Question

The compliance approach to dealing with or managing ethical conduct

A. Is perfectly suited for ethically-unprincipled companies where company personnel must bespurred into complying with the company's ethical standards
B. Is favored at companies whose managers (1) lean toward being somewhat amoral but recognizethe value of having ethically upstanding reputations or (2) are moral and see strong compliancemethods as the best way to impose and enforce ethical rules and high ethical standards
C. Is favored at companies whose managers fear scandal and want to put on a public face of beingethical; they like having some compliance methods in place so they can give the appearance oftrying to be ethical (although they are deliberately lax in pushing compliance and punishingunethical conduct)
D. Is favored at companies whose managers are immoral but who see having cosmetic compliancemethods in place as a safeguard against scandal
E. Is perfectly suited for companies that have had a code of ethics for 10 years or more and that want to spend little top management time exhorting company personnel to be ethical in the actions and behavior

Answer 1

The compliance approach to managing ethical conduct is favored by companies focused on legality and appearances, with managers enforcing or relying on compliance measures for pragmatic reasons, to mitigate scandal risk, or to maintain a long-standing ethical code with minimal effort.

Step-by-step explanation:

The compliance approach to managing ethical conduct is generally adopted by companies that are focused on ensuring adherence to ethical standards and rules mostly for the sake of legality and external appearances, rather than from a genuine commitment to ethical principles. Option B describes a scenario where such an approach is favored at companies whose managers recognize the value of ethical reputations for pragmatic reasons. These managers might be amoral or moral, but they employ strong compliance to enforce ethical behavior. Option C and D suggest a more cynical application of compliance measures intended more to mitigate scandal and preserve a facade of ethicality rather than a true engagement with ethical conduct. Option E points out a situation where compliance is suited for companies with a historical code of ethics but where top management seeks to minimize the time spent on actively promoting ethics within the company.