice of people that psychologists call ________.

• internal monitors

• third-party respondents

• disinterested parties

• significant others

Answer explanation

Another source of ethical guidance is the behavior and advice of the people psychologists call "significant others"—our parents, friends, role models, and members of our churches, clubs, and associations.

According to your textbook, sources of ethical guidance should ________.

• lead to your beliefs or a conviction about what is right or wrong

• have little effect on a person's pursuit of what is expedient

• be nothing more than the subject matter of philosophical discussions

• remain abstractions that don't pertain to day-to-day living in today's world

Answer explanation

The sources of ethical guidance should lead to your beliefs or a conviction about what is right or wrong.

Laws ________ ethical behavior.

• mandate

• offer guidance to

• have nothing to do with

• none of the above

Answer explanation

Laws offer guidance to ethical behavior, prohibiting acts that can be especially harmful to others.

As a professional, what should be your primary source of ethical guidance in the workplace?

• corporate HR policies

• corporate code of ethics

• corporate mission statement

• corporate procedures

Answer explanation

For most professionals, there are written codes of ethics that prescribe certain behavior. Without this written code of ethical conscience, it might be easy to say, "Everyone does it," "Just this once won't hurt," or "No one will ever know."

In the legal use of the term, a whistleblower is someone who ________.

• serves as a part-time referee in sporting events

• has an ethical obligation to shield his or her employer from lawsuits

• participates in an activity that is protected by federal law

• serves as a majordomo at political dinners

Answer explanation

:  In the legal use of the term, a whistleblower is someone who is protected by the following federal laws: the False Claims Act, the Internal Revenue Service's Informant Claims Program, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

An ethical culture consists of all of the following factors EXCEPT ________.

• ethical leadership

• guerilla marketing

• values

• accountability

Answer explanation

An ethical culture is made up of factors such as ethical leadership, accountability, and values.