Practice Final Exam 2 ba Essay

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SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY

PRACTICE FINAL EXAM

BA300

Summer, 2010

Daniel Eaton

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
BA300

PRACTICE FINAL EXAM

Dan Eaton, Esq.

INSTRUCTIONS: Please read the question and carefully choose the best answer to each question. Each question has only one answer. Good luck.

1. Which two concepts are best illustrated by the following passage from a January 29, 2008, report in The New York Times about Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel, whose trading misconduct eventually led the bank to lose more than $7 billion? “Over time, Mr. Kerviel had increased the size of his bets – he hedged his positions on paper with falsified documents and e-mail messages – but he remained convinced that success was just around the corner. ‘He bet on the return of the markets that were extremely low and he imagined that there would be a return of the markets just as large as the losses,’ [a French prosecutor] said. ‘There is an addiction. There is a dependency on this complicated game of betting on the markets, and there is a sort of spiral into which it’s difficult to exit.’”

a. Assumption of similarity and deindividuation.
b. Illusion of optimism and escalation of commitment.
c. Diffusion of responsibility and Objectivism.
d. Multiple ethical selves and Integrative Social Contracts Theory.

2. According to a May 14, 2008 on-line legal newsletter, the former president of American multinational corporation Pacific Consolidated Industries Martin Self was awaiting sentencing for committing a crime. He admitted that “he approved a marketing contract for the relative of an employee with the United Kingdom [Great Britain] Ministry of Defence, which resulted in more than $70,000 in payments. But the relative did no work. Instead, the money was meant to [get] contracts for Pacific.” What federal law did Mr. Self violate?

a. The Federal Whistleblower Protection Act.
b. The Federal Organizational Sentencing Guidelines.
c. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
d. Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

3. In a recent New York Times Magazine article entitled “The Moral Instinct,” the author contrasts two kinds of ethical cultures: “In the West, we believe that in business . . ., fairness should trump community and nepotism [favoritism toward relatives] and cronyism [favoritism toward friends and close associates]. In other parts of the world, this is incomprehensible – what heartless creep would favor a perfect stranger over his or her own brother?” This passage best describes the difference between which two kinds of ethical cultures?

a. American versus European.
b. Individualist versus Collectivist.
c. Objectivist versus Utilitarian.
d. National versus Global.

4. Joan Marshall, secretary to Vandelay Vice President Suzanne Williams, woke up with a mild cold and called in sick on Thursday. The following morning she felt much better. Joan remembered, however, overhearing a conversation between Ms. Williams and another Vice President, Jack Straw, in which Ms. Williams complained that secretaries who call in sick on Thursday almost always call in sick on Friday, even if they are perfectly well, to enjoy a four-day weekend. Joan decided to call-in sick Friday as well and take a three-day trip to Vegas. By calling in sick on Friday after remembering what she had overheard Suzanne, Joan illustrated what concept?

a. The illusion of superiority.
b. The dark side of rewards and incentives.
c. The Pygmalion effect.
d. Conflicts of interest.
5. Jack and Suzy Welch believe that information that an employee has been fired for ethical violations should be:

a. Handled privately and with dignity, as with information about any other termination.
b. Made widely known to other employees so that they may learn that the company will not tolerate ethical lapses.
c. Sent to law enforcement officials immediately for action.
d. Disclosed only to those employees who need to know to avoid provoking legal action by the fired employee.