Analysis of Personal and Organizational Ethics and Values between For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Organizations

Fedno Trompe

PHI 445 Personal & Organizational Ethics

Prof. Elaine Phompheng

May 04, 2015

Part I

The non- profit organization that I chose for this assignment is the American Cancer Society. About 4 years ago I lose my mother with lymphoma; her death left pain and gaping hole at the core of my life puzzle. For that I would like share with others about the several nonprofit companies whose goals are to help others. The American Cancer Society (ACS) saves lives by helping others stay well and get well. Their main focus is to prevent cancer or detect it as its earliest, most treatable stage.

American Cancer Society: History:

The American Cancer Society was first organized in 1913. At that time 15 doctors and businessman in New York City got together to create what was then called the American Society for the Control of Cancer (ASCC). In that time in history it was not considered appropriate to mention the word “Cancer” in public. Information concerning this bad illness was hidden in climate of fear and denial. At the same time, over75, 000 people died each year of cancer in just in the United States. The most important item on the founders’ agenda was to raise awareness of this illness, before any other educate doctors, nurses, patients and family members about cancer. Marjorie Illig was an ASCC field representative in 1936. She suggested creating a large network of new volunteers whose purpose was to wage the War on Cancer. In 1935 there were 15,000 people involved in cancer control in the U.S by 1938 there was ten times that number (American Cancer Society, 2015).

Summary Activities

The American Cancer Society activities include providing grants to researchers including funding 47 Nobel Laureate researchers, discovering the link between smoking and cancer, and serving one million callers every year through its National Cancer Information Center. The

American Cancer Society’s website contained a chronological listing of specific accomplishment in the fight against cancer, for example the unipod technological device of UTD, that the ACS had a hand in, including the funding of various scientist who went on to discoverer life saving cancer treatments, and advocating with the ACS which has over 3,400 local offices (American Cancer Society, 2015).

Funding Sources

The society’s allocation of funds for the fiscal year ending August 3.2010, list 72 percent of funds for Program services (Patient Support 28 %, Research 16%, Prevention 16%, Detection and Treatment 12%). The remaining 28% are allocated for supporting services (Fundraising 21%, and Management, General administration 7%). The meets the Better Business Bureau’s Standards for Charity Accountability: Standard 8 (Program Service Expense Ratio) of a least 65% of total expenses spent on program activities. In 2012 The American Cancer Society raised $934 million and spent $943 million prompting a national consolidation and cost-cutting reorganization (Schafer, 2015).

Mission and Values Statements

The American Cancer Society mission statement is the nationwide, community-based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, educational, advocacy, and services. Their mission statement is to be committed on helping people to get well, stay well find cures, and fight back against cancer.

The American Society Headquarters is located in Atlanta Georgia and has over 900 offices throughout the United States. The company is a 501c)(3), they were founded prior to the Revenue Act of 1954 which is when the Modem Tax Code was established including 501 (c) Section (irs.gov). The society relies on the strength of approximately of 2.5 million dedicated volunteers. The Society is not an endowed organization that has been underwritten in perpetuity by a single wealthy benefactor, individual, family, or corporation. They are funded, primarily, from the money they can raise each year. ACS is founded mostly by donations averaging well under $100. With nearly a billion dollars in annual resources, the company has continued to show repeatable fundraising success, even these continued though economic times. The ethical dilemma the American Cancer Society is facing not having enough money to support his mission, but refuse to accept charity from foundation funded by atheist.

American Cancer Society (2012, December 04). Steward Report. Retrieved from

PartII

Company Profile (For-Profit)
Profile of [Apple] (Forbes, 2014) Apple computers, Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976, by college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who brought the company a vision of changing the way people view computer. He previously worked for Hewlett-Packard. His friend Steven jobs working for Atari was the driving for them to form a company jointly and market the apple 1 computer. Later in 1983, they produced a revolutionary computer that used graphical user interface: the Lisa. By then apple had employed thousands and succeeded in many front with Macs user-friendly interface in its products. Over the course of the year Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers and portable digital music player and sells a variety of related software, services, and peripherals, networking solutions and third party digital content and applicant. The company’s primary products include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, iTunes, Mac App Store, iCloud, Operating System Software, Application Software and Other Application Software. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. And they believe in simple, not the complex. Apple reports records first Quarter result of earnings of 48 percent increase in EPS. Growth led by record revenue from iPhone, Mac & App Store. Apple is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California. Apple financial results of the fiscal 2015 first quarter ended December 27, 2014. The company posted record quarterly revenue of $74.6 billion and record quarterly net profit of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $57.6 billion and net profit of $ 13.1 billion, or to 37.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter’s revenue (Apple Press Info, 2015). Today has about 80,300 employees and faces a more nimble and wealthier cadre of competitor who might start with a similar knockoff approach, but then keep iterating on it by outsmart its competitors. When, Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, it had not introduced the iOS SDK, and it gave no hint what other type of “magic” software it had in store. As years progressed the company had to outscore services as well as subcontracting some of its production from other countries (Resnick, 2004). Ethical and moral issues are complex since they involve the culture of the company, which is extremely diverse. At Apple, ethical violations could negatively impact on the company’s reputations. This could hurt the company economically and have enormous impacts on the workforce.
Ethical dilemma At no time shall the suppliers use any kind of slavery for production. Many of Apple’s product components are manufactured in countries with low labor costs. The potential of misconduct is high due differing labor standards and less direct oversight. As a result, Apple makes each of its supplies sign it’s “Suppliers Code of Conduct” and performs factory audits to ensure compliance. Apple may refuse to do additional business with suppliers who refuse to comply for instance Foxconn three Chinese factories operated by Apple Inc.’s major supplier. Both companies have pledged to bring their practice up to compliance with Fair Labor code standards. In a report, released March 29, The Fair Labor Association said its nearly month-long investigation on Foxconn and Apple revealed serious and pressing non-compliances with FLA’s Workplace Code of Conduct, as well as the Chinese labor law. The findings called for a detailed set to remedial measures to protect employee health and safety, reduce worker hours to legal limits while protecting workers hours to legal limits while limiting protecting worker pay, and establish “genuine avenues” for workers to provide input on company decisions. The report probe found that within 12 months periods, all three factories exceeded the FLA standard of 60 hour work weeks (including overtime) and the Chinese legal limits of 40 hours a week and a maximum of 36 hours maximum overtime per month. According to FLA’s worker survey, 64 percent of employees said that “compensation does not meet their basic needs.”(Hyatt, 2012). FLA said it will conduct a cost of living study in Shenzhen and Chengdu to assist Foxconn in determining whether worker salaries meet FLA requirement for basic needs, as well as discretionary income. The assessment also, found that unscheduled overtime was only paid in 30 minute increments, “FLA reported this means for example, that 29 minutes of overtime work results in no pay and 58 minutes result in only one unit of overtime pay.” To show the frustration an American life’s web pages note that advocacy group SACOM (Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior, Hong Kong) has released three report investigating conditions at Foxconn. The January broadcast prompted a petition drive by activist groups Change.org and SumofUs.org that delivered more than 250, 000 petition signatures to Apple seeking a working protection strategy.
In general, while business may not the unethical for using these products, people need to make individual decision based on their own beliefs for example the situation with Foxconn in China is terrible, it was great to see media taking action on the improvement of working conditions the Chinese labor force work. The best we can do is to improve the global economy so that such conditions no longer exist, let not boycotting large companies because it would not stop the bad conditions, but many factory workers will be out job.

Part III
Apple
No suppliers have the right to use any kind of slavery for production. And workers should not be forced to work and should have the freedom to leave or terminate their employment. Suppliers should also ensure that third party labor agencies also adhere to these regulations. It is complex since income cases the society might support this since the society has classified people as unequal. They should also ensure that for any contractual kind of employment that it is provided to the employee in a language easily understood by the worker communicating all the term and conditions of employment. Child labor should not be used by any supplier of Apple with the minimum of age for employment being 15 years or the age set by the specific country based on the education system whichever is higher. It turns out to be a dilemma when the underage workers are the only bread winners in their family and sucking them will lead to more pain in the society. Workplace hours per week should be restricted to 60 hours including overtime with at least a day off in a week. This can only be compromised in case of an emergency. Apple found itself in this situation after an audit of the Hongfuin precision industry revealed that workers worked form than 60 hours. Now the company reputation is impacted, a risk assessment and audits should be done on a regular basis to ensure compliance with the ethics code of conduct. This will ensure that even if components are being manufactured in China where unethical practice of child labor, overworking of workers, bribery and poor working conditions do not happen since they will be discovered at some point (Schmertz, 1986). But the main focus on cost is esteemed the failure of suppliers to adhere to the code of ethics severe penalty or even termination of the contract may be considered. This will ensure that the company maintains a respectable image (Stair & Reynolds, 2009).

American Cancer Society According to the Foundation beyond Belief, a secular charity funded by atheist freethinkers and humanist the American Cancer Society has its offer to raise up to half million dollars for cancer research through the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life program. The ACS declined to allow the foundation to field national relay team, though every other non-profit that has applied has been allowed to participate. Why would the ACS whose mission is to help those with cancer, including helping them by finding a cure turn down any group’s generosity. Not taking the atheists money is also a breach of trust responsibility and duty. But, the leaders should have accepted the money because their job is help cancer sufferers to include believers and non-believers, saints and sinners alike, and who could not care less whose sense of charity and caring generates the money needed to find a cure. This is beyond discrimination and bigotry, though it is both. This is criminal stupidity. One of the arguments often used to support the existence of God is that without the oversight of a Supreme Being and the presumption that moral rules are divine in origin, there is no reason for human beings to avoid evil. It’s circular reasoning, of course, and profoundly unethical, presuming that the only reason a person would do well during his or her life and not live for pure self-interest is to avoid offending an all-powerful entity who is keeping score. The proffered of the Foundation beyond Beliefs shows that a belief in God is not required to understand the value in doing the right thing and sacrificing for fellow human beings.

Part IV Apples use egoism theory fraught with human right violations in supply chain. The company use egoism to evaluate organization. Under these theory, involve lots of differ kinds of egoism, which is ethical egoism and psychological egoism. Psychology egoism is claim that an individual which is act selfishness. They put their own self-interest priority first. Apples Company fall into bribery issues due to their important their own self pleasure. According to Thomas Hobbes, psychological egoism is true. He implies ethical egoism. People tend to foster their own self-interest. Apples Company has psychological theory, due to the workers of looks for selfish motivations and refuses to recognize other kind. They were doing something without care of people to benefits their own selfishness. The Apple Company should have used the Deontology theory it shows that action is more important than the consequences Apple should have sets standard and regulation to be followed by both its workforce and the suppliers. And Apples should have been aware that ethical issues occur whenever a company does business in a different country. The company should ensure business ethics by having a set of policies against which suppliers and subcontractors are audited regularly. What is considered normal in one nation is considered unethical in another. This puts multinational firms in an extraordinarily sensitive position to ensure that these differences in expectation in practices do not effect production. Ethics sometimes are ignored when an organizations culture is not strong enough from the top down. When this occurs the human resource department is usually involved in conflict resolution, violation of company policy and federal laws.

American Cancer Society has used the deontology theory which sometimes described as duty or obligation based ethics. The Company trying to protect their belief on religion they experience when someone is diagnosed with cancer and face with real possibility of death, they often turn to religion. Religion can give comfort, hope, and strength in such dark hour. It very easily could be construed as an insult, or test to a person of religion to know there help is coming from entity that is blatantly saying their belief is ridiculous and ignorant. In the other hand Cancer does not care whether you are an atheist or religious, so why do they ACS seem to care? Truthfully, the people who ultimately suffer are the ones who are fighting can or have people they love who are fighting cancer. ACS should have used Virtue ethics because it may be wrong to accept the money from atheist because of their believe, it would also be right to accept the donation because it could have saved many lives and fight the cure against cancer. If atheist really wanted to help they would do it without trying to shout their beliefs and the recipients. In reality if a person with cancer did find out large donations were given by an atheist, they would feel happy knowing that all sorts of people in their community and around the world support their fight.

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