http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php You are invited to weigh in on issues of ethics. Your thoughts are important and I want to hear them. en-us Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:06:24 -0400 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:06:24 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Is it "Bleak House" or another Dickens novel that lays bare with such bitter humor the whole derivatives racket. The characters find that the debt our hero wants to pay off for his friend has been sold, unbundled, rebundled and scattered to the four winds by rascals who have risen from slums to nouveau-riche by "managing" debt. <br>What a lot of heartache would be avoided by following the simple dictum of St. Paul, "Owe no man anything but to love one another." http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1271083588&title=should-we-measure-economic-recovery-using-the-djia#comment-1280498784 http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1271083588&title=should-we-measure-economic-recovery-using-the-djia#comment-1280498784 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:06:24 -0400 Susan Houg Determined to crush they may be, but the church will survive, just like it did during Mao, Cultural Revolution, government regulation (don't preach about Christ's second coming, e.g.) and anything gov't can throw at it. The house church movement is where it's at; the "Back to Jerusalem" vision of carrying the gospel along the Silk Road(s) through the major unreached people groups of the world is alive and well. Read Paul Hattaway, David Aiken. http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1260467984&title=as-we-buy-a-made-in-china-christmas#comment-1280498461 http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1260467984&title=as-we-buy-a-made-in-china-christmas#comment-1280498461 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:01:01 -0400 Susan Houg You had the answer on the first line. NO. <br> <br>If someone is not intentionally (meaning this can be corrected) failing to perform, they need to be made aware of the problem. In my opinion, they need to be made clearly and specifically aware of their failure and then the company has some responsibility to work with that person---training or discipline as necessary for a reasonable period of time. <br> <br>When a person applies for a job, the employer knows a lot more about the job requirements that the the person being considered---therefore, the company has an ethical responsibility to put the right person, as far as they can tell, in the right job. <br> <br>I find the current disdain for labor very inappropriate. The auto makers are forever blaming the workers for what is really the poor performance of management. And when crunch time comes who takes the cut? Labor. And it stinks. http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1253474995&title=employee-lack-of-performance#comment-1253579857 http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1253474995&title=employee-lack-of-performance#comment-1253579857 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:37:37 -0400 Chris Reich Mark, <br> <br>That was a brilliant essay on exactly what I believe would be the proper handling---I especially like that you would gather the employees and be very upfront with them. <br> <br>OK, now what do you do with the employee who runs to the media with "I have more stories about the company that clearly show this recent event is a pattern---and always covered up" <br> <br>Though the employee is only trying to gain a moment of fame, still it makes it very hard to disprove a cover-up---after all, it's all covered up, right? <br> <br>So what do you do with the employee? <br> <br>Chris http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250454284&title=business-question#comment-1253473961 http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250454284&title=business-question#comment-1253473961 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:12:41 -0400 Chris Do we report the oil leak and take the consequences, yes. <br> <br>First, order the line down to repair the problem and get rid of the product know or suspected to be tainted. Then be honest with the proper agencies that come calling. Even on a good day, people dream up lawsuits, so it’s a reasonable fear that someone will file a suit, be ready for it. Take a page from the Tylenol problems from some years ago. They didn’t know how things got contaminated or where, but they took immediate steps which cost a large amount of money. Next they changed the packaging to prevent future problems and spawned a major change in the industry (for the benefit of everyone, though I’ll grant some extra expense along the way.) You can’t assume that it’s not hurting anyone just because you haven’t seen a complaint. Would you want to eat the hamburger that just fell on the floor when you were not looking? Naturally you’re thinking “no.” The floor was recently mopped so it’s relatively clean, is that a justification to serve it? <br> <br>I’d also be up front with the 26 employees. Here’s what happened and what we’re doing about it. The very real risks of economic failure are in front of us, but it’s the right thing to do. What if the employees are also customers of the tainted product? How would they feel? I’m confident that some will grumble and say they wished everyone kept quiet, but they are the same ones that would holler if their child was made ill by the tainted product. <br> <br>If we stop doing the right thing, the whole society suffers. Not only that, poor ethical choices have a way of catching up to you. It might get by for a while like Enron or WorldCom, but they eventually got cought. http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250454284&title=business-question#comment-1253468973 http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250454284&title=business-question#comment-1253468973 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:49:33 -0400 Mark I think it’s sad that this “martyr for the faith” returned home to cheers. Non-Muslims see this and think “I told you so, they are all murderers.” I didn’t follow the trial in the news at the time but trust that if an international court found the man guilty, they likely proved the point. If Islam is truly peaceful, then why don’t we see other men of that faith speaking out against the violence? I’ll grant the Christian church has a history of violence in the dark/middle ages and that it was wrong. Why can’t the Islamic leaders see a path forward with Christians and Jews that’s peaceful? I see what’s happened with Israel and wonder why the Palestinian people can’t be happy until they get all of Israel. They already have half of what was established in 1948 and most of where they lived before is in modern-day Jordon. Why not ask Jordon to contribute land too? http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250817827&title=is-it-ethical-to-grant-hero-status-to-a-mass-killer-no#comment-1253468283 http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250817827&title=is-it-ethical-to-grant-hero-status-to-a-mass-killer-no#comment-1253468283 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:38:03 -0400 Mark Seems to me that this was a humanitarian gesture. I understand why you don't agree with the decision, but calling it unethical? I think it was ethical to let him return to his homeland to die. <br> <br>Al http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250454284&title=business-question#comment-1251831490 http://www.innisfreeranch.com/documents/ethicstalk.php?entry_id=1250454284&title=business-question#comment-1251831490 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:58:10 -0400 Al Radley