In society, many may know of William “Bill” H. Gates III, and his achievement with Microsoft through his successful ideals as a businessman. Prevalent and iconic men and women not only flourish in their careers, but also in the attention they spend on matters outside of their business and their contribution to society. Bill Gates presents a virtuous character, but one should understand his most prevalent virtue along with a vice that he has displayed to decide if he represents an ethical leader.
Background
Bill Gates demonstrates magnificence as his well-known virtue and has displayed rashness as a vice. The behavior of magnificence in virtue ethics focuses on the habits of spending or getting of an individual relating to their character,
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One area that Gates shows his true virtue comes from his financial generosity. According to Okie (2006), since the union of the Gates’ in 1994, they have strived to focus on charity to the health of the world through the establishment of the William H. Gates Foundation. This foundation, later renamed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, represents a resourceful and thoughtful move by Bill Gates as a successful businessman (Okie, 2006). This move resulted in the donation of billions of dollars of charitable giving in just the first ten years that reflected positively on his success in Microsoft (Okie, 2006). With the help of his friend, Paul Allen, Bill Gates started Microsoft with the vision of the future in computers and software development (Pittel, 2014). When examining the virtue of magnificence, one must understand the fine line between giving too much as an ethical leader or giving too little. When examining these potentials, one must explore the possibility that Gates gives too little in comparison to the vast amount of wealth in his …show more content…
According to Theodhosi (2000), at the young age of fifteen, he was able to recognize the possibility that the royalty basis used for payroll would present more financial gain than the traditional route. At nineteen years old, Gates recruited classmates and peers to aid him in setting up his first business with the flow of traffic charts. In this business, named “Traf-O-Data,” he charged much less than competitors (Theodhosi, 2000). This was one of the first moves as an entrepreneur that Gates displayed the vice of rashness, because he was making a risky move that showed the possibility of excess courage through deciding to approach a business model with an unprecedented method of gaining revenue (Theodhosi, 2000). The vice of rashness comes from the surplus of the virtue of courage, and the virtue of courage presents a moderate display of being bold (Brusseau, 2012). Gates showed more than a moderate display of boldness from this business move and continued his impulsive decision-making further with his decision on the release of the BASIC computer language at nineteen years old (Theodhosi, 2000). With the help of Paul Allen, Gates released the BASIC language of a personal computer and made the hasty decision of making a deal on the revenue through royalties on
As we lose ourselves and our values, worth, and identity as people in the corporate culture, the objectives of monetary profit, status within a company, and machine-like work ethics replace our ethical judgement and our values as people. Perhaps there is nothing we can do about it; after all Skilling and Fastow did not realize what they were doing is immoral and illegal until they were sentenced or even released from their sentence. We are all too absorbed in this capitalistic corporate world we live in. Just like the ancient Chinese philosopher Fu Xuan said, “He who is close to the ink will be stained black,” (Fu, “Prince Shao Fu Xuan”), We have been too used to the immorality and unethical practices of corporate culture that we’re not only numb to the wrongdoings of others within this capitalist society, but we also replace our values as people and our ambitions to do good with objectives of the corporate world. Prebbles posed us the question that after centuries of capitalism’s existence in our society, will our ambitions to do good prevail against our monetary desires and the corporate norm of only profit-driven decisions?
To apply this system of moral values effectively, one must understand the structural levels at which ethical dilemmas occur, who is involved in the dilemmas, and how a particular decision will affect them. In addition, one must consider how to formulate possible courses of action. Failing in any of these three areas may lead to an ineffective decision, resulting in more pain than cure.” Ken Blanchard states, “Many leaders don’t operate ethically because they don’t understand leadership; these executives may have MBA’s from Ivey League schools or have attended leadership training; they may routinely read the best-selling management books, however, they don’t understand what it means to be a leader.” They don’t model a way of ethical behaviors.
Gates’s idea regarding philanthropy due to the fact that upon setting up his foundation in 2000, he already was aware of the widespread criticism of existing programs to help the less fortunate. Moreover, successful programs, such as the Green Revolution, were overshadowed by growing awareness of their negative side effects on the environment and local cultures. Mr. Gates had growing awareness of such limits sparking new ideas on how businesses could approach poor countries. However, there is little evidence of benefit from the $2.3 trillion given in foreign aid over the past five decades. For example, all the aid given to Africa over the years has failed to stimulate economic growth on the continent. One might argue that there are just as many needy individuals in America, why not try to critically think of way to innovate to embody the struggling Americans, rather than poor countries around the
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers to be appropriate. A person’s moral principals are shaped from birth, and developed overtime throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes whats is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company. (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010) Business ethics is when ethical behavior is applied in an business environment, or by a business. There are many situations that can arise in which a person is experiencing an ethical dilemma. They have to choose between standing by their own personal ethical standards or to comply with their companies ethical standards. In some instances some have to choose whether to serve their own personal interests, or the interest of the company. In this essay I will be examining the financial events surrounding Bernie Madoff, and the events surrounding Enron.
Being the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates had already made millions of dollars while also becoming more and more famous for his work with computers. So it came as no surprise when he took over his father’s previous foundation called the William gates Foundation and renaming it the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in 1997. Quickly donations were made to many universities and colleges such as the University of Washington. They were awarded a donation of twelve million dollars. The Gates Foundation also contributed two million dollars to the Seattle Area YMCA, twenty million dollars to the Seattle Public Library, and one million dollars to the Tacoma Art Museum. The Gates also devised plans to improve public education as well as attacking global issues. Of course one knows that at one point in time technology was only available for the rich or in other words only the rich could obtain certain information or knowledge that the poor couldn’t. Bill and Malinda gates understood this so they created a second program called the Gates Library fou...
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) This verse asks the question how can someone profit or take advantage of the world if they damage or lose their character along the way, what is worth more than one’s soul? This question can help one in determining their ethics by balancing what is right, meaningful, and most important to them. Knowing and understanding one’s ethical values is important on the path towards achieving one’s goals.
Bill Gates: “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
Bill Gates is now helping people in developing countries get water and an education full time. He created what is called the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “In 2008 he left the company to devote himself full-time to his charity the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”(Harris 1). He has worked his whole life to get the success and money that he has today and instead of keeping it to himself he has given it back to society in many generous ways. He also is helping developing countries with their needs that aren't accessible to them. “They helped vaccinate African and Asian children against diseases like polio and malaria. And they have been very successful in helping get rid of these diseases for good.”(Harris 1). This foundation helped poorer countries get the medical help they need to get rid of illnesses that should have already been gone by now. Bill and his wife had had an impact on the world by doing these things
Through his intelligence and excellent business skills, Bill Gates was able to change the world. As a technological genius he founded the worlds largest software company. He has also been extremely generous, donating more than thirty billion dollars as a philanthropist. He is, without a doubt a catalyst for change, tirelessly working to make the world a better place.
Although virtue ethics is deeply divided in interpreting the virtue of different characteristics and the morality of their manifestations in society, it consists of six essential rules that can be found in all forms of virtue ethics. According to one of those rules, an action is morally correct if a person with a virtuous character would perform the same action in the same circumstances (Oakly & Cocking, 2004), and that rule could explain Sally's case as morally correct action. However, several people could argue that virtue ethics should be practiced without harming others. While Sally is assisting a man in need, she is also working against the company policy. It has been argued that business environments can provide a suitable environment to practice virtues, but the opposition states that it is closer to deontological requirements for following rules that are not necessarily based on personal characters and virtues (Moore, 2002).
The purpose of writing this essay is to give an idea how these two respected CEOs of multinational companies has changed the world. Technology is booming nowadays, even the minor things that we can do manually are done using technology. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple computer and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has changed the world. These two leaders are best known for their innovations which has taken our world to the next level. Steve and Bill has got something in common. Surprisingly, both of these CEO had never graduated from college, but they are known to be the world most successful leaders and they both work in the same kind of company (Lashinsky, 2013). Nevertheless, their leadership styles differs (Peralta,2011). The way they treat the employees at the workplace is in contrast.
While Bill Gates was at junior high a group of parents raise money to purchase the first computerized terminal in the school. When that happened he decided to take all his time to work on that system teaming with other students to learn about different operating systems. He excelled in his learning of systems and he started developing ideas to make business with companies in order to learn how they make their terminals. His mind for busi...
So here I present you the path that gave us the Bill Gates we have today. Firstly, Bill Gates was fortunate enough to be born in a fine and educated family, where his parents were an educator and a lawyer. He had the privilege to all the essential necessities, such as clothing, food, and water sources which many other kids do not have. More than that, his family was wealthy enough to buy him toys and games and other things which would be far too extravagant to others. These small things created a stronger foundation for Bill Gates’
that in many published definitions of an entrepreneur, you will find the name Bill Gates followed closely.
Business nowadays encounter with a lot of moral challenges in today’s global economy. Everyone is thriving to be more successful than their competitors, to make their next profits, to keep their job, to earn a big bonus, or to compete effectively. There exists temptation to bend lines, omit information, and do whatever it takes to get ahead of their competition. Many business employees and executives succumb. Sadly, the theme becomes...