...“Erin Brockovich” – Movie Overview By Eryn Pilla, Hamilton Onyeukwu & Jennifer Poff The movie “Erin Brockovich” starring Julia Roberts is loosely based on a true story. In the movie, Roberts plays a sassy single mom who is down on her luck and struggling to provide for her three children. She was involved in a car accident and sued the driver of the other car- a wealthy doctor who she felt deserved the blame for the accident. The lawsuit was spearheaded by her lawyer, Ed Masry who eventually lost the case and caused Brockovich to seek employment from him as compensation and charity. During her early time as a legal assistant, Brockovich stumbled across a pro bono file containing information about a case Masry was handling in which Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) was attempting to purchase property from the Jensen family. Interestingly enough, contained within the case files were medical records, wondering why those documents were included in the case files for the home purchase, Brockovich decided to investigate further. With the consent of her boss, Masry, Brockovich set out to meet the family and ask questions relating to their ordeal with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Upon speaking with Donna Jensen, Brockovich discovered that the gas company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) had provided doctors at their own expense to dismiss the claims of correlation between the sickness of the residents of Hinkley with the company’s chemical – Hexavalent Chromium...
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...ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000) Cast: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney. Directed by: Steven Soderbirgh Screenplay: Susannah Grant The motion picture titled ‘Erin Brockovich’ is written by Susannah Grant and directed by Steven Soderbirgh and is based on true events between the years 1993 and 1996. Released in the year 2000, this Hollywood movie revolves around two characters: Erin Brockovich an American environmentalist and paralegal official. The other character is the US based power and gas firm ‘Pacific Gas and Electric Company’ (PG & E) which is responsible for providing gas and electricity utilities to almost 2/3rds of the northern Californian population. The events surrounding a much publicized and broadcasted case involving PG & E and residents of Hinkley, California expose a plethora of business and general ethical issues that form a sumptuous academic feast for any business student. Before exploring the central characters of this story and inspecting the varied moral and ethical positions adopted by them in the movie, we must engage ourselves in creating a brief background study of the people and the institutions that play a pivotal role in this intriguing drama of business ethics and it’s relation with human psyche and actions. Main Characters: a. Erin ‘Patty’ Brockovich: Erin is a thirty three years old - twice divorced single mother of 3 children by the name of Matthew, Katy and Beth who age 8 years, 6 years and 9 months respectively in the beginning...
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...The movie Erin Brockovich is based on a true story of a heroic paralegal, who uncovers that a California utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, polluted the ground water around Hinkley, California. Pacific Gas and Electric Company used Hexavalent Chromium to control corrosion in their cooling tower. The wastewater dissolves the Hexavalent Chromium from the cooling towers and then discharges to unlined ponds at the site. This wastewater went into the soil and contaminated the ground water. The families who lived in that area had no suspicion that their illnesses were the result of the water contamination. Everything started when Erin gets some medical records from a real-estate file. As the story unfolds, Erin is using a direct approach with her appearance, dedication, kindness and hard work to unveil a massive water contamination cover-up. Also, there are a few ethical issues arising in this movie about her appearance and the approach that she is choosing to find the truth. She is convincing her attorney Mr. Masory to take the risk and fight against the big corporation. Erin Brockovich took an unconventional path to her profession, uses her fabulous looks to persuade, all while maintaining the professional conduct. First of all, Erin became a paralegal by forcing her way to Mr. Masory’s office to extort a job from him. In order to get a job at Mr. Masory’s office, her path was to act like a new staff member. Next, Erin starts to research and investigate...
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...Erin Brockovich The movie Erin Brockovich is based on a true story of a heroic paralegal, who uncovers that a California utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, polluted the groundwater around Hinkley, California. Pacific Gas and Electric Company used Hexavalent Chromium to control corrosion in their cooling tower. The wastewater dissolves the Hexavalent Chromium from the cooling towers and then discharges to unlined ponds at the site. This wastewater went into the soil and contaminated the groundwater. As the story unfolds, Erin is using a direct approach with her appearance, dedication, kindness and hard work to unveil a massive water contamination cover-up. Also, there are a few ethical issues arising in this movie about her appearance and the approach that she is choosing to find the truth. She is convincing her attorney Mr. Masory to take the risk and fight against the big corporation. She utilizes her sexuality at the water board to achieve her target. On the other hand, a professionally qualified paralegal would have represented her firm in her manner and appearance. Other than that, in order to obtain the same information’s and documents, a professional paralegal would have sent a subpoena through her law firm. The families who lived in that area had no suspicion that their illnesses were the result of the water contamination. Erin became a paralegal by forcing her way to Mr. Masory’s office to extort a job from him. In order to get a job at Mr....
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...but they remained silent. As for residents in Hinkley, the polluted water ruined their lives. The epidemic swept the whole community even the young children failed to escape from this. I found a handful of ethical issues in Erin Brockovich. To begin with, there was an issue of bribery. PG&E tried to buy houses which located in that contaminated land, and give house owners a good deal. It offered $250,000 to Jensen to her house. Clearly they knew why they offered so generously and what they did was wrong, but they did that anyway. Therefore, it is an ethical decision. Besides, an issue of whistle blowing also was shown in this movie. Eventually a brave employee who was in charge of destroying documents about the water problem in PG&E told Erin a lot of information about what exactly happened. This is an ethical decision, as that employee did the right thing. Finally, an issue of honesty and integrity was involved in the movie. The company lied to local residents, and even told doctors to lie that the their diseases had nothing to do with the water problem. This is also an ethical decision, because the company knew this was absolutely wrong. If I were the manager of PG&E, I would firstly stop supplying poisonous water immediately I was informed the water issue, then I would tell the customers what I know so...
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...story of Erin Brockovich, a struggling single mother who becomes connected to Ed Masry’s law firm because of an unfortunate car accident. She becomes interested in the cases between the community members of Hinkley, CA and a company by the name of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), who have a plant in Hinkley. Several families in the Hinkley community have various health problems, from headaches, to miscarriages, to gastrointestinal cancer. Although Erin does not have a law degree, she is able to uncover many details of this case through her discussions with these families. She discovers the link between these health issues and hexavalent chromium in the water, which infiltrated the water system through PG&E’s plant. 2. ETHICAL ISSUES PRESENT IN THE MOVIE Individual Moral Values The movie shows how an individual’s moral principle changes or conflicts their personal moral value when in the corporate world. For example, lawyers and representatives of PG&E are not after for the welfare of the victims. In fact, they sent a representative to try to stop the investigation. An assumed employee from PG&E actually calls to threaten the safety of Erin and her children because of the valuable information that could prove their fault in the health issues of Hinkley community members. Clearly, this act depicts the business world in a damaging way, and how an individual’s moral values are being compromised when facing such conflict. This also proves that Individual ethical viewpoints...
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...Class Action Law Suits Allen R. Yates One of the most fascinating aspects of business law is the class action lawsuit. I find this intriguing because class action law suits are often litigated on the same principles as other types of civil action suits, however, the outcome of the class action lawsuit often may have a deep impact on our society, as well as our legal system as a whole. In a normal civil lawsuit, where the plaintiff is the victor, said plaintiff is typically well compensated for their respective damages. Thus it can be viewed that is how justice is served in these cases. In the class action lawsuit where the plaintiffs win, often the individual is not proportionately compensated for their damages as compared to the victor in the average civil suit. In fact there have been class action law suits that have been held in favor of the plaintiffs, damages have been rewarded by the courts, but the individual did not receive a cent of monetary compensation. Yet, in these cases, justice has still been adequately served on the basis of morality. . In this paper, we are going to take a look at class action lawsuits. This paper will cover the history of class action lawsuits, what exactly a class action law suit is, how a class action suit is filed, and we’ll take a look at some of the more famous and impacting class action lawsuits in our nation’s history. The history of most of the United States legal system is deeply rooted in the heart...
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...praiseworthy act or be severely labeled as informers who have breached the loyalty of their co-workers and company. Whistleblowing can be a service to the community and public. Whistleblowing can be ethical or unethical, and the whistleblower discovering corporate misconduct has the options to be an internal or an external whistleblower. Whistleblowing can save people’s lives. Dr. Jeffrey Wigand made the decision to go public with information that his employer Brown & Williamson (B&W) was manipulating the nicotine content, suppressed efforts to develop safer cigarettes, and lied about the addictive properties of nicotine. According to Sissela Bok, in the book Taking Sides: Clashing views in Business Ethics and Society, “not only is loyalty violated in whistleblowing, hierarchy as well is often opposed, since the whistleblower is not only a colleague but a subordinate. Though aware of the risks inherent in such disobedience, he often hopes to keep his job.” (Newton, Englehardt, & Pritchard, 2012). Whistleblowing is ethical when the company through a product or decision will cause serious harm to the public. Whistleblowing is unethical when there is evidence that the employee is motivated by financial gain, media attention, or has a grudge against the company. An example of when it is ethical to be a...
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...3: BTEC National Credit value: 10 Guided learning hours: 60 Aim and purpose The aim of this unit is to enable learners to develop knowledge of the legislation and regulations relating to health and safety in a business workplace in order to conduct an audit and carry out a risk assessment. Unit introduction It is important, when working in business, to ensure compliance with organisational procedures and legal requirements, as the consequences of non-compliance can have serious implications for employees and employers. It is important, therefore, for learners to appreciate that those working in business must understand the principal issues which affect the working environment, for all individuals and the organisations that employ them. This involves keeping up to date with information on the legal issues that affect safe working practices. Everyone at work plays an important part in ensuring health and safety and it is essential that key personnel are aware of their roles and responsibilities. Employers must take reasonable care to protect their employees, and others, from the risk of injury, disease or death, while employees must take care to protect themselves and others. Safe working conditions and the ‘welfare of employees’ can contribute to the success of an organisation. It is important that organisations take steps to prevent accidents in the workplace and monitor procedures regularly. Learners will investigate the procedures that organisations...
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...THE “BLOG” EXPERIENCE: WHEN FREEDOM BECOMES INVASION INTRODUCTION Francois Voltaire, one of France’s most famous philosophers became well-known for this often quoted phrase: “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it.” The phrase summarizes the spirit of the freedom of speech – one of the inventions of the 18th century Enlightenment, a time when discussions among the upper class were construed as constituting the public sphere. Although they belonged to the sophisticated members of society, their conversations highlighted social equality and everyone was given the chance to speak and be demanded to listen. With free and frank conversations, people became acquainted with points of view that were not familiar; they discovered strengths and weaknesses in their personal arguments, and subsequently became moderate in the expression of their views taking into consideration the arguments of others. With this small light ignited in the intellectual realm, the idealism of free communication of thoughts and opinions spread and became one of the trademarks of democratic societies. During the next century, John Stuart Mill affirmed that societies progress when people freely express themselves because errors and misconceptions are exposed, and alternatives were proposed. These sentiments became the backbone of the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948...
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...Ivy League Admission: 180 Successful Business School (MBA) Essays Nancy L. Nolan, Ph.D. Ivy League Admission: 180 Successful Business School (MBA) Essays Nancy L. Nolan, Ph.D. First Edition Magnificent Milestones, Inc., Florida Copyright 2006. Nancy L. Nolan, Ph.D. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Electronic and CD-ROM versions published by: Magnificent Milestones, Inc. Post Office Box 100582 Palm Bay, Florida 32910 www.ivyleagueadmission.com CD ROM Edition 10-digit ISBN 0977376443 13-digit ISBN 9780977376445 PDF Version 10-digit ISBN 0977376494 13-digit ISBN 9780977376490 Printed in the United States of America Disclaimers: (1) This book is a compilation of successful admission essays; it does not claim to be the definitive word on the subject of MBA admission. The opinions expressed are the personal observations of the author based on her own experiences. They are not intended to prejudice any party. Accordingly, the author and publisher do not accept any liability or responsibility for any loss or damage that have been caused, or alleged to have been caused, through the use of information in this book. (2) Admission to business school depends on several factors in...
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...Instructor’s Manual Jane Murtaugh College of DuPage BUSINESS IN ACTION 3rd Edition COURTLAND L. BOVEE JOHN V. THILL & BARBARA E. SCHATZMAN Introduction This Instructor’s Manual brings together a set of completely integrated support materials designed to save instructors the trouble of finding and assembling the resources available for each chapter of the text. 1. Course Planning Guide Included in the guide are suggestions for course design, classroom activities, and supplemental teaching aids. 2. Learning Objectives and Summary of Learning Objectives For each chapter, learning objectives and the summary of the learning objectives are listed. 3. Brief Chapter Outlines For each chapter, a brief chapter outline is provided. 4. Lecture Notes and Chapter Outlines For each chapter, a comprehensive outline is provided, as well as a variety of stimulating lecture enrichment materials. 5. Real-World Cases At least two real-world cases related to chapter material are included for each chapter. 6. Answers to End-of-Chapter Questions Answers to the end-of-chapter questions are provided, as well as suggested teaching tips when appropriate. 7. Answers to See It on the Web Exercises Following the end-of-chapter questions, answers to the See It on the Web Exercises can be found, along with tips for the instructor. Answers to Boxed Features In each chapter, students are presented with at least two supplemental “boxes,” both containing questions about the material discussed. Answers...
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...contents List of figures List of tables About the authors About the contributors Preface Authors’ acknowledgements Tour of the book HRM as I see it: video and text feature Publisher’s acknowledgements Key topics grid xviii xx xxi xxii xxv xxxiii xxxiv xxxvi xxxviii xl 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 6 8 9 9 13 16 17 18 18 20 22 22 24 25 27 30 I the arena of contemporary human resource management 1 the nature of contemporary HRM John Bratton Outline Objectives Introduction The development of HRM Keynesianism: collectivism and personnel management HRM in practice 1.1: A new role for HR professionals Neo-liberalism: individualism and HRM Management and HRM The meaning of ‘human resource’ The meaning of ‘management’ The nature of the employment relationship Scope and functions of HRM Theoretical perspectives on HRM HRM in practice 1.2: Twenty-first-century senior HR leaders have a changing role The Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna model of HRM The Harvard model of HRM The Guest model of HRM The Warwick model of HRM The Storey model of HRM HRM and globalization: The HRM model in advancing economies? Ulrich’s strategic partner model of HRM Studying HRM Critique and paradox in HRM viii contents ix Case study: Canterbury Hospital Summary, Vocab checklist for ESL students, Review questions and Further reading to improve your mark 33 34 37 37 37 38 38 39 41 44 44 45 46 48 50 52 54 55 56 56 58 60 62 65 66 69 69 69 70 70 71 72 72 73 73 74 77 78 80 81 88 92 2 corporate strategy and strategic...
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...www.it-ebooks.info www.it-ebooks.info E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N MARKETING MISTAKES AND SUCCESSES 3 0 T H A N N I V E R S A RY Robert F. Hartley Cleveland State University JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. www.it-ebooks.info VICE PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE MARKETING MANAGER ASSISTANT MARKETING MANAGER MARKETING ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR SENIOR DESIGNER SENIOR MEDIA EDITOR George Hoffman Lise Johnson Carissa Doshi Dorothy Sinclair Matt Winslow Amy Scholz Carly DeCandia Alana Filipovich Jeof Vita Arthur Medina Allison Morris This book was set in 10/12 New Caledonia by Aptara®, Inc. and printed and bound by Courier/Westford. The cover was printed by Courier/Westford. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2009, 2006, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995, 1992, 1989, 1986, 1981, 1976 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, website www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should...
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...Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Introduction Chapter 1 - Priming Chapter 2 - Confabulation Chapter 3 - Confirmation Bias Chapter 4 - Hindsight Bias Chapter 5 - The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy Chapter 6 - Procrastination Chapter 7 - Normalcy Bias Chapter 8 - Introspection Chapter 9 - The Availability Heuristic Chapter 10 - The Bystander Effect Chapter 11 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect Chapter 12 - Apophenia Chapter 13 - Brand Loyalty Chapter 14 - The Argument from Authority Chapter 15 - The Argument from Ignorance Chapter 16 - The Straw Man Fallacy Chapter 17 - The Ad Hominem Fallacy Chapter 18 - The Just-World Fallacy Chapter 19 - The Public Goods Game Chapter 20 - The Ultimatum Game Chapter 21 - Subjective Validation Chapter 22 - Cult Indoctrination Chapter 23 - Groupthink Chapter 24 - Supernormal Releasers Chapter 25 - The Affect Heuristic Chapter 26 - Dunbar’s Number Chapter 27 - Selling Out Chapter 28 - Self-Serving Bias Chapter 29 - The Spotlight Effect Chapter 30 - The Third Person Effect Chapter 31 - Catharsis Chapter 32 - The Misinformation Effect Chapter 33 - Conformity Chapter 34 - Extinction Burst Chapter 35 - Social Loafing Chapter 36 - The Illusion of Transparency Chapter 37 - Learned Helplessness Chapter 38 - Embodied Cognition Chapter 39 - The Anchoring Effect Chapter 40 - Attention Chapter 41 - Self-Handicapping Chapter 42 - Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Chapter 43 - The Moment Chapter 44 - Consistency...
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