Q&A Hero

Q: What are the major trends in Code of Ethics? Explain?

Q: Increased worker specialization associated with higher levels of production can lead to worker de-motivation and diseconomies of scale.

Q: Identify and describe the defining principles and the implementing principles of the social justice approach?

Q: As a firm increases in size, it often increases in complexity; however, the ability of managers to control and operate the firm efficiently are virtually unlimited and therefore costs do not substantially increase.

Q: There are physical limitations to the size of some manufacturing processes and when this size is exceeded, diseconomies of scale are experienced.

Q: What are codes of business ethics? Why are they important?

Q: High volumes of production are also associated with high levels of generality in employee tasks and as workers become increasingly generalized in accomplishing a variety of tasks, they can become more effective at these tasks, thereby reducing the firm's costs.

Q: Briefly discuss the three fundamental ethical approaches that managers should consider?

Q: The link between volume of production and the cost of building manufacturing operations is particularly important in industries characterized by product manufacturing, such as chemical and oil refining.

Q: What is ethics? Why is it important in business?

Q: When a firm has high levels of production, it is often able to purchase and use manufacturing tools that cannot be kept in operation in small firms.

Q: Explain the five principles of successful collaborative social initiatives?

Q: As the volume of production in a firm increases, the average cost per unit decreases until some optimal volume of production is reached, after which the average costs per unit of production begin to rise because of diseconomies of scale.

Q: What is a social audit? What is its purpose?

Q: Economies of scale are said to exist when the increase in firm size (measured in terms of volume of production) are associated with lower costs (measured in terms of average costs per unit of production).

Q: Describe the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the corporate governance structure?

Q: In general, cost advantages are not possible when competing firms produce similar products.

Q: Discuss the major elements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002?

Q: Firms that are successful in pursuing a cost-leadership strategy focus solely on keeping costs low and abandoning other business or corporate strategies.

Q: How is globalization driving corporate social responsibility?

Q: A firm that chooses a cost-leadership business strategy focuses on gaining advantages by reducing its costs to a level equal to all of its competitors.

Q: How is increasing buyer power affecting corporate social responsibility today?

Q: Cost leadership and product differentiation are so widely recognized that they are often called generic business strategies.

Q: How is environmentalism driving corporate social responsibility?

Q: The set of business activities in which a firm engages to develop, produce, and market its products or services is known as its A) value chain. B) physical resources. C) organizational resources. D) human resources.

Q: Discuss the dynamics between CSR and the bottom line?

Q: To the extent that a firm's resources and capabilities enhance a firm's competitive position by enabling a firm to exploit its opportunities or neutralize its threats, these resources and capabilities are valuable and are known as A) temporary competitive advantages. B) sustainable competitive advantages. C) core competencies. D) strengths.

Q: Inputs whose quantity is fixed and whose demand does not respond to price increases are said to be A) elastic in supply. B) inelastic in supply. C) elastic in demand. D) perfectly competitive.

Q: Briefly describe the four types of social responsibilities that managers can consider?

Q: Identify inside and outside stakeholders. How do they differ in their expectations of the firm? Explain?

Q: The theoretical roots of the resource-based view can be traced to research done by A) David Ricardo. B) Adam Smith. C) Oliver Williamson. D) Joseph Schumpeter.

Q: Describe the necessary steps that a firm must take when it attempts to incorporate the interests of various stakeholders?

Q: ________ implies that for a given business activity, some firms may be more skilled in accomplishing this activity than other firms. A) Resource mobility B) Resource homogeneity C) Resource immobility D) Resource heterogeneity

Q: The VRIO assumption that some of the resource and capability differences among firms may be long lasting is known as A) resource mobility. B) resource homogeneity. C) resource immobility. D) resource heterogeneity.

Q: Who are stakeholders and why are they important to a firm?

Q: (p. 81) The ______ principle points up a number of general obligations. A. Fairness B. Natural-duty C. Distributive-justice D. Liberty

Q: A firm's formal reporting structure, its formal and informal planning and its controlling and coordinating systems are examples of which type of resources? A) Financial resources B) Physical resources C) Human resources D) Organizational resources

Q: (p.81) Which principle argues that employees must be expected to engage in cooperative activities according to the rules of the company, assuming that the company rules are deemed fair? A. Distributive-justice B. Difference C. Fairness D. Liberty

Q: Computer hardware and software technology, robots used in manufacturing and automated warehouses are examples of which type of resources? A) Financial resources B) Physical resources C) Human resources D) Organizational resources

Q: (p. 81) Which principle is embodied in the Civil Rights Act? A. Distributive-justice B. Difference C. Fairness D. Liberty

Q: The training, experience, judgment, intelligence, relationships and insight of individual managers and workers in a firm are examples of A) physical resources. B) human resources. C) organizational resources. D) financial resources.

Q: (p. 81) According to the _____ principle, individuals should not be treated differently on the basis of arbitrary characteristics such as race, sex, religion or national origin. A. Natural duty B. Difference C. Fairness D. Distributive-justice

Q: A firm's marketing skills and teamwork as well as its cooperation among managers are examples of A) financial resources. B) human resources. C) physical resources. D) capabilities.

Q: (p. 81) Which of these is NOT an implementing principle essential to the social justice approach? A. Distributive-justice B. Fairness C. Liberty D. Natural duty

Q: ________ are a subset of a firm's resources and are defined as tangible and intangible assets that enable a firm to take full advantage of other resources it controls. A) Retained earnings B) Capabilities C) Human resources D) Financial resources

Q: (p. 81) Which principle holds that social and economic inequities must be addressed to achieve a more equitable distribution of goods and services? A. Liberty B. Difference C. Distributive-justice D. Fairness

Q: ________ in the RBV are defined as the tangible and intangible assets that a firm controls that it can use to conceive of and implement its strategies. A) Management controls B) Capabilities C) Resources D) Compensation policies

Q: (p. 81) Managers who take the ______ approach judge how consistent actions are with equity, fairness and impartiality in the distribution of rewards and costs among individuals and groups. A. Social justice B. Economic man C. Moral rights D. Utilitarian

Q: To the extent that a firm's resources and capabilities are continuously evolving, its organizational structure, control systems, and compensation policies must also evolve.

Q: (p. 81) Which of these approaches is also referred to as deontology? A. Utilitarian B. Moral rights C. Economic man D. Social Justice

Q: If there is a conflict between the resources a firm controls and the firm's organization, the resources should be changed.

Q: (p. 81) Managers who subscribe to the ______ approach judge whether decisions and actions are in keeping with the maintenance of fundamental individual and group rights and privileges. A. Utilitarian B. Social justice C. Economic man D. Moral rights

Q: In the end, competitive advantage is so important to a firm's success, it must remain the sole property of senior management.

Q: Tacit cooperation is only a viable strategy when an industry is perfectly competitive.

Q: (p. 81) The utilitarian approach focuses on A. Motives B. Feelings C. Actions D. Reactions

Q: (p. 81) Managers who adopt the ______ approach judge the effects of a particular action on the people directly involved, in terms of what provides the greatest good for the greatest number of people. A. Economic man B. Utilitarian C. Moral rights D. Social justice

Q: When tacit cooperation has the effect of reducing supply and increasing prices, it is known as tacit collusion.

Q: (p.81) Which of these is NOT an ethical approach for executives to consider? A. The utilitarian approach B. The moral rights approach C. The Sarbanes-Oxley approach D. The social justice approach

Q: Any actions that a firm takes that have the effect of reducing the level of rivalry in an industry that also do not require firms in an industry to negotiate with each other can be thought of as explicit cooperation.

Q: (p. 79) The most critical quality of ethical decision making is A. Economic B. Consistency C. Expeditions D. Objectivity

Q: One reason a firm may not respond to another firm's competitive advantage is because it does not have the resources or capabilities to do so.

Q: Decisions made by other firms given the strategic choices of a particular firm define the nature of the competitive dynamics that exist in an industry.

Q: (p. 78) At present, the public's perception of the ethics of corporate executives in America is A. Near its all-time low B. At the highest level C. Moderately high D. Non-existent

Q: (p. 74) CSR programs can confer significant benefits to participants in terms of all of these except A. Corporate reputation B. Hiring, motivation and retention C. Enhanced market share D. Building and cementing valuable partnerships

Q: If a resource or capability is valuable and rare but not costly to imitate, exploiting this resource will generate a sustainable competitive advantage for a firm.

Q: (p. 73) Which of the principles of successful collaborative social initiatives is the most important? A. Contribute specialized services to a large-scale undertaking B. Identify a long-term durable mission C. Contribute "what we do" D. Assemble and value the total package of benefits

Q: Compensation policies are the ways that firms pay employees, and such policies create incentives for employees to behave in certain ways.

Q: Formal management controls include a firm's culture and the willingness of employees to monitor each other's behavior.

Q: (p. 72) For the past 28 years ABC, Inc. has made a significant investment of time, money and other resources to increase the literacy rate in adult Americans. This represents which of these principles of successful collaborative social initiatives? A. Weight government influence B. Identify a long-term durable mission C. Assemble and value the total package of benefits D. Leverage core capabilities

Q: (p. 72) Which of these is a social challenge that will demand attention for years to come? A. Competitive environment B. Police brutality C. Corporate profitability D. Substandard education

Q: A firm's formal reporting structure is a description of who in an organization reports to whom and is often embedded in a firm's organizational chart.

Q: (p. 72) Which of these is NOT a principle of successful collaborative social initiatives? A. Eliminate government influence B. Leverage core capabilities: contribute "what we do" C. Identify a long-term durable mission D. Contribute specialized services to a large scale undertaking

Q: Most technological developments in an industry are diffused throughout firms in a relatively brief period of time, but only if the technology in question has not been patented.

Q: (p. 71) Beyond enhanced reputation, CSR activities A. Have been found to be a total resource drain B. Potentially have no other impact in an organization C. Can be a tool to attract, retain and develop managerial talent D. Have been responsible for bailing firms from regulatory compliance

Q: A firm's patents may decrease, rather than increase, the costs of imitation.

Q: (p. 71) The term social initiative describes initiatives that take a A. Collaborative approach B. Combative approach C. Corporate approach D. Global approach

Q: The interpersonal relations among managers in a firm, a firm's culture, and a firm's reputation among suppliers and customers can all act to make a firm's resources and capabilities socially complex.

Q: A process is said to be path dependent when imitating firms are not able to understand the relationship between the resources and capabilities controlled by a firm and that firm's competitive advantage.

Q: (p. 70) With regards to CSR business have all of these support options except: A. Donation of cash or material B. Creation of a functional operation within the company to assist explained charitable efforts C. Development of a collaborative approach D. Outsource the function to a competitor

Q: The ability of firms to acquire, develop, and use resources often depends upon their place in time and space, and firms that do not have space-and-time-dependent resources face a significant cost disadvantage in obtaining and developing them.