Business Ethics Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A manager assigns overtime through published, job-relevant criteria and applies the same process to everyone who is eligible. Which concept does this best illustrate?
Restorative justice, because a prior harm is being repaired
Outcome equality, because every employee receives identical overtime
Ethical egoism, because employees can pursue additional income
Procedural justice, because the decision process is consistent and transparent
2. A marketing practice is currently legal, but it predictably exploits customers who misunderstand a complex fee structure. Which statement best reflects sound business ethics reasoning?
Legal compliance is a minimum standard and does not settle every ethical question.
A legal practice is ethical unless customers submit formal complaints.
The practice is ethical if it produces enough revenue to benefit employees.
Ethical analysis applies only when regulations specifically require it.
3. A brand advertises a product as “planet positive” based only on a minor packaging change while withholding its much larger environmental impacts. What concept best describes this practice?
Greenwashing
Cause-related marketing
Environmental due diligence
Product differentiation
4. A vendor sends an expensive personal gift to an employee who is about to evaluate that vendor's bid. What is the most ethically appropriate response?
Keep it but ask another employee to review the final contract price.
Accept it if the vendor did not explicitly request favorable treatment.
Disclose the gift promptly and decline or return it in line with the organization's policy.
Wait until the bidding process ends, then donate an item of similar value.
5. A company compares two safety plans by estimating how much harm each would prevent for everyone affected. Which ethical approach is it primarily using?
Virtue ethics, which emphasizes the character of the decision-maker.
Rights-based ethics, which emphasizes protections that should not be violated.
Utilitarian reasoning, which compares overall benefits and harms.
Ethical egoism, which prioritizes the decision-maker's own interests.
6. An online retailer collected customer email addresses to send receipts. It now wants to provide those addresses to advertising partners. Which step best supports meaningful informed consent?
Clearly explain the new purpose and offer customers a genuine choice before sharing.
Mention the new use in a long policy update while treating continued shopping as agreement.
Share only the addresses of customers who have made more than one purchase.
Proceed because customers originally chose to provide their addresses.
7. A leadership team asks, “What would an honest, fair, and courageous organization do in this situation?” Which ethical approach is most directly reflected?
Utilitarian ethics, focused on maximizing aggregate outcomes
Rights-based ethics, focused on protecting individual entitlements
Ethical relativism, focused on following whichever local norm is common
Virtue ethics, focused on good character and moral habits
8. A sales director refuses to make a deceptive claim because lying violates a duty to treat customers honestly, even though the claim could increase sales. Which framework most closely matches this reasoning?
Ethical egoism
Utilitarianism
Deontological ethics
Moral relativism
9. An intermediary requests an unofficial cash payment to speed up a routine permit that the company is already entitled to receive. What is the primary business ethics concern?
The payment may create a monopoly in the local market.
The payment is a facilitation payment that raises bribery and corruption concerns.
The payment is a charitable contribution without public recognition.
The payment changes the company's accounting period.
10. A company receives credible reports that a key supplier may be using unsafe working conditions. What response best reflects responsible supply-chain due diligence?
Ignore the reports until a court or regulator makes a final determination.
Immediately end the contract without investigating impacts or possible remedies.
Ask the supplier for a general promise while avoiding documentation that could create responsibility.
Investigate the reports, assess impacts, require and track corrective action, and escalate or suspend the relationship when warranted.
11. An employee reports suspected expense fraud through an approved channel. Soon afterward, the employee's manager removes desirable shifts specifically because of the report. What ethical concern does this most clearly illustrate?
A breach of customer confidentiality
Retaliation against someone who raised a concern
Unfair competition between departments
An undisclosed financial conflict
12. Which combination is most likely to make a company's ethics program credible rather than merely symbolic?
A public code of conduct supported mainly by the company's reputation
Clear standards, practical training, accessible reporting channels, consistent enforcement, and leadership example
An annual employee pledge with responsibility delegated entirely to the legal department
Strict penalties for confirmed violations without guidance on how employees should raise concerns
13. A company is deciding whether to close a profitable factory that supports most employment in a small town. Which approach best reflects stakeholder theory?
Choose whichever option produces the highest immediate return for shareholders.
Check whether the closure meets legal requirements and treat that as the complete ethical analysis.
Consider the effects on owners, employees, customers, suppliers, and the local community before deciding.
Let employees make the final decision because they are the group most directly affected.
14. An engineer leaves one employer for a competitor. Which distinction best reflects ethical treatment of the former employer's intellectual property?
The engineer must avoid using any professional knowledge gained during the former employment.
The engineer may share technical documents if personal copies were made before leaving.
The engineer may use confidential information if it improves product quality for customers.
The engineer may use general skills and experience but should not disclose protected confidential information or trade secrets.
15. A purchasing manager helps select a vendor partly owned by the manager's sibling. What is the central ethical issue?
Insider trading, because the manager has information that other employees lack.
A conflict of interest, because a personal relationship could influence professional judgment.
Price discrimination, because competing vendors may offer different prices.
Whistleblowing, because the manager is participating in a formal selection process.
16. Near the end of a reporting period, a company ships products that customers did not order and records the shipments as completed sales. What is the clearest ethical problem?
The company is misrepresenting financial performance by recording unsupported revenue.
The company is favoring customers over shareholders.
The company is engaging in ordinary sales forecasting.
The company is using an overly cautious inventory policy.