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Introduction
The article selected for this assignment is entitled The Virtue of Business: How Markets Encourage Ethical Behavior by Rachel Kotkin. A summary and discussion of the relevance of the article will be presented.
Summary
Kotkin (2010) emphasized the importance of “ethical entrepreneurship” – a business strategy that begins with the differentiation of goods and services by first figuring out ways in which current markets are frustrating customers and then finding ways to respond to customer dissatisfaction by “selling” honesty, virtue and quality. In other words, promoting the business principle that “ethical behavior is good for long-run profitability” (p. 47).
In the article, case studies for Barnum & Bailey’s Circus, Whole Foods, and BB&T Bank, were presented to “illustrate how the market rewards virtuous behavior, even without consumers trying to do so” (Kotkin, 2010, p. 47). Barnum & Bailey’s Circus reformed the deceitful and negative reputation of the circus industry by selling tickets for reasonable prices, employing honest ticket sellers, closely monitoring their employees for dishonest behavior and requiring costly repercussions for violators, hiring private detectives to ward off pickpockets, and similar developments to improve their business integrity and market the circus as an honest source of entertainment for families. Whole Foods applies a “customer-first model” (Kotkin, 2010, p. 51) that supports the theory that if the customer is happy, then the business will be more profitable. In addition, the company advocates for environmentally friendly production methods and aims to make the world a better place while remaining profitable, by promoting animal welfare, sustainable seafood and supports the local co...
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... (1996). Commercial Scenarios for the Web: Opportunities and Challenges. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.labeee.ufsc.br/~luis/egcec/artigosdoc/CE-comercial%20scenarios-hoffman.PDF
Kotkin, R. (2010). The Virtue of Business: How Markets Encourage Ethical Behavior. Journal of Markets and Morality, 13(1), 45-58. Retrieved July 6, 2014, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.trident.edu:2048/docview/1439118559?accountid=28844
PBS. (n.d.). Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town, Business Practices. Retrieved from PBS.org: http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3.html
Schroeder, H. (2013). The Art of Business Relationships Through Social Media. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/the-organization/the-art-of-business-relationships-through-social-media#.U8TFGfldUo4
Alexander Hill, Just Business Christian Ethics for the Marketplace. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2008. Paperback. $14.95Jessica Burt
Ethics, the moral principles that govern a person’s or group 's behavior, are one of the most important lessons to be learned in post high school education. Ethics are what people and companies all over the world are taught to practice in order to create a fair and just society for both the consumer and the business or organization. However, as companies expand and gain more power, the question of what is ethical slowly begins to fade as it is overcome by the question of what is more convenient, cheaper, and will result in the most profit. Thus, creating an advantage to large corporations over the consumer, while allowing for everyone else to suffer at the expense of the earnings of the corporations. Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle,
2.Goodpastor, Kenneth. Nash, Laura. de Bettignies, Henri-Claude. Business Ethics: policies and persons 4th edition. Mcgraw Hill Irwin Publishers. Pages 396-405
Ever heard that cliché stating money is the route to all evil? What if the subject of Wal-Mart was brought into the mix of this cliché? Wal-Mart is known as the highest money making supply chain store in America. When at the top of the food chain everything might not seem as it appears. After watching The Wal-Mart Documentary: The High Cost of Low Price, I am strongly against Wal-Mart in America because of several reason but will narrow it down to: the closings of small businesses, high crime rate, and discrimination against employees.
7.Gregory Wester, Stephen Franco. The Internet Shakeout 1996. Interactive Commerce Research Bulletin. the Yankee Group, Boston, MA. December 1995
Applying the idea of moral goodness with business, however, is often a contradictory concept in lieu of the malicious and often scandalous behavior that businesses are notoriously publicized with. Enron, an energy company based out of Houston, Texas, is perhaps the most popular of scandals of the century thus far. Their name is synonymous with corporate fraud and corruption after the allegations of accounting fraud hit the headlines in 2001. The scandal was also considered a landmark case in the field of business fraud and brought into question the accounting practices of many corporations throughout the US (Raslan, 2009). Under this shroud of deceptive business practices and activities, applying the idea of moral goodness with business is a difficult sell to readers.
Spokane Industries has contracted Franklin Electronics for an 18 month product development contract. Franklin Electronics is new to using project management methodologies and has not been exposed to earned value management methodologies. Even though Franklin and Spokane have worked together in the past, they have mainly used fixed-price contracts with little to no stipulations. For this project, Spokane Industries is requiring Franklin Electronics to use formalized project management methodologies, earned value cost schedules, and schedules for reports and meetings. Since Franklin Electronics had no experience with earned value management, the cost accounting group was trained in the methodology in order to bid for the project.
Quinn, Bill. How Walmart Is Destroying America (and the world), And What You Can Do About It. Third Edition. Ten Speed Press, 2005. Print.
Wagner-Tsukamoto, S. 2007. Moral agency, profits and the firm: Economic revisions to the Friedman theorem. Journal of Business Ethics, 70, 209–220.
This paper examines the ethical foundations of two companies operating in very different markets. Starbucks’ is a chain of coffeehouses specializing in gourmet coffee lines. Starbucks is based on sound ethical principals permeated through the central core of its business operations. The result of several probes leads to a conclusion that Starbucks does business in a profitable and morally sound manner.
Recall the tale of an impoverished man who steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. In the instance when two moral obligations collide, the only way to comply with one is to violate the other. No matter which course is chosen, the other must be ignored.”(Freeman, Engels & Altekruse 2004) Stealing and breaking the law challenges the philosophy of breaking the responsibility of caring for one’s family. Accountants need to think clearly, challenge the possibilities, understand the options, and acknowledge the consequences. The choice to steal bread will vary from one person to another, but as Christians, dying of hunger is more of a reward than a consequence. Accountants can learn from examples of people and companies who have been faced with pressing ethical dilemmas. Accountants can learn from Bernard Madoff and his $61 billion ponzi scheme that ruined thousands of people’s life savings (Freshman 2012), or Enron “circumventing the rules, temporarily changing or suspending the rules, and outright thievery to achieve his objectives” (Gini 2004). Knowledge about the past will lead people to make wise ethical decisions. The world can clearly see the consequences that these people and firms have undergone and do not want to follow in that path. There are responsible businesses, like Frito-Lays who have a major go green campaign. They have a better business by reducing their natural
Business morals are a type of expert morals that analyzes moral standards and morals or honorable issues that emerge in a matter. Business morals apply to all parts of business behavior and its pertinence to the behavior of people and business association in general. This paper will focus on whether or not Ramona Alexander should sign a contract with Next Step Herbal Health Company. I will outline discussion points and draw my conclusion from the following ethical concepts, integrity, honesty, business code of ethics, and biblical, to suppose my decision as to why I would advise Ramona against signing a contract with Next Step Herbal Health.
Leonard Prescott, vice president and general manager of Weaver-Yamazaki Pharmaceutical of Japan, believed that John Higgins, his executive assistant, was losing effectiveness in representing the U.S. parent company because of an extraordinary identification with the Japanese culture.
"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." Top Documentary Films. Web. 8 Aug 2011. .
Moral Development and Moral Reasoning, Business Ethics MGT610, pg 8 and 9, viewed 18 January 2014