Corporate Greed Hurts the Whole World
Gordon Gekko, the infamous villain of Wall Street (1987), may have said it best, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” And while many businesses have embraced the concept as part of a broader strategy for economic growth and innovation, for the most part, greed can be greeted with a healthy mixture of speculation and disdain. Greed, the constant struggle for more, is blind. It does not take into consideration the needs of others, what is right, or the consequences of single-minded pursuit at the expense of all else. So while there are parts of greed that are “good”, such as motivation, competition, and self-betterment, by and large greed is a vice rather than a virtue, and should be avoided. As history has shown again and again, greed can only lead to detrimental effects; and with the global economy blending the finances of the world, the next major catastrophe will almost certainly be on an international in scale. Read more
Are Salary Deductions Legal and Ethical?
Say you’ve been employed with the same company for a number of years. The company falls on hard times and they have to make some tough decisions. First they subject newer employees to layoffs while those with seniority are kept on. You are saddled with more work, but you don’t complain. You want to do what is right for the company you work for and at least you still have a job. But the business continues to lose money. In order to keep their doors open, they elect to implement salary cuts across the board. Now you are not only doing more work, but you’re doing it for less money. You’re happy to have a job, but you worked hard and earned raises, and a salary cut means that you won’t be able to pay all your bills. You like the company you work for, but you have to survive. Can you fight this salary cut by appealing to the ethical sensibilities of the people who run the company? If that fails, do you have legal recourse? Read more
The Issues Behind Gambling Legalization
There are many places in the world where you can go to gamble: Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Singapore, and Macau, for example. Heck, you can even fire up your computer and play some online poker without ever leaving the house. This is something that many adults choose to do as a pastime or a profession, while others become addicted to it. So why is gambling illegal in some parts of the world? Shouldn’t every adult have the right to decide how and where they spend their hard-earned dollars? In truth, it’s not entirely about the people who roll the dice or play cards for the chance to win big. There’s a lot of shady business behind the gaming industry, and in most cases, governments ban it because they lack the ability to properly regulate it. Read more
Ethical Lending: The Right of Rescission
Most people looking to get a loan don’t realize how many measures there are in place to protect them. Although lenders are running a business just like anyone else, and their goal is to make money, the government has several regulations in place concerning the lending of money to ensure that uniformed individuals are not being taken advantage of (although apparently it wasn’t enough to prevent the mortgage lending crisis). In any case, one of the many ways that lenders are required to act responsibly pertains to the right of rescission (commonly called the “cooling-off period”). If you haven’t heard of this right, don’t be surprised. Most people who elect to take out a loan have no idea that this regulation exists. Most banks won’t offer it to you; you just have to know about it. However, it could be the one thing that saves you from getting caught up in a really unfortunate lending situation. Read more
The Ethical Treatment of Injured Workers
Whether your business is construction, you run an upscale restaurant, or your employees spend all day in a cubicle in front of a monitor, you may at some point have to deal with an on-the-job injury. In some cases, this occurrence will have nothing to do with the job or it may be the fault of the employee (which doesn’t necessarily free you of liability) and in other instances, faulty facilities, equipment, or simple negligence may be to blame. Ultimately, it may not matter what caused an accident or injury. The point is that it happened while someone was in your employ and under your roof (so to speak), which could have very serious ramifications for your business. Of course there is the legal aspect to consider, and this will vary by country, state, province, and so on. But even beyond that, you should always consider the ethical responsibility that you hold where the health and welfare of your employees is concerned. Read more
Ethical Concerns for Used Car Dealers
There’s no doubt about it: the used-car salesmen of the world have developed a pretty bad reputation. They might be even lower on the totem pole than lawyers (who are at least getting paid to protect you, even if they charge an arm and a leg for it). But the stereotype of disreputable conduct and hucksterism that has become associated with those who peddle used automobiles didn’t come from nowhere; otherwise there wouldn’t be lemon laws in countries across the globe. However, this doesn’t mean that every used-car dealership should suffer from this stigma. If you happen to run such a business and you want to separate yourself from the pack, there are a few ethical concerns that you may need to address to your customers in order to prove that you’re strictly on the up-and-up. Here are just a few things to consider when it comes to making your customers feel comfortable and keeping them satisfied. Read more
The Appeal of Deduction vs. the Fear of Audit
The recession has caused some very real problems for businesses large and small. Between dwindling earnings, forced layoffs, and a near future that looks rather bleak, many companies across the globe are looking for ways to stretch every last dollar, and deductions are a great way to decrease the payout to government entities. Although corporate tax returns were filed last month (they’re scheduled differently than individual income tax returns), the anxiety for businesses could just be starting in earnest. It’s not always entirely clear what can be legally counted as a deduction. Technically, any expense related to making a profit can be cited as a legitimate deduction (from employee salaries and benefits, to leases and utilities on buildings, to insurance and interest on business loans). But some businesses take it too far (if you’ve gone so far as to deduct the gas you use to take cans and bottles from your office down to the recycling center, or you’ve started charging personal trips on your corporate card, you may have a toe over the line). And once you begin flirting with illegitimate deductions, it’s only a matter of time before the auditor comes to call. Read more
Transocean Execs Rewarded for Failure
Every company dreams of becoming a household name, but when British Petroleum (BP) became known to just about every man, woman, and child across the globe at this time last year, it was not with accolades, but rather to worldwide outrage. On April 20th, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico (operating under the BP banner) suffered an explosion that not only killed eleven workers (and injured 17 others), but launched a 3-month oil spill, doing environmental damage the likes of which had never before been seen. By the time the well was capped on July 15th, it was estimated that almost 5 million barrels of oil had spilled into the Gulf (at the height of the disaster, upwards of 60,000 barrels a day were pumping into the warm gulf waters), covering nearly 4,000 square miles of ocean (before dispersal). And while the U.S. government ultimately laid responsibility at the feet of oil giant BP, it was more or less conceded that Transocean, the company that actually owned and directly operated the rig, was at the heart of the disaster. Read more
Should Businesses Foot the Bill for Relocation?
In times past, when corporations were kinder, gentler, and generally smaller, employees were treated like family (you can still find this dwindling dynamic in some small or family-run companies). In those days, if relocation was required in order to keep one’s job, there was no question about whether or not the company would pay the cost. It was expected. These days, you’re lucky if you can squeeze a cost-of-living increase out the company that you labor for. But some businesses are still willing to foot the bill if your services are indispensable, even at a time when maybe they should be doing their utmost to operate within their means (as in hiring locally). The real question is: if your company requires that you move to another location in order to continue your employment with them, should they be responsible for paying the tab? Read more
The Future of Car Production
We all know that the current production cycle of automobiles is in peril. With petroleum looking to peter out in the next 40-50 years, people already complaining about the price at the pump, and harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions eating holes in our ozone and leading to global warming, we simply can’t continue on the path we’re on for long (whether we want to or not). Of course, there are electric cars to consider. But there has been a lot of contention about whether or not the batteries are recyclable or if they will simply stack up in landfills. It seems that the individual freedoms granted by the personal vehicle may come to an abrupt end sometime in the near future, and not a moment too soon. Read more