FINAL THOUGHTS

as I sit and think back on this past semester, what I'll remember about this class, other then our last class case study, will be this:
If you believe in the golden rule, you'll think of the consequences of your actions, in your personal life and business, and how those actions will affect the lives of others. DB

Mazda's Dilemma

Mazda's "social responsibility" to Hiroshima is maintaining a viable/profitable company and by doing this it is able to keep the profits and workforce in the community.
Mazda is resisting pressure to shift the production away from the domestic plants, but they're slowly following analyst advise about moving their facilities off shore.
By moving slowly through the process of moving off shore, maybe some jobs in Hiroshima can saved while the other part of the workforce moves off shore. This might cut into the company's profit, but will help the community stay financially healthy. DB

Making the Most of Cultural Differences

3M has shown that a multinational company can be successful. 3M didn't try to change Russia into a foreign United States, but worked with the employees in the culture they lived in and could relate to. By hiring the supervisors from the area, the workers knew what would be expected of them. By training the workers against taking bribes and corruption, 3m has turned a potential problem into something positive. 3M went into Russia to make a difference. They did their homework and knew what they would need to do to make this venture successful.

3m has succeeded in complying with Richard DeGeorge's guidelines to help corporations fit in and be successful. In addition, they have taken the UN Global Compact agreement seriously and have lived up to this agreement.

Making the Most of Cultural Differences

Any smart businessman should take the time and make the effort to know and understand his labor force whether operating at home or abroad. From time honored practices like sending birthday and anniversary wishes, to being able to ask an employee about important events or people in their lives, treating people as people and not machines is not only good business, it's the right thing to do.

When operating if a foreign country, this task is even more difficult because it's much more difficult to relate to your employee's on a personal level because of the different experiences that they have due to cultural differences.

The example of 3M in Russia is enlightening because it shows how a company that is willing to make the effort can break down the barriers that would naturally lead to distrust between the company and it's employees. By capitalizing on the natural strengths that a typical Russian employee would bring to the table and trying to help with the challenges that they might face in their day to day lives, they have not only made themselves a place that people would want to work. They have also given their work force good reason to be loyal and try to do a good job and go the extra mile to get the job done when necessary. DB

The best of the good

As society evolves, so does the role that businesses play in society. Because a business is made up of individuals and individuals should be responsible citizens and give back to the community, so too should a business.
The company I work for is located on the north side of Syracuse and is highly involved with the community through beautification and neighborhood development programs. It also promotes educational programs for its employees with reading, writing and learning to speak English and also educates the community on healthy lifestyle choices.
It's the right thing to do and it's good business because it's win win situation. The community benefits because of the company's involvement, and the company benefits because it's helping to build the community in which it operates. DB

The Ethical Leader's Decision Tree

Company's can have decision trees for ethical conduct, ethical guidelines, ethical training, etc. but if the management is not ethical, no amount of training or trees will change the outcome. In the article "The Ethical Leader's Decision Tree" Constance E. Bagley presents the example of a company moving it's manufacturing facilities oversees because of the chance to operate in country with less stringent environmental laws. Certainly this will benefit the companies bottom line and be good for the stock holders, but what about the effect on the surrounding communities because of this move?
At a minimum, the company needs to consider what is legal and what is permitted by the company's own ethical guidelines. But, on some deeper level, doesn't the ethical framework in which the company operates come down to the moral conviction of it's leaders? If the leader's of this company choose to, they can almost certainly rationalize the morality of any decision that they make and find ways around the legalities and ethical guidelines that would apply to this situation. So, doesn't it really come down to some adherence to the "Golden Rule" by the leadership of the company? If the decision maker's simply ask themselves how they'd want to be treated if they or their families lived in the town in which the company was relocated, then all questions involving the legality and ethical guidelines would answer themselves. DB

The Ethical Leader's Decision Tree

Isn't nice to know that there really are some important decision makers who try to make the right decisons based on how their decisions will affect others, not just how much money will this put in their pockets? I read several other Decision tree articles as well as the one by Constance Bagley. I am encouraged to find different decision trees based on what type of business is involved , rather then just generic decision trees that may not ask specific enough questions to help the officials find the right answers. I, even came upon a decision tree that the girl scouts use to determine what recognition awards their volunteers are entitled to receive.

Advocacy groups are using decision trees to help them decide what political candidates they are going to support.

New software and technology has been developed by various companies to give leaders more data to analysis before making those important decisions. It seems that in some instances, even after all the analysis, some decision makers still use "gut instincts" when faced with ethical decisions. After all, they have to be able to live with the decisions they make.

Some of the decisions seem like no-brainers. Then, there are those decisions that require a lot of thought, information and analysis before making the decision. I am glad that there are companies who provide the leaders with these decision trees . ss

The Ethical Mind

Most of this article gave me food for thought. It was difficult to pick out one thing that stood out more than any other. I do agree that whether you are trying to run an organization, family or a Fortune 500 compnay, you must believe that you are doing the right thing. When you find someone or something that isn't right, you should get the facts needed to stop the action before it gets to the point where it's too late. Then you can warn the individual to stop and if they don't, you have grounds needed to take action. This will also be helpful if the government imposes penalties. If you can show that you were aware of the action and tried to stop it, perhaps the fines and penalties will be less severe. Also, it is important to have an individual to consult before you make any decisions that may or may not be ethical. Granted those CEO's think that they are above the law and they won't get caught, but I can't imagine being willing to take that chance and risk everything. In addition, having to face your mother or have everyone in the world be able to read about your wrongdoings in the paper. Perhaps this isn't the best reasson for doing the right thing, but whatever works, right?

The Ethical Mind with Howard Gardner

It's ironic that I'm reading this article and one of the questions is: "what gets in the way of the ethical mind?" Gardner mentions that the behavior of students shows that there is an increase in cheating and doing whatever it takes to succeed.
Right here in CNY a group of current and former students at FM High School are accused of tampering with their student transcripts and the headline in the Post-Standard is "Why Kids Cheat". What's going on? Is it due to the pressure that people are under,or do they feel that they can get away with it and can forget about what is right and wrong?
Because there are different influences on children, parents need to make sure they continue to do the right thing by setting a positive example, being part of their children's lives and guide them in the right direction. DB

THE ETHICAL MIND with Howard Gardner

Foxes guarding the henhouse?
I do not feel that increasing auditing requirements has been an ethical solution to questionable audits. In fact, as is frequently the case when politicians get involved in trying to protect us from ourselves, this law has only resulted in more paper work and greater expense, while having little effect on fixing the problem that it was intended to address.
With the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, companies are spending a lot more money on both internal and external audits. This puts a smaller company at risk of closing due to the fact that their financial burden would be the same as a larger company and they don't have the resources to devote to completing these audits. Some larger international firms are also being feeling the effect of the law. For example, Porsche AG announced that it will not place their shares on the NYSE because it would fall under the law's jurisdiction, and since they already have an obligation to operate under the laws of their home country, they wouldn't be able to comply to both requirements. Surely, this was an unforeseen consequence of the law.
The only winners of this Act might be the ones who were part of the original scandals in 2001, the accountants and their accounting firms. Having more audits being completed by the same cast of characters would seem to invite the same results. Ultimately, companies will act in an ethical way when they see that it's in their best interest to do so. Surely, the examples of Enron and others who got caught up in their own lies and deceptions would serve as a warning to others about the consequenses of unethical business practices. DB

Corporate Goverance by John Dean

I found the video of John Dean to be very interesting and informative. I like the fact that he believes that humanistic values are important in helping to make a business more successful. I agree with the core values of integrity, respect and trust being entertwined with visionary values of excellence, vision for the future and ownership to be among the most important values a company should have to be successful. This shows that the employees are interested in working to make their company successful and not just to collect their paycheck. They are invested in their jobs.

The book he talked about in which the authors did research for 6 years to find truly exceptional companies proved that caring about your employees, customers and stockholders can make you more successful that if your only concern is your profits. The example of the investment of $1 in 1926 and the return on that dollar by the excetional company spoke for itself. Who wouldn't want to invest their money in a company who will work to give you that kind of return on your money? ss

Corporate Governance

The Corporate Governance video focused on the balance that a CEO, as the leader of a business, must strike between being attentive to the personal demands of the employees and the need to be productive and profitable. As much as any boss would like to have all of their people come to work every day focused solely on business, that's not realistic. Every business is to some extent made of of human beings that come to work every day with physical and emotional baggage that will effect their job performance.

The interesting thing about the video was that the speaker, John Dean, pointed out that the very human element that could be viewed as an obstacle to productivity, can be turned in to an asset. He used the example of a business that was failing and how the employees rallied behind their boss who had been stricken with a serious illness. By doing all that they could to accommodate the needs of this person, the business gained the trust and loyalty of the work force, which helped it to turn it's performance around.

It would be nice if being a leader of an organization could come with set of instructions that one could follow to ensure their success. However, when dealing with people, no such manual would ever be sufficient. If you do "X" with one person, "Y" will be the result. If you do "X" with another person, "Z" might be the result. In fact, if you do "X" with that same person on a different day, something totally different could be the result. It really makes running a business enough to drive you crazy, but it also is what makes running a business fun. DB

Walmart
A private business's primary obligation is to satisfies it's stockholders. After all, the stockholder's are the people that provide the capital that enables that business to exist. As such, Walmart has certainly satisfied it's investor's over the years by providing a huge return on their investment.

Beyond their obligation to satisfy their investor's a business such as Walmart has an obligation to treat it's vendor's, customer's and employees in a ethical manner. The relationship between a business and it's customers and vendors would seem to be different sides of the same coin. The business is looking for vendors who can provide them with some type of goods or services for the best price, and the customer is looking for the business to do the same for them. Walmart's ability to buy at a low price and pass the savings on to their customers is a benefit to their customers and their customers have rewarded them by giving them more of their business. This also indirectly benefits the community because a thriving business means more jobs for the people living in that community.

Walmart routinely pays it's employees more than minimum wage and provides benefits not required by law. Like any other business Walmart does this in order to attract a labor force capable of doing the jobs that need to be done and not out of any moral obligation to provide some acceptable standard of living. People are free to make the choice to work at Walmart if they wish. If Walmart wants to attract good people that will help them to make a profit, they need to pay those people what they're worth.

I personally do not shop at Walmart. I prefer to shop at smaller stores because I'm willing to pay a little bit more to get the more personal service that you can't get at Walmart. I respect anyone else's right to chose to shop wherever they would like to shop. However, I do find it hypocritical for people to shop at Walmart because of the prices, and then lay the blame for the negative impact of that choice entirely on Walmart. DB

"Wal-mart"

I have to say that after reading this case study last night, I had second thoughts about shopping at Wal-Mart today. I did go there today but must admit was more aware of the prices I was paying and bought much less than in the past. I had heard all the stories about the poor business practices of this company but never gave it much thought before.

The Wal-Mart management philosphy has me a bit puzzled. I see the Social Contract Approach in the way they are able to make so much money for their stockholders and suppliers. When they move into a community with a new store, they help the area by employing many local people and giving business to the local suppliers. At the same time, I see the Instrumental Approach where they are mainly concerned with profits and meeting the needs of the consumers. My question, though, is who are they really helping besides their stockholders when Wal-Mart moves into a rural area and basically takes over the town, closing the neighborhood stores, forcing the local suppliers out of business. This causes local people to lose their jobs and then, once Wal-Mart has accomplished this feat, they are free to raise their prices and treat their employees poorly since they no longer have any local competition. If this truly is the way, Wal-Mart does business, why is it that some many communities are allowing Wal-Mart to move into their neighborhoods?
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Wal-Mart may pay their employees more than minimum wage and offer benefits not required by law, but as I see it, are done for P.R. reasons. They are trying to overcome bad publicity from several lawsuits that have be filed against them. I believe that for the most part they follow the Strategic CSR. I base this on the fact that they do things to promote the good things they do to increase sales and have a good reputation in the community for helping local charities and organizations. They hope that people will want to shop in a store that helps out the community and will be willing to overlook the past issues. Do they get away with not promoting more women because as a society, we still believe men do the job better? ss

The Role of Business in Tomorow's Society

Tonight I watched a short video clip about what role that business's should play in solving some of the problems that the world is facing as we move into the future. It was very interesting because it made me think about what obligations a business might have beyond selling goods and services for a profit. The clip focused on a group called Tomorrow's Leaders, this group of businesspeople are shaping their business strategies looking for ways to address some of the social and economic issues facing much of the world's population, while at the same time making a money for their companies.

The two issues that the video examined were the lack of clean drinking water that is a problem for billions of people in the world, and a declining environment. By approaching these problems as tremendous growth opportunities for their companies, this group has taken a positive approach and started to create a model that other businesses can follow in the future. Of course, one of the biggest challenges these businesses face is finding an efficient distribution method when working in underdeveloped parts of the world. Right now they're forced to work through government programs and relief agencies because of the expense.

As we move into the future, the hope would be that these programs can be self sustaining so that they don't have to depend on contributions or the local tax base for support. It was very interesting to consider how making profits and dealing with social issues, two things that seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, can actually be pursued at the same time. Let's hope that this type of approach catches on in the future. We certainly have enough "opportunities" facing us. DB

What struck a nerve after 2 classes

Several things have struck a nerve and given me many things to think about. The story about the old man who stole the drugs to save his wife's life was one . I can picture my parents(they're celebrating 50 years of marriage this year) in that situation and know without a doubt that either of them would have done just what the old man did to save the other. The conseunces wouldn't matter at all. Actually, I can see almost anyone who loves someone in the same predictment as the old man and willing to take the consequences. How unfair things are that this man could go to jail for trying to save someone's life.

Another thing that has given me much to think about was that there is a lot more the a H.R. manager than I realized, I guess. Yes, I was aware that you would be involved in hiring and firing, etc., but having to make decisions such as the one you had to make regarding the VP who had taken a leave of absence to care for her husband was something I'd never considered before. From this course I am already getting a sense that there is much more to a HR position than I realized. Has anything so far caused me to reconsider my major? No, just making me more aware of different aspects and responsibilites associated with the job.

A question was asked in class.
Does your company have a code of ethics?
Yes it does. But when asked to name a few, I couldn't answer.
The next day at work, I went on line and found the Code of Ethics in the St Joseph's Hospital Employee Handbook. It stated that "all persons share the responsibility of observing the Code of Ethics".
The code of ethics outlined the objective and two key points: Integrity and Reverence for All.
Some of the ethics had to do with patient care but in some instances the word patient could be replaced with employee. Once I read though the code it struck me that even though I couldn't verbalize what St Joseph's Code of Ethics were on Monday night, I have been following them in the workplace the last 9 years. DB