File: Ch09, Chapter 9, Ethics As Organizational Culture
File: ch05.rtf, Chapter 5, Ethics as Organizational Culture
Matching
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Strong organizational culture
b) Weak organizational culture
c) Socialization (or enculturation)
1. Standards and guidelines that are known and widely shared by all.
Ans: a
Response: See page 151.
Difficulty: Easy
2. Subcultures within divisions or departments that are more likely to guide behavior.
Ans: b
Response: See page 152.
Difficulty: Easy
3. Process promoted through formal and informal transmission of norms.
Ans: c
Response: See page 152
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Matching Key Terms and Definitions
a) Heroes
b) Norms
c) Rituals
d) Myths
4. Symbolically tells employees what the organization wants them to do and how it expects them to do it.
Ans: c
Response: See page 182.
Difficulty: Easy
5. Standards of behavior that are accepted as appropriate by members of a group.
Ans: b
Response: See page 182.
Difficulty: Easy
6. Symbolic figures who set standards of performance by modeling certain behaviors.
Ans: a
Response: See page 181.
Difficulty: Easy
7. Anecdotes about a sequence of events drawn from an organization’s history.
Ans: d
Response: See page 183.
Difficulty: Easy
True/False
8. The US Sentencing Guidelines call for more attention to developing and maintaining the ethical culture of the organization.
Ans: True
Response: See page 156.
Difficulty: Easy
9. Because common ethical problems exist across virtually all organizations, formal programs designed for ethics work well as “one size fits all.”
Ans: False
Response: See page 192.
Difficulty: Easy
10. Companies that look for advice from consultants will do well to find a “spray and pray” plan.
Ans: False
Response: See page 192.
Difficulty: Easy
11. Organization cultures vary widely, even within the same industry.
Ans: True
Response: See page 151.
Difficulty: Easy
12. Organization cultures are maintained through formal systems alone.
Ans: False
Response: See page 153.
Difficulty: Easy
13. An ethically neutral leader is not clearly unethical, but is perceived to be more self-centered and more focused on the bottom line.
Ans: True
Response: See page 163.
Difficulty: Medium
14. Research has found that employees working in organizations with an enforced code of ethics report that they engage in less unethical behavior.
Ans: True
Response: See page 170 .
Difficulty: Easy
15. The more a firm demands unquestioning obedience to authority, the more likely the firm will experience higher levels of unethical conduct among their employees.
Ans: True
Response: See page 176.
Difficulty: Medium
16. Describing the decision-making process in the language of ethics does not help individuals make more ethical decisions.
Ans: False
Response: See page 186.
Difficulty: Medium
- An ethical culture is maintained through alignment between the formal and informal systems.
Ans.: True
Response: See page 153
Difficulty: Easy
- A 2006 study found that 82 percent of Americans would prefer to be paid less but work for an ethical company than be paid more and work for an unethical company.
Ans.: True
Response: See page 155
Difficulty: Medium
- Unethical leaders can just as negatively affect the culture of a company as ethical leaders can affect the ethical culture.
Ans: True
Response: See page 161
Difficulty: Medium
- It is sufficient for executive leaders to be ethical persons and make ethical decisions. Employees do as they see.
Ans. False
Response: See page 166. Students are likely to say True. The point of this question is that executives must lead on the question of ethics IF their commitment to an ethical culture is to register with employees.
Difficulty: Difficult
- Cognitive moral development tells us that most people are looking outside of themselves for guidance on decision-making. This means that stated organizational policy can be an important source of guidance foe employees in making decisions.
Ans.: True
Response: See page 171
Difficulty: Difficult
- Alignment of the goals and rewards of an organization with the organization’s values is essential because employees will generally do what is measured and rewarded.
Ans.: True
Response: See page 174
Difficulty: Moderate
- Loyalty is paramount in business and employees who question unethical direction or an unethical boss are doomed.
Ans: False
Response: See page 176
Difficulty: Moderate
- Given the less hierarchical organizational structures that are more common place today, it is less important for to have strongly aligned ethical culture to guide employees in their independent decision-making.
Ans: False
Response: See page 177
Difficulty: Difficult
Multiple Choice
- Why did the US Sentencing Commission begin to focus on the ethical culture of the organization in 2004?
a) Researchers had just recently introduced the idea of an “ethical culture” in 2002.
b) More and more consultants were discussing “ethical culture” in their programs.
c) Prior to the change, organizations used formal programs as “window dressing”.
d) None of the above
Ans: c
Response: See page 156.
Difficulty: Medium
- Weak organizational cultures are:
a) desirable if an organization has many subcultures.
b) desirable if an organization wants diversity of thought and action.
c) desirable if an organization wants behavioral consistency.
d) undesirable in all situations.
Ans: b
Response: See page 152.
Difficulty: Medium
- The “moral person” component of ethical leadership:
a) Tells employees how the leader expects them to behave.
b) Tells employees how the leader is likely to behave.
c) Shows that ethics and values are an important part of the leader’s message.
d) Demonstrates a reputation for ethical leadership among employees.
Ans: b
Response: See page 159.
Difficulty: Medium
- According to the Executive Ethical Leadership Reputation Matrix, ______is an executive characterized as a weak “moral person” and a strong “moral manager.”
a) Unethical leader
b) Ethical leader
c) Ethically neutral leader
d) Hypocritical leader
Ans: d
Response: See pages 162-163.
Difficulty: Easy
- According to the Executive Ethical Leadership Reputation Matrix, ______is an executive characterized as a strong “moral person” and a strong “moral manager.”
a) Unethical leader
b) Ethical leader
c) Ethically neutral leader
d) Hypocritical leader
Ans: b
Response: See pages159-160.
Difficulty: Easy
- Which of the following is false?
a) Any attempt to change an organization’s ethics must consider the entire cultural system.
b) A cultural system includes both formal and informal systems.
c) An effective culture change may take as long as 1 to 2 years.
d) New rules and values must be reinforced via training programs and reward systems.
Ans: c
Response: Culture changes are not short-term and may take as much as 6 to 15 years. See page 194.
Difficulty: Medium
Short Answer
- Briefly describe what is meant by alignment of ethical culture. Provide an example of how an ethical culture might be misaligned.
Ans: Students should be able to demonstrate that ethical culture consists of informal and formal systems that must be sending the same message. Therefore, a reward system that focuses strictly on the bottom line and makes no allowances for how a goal is met is misaligned with the organization’s ethical culture.
Response: An ethical culture consists of both an informal and formal system of communication. If messages from the informal and formal system differ, then the ethical culture of an organization is out of alignment. For example, a CEO may state in speeches to the employees that “our company cares about the environment.” However, if the reward system focuses strictly on the bottom line and makes no allowances for how goals are met, the ethical culture is misaligned.
Difficulty: Difficult
- Briefly describe and provide examples of three steps involved in changing an organization’s culture.
Ans: Students should include steps related to diagnosis, implementation, and subsequent evaluation.
Response: Changing an organization’s culture is a multi-dimensional process that must be taken seriously. The major steps include a detailed diagnosis of the current culture, implementation of the new plan, and evaluation after the plan is in motion. The implementation of the plan is probably the most difficult step because it involves the “art” of changing the informal systems as well as the informal systems.
Difficulty: Difficult