YES: Adam Smith, from An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, v. 1-2 (1869) 4
NO: Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels, from The Communist Manifesto (1848) 12
"If we will but leave self-interested people to seek their own advantage, Adam Smith argues, the result, unintended by any one of them, will be the greater advantage of all. No government interference is necessary to protect the general welfare. Karl Marx disagrees; leave people to their own self-interested devices, he replies, and those who by luck and inheritance own the means of production will rapidly reduce everyone else to virtual slavery. The few may be fabulously happy, but all other will live in misery."
Source: Taking sides: Clashing views in business ethics and society by Newton, L.H. & Ford, M.M.
QUESTION: With some executive salaries being cut by 90%, is there a case for a different form of capitalism? If so, what? Also, take the one question poll at http://blogs.bnet.com/intercom/?p=3151&tag=highlighted_insight.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Recent Study on Ethics and HR
HR practitioners are asked to wear many hats while on (and sometimes off) duty. Recently, a joint study of approximately 3,000 HR professionals was conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and The Ethics Resource Center concerning the role of HR in supporting ethical behavior in their workplaces.
On the plus side for HR professionals:
• 83% indicated the HR department was their organization’s primary resource for ethics-related information, while
• 71% said HR was involved in creating their organization’s ethics policy
Now, for your consideration:
• 57% indicated that ethics played no part in employee evaluations
• 50% had no means of seeking ethics advice
• 23% said their companies did not offer a comprehensive ethics program
• 19% said that, as HR professionals, they felt pressure from senior managers, managers and co-workers to compromise their ethical standards.
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK (please post your answers here):
1. Would you like to see any of these numbers changed? If so, why? If not, why not?
2. If these numbers represented your workplace and you could change one – but only one – thing, what specific action would you take?
Sources: SHRM, The Ethics Center, bnet.com
See also: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/61398/qzrwx
On the plus side for HR professionals:
• 83% indicated the HR department was their organization’s primary resource for ethics-related information, while
• 71% said HR was involved in creating their organization’s ethics policy
Now, for your consideration:
• 57% indicated that ethics played no part in employee evaluations
• 50% had no means of seeking ethics advice
• 23% said their companies did not offer a comprehensive ethics program
• 19% said that, as HR professionals, they felt pressure from senior managers, managers and co-workers to compromise their ethical standards.
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK (please post your answers here):
1. Would you like to see any of these numbers changed? If so, why? If not, why not?
2. If these numbers represented your workplace and you could change one – but only one – thing, what specific action would you take?
Sources: SHRM, The Ethics Center, bnet.com
See also: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/61398/qzrwx
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The Latest in Sustainability
Anand Anandalingam, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland recently offered ExecutiveBiz (Executivebiz.com, JD Kathuria, author) offered four reasons why every executive should care about business ethics.
1.) Your business now performs on a global stage.
2.) Your ability to recruit millennials depends on the ethical image you project.
3.) The Obama administration is pushing greater transparency.
4.) Everyone is tweeting about you — and you can’t control the conversation.
Want to get in on the conversation? Join Dean Anand as he kicks of The Center for the Social Value Creation Friday, Sept. 25 at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. For more information, visit http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/betterworld/ or email csvc@rhsmith.umd.edu
1.) Your business now performs on a global stage.
2.) Your ability to recruit millennials depends on the ethical image you project.
3.) The Obama administration is pushing greater transparency.
4.) Everyone is tweeting about you — and you can’t control the conversation.
Want to get in on the conversation? Join Dean Anand as he kicks of The Center for the Social Value Creation Friday, Sept. 25 at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. For more information, visit http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/betterworld/ or email csvc@rhsmith.umd.edu
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sustainable Practical Economics
Can a company truly say it is sustainable and socially responsible when it appears the primary motivation for some companies to "go green" has to do with the color of money? For example, the clear wrapping on some vegetables at Wal-Mart is corn based rather than petroleum based but it is also less expensive. McDonald's uses humane cattle herding at their slaughterhouses but all is not entirely as it seems. Such techniques put the cattle under less stress thus yielding more meat per head of cattle and fewer lost-time worker's compensation case claims. What do you think, Pilgrim? Is it only about the money or does the corporate social responsiblity idea come first?
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