MBA Semester 3 Exam
Part I - Multiple Choice
.1 If a company bases its operation on religious perceptions, it is following the _________ law of that country.
A. civil
B. common
C. theocratic
D. economic
E. utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.
Answer: __________
2. If a company wishes to use its resources to specialize in the production of goods and services that are already productive and profitable, it is doing so to gain a/an __________ advantage.
A. absolute
B. acquired
C. comparative
D. natural
Answer: __________
3. When Company A controls a foreign operation rather than collaborating with a foreign business, it is called:
A. a franchise.
B. internalization.
C. a consortium.
D. a licensing agreement.
Answer: __________
4. Many governments have reduced restrictions on cross-border movements of goods, services, and capital, because they believe that this is good for consumers, producers, and the national economy. Opponents of this practice have failed to stop this type of trading. This type of cross-border movement is known as:
A. internationalization.
B. liberalization.
C. exporting.
D. importing.
Answer: __________
5. A/an __________ sourcing strategy is one in which nominally independent suppliers work together to manage the flow of goods and services along the entire value-added chain.
A. horizontal integration
B. vertical integration
C. transmodel
D. arm's length purchase
E. network
Answer: __________
6. A measure of the dispersion, or spread, of a distribution from its expected value is known as:
A. mean variance.
B. average deviation.
C. medium difference.
D. standard deviation.
Answer: __________
7. The two types of data that need to be collected during each reporting period are actual performance data and:
A. the cost performance index.
B. changes to the project scope, schedule, or budget.
C. the budgeted cost of the work performed.
D. the budgeted cost of the work scheduled.
Answer: __________
8. Generally speaking, an RFP offers one of two types of contracts to the winning bidder: __________ or ___________.
A. adjustable price; time and materials
B. fixed price; time and materials
C. fixed price; cost-reimbursement
D. adjustable price; cost- reimbursement
Answer: __________
9. A __________ is a popular network planning technique sometimes called a bar chart. It lists each task and the associated time scale.
A. Gantt Chart
B. PERT
C. Responsibility Matrix
D. Work Breakdown Structure
Answer: __________
10. __________ is a technique used in problem solving in which all members of a group contribute spontaneous ideas.
A. Mediation
B. Collaboration
C. Critical thinking
D. Brainstorming
Answer: __________
11. The two historical ethical theories that have permeated most business ethics discussions are:
A. utilitarianism and virtue ethics.
B. feminine ethics and rights theories.
C. Kantian ethics and common moral theory.
D. common moral theory and rights theories.
E. utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.
Answer: __________
12. When a corporation publishes a set of values and beliefs that both management and labor agree to, it establishes a:
A. union contract.
B. mission statement.
C. corporate culture.
D. employee handbook.
E. policy and procedure manual.
Answer: __________
13. A person takes technological information from work and adapts it for use in his own personal business outside the office. This is an example of:
A. utilitarianism.
B. Kantian ethics.
C. egoism.
D. relativism.
E. common moral theory.
Answer: __________
14. The two major ethical theories supporting issues in the right to privacy debate are:
A. relativism and virtue ethics.
B. feminine and equal rights ethics.
C. common moral theories and character ethics.
D. distributive justice and utilitarianism.
E. Kantian and utilitarian ethics.
15. Unwelcome sexual conduct that unreasonably interferes with work performance or creates an offensive work environment is known as _____ harassment.
A. harmful environment
B. hostile environment
C. quid pro quo
D. offensive
Answer: _____________
16. What type of center should be used when a company is organized into divisions of separate product lines?
A. Profit center
B. Expense center
C. Investment center
D. Revenue center
E. Standard cost center
Answer: __________
17. Instead of conducting traditional market research, a number of companies are:
A. simply following what the market leader does.
B. probing potential markets with early versions of new products to see which have
potential.
C. developing new, much more sophisticated market research techniques which involve
global testing.
D. forming alliances to pool their research findings.
Answer: __________
18. When public organizations are privatized, the trend is to have:
A. clients pay a higher percentage of the costs.
B. clients pay a lower percentage of the costs.
C. clients apply for subsidies from the government
D. organizations solicit state agencies for more funding.
E. organizations sponsor fundraising events.
Answer: __________
19. All of the following ratios are used in the calculation of a company's Z-value EXCEPT:
A. working capital/total assets.
B. retained earnings/total assets.
C. current assets/current liabilities.
D. market value of equity/total liabilities.
E. sales to total assets.
Answer: __________
20. The purchasing strategy in which the purchasing company orders a particular part from several vendors is:
A. sole sourcing.
B. multiple sourcing.
C. just-in-time sourcing.
D. backup sourcing.
E. parallel sourcing.
Answer: __________
Expansion Plans for Scooter Land
Scooter Land had been headquartered and doing business solely in the United States for five years. They had an excellent reputation for a quality product and demand was at an all-time high. The CEO of the company decided to explore the possibility of expanding into two or three foreign countries. Each foreign facility would include operations, distribution, and sales of the scooters.
The CEO assigned John, the Director of Operations, to be in charge of performing the preliminary work in making the decisions regarding the expansion into other countries. John started by visiting Central America and Africa because of the reported low cost of doing business in these areas. After his visits, however, John rejected these countries because of the dangerous business climates and insufficient disposable income in their marketplaces.
John also performed a detailed analysis of 75 additional countries, hiring an expensive consultant to assist him with the analysis of the extensive amount of information obtained. By the time that John and the consultant finished their analysis, six months had passed and they had spent more than $100,000.
Before completely giving up on the project, the CEO asks you to provide input to John. He feels that the project can be saved if John heads in the right direction. He asks you to first describe five (5) external sources of information that John should have used to collect country information for analysis purposes. Because you oversee operations, he also asks you to identify and discuss three (3) control instruments that the business might use to govern the international operations. This is critical to know if the company moves forward with the expansion.
Spencer and Frank's Faux Pas
Aluminum Fencing Company (AFC) was a sizeable distributor of chain-link fencing for commercial and residential use. The company had four regional locations in the United States. Each location included a large warehouse facility for storing the chain link parts needed to assemble the fencing. At every location there was a president; a director of workplace security; and various vice presidents, senior managers, and managers in charge of shipping and receiving, training, computer service and maintenance, accounts payable and receivable, advertising, marketing, customer service, and sales.
Spencer and Frank were employed at the southern-region facility. They were both hourly employees, with no employment contract. Spencer was an accounts payable associate, and Frank was a clerk in the shipping and receiving department. Both were part of a labor union and were covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Although the men worked at completely different locations within the facility – at opposite ends of the physical plant – they initially met at a division meeting. Then one day, shortly after they had met, the two happened to run into each other at a local restaurant on their lunch breaks.
After that time, Spencer and Frank kept in contact in an extremely discreet manner and began seeing each other after working hours. The majority of the time, they met at one or the other's residence. When they did go out, it was after dark, in a part of town that was at least 30 miles away from the AFC facility. Their relationship began to get serious, but they still did not indicate to others that they were more than casual acquaintances through their employment with AFC.
One day, Spencer and Frank arranged to bring their lunches and meet at lunchtime. Their meeting place was a deserted storage room, used to house sensitive company computer software. Because Frank knew there was a lock on the door and no one ever used that storage room, Spencer and Frank felt safe to meet there unnoticed. They decided, in advance, to take different routes to the storage room and to arrive and depart at separate times.
After they finished with their lunches, one thing led to another and they engaged in a sexual liaison. Since they had taken strict precautions to ensure that they would not be seen together, they did not worry that their sexual relationship in general or their sexual encounter in the storage room would be discovered. What they did not realize was that there were hidden security cameras in every room that housed sensitive data, machinery, or equipment, and the room in which they met still had a surveillance camera behind one of the walls.
The director of workplace security brought the fact that a camera had captured
Spencer and Frank in a compromising position to the attention of both Spencer's and
Frank's managers. Both employees were fired and then decided to bring suit against AFC based on sexual discrimination.
Answer the following questions related to this case:
- Did AFC have the right to fire Frank and Spenser over something they did in a very discreet manner during their lunch break?
- Do Frank and Spencer have a legitimate lawsuit based upon sexual discrimination?
- Is there an issue with employment-at-will?
- Is there a right to privacy issue?
- Using deontological, utilitarian and virtue ethics as your guides, define each of these three ethical theories and discuss how you believe the company would act based upon each of these three ethical viewpoints.
