PHL 320 Final Exam 2017

PHL 320 Final Exam 2017

1. An automobile company decides to do its bit for the environment by introducing new models of electric cars. The company’s long-term goal is to eventually stop manufacturing gasoline cars and focus on manufacturing electric cars. The managers of the company reached this decision after critically evaluating the effects of car fluids and car emissions on the environment. They promise to do everything within their power to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Which of the following approaches does this scenario illustrate?

The defensive approach

The obstructionist approach

The egoistic approach

The accommodative approach

2. Which of the following takes place in the final stage of the decision-making process?

Ranking the various alternatives in order of practicality

Examining why any expectations for a decision were not met

Giving middle managers sufficient resources to achieve a goal

Making minor decisions related to the chosen alternative

3. Which of the following is the first step in the decision-making process?

Generating alternatives for a decision

Realizing the need for a decision

Assessing alternatives

Seeking feedback

4. Which of the following terms refers to an approximate assessment of the credibility of a claim?

Hypothetical imperative

Initial plausibility

Background information

Categorical imperative

5. Which of the following is a practice that would help foster creativity in an organization?

Withholding feedback, regardless of whether it is constructive or unconstructive

Rewarding employees who come up with innovative ideas

Holding on to unproductive ideas instead of eliminating them

Avoiding the use of contests to encourage employees for fear of promoting unhealthy competition

6. A cosmetics company has manufactured a new range of skin care products. The top management wants to create a common tagline for the entire range of products and therefore decides to get the managers of the company involved in the decision-making process. It conducts a number of sessions in which the managers are asked to work together and think of innovative taglines for the products and share their ideas with the rest of the group. Group members are specifically asked to be open to all ideas, however offbeat they may be. The members of the group are then asked to pick a tagline after debating the pros and cons of the most popular ideas. This scenario illustrates __________.

the nominal group technique

the Delphi technique

brainstorming

Delayering

7. The top management of a cereal manufacturing company wants to change the packaging of their products and appeal to attract a younger age group. Since the company is located in three cities, the top management wants the managers from each city to weigh in and give their suggestions for improvement. A group leader is first picked, and the problem to be solved is written down. After this, a questionnaire is e-mailed to all the participating managers. The managers are asked to list down solutions to the problem and e-mail the questionnaire back to the group leader. This scenario illustrates the first few steps of __________.

the nominal group technique

the Delphi technique

brainstorming

production blocking

8. __________ are often considered to be the most critical stakeholder group.

Managers

Employees

Customers

Suppliers

9. Which of the following rules of ethical decision making focuses on providing the greatest good for the greatest number of people?

The justice rule

The golden rule

The utilitarian rule

The moral rights rule 

10. __________ is a written approach to creative problem solving and decision making.

The nominal group technique

Brainstorming

The Delphi technique

Groupthink

11. In which of the following approaches to social responsibility do managers often put their own interests first and cause other stakeholders to be harmed yet manage to stay within the law and abide by legal requirements?

The accommodative approach

The obstructionist approach

The proactive approach

The defensive approach

12. When would an argument be considered valid?

When it is impossible for the premise to be true and the conclusion to be false

When the premise of the argument is unquestionably true

When the argument is sound

When it is impossible for the conclusion to appear after the premise
 

13. Which of the following is the final step in the decision-making process?

Learning from feedback

Generating alternatives

Recognizing the need for a decision

Implementing the selected alternative

14. Which of the following is true of a good inductive argument?

The lesser the support the premise provides for the conclusion, the stronger is the argument.

The premise of a good inductive argument demonstrates its conclusion.

The greater the support the premise provides for the conclusion, the weaker is the argument.

The premise of a good inductive argument supports its conclusion.

15. Which of the following is a question to be asked when one is presented with a claim?

When does the claim become a true statement?

When does the content of the claim pose a credibility problem?

Does the claim speak about one particular subject?

What is likely to happen if the claim is examined in detail?

16. Which of the following practices should be avoided by managers who aim to foster creativity in their organizations?

Giving employees the opportunity to experiment with radical ideas

Allowing employees to make mistakes and learn from them

Attempting to speed up a creative solution to a problem

Encouraging creative employees to take risks

17. Which of the following statements is an example of a subjective claim?

There is life after death.

Mozart is the greatest musical composer to have lived.

The earth is round.

Aliens exist in other galaxies in the universe.

18. The management of a small-scale cosmetics company wants to increase awareness of their brand and its products in the market. They decide to choose between two alternatives: either launch a new advertising campaign on social media or offer promotional discounts in select stores. They conduct research on which of these two alternatives would be the most viable for the company. They compare the potential costs and potential benefits of each alternative. In this scenario, which of the following criteria is being evaluated by the management of the company?

Legality

Ethicalness

Innovative capacity

Economic feasibility

19. Identify the unstated premise in the following argument: John is indifferent and has a laid-back approach to work. John should be fired.

Employees who strictly follow their company’s work policy will never be fired.

John should be fired because he is violating company policy.

John is not only indifferent but also has a laid-back approach to work.

Anyone who is indifferent and has a laid-back approach to work must be fired.

20. The two factors that are used to assess the credibility of claims are claims themselves and their __________.

sources

soundness

validity

Premises

21. Which of the following serves as the most reliable source of information about the world in general?

The background information one possesses

One’s own observations

Things that one learns from others

One’s personal interests

22. __________ refers to a decision maker’s ability to discover unique and original ideas that lead to viable courses of action.

Problem formulation

Creativity

Problem identification

Strategy

23. Which of the following occurs as a result of group members’ being unable to simultaneously understand all the alternatives that are generated in a brainstorming session?

Groupthink

Production blocking

Feedback control

Delayering

24. The term __________ refers to the inner guiding moral values, beliefs, and principles used by a person to examine a situation and govern his or her behavior.

bias

ethics

autonomy

authority

25. Which of the following statements is an example of an objective claim?

The sun sets in the west.

A dog is man’s best friend.

Shakespeare was a better poet than Milton.

Summers in California are very warm.

26. When a firm exhibits the highest degree of social responsibility, it has most likely adopted __________.

the proactive approach

the accommodative approach

the defensive approach

the obstructionist approach

27. Creativity is most likely to result when:

managers constantly monitor talented employees.

employees are given the freedom and opportunity to take risks.

employees are prevented from making mistakes.

managers try to speed up the process of working on a creative solution. 

28. Identify the unstated conclusion in the following argument: The most hardworking employee in the company will receive the Employee of the Year award. Doug has been working exceptionally hard all year round.

Doug has not yet received an award from the company.

Doug is the most hardworking employee in the company.

Doug will win the Employee of the Year award.

Hardworking employees win the Employee of the Year award.

29. Identify the conclusion in the following argument: Mark always leaves his phone at home when he goes to the gym. He has not been answering any calls in the past hour, so he is at the gym.

Mark leaves his phone at home when he goes to the gym.

Mark has not been answering calls.

Mark does not answer calls when he is at the gym.

Mark is at the gym.

30. A(n) __________ presents a consideration for the acceptance of a claim.

argument

opinion

issue

fact