Grace Pfenning

Intro to Business
Chapter 7 – Social and Ethical Environment of Business

7.1 Assessment

1. D
2. A
3. What factors are contributing to the growth of the US population? The birth rate,
death rate, and the level of immigration are contributing to the growth of the US
population.
4. What has caused the growth in the number of young workers in recent years? A
boom in millennials has created a larger pool of potential employees.

7.2 Assessment

1. A
2. D
3. Identify a list of employer practices that have enhanced the quality of work life for
employees. They make flexible schedules for their workers, do job rotations, create work
teams to make work easier and allow for collaboration.
4. Give at least two examples of how environmental goals can be at odds with energy
conservation goals. An example is a Chinese business that changes from coal to natural
gas, which meets environmental goals but violates conservation goals. Another example
is in contrast to the previous example, a company that changes from natural gas to coal,
which created pollution, creating a barrier.

7.3 Assessment

1. C
2. B
3. Because businesses are established for making profits, the only way to ensure they
behave ethically is to have strong laws that require them to do so. Do you agree with
this statement? Justify your answer. I don't agree with this statement because I believe
a business can establish a profit and be successful while not abiding by laws that require
them to do so. If they are breaking major laws however I do agree with the statement.
 4. Explain how a business can ensure that its code of ethics will be effective. A business
can ensure that its code of ethics will be effective by hiring a chief ethics officer who will
ensure that workers are trained in how to comply with the company’s ethics policy.

Review Business Management Terms

1. Business Ethics
2. Glass Ceiling
3. Sustainability
4. Non Governmental Organizations
5. Labor Force
6. Comparable Worth
7. Telecommute
8. Social Responsibility
9. Sticky Floor Syndrome
10. Stakeholders
11. Labor Participation Rate
12. Ethics

Review Business Management Concepts

13. B
14. A
15. C
16. B
17. A
18. B
19. D
20. B

Apply What You Know

21. The movement of people from cities to suburbs has affected cities and businesses because
cities no longer have the financial ability to provide high-quality services. People moving
from the Frost Belt to the Sun Belt have affected businesses because they leave behind
unemployed workers, closed factories, decaying towns, and homeless people.
22. The actions the federal government has taken to protect the environment are reinforcing
laws like the Clean Air Act, Pesticide Control Act, Clean Water Act, and many more.
 23. The age and ethnic makeup of the US population is important to businesses because it
determines the amount of workers who can legally work and a wide range of beliefs and
opinions to make the workplace more diverse.
24. One change of values in the United States in the past 20 years is the makeup of families.
Rather than having the stereotypical four family household plus a dog, we are now seeing
more single parents and divorces in the United States. Due to this change, businesses
have to provide time-saving products. Another example of a value that has changed in the
United States is the increase of unpredictable violent attacks through guns. This increase
and change in values has led to an expansion in personal-security in businesses.
25. The PMI process for making ethical decisions includes managers accessing the situation
to make sure laws were not broken, managers also need to ensure the decision they come
upon abides by the PMI’s code of ethics in their businesses code of ethics, next managers
need should list and evaluate alternative courses of action, then analyze their decision,
and finally answer specific questions before making their final decision.

Case in Point

1. I do not think they acted in a socially responsible manner. Although they are doing
something good for people in need, they operate in the United States, which has strict
laws about selling expired food. Even though Mexico doesn't have strong rules against
selling expired food, it is still unethical for an American company to sell food to others.
2. If I were the president of Greengrocers, I would explain that we had done significant
research on the laws of selling expired food in Mexico and state that we did it out of the
idea that people in need needed help and we had an excess of products.
3. I do think the Americans acted ethically, what they know is that food should not be
distributed if it is expired, they brought that to the attention of the broadcaster and did
what was right.
4. I would suggest to Greengrocers to discourage unethical conduct by its employees in the
future to inform employees of the rules and laws of the company and use this situation as
an example to enforce rules that make it so this situation does not happen again in the
future.