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Ethical issues in business
Business ethical practices
Business ethical practices
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Case Response 1 The Ford Pinto case was very interesting to be able to tell if the case was morally wrong or not from a utilitarian perspective. In 1968, Ford decided to make a car that was cheap to make and economically friendly to the public. Ford was in competition with Germany and japan. The only problem with the car was that they put the gas tank in a dangerous location where if hit correctly, it would cause the car to combust. They failed the NHTSA crash test, which is 20 mph impact to the rear in 1970, but passed later buy adding a rubber bladder to the engine. This is where ford had to make a very tough decision, they had already sold plenty of cars without the installed bladder, so they could either recall the car to add the bladder
which only cost around $11 to install or to just take a chance and leave the car as is. They did a cost-benefit analysis to see which way would be most beneficial to the company and it ended up with a total benefit of 49.5 million dollars and a total cost of 137.5 million dollars to add bladders to all the cars. Ford chose to not recall the car. If they had done so, 95% of fatalities would have been avoided (Shaw 84). Finally, Ford failed a collision test and in 1976 and had to recall all Pinto’s in 1978 (Shaw 85).
Moncrief Company agreed to pay Jim Lester 20% of the gross profit made from the 2013 sales of the Zelenex. Between January 1, 2013 and December 28, 2013, Moncrief’s total available units for sale were, 50,000 units of Zelenex for $30.00 per unit ($1,500,000). Also in addition to the former activities, Moncrief sold 35,000 units for $60.00 per unit ($2,100,000). Moncrief Company uses periodic LIFO inventory method as a result, Jim Lester was to receive $210,000. (Textbook pg.469)
The litigation of R. v. Buhay is a case where the Charter of rights and freedoms was violated by the policing parties but maintained and performed by the Supreme Court of Canada. This litigation began after two individuals; of which one was Mervyn Buhay, rented a locker at the Winnipeg bus depot. Buhay began to distract the security guards while his friend placed a duffel bag in the locker they had rented. After they left, the security guards were so engrossed by the smell coming from the locker that they unlocked it to find a sleeping bag full of marijuana in the duffel bag. Buhay was arrested the day after the bag was taken into possession even though no warrant was received to search the locker in the first place. During the first trial, due to the violation of the Charter by the police officers, Buhay was acquitted. The Crown, however, appealed this ruling and the case was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada where once again Buhay was acquitted in a 9-0 ruling. Although Buhay committed a crime by possessing marijuana, the police violated the Charter by searching Buhay`s locker without a warrant or his consent, making the Supreme court of Canada`s decision to acquit Buhay reasonable. The Supreme Court of Canada`s decision to acquit Buhay was reasonable due to the fact that the police violated the Charter of rights, no warrant was received to unlock the locker let alone seize the duffel bag, and lastly because the bus depots terms for the locker were not efficiently provided to the customers making them aware of any reasonable search conduct.
Another similar case was the Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott, being a black man during the 1820's, was yet again considered inferior to bring his case to the court. From a reader's point of view, Dred Scott's case was very legit. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 made Scott a free man. All of the blacks going through the 35'36 altitude/latitude line were said to be free men. When Dred Scott entered Illinois, he entered thinking he was a free man, until his owner assaulted him upon the return. Dred Scott did his best to bring not one but three assault cases to the court against his "owner", John F. A. Sanford; however, the court dismissed him as inferior to take any participation or even demand a fair trial. The court also called upon the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional because of deprivation of personal property, which in this case was Dred Scott - a property of John Sanford. Eventually the sons of Sanford purchased Scott and his wife, and set them free. Scott died just a year after that.
There have been many, many court cases throughout the history of the United States. One important case that I believe to be important is the court case of Clinton v. New York. This case involves more than just President Bill Clinton, the City of New York. It involved Snake River Farmers’ as well. This case mostly revolves around the president’s power of the line item veto.
A very controversial court case in American history was Texas vs. Johnson (1984). In 1984, a man named Gregory Lee Johnson followed a group of anti – Reagan protesters to oppose the American exploitation of third world countries. This act of rebellion resulted in the burning of the American flag. Out of a total of approximately one hundred demonstrators who were involved in this ordeal, Johnson was solely charged with a crime. Johnson was arrested under Texas law, which made the burning of the United States or Texas flags crimes. Johnson was convicted and sentenced to one year in jail and fined two thousand dollars for his crime in restitution. Texas reasoned that the police were preventing the breach of peace; consider the flag a symbol of national unity. At Johnson's court trial, he was convicted of aiding, abetting and encouraging the burning of the Texan flag. This, in turn, made Johnson guilty under Texas state law.
This case was brought to the Supreme Court with Plessey’s argument being that his 13th and 14th Amendments was being violated. But Louisiana argued that the 14th Amendment states that everyone is to be treated equally and that is exactly what happened. They said that the cars were separate but equal and that abided by the Constitution while keeping the Jim Crow laws. The Supreme Court decided that no law was violated and took the state’s side. The Court upheld Plessey’s conviction, and ruled that the 14th Amendment guarantees the right to “equal facilities,” not the “same facilities.” In this ruling, the Supreme Court created the principle of “separate but equal,”(“Judicial Review”,
The Plessy v Ferguson case was an example that there was still discrimination in America. In 1890, Louisiana passed a law called the Separate Car Act that says all railroad
"A PITIFUL CASE." Los Angeles Times (1886-1922): 2. Mar 26 1889. ProQuest. Web. 22 Nov. 2013 .
On my quest to explore Christianity, I met a gentleman whose family operates a Muscadine grape business. He happens to be my Sunday school teacher. He asked if I would be willing to sell them at my store. I was interested, and I started promoting the grapes, and the products through their seeds. I personally invested a lot of time in the product by exposing it to my customers. The product became a hot commodity, and over time, I placed regular, increasing phone orders, and I began investing heavily in advertising for the Muscadine products at my store. I sometimes pay my invoices 15 to 30 days late however, that never seems to be a problem as he never charged me any late fees. I wanted our business to be formal so, I typed up a contract to
Pojman, L. (2002). 6: Utilitarianism. Ethics: discovering right and wrong (pp. 104-113). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
When we consider the case of the Ford Pinto, and its relative controversy, through the varied scope of ethical viewpoints, the results might surprise us. From a personal standpoint, as a consumer, the idea of selling a vehicle to the masses with such a potentially devastating flaw is completely unethical. When we consider the case from other directions and other ethical viewpoints, however, it makes it clear that often ethics are a matter of perspective and philosophy. It’s also clear that there are cases where more information will muddy the waters, rather than clear them.
Explain the connection between the economic model of corporate social responsibility and “free market” or “neoclassical” economic theory.
The term “ethical business” is seen, by many people, as an oxymoron. This is because a business’s main objective is to make as much money as possible. Making the most money possible, however, can often lead to unethical actions. Companies like Enron, WorldCom, and Satyam have been the posterchildren for how corporations’ greed lead to unethical practices. In recent times however, companies have been accused of being unethical based on, not how they manage their finances, but on how they treat the society that they operate in. People have started to realize that the damage companies have been doing to the world around them is more impactful and far worse than any financial fraud that these companies might be engaging in. Events like the BP oil
The Facts: Kermit Vandivier works for B.F. Goodrich. His job assignment was to write the qualifying report on the four disk brakes for LTV Aerospace Corporation. LTV purchased aircraft brakes from B.F. Goodrich for the Air Force. Goodrich desperately wanted the contract because it guaranteed a commitment from the Air Force on future brake purchases for the A7D from them, even if they lost money on the initial contract.
No, the fact that design flaws resulted in deaths makes the Ford Pinto completely in the wrong regardless of meeting the safety standards. Ethical standards were violated because there should be no flaws in the product ethically a company needs to guarantee to the best of their knowledge that there are no dangers in the product. Customers should be buying and trusting with the manufacturer selling a product that is safe and sound quality. Just meeting the standards alone in this case is unethical even though it may be a satisfactory goal for a manufacturer or company to achieve. The best company’s reputation and quality go hand in hand for maximum profits and for consumers to want to invest and trust in a company.