Business Ethics @ CCU Spr.10

Lawrence Taylor and Nutrisystem

dml15 — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:42:01 +0000

Lt got arrested this week for allegedly raping a 16 year old run away. This girl ran away from home in march and moved to NYC. While having just being accused of this crime a couple of days ago, nutrisystem has already severed their ties with him as a spokesperson. I think it is a little early for nutrisystem to do this considereing nothing has been confirmed and this girl is obviously mentally unstable since she ran away from home at 16, not to mention probably many other psychological issues she probably has at home that caused for to run. I just think nutrisystem is turning their back on a man that has had some issues in the past, but has made the most of his 10 years of sobriety.

http://www.usatoday.com/_ads/interstitial/2008/page/interstitial.htm?http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2010-05-07-taylor-nutrisystem_N.htm

Arizona Immigration Law

dml15 — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:34:33 +0000

The new arizona immigration law is very controversial because it brings up two very good points. while the US is trying to crack down on illegal immigration they have allowed government officers to racial profile any citizen suspected of illegal immigration. This means police can pull you over because your tan is darker than they think it should be. While I think it is important to eliminate illegal immigration, exploiting individuals human rights is pushing the limit. It is hard for me to find the moral justification in this law, and equally as difficult for me to understand how our “best” poilitcal minds can morally justify their support of this bill. There has to be a better way to deal with this issue.

Monitoring Employees on the Job

dabratsa — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:02:35 +0000

I think it is okay for companies to prevent workers from going onto distractible websites while they are working. The employee’s focus is not 100% and then a mistake can be made and others suffer as well as the company’s reputation. Employers are increasingly concerned with worker productivity and activity, especially if the monitoring is websites visited and they are inappropriate or even sexual. However, the thought of being watched every second or told, “you’re being watched,” adds stress and paranoia. This could in effect decrease job performance and create an on-edge atmosphere in the work place. To what extent should an employer monitor employee activity?

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=6506302

Whistle-blowers

dabratsa — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:31:28 +0000

This is a popular issue we all have right now because personally I could never understand why my Xbox 360 always broke. All my friends also have told me about the problem they have with Microsoft and the cheap parts they use, while my PS3 friends laugh at the rest of us saying they also get Blue Ray. This man (Delaware) felt a professional responsibility and I don’t blame him for believing in false advertising and if a company knows their product will fail; this is not the type of company I would want to work for, be loyal to, or promote as a ethical business.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/microsoft-fires-whistleblowing-employee

Job Discrimination

dabratsa — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:10:22 +0000

This article brings up job discrimination in the work place and it indicates the two most popular types answered on a survey are race and gender. Less than half of workers surveyed indicated there was a program about discrimination and many called them unnecessary. It seems discrimination is more and more the higher up you go in a business. For example, women seem to be able to get to middle management but eventually run into a glass ceiling as a result of a type of discrimination. A well-known debate about women in the work force is how they make 85% of what men make when working 40 to 44 hours a week. This is surprising and we still have no consensus answer for the reasons.

http://www.inc.com/news/briefs/200703/0301survey.html

Sexual Harassment in the workplace

dabratsa — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:42:13 +0000

This article defines and gives good examples of what is considered sexual harassment in the workplace. It brings up a good example of a women working at an all male job and the harassment she might get just for being female. This is considered a type of sexual harassment and this scenario can be switched for males as well.

Any type of harassment can contribute to a hostile and ineffective working environment even the male gaze can create tension between co-workers and as a result led to poor work performance. It is very important for a business owner and their managers to encourage and take steps toward creating a professional working environment. This article also brings up appropriate steps in taking toward ending the harassment if you are a victim.

http://www.equalrights.org/publications/kyr/shwork.asp

Face book and privacy settings

dabratsa — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:21:01 +0000

There have been many examples employees have done on face book that have gotten them in trouble with the company in which they work. For example, a miller light worker with his work shirt on posting a picture on face book of himself drinking a bud light at a bar. The company fired him as a response because an employee does have to promote a certain kind of loyalty toward their employer’s product. However, the reason why a company searches on the internet a future candidate for their workplace is so they can see if the candidate fits the company’s culture.

Technically anyone who works for any company and takes company and shareholder money as a return on service has an obligation to drive sales and profit for that company. The end result and realization is “employees need to treat information posted on social networking sites such as Face book or Twitter like public information, not a private diary” (par 9).

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=40f77fcf-f102-486e-b37d-1a413d4f3da7

Drug-Testing in the Work Place

dabratsa — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:50:21 +0000

The subject of whether or not it is appropriate to drug test in the workplace is a very hot topic in business ethics today. I believe a physical fitness test should be given instead of a drug test to ensure employees are in healthy condition. This issue is also important if the company is spending company money on health services for their employees and their employees engage in an unhealthy lifestyle. This unhealthy life-style may include the use of both legal and illegal drugs but it also includes, eating fast food, smoking tobacco and the use of tanning beds. This also means an employee should be given a long enough lunch break to be able to eat and have an appropriate diet.

The next argument that forms is how much control over workers out of the office lifestyle should we infringe upon? I believe an employer does not own the employee. Therefore, if an employee comes to work wacked out, that is a problem, whether they are on drugs or not. I also believe it is very easy to determine if a worker is on drugs during the job. Also when an employee is on drugs it can jeopardize the safety of other co-workers and many employers do not want their workers engaging in any illegal activities.

http://humanresources.about.com/od/healthsafetyandwellness/a/drug_free.htm

The Workplace Bully

dabratsa — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:16:49 +0000

The problem with the workplace bully is the harassment and manipulation of a co-worker or boss to slowly destroy workers credibility by spreading rumors. They may purposely forget to invite them to a work-related meeting then blame them for not living up to their responsibilities they were hired to undertake. Obviously we see it is much more threatening when the bully is a person of management who is in control of the situation and can manipulate their boss and the individual’s co-workers to turn against them.

The emotional toll that an individual goes through is rough. They may live in fear of their boss or their potential job or promotion. New York State Legislators are trying to pass an anti-bully act which does not generally include age, sex, or race. The bill is an attempt to promote a healthier work environment so the law can be on the side of workers who can be helped without feeling bad for going to a human resource person and be threatened.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/health/25well.html

Ex-NFL star Lawrence Taylor arrested in NY

racarlos — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:05:35 +0000

Lawrence Taylor was arrested for potential rape of a 16 year old girl at a local hotel. Another man is also being accused of bring the young girl there as well. The victim tells her story as she was sexually assaulted and then handed 300 hundred dollars. I find it interesting that these pro-NFL stars seem to think that they can do anything and everything just because they are famous and wealthy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100506/ap_en_ce/us_lawrence_taylor_arrested