Five easy principles?

This article talks about five ethical principles that should be the foundation of one’s life. Do no harm, make things better, respect others, be fair, and be comassionate are the five principles this article states should be used in everyone’s life if they want to live ethically. Are these the most important, or are there others that they forgot to mention?

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jan2007/ca20070111_219724.htm

Who should benefit?

This article talks about who should be affected by our actions and gives the order of them all. First, it should be yourself, then your spouse or partner, then immediate family, then distant family, then friends, then boss and co-workers, then members of the community, then fellow citzens, and then everyone else. Do you agree with that order?

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jan2007/ca20070118_888225.htm

promise-keeping

This article talks about the aspects of promise-making and keeping your promises in the business world. First, don’t make promises you can’t keep. Second, keep the promises you make. Third, if you can’t keep the promise for a legitimate reason, be honest with the person you made the promise to. Are there any other aspects you can think of?

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jan2007/ca20070131_992542.htm

Ethical Principle: Be Fair

This article talks about fainess and discrimination. It states that universities discriminate against students whose grade-point average and SAT scores are below a certain level. Employers discriminate against applicants who lack a required knowledge or skill. “Discrimination is unfair only when it’s based on irrelevant criteria” (Weinstein). What qualifies as irrelevant criteria?

The Ethics of Resume Writing

This article is about writing a resume for a job and when you cross the line ethically. This article states that “over 50% of people lie on their resume” (Korver). It also states that “executives caught lying on their resumes often lose their jobs” (Korver). It also talks about how people rationalize on their resumes. For example, “creating a more impressive job title because you were already doing all of the work of that position” (Korver), or “inflating the number of people or range of functions for which you had direct responsibility because you really did have a great deal of influence over them” (Korver) are rationalizations that people can put on their resumes. The best thing to do when deciding if whatever you put in your resume is ethical is to switch yourself with the hiring manger looking at your resume, or imagine your accomplishments on your resume were printed on the front page of the paper. Another thing the article suggests is to ask an old boss which may be difficult but will have its benefits.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/may2008/ca20080527_367723.htm

The Ethics of Outsourcing Customer Service

This article talks about how whenever a product you have purchased starts to have a problem, you call the company and they send you to a customer service associate over in India or the Philippines. You can’t understand what the representative is saying and when you ask to be transferred to someone in the U.S., you are put on hold for a very long time and eventually hang up. Companies do this because slashing labor costs by 25% to 50% keep the sharreholders happy. Even though this may seem like the right thing to do in terms of business, I think it will hurt the business in the long run and it is unethical as well. This will hurt the business because treating customers like this will make them stop buying from you and it is unethical because nobody, whether they are a customer or not, should be treated in such a way that makes them feel unwanted and unappreciated.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/sep2007/ca20070927_836850.htm

Should I Lie to Help the Company?

This article starts with an ugly busines situation. A man works for a publishing company that is struggling to stay in business. His boss gathers his employees together and tells them to go online to the websites where their books are being sold and write positine reviews of the books under fake names. He says that people really respond to positive reviews when it comes to buying books online. The man spoke up about this and questioned his boss if it was the right thing to do. His boss said that if he “didn’t want to be a team player”, then that was up to him(Weinstein). Is it morally right to post fake reviews online in hopes that you still have a job?

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jan2007/ca20070103_759245.htm

If it’s legal, it’s ethical…Right?

This talks about a TV crew for an A@E program called Intervention. The crew was filming a woman who is an alcoholic and they eventually allow her to drink and drive. This sounds ethically wrong, “but from a legal standpoint, third parties causing injuries to other third parties is not something a television program is really responsible for”. This article raises three meaningful questions that apply not just to the world of TV but to the world at large: (1)Are our responsibilities limited to what the law requires of us? (2)If we are legally allowed to do something, does that mean we ought to? (3)If there is no relevant law to speak of with respect to a “What should I do?” problem we’re facing, does that mean that anything goes? The answer to all three of these questions is “No”. So, legally the crew would not be responsible for any inuries the drunk driver would cause, but ethically they are accountable for what happens on their watch.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/oct2007/ca20071011_458606.htm

Downsizing 101

This article focuses on the ethical reponsibilities of someone who must be incharge of downsizing for a company. “Downsizing refers to a company’s decision to reduce its workforce for reasons other than poor performance, criminal conduct, or unethical behavior on the part of those being let go”(Weinstein). Downsizing is an ethical issue because no matter how strong the justifications are, laying off loyal and productive employees is a very difficult experience for everyone involved. Even though downsizing has legal implications and there are economic matters to consider, it is about ethics because a “good manager is concerned not just with protecting the company’s financial and legal interests but also with honoring the dignity and integrity of the human beings who work on the front lines and who are the lifeblood of the organization”(Weinstein).
The author of the article proposes a management guideline for downsizing ethically. First, do it in person since having a conversation with the person being let go is the right thing to do. Second, do it privately since most people would want to hear this news in private. Third, give the person your full attention showing that you do care about them and what they have done for your company. Fourth, be honest and tell the employee exactly why they are being let go. And fifth, don’t rush and allow your employee to have time for this news to sink in. I think this guideline would be very helpful for managers who have to downsize but want to do it ethically.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/sep2008/ca20080912_135498.htm

Renowned British chef apologizes to sick diners

Chef Heston Blumenthal has apologized to diners who got sick after eating at his restaurant, The Fat Duck. “It was deeply upsetting to all of us that your enjoyment of The Fat Duck was not as we had intended it to be”(Blumenthal). After the first few diners complained of vomiting after eating at the restaurant, a total of 529 diners came forward the following weeks complaining of feeling ill as well. The Health Protection Agency said that these diners were hit by the “winter vomiting bug” that was “probably introduced by contaminated shellfish”. A report by the Health Protection Agency states that restaurant employees who had the bug returned to work before they fully recovered from it. I think the restaurant’s actions were immoral here because the knew their employees were out sick and let them come back to work before making sure they wouldn’t get anyone else sick. Even if The Fat Duck isn’t technically reponsible for the diners’ illness, I think what they did was ethically wrong and should make sure all of their employees are healthy when at work.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33020997/ns/world_news-weird_news/?GT1=43001