Unit 4: Business ethics - Practice Quiz

1 What does business ethics mainly refer to?

2 Why is ethics important in management?

3 Which principle requires managers to be truthful in their dealings?

4 What is a likely result of ethical management?

5 Which is a responsibility of ethical management?

6 What should an ethical manager do when facing a conflict of interest?

7 Which action shows accountability in management?

8 Why should ethical managers follow organizational policies?

9 Which is an example of unethical behavior in business?

10 What is a common warning sign of unethical behavior?

11 Which measure can help prevent unethical behavior?

12 What is whistleblowing?

13 What should an employee do after observing serious unethical conduct?

14 What does equal employment opportunity mean?

15 Which HRM practice is unethical?

16 What is ethical marketing?

17 Which advertising practice is ethical?

18 Why is protecting customer privacy important?

19 How should a company respond to a genuine customer complaint?

20 Which practice supports ethical customer relationships?

21 A manager discovers that reporting a production delay will reduce the quarterly bonus but will allow customers to revise their plans. Which action best reflects ethical management?

22 A company can legally reduce waste-treatment costs by releasing emissions just below the regulatory limit, but nearby residents may still face health risks. What should an ethical manager do?

23 Two suppliers offer identical prices and quality. One has transparent labor practices, while the other refuses to disclose working conditions. Which selection best supports ethical management?

24 After a pricing error, a retailer voluntarily refunds affected customers before receiving complaints. Which benefit of ethical management is most directly demonstrated?

25 A firm publishes a code of ethics, but employees are rewarded only for meeting sales targets, even when complaints increase. What is management's most important corrective responsibility?

26 A senior executive is accused of manipulating expense reports. Which response best demonstrates consistent ethical leadership?

27 Employees are uncertain whether accepting gifts from vendors creates a conflict of interest. What should management do first to address the uncertainty?

28 A manager learns that a profitable contractor repeatedly violates workplace safety standards. Which response best balances managerial responsibilities?

29 An employee consistently approves invoices from a company owned by a close relative without disclosing the relationship. What ethical issue should be identified?

30 Several employees avoid reporting misconduct because previous whistleblowers were excluded from projects. Which preventive measure would most directly address this problem?

31 An internal audit finds that one supervisor has repeatedly altered employee overtime records. What is the most appropriate initial intervention?

32 A sales team regularly records future orders as current revenue because its bonus depends on quarterly results. Which control would best prevent recurrence?

33 A manager notices that minor policy violations are increasing, although no major misconduct has yet occurred. What is the best preventive response?

34 A recruiter removes applicants' names, photographs, ages, and addresses before initial screening. Which ethical HRM objective does this practice primarily support?

35 An HR manager learns that a high-performing supervisor gives desirable shifts only to employees who socialize with them outside work. What is the most ethical response?

36 A beverage advertisement states that the product "boosts immunity," although the company has no reliable evidence for the claim. What should the marketing manager do?

37 An online store displays a low initial price but adds unavoidable service fees only on the final payment screen. Which change best improves ethical marketing?

38 A company wants to use customers' purchase histories for a new targeted advertising program that was not mentioned when the data was collected. What is the most ethical approach?

39 A customer reports that a safety defect damaged a product but caused no injury. Which response best supports an ethical customer relationship?

40 A company advertises a subscription as "cancel anytime," but cancellation requires several hidden steps and a telephone call during limited hours. Which principle is most clearly violated?

41 A manager must choose between a legally permissible supplier offering the lowest price and a slightly more expensive supplier whose labor and environmental practices are independently verifiable. Which decision best reflects the strategic importance of ethics in management?

42 A company publicly claims that it values transparency, but senior managers routinely withhold unfavorable performance data from employees and investors. Which ethical principle is most directly violated?

43 A manager faces pressure to meet quarterly targets by recognizing revenue before the customer has accepted delivery. The practice is not immediately detected and would improve the manager's bonus. What is the strongest ethical objection?

44 A board discovers that a profitable product creates a low-probability risk of severe consumer injury. Which response best satisfies ethical management responsibilities?

45 An organization wants its ethics program to influence actual decisions rather than serve as symbolic compliance. Which design is most effective?

46 A manager learns that a high-performing executive has harassed several employees, but the victims fear retaliation. What is the most responsible managerial action?

47 A sales division repeatedly reports unusually high customer cancellations after commissions are paid. Which control would best help identify the underlying unethical behavior?

48 Employees report that a supervisor pressures them to bypass safety checks, but the organization has no evidence of an actual accident. Which interpretation is most appropriate?

49 A whistleblower submits evidence of procurement fraud but is also involved in a separate attendance violation. How should the organization respond?

50 A compliance system receives many reports but almost no substantiated findings. Which conclusion is most defensible?

51 An applicant screening tool rejects candidates from a protected group at twice the rate of other candidates, although the employer did not intend discrimination. What is the most ethical response?

52 A company uses employee productivity data collected for scheduling to evaluate eligibility for promotion. What issue should HR examine first?

53 Two employees have comparable performance, but one receives a promotion after privately entertaining the department head. No explicit promise was made. Which ethical concern is strongest?

54 During layoffs, management selects employees using a neutral performance score that systematically disadvantages workers who took approved family leave. Which approach is most ethical?

55 A subscription service advertises a low monthly price but places the mandatory service fee only on the final checkout screen. Which ethical principle is most clearly breached?

56 A food brand uses a sustainability label based on improvements in one minor ingredient while its overall supply chain remains highly polluting. What is the central ethical problem?

57 An online retailer uses browsing data to target financially distressed customers with high-cost loans at moments of urgent need. Which assessment is strongest?

58 A company discovers that its chatbot routinely denies valid warranty claims because it was trained on incomplete historical decisions. What should it do first?

59 A company publishes thousands of positive product reviews generated by employees who do not disclose their relationship with the company. Why is this ethically problematic?

60 A telecom provider makes cancellation deliberately difficult while describing its service as customer-friendly. Which remedy best addresses the ethical failure?