Which of the following statements about the international side of ethics is most likely true?

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Which statement about ethical dilemma is true?
Which of the following generally outlines the procedures to be used in specific ethical situations?
What are the two major influences on the ethical behaviors of a salesperson?
What is the best reason for a business to be managed ethically?

Question

Which of the following statements about the international side of ethics is most likely true?
A. Agents but not distributors for U.S. firms operating in foreign countries are required to comply with U.S. ethical standards.
B. Those parts of the world that do not conform to U.S. ethical standards are limited to just three geographic areas.
C. The vast majority of international companies have low ethical standards.
D. Ethics related to employees operating overseas are typically clear and consistent.
E. Every employee of a U.S. company is subject to U.S. law regardless of the country in which business is conducted.

Answer

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Clearwater Hampers is a small British company that sells luxury food and drink in various combinations in picnic hampers. Food and wine are seen as classic, fail-safe gifts in a market where present-buying is increasingly tricky. Corporate customers, both in the United Kingdom and abroad, are important to the business. Clearwater has had several orders for more than a quarter of a million dollars. The company's leading salesperson, Peter Austin, is preparing the approach he will use during his first sales call on the CEO of Diamonite, a company that specializes in designing, manufacturing, and installing aircraft interiors for executives and heads of state.

Clearwater Hampers has over 60 models of baskets it uses to create its picnic hampers. In addition, it selects from more than 300 different products for each hamper. Several situational factors determine what style of basket is used and what is placed in the baskets including price, recipients, and whether the basket is a seasonal gift. If Austin were to describe each basket style and each potential product in detail during his sales presentation, he would be guilty of:

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Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.

Some years ago, sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business people, "What does ethics mean to you?" Among their replies were the following:

"Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.""Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.""Being ethical is doing what the law requires.""Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts."

"I don't know what the word means."

These replies might be typical of our own. The meaning of "ethics" is hard to pin down, and the views many people have about ethics are shaky.

Like Baumhart's first respondent, many people tend to equate ethics with their feelings. But being ethical is clearly not a matter of following one's feelings. A person following his or her feelings may recoil from doing what is right. In fact, feelings frequently deviate from what is ethical.

Nor should one identify ethics with religion. Most religions, of course, advocate high ethical standards. Yet if ethics were confined to religion, then ethics would apply only to religious people. But ethics applies as much to the behavior of the atheist as to that of the devout religious person. Religion can set high ethical standards and can provide intense motivations for ethical behavior. Ethics, however, cannot be confined to religion nor is it the same as religion.

Being ethical is also not the same as following the law. The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens subscribe. But laws, like feelings, can deviate from what is ethical. Our own pre-Civil War slavery laws and the old apartheid laws of present-day South Africa are grotesquely obvious examples of laws that deviate from what is ethical.

Finally, being ethical is not the same as doing "whatever society accepts." In any society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical. But standards of behavior in society can deviate from what is ethical. An entire society can become ethically corrupt. Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt society.

Moreover, if being ethical were doing "whatever society accepts," then to find out what is ethical, one would have to find out what society accepts. To decide what I should think about abortion, for example, I would have to take a survey of American society and then conform my beliefs to whatever society accepts. But no one ever tries to decide an ethical issue by doing a survey. Further, the lack of social consensus on many issues makes it impossible to equate ethics with whatever society accepts. Some people accept abortion but many others do not. If being ethical were doing whatever society accepts, one would have to find an agreement on issues which does not, in fact, exist.

What, then, is ethics? Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.

Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.

This article appeared originally in Issues in Ethics IIE V1 N1 (Fall 1987). Revised in 2010.

113.Which of the following statements about the international side of ethics is true?A.Agents but not distributors for U.S. firms operating in foreign countries are required tocomply with U.S. ethical standards.B.Those parts of the world that do not conform to U.S. ethical standards are limited to justthree geographic areas.C.The vast majority of international companies have low ethical standards.D.Ethics related to employees and communities are never difficult to understand when doingbusiness in another country.E.Every employee of a U.S. company is subject to U.S. law regardless of the country in whichbusiness is conducted.Each and every employee of a U.S. company is subject to U.S. law regardless of the countryin which the business takes place. Even the agents or the distributors are subject to U.S. law. 114.Which of the following statements about the international side of ethics is false?A.A salesperson competing in a foreign country may find himself/herself competing with foreigncompanies who are allowed to do things considered unethical by U.S. standards.B.Those parts of the world that do not conform to U.S. ethical standards are limited to just threegeographic areas.C.Ethics related to employees and community are often more difficult to understand when doingbusiness in another country.D.Every employee of a U.S. company is subject to U.S. law regardless of the country in whichbusiness is conducted.E.The vast majority of international companies have high ethical standards.

Which statement about ethical dilemma is true?

Answer and Explanation: The statement is true. Any act that is concerned with doing something that is beneficial to the person or the organization but is unethical in general is called as an ethical dilemma. It creates a paradox in the person's mind between choosing between two unfavorable situations.

Which of the following generally outlines the procedures to be used in specific ethical situations?

Policy-based statements generally outline the procedures to be used in specific ethical situations.

What are the two major influences on the ethical behaviors of a salesperson?

Two major influences on the ethical behaviour of sales personnel are employees and the organization itself.

What is the best reason for a business to be managed ethically?

Business ethics enhances the law by outlining acceptable behaviors beyond government control. Corporations establish business ethics to promote integrity among their employees and gain trust from key stakeholders, such as investors and consumers.