...INTRODUCTION The link between Utilitarianism Theory and the James Hardie Industries – ‘asbestos’ case has helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the difficult ethical questions asked in business and how corporations respond to those questions using moral philosophies. From the time when the short summary written in regards to the meaning and importance of the term ’responsible business’ in week 2, till today, I have explored various historical, moral, governance and economic aspects of business both domestically and internationally, proliferating my knowledge in regards to responsible commerce. I have come to understand the moral landscape or commercial enterprises which have helped me to appreciate the social and ethical dimensions of the business culture. The analysis of the James Hardie case and the Utilitarianism Theory depicts my knowledge growth. In doing so, I am able to now make more informed business decisions for the benefit of both myself and the wider society. JAMES HARDIE The history of asbestos in Australia and around the world is a history of cover up with companies choosing to ignore the dangers for as long as possible. Asbestos causes significant health problems, most notably lung cancer and mesothelioma, a type of cancer that affects the lining of the heart and lungs. Exposure to the fibres over a prolonged period – such as in the workplace – increases health risks significantly. The mining process was just the first stage of damaging contact...
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...About my in-class writing submission in week 2 tutorial about my understanding of the need of engage in responsible commerce, it is just a superficial discussion. At that time I did not thinking about this topic systematically. In that article, I only talk about the importance of responsible commerce like how necessary of responsible commerce and what consequences it can be brought if there is not responsible commerce. To my mind, ‘responsible commerce’ refers to the corporation preventing and solving long term issues to maximize the benefits of the shareholders and stakeholders which compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and international norms. But during the study of COMM101, I found that the principles of responsible commerce are really important for the development of our society, both in economic and culture areas. With the development of globalization, the competition among industries becomes more and more fierce. How to earn more profits with much lower operational cost has become every company's concern and pursuit. Unfortunately, in order to reach their profitable goal, many companies adopt illegal and immoral methods to conquer the market and maintain their market share. However, their improper market behavior is devastating to both the market and the enterprises themselves. On the one hand, their immoral market activity may break the market rules and regulation, which in turn disrupt the normal running of this industry and threaten the operation...
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...Tutorial 1: What is does the term ‘responsible business’ mean to you? Knight (2015) noted that the word ‘responsible’ can be seen as accountable as well, and principles of responsible commerce is another language rather than accounting, marketing etc. The ORB (2009) website provides information about the definition of responsible business, which is business responsibility is often known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and CSR is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. For me, responsible is someone treats something as his or her obligation. And business is activities of buying and selling, or in another word, social dealings between hundreds of thousands people all around the world. So my understanding of the term “responsible business” is that companies and firms should build their businesses with the consideration of morality and values rather than only aim to maximize their profits, which means companies and firms should build a socially acceptable business that not only according to shareholders’ wants but also have good influences for society and the environment of our planet. Knight (2015) discussed there are two points of views as in shareholder and stakeholder. Docstos (2009) post details about these two theories that stakeholder theory is businesses have corporate social responsibilities...
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...I. E - COMMERCE Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown dramatically since the spread of the Internet. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well. A small percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for "virtual" items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is known as e-tail. E-commerce or electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. If we want to define a term e – commerce we can choose between various definitions. According WTO it is “production, distribution, marketing, selling and expedition of goods and services by using of electronical measures.” According the Commission that formulates...
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...moral values. Business ethics is the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. The ethics of a particular business can be diverse. They apply not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer. Many businesses have gained a bad reputation just by being in business. To some people, businesses are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line. It could be called capitalism in its purest form. Making money is not wrong in itself. It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves that brings up the question of ethical behavior. Definition Business ethics can be defined as written and unwritten codes of principles and values that govern decisions and actions within a company. In the business world, the organization’s culture sets standards for determining the difference between good and bad decision making and behavior. In the most basic terms, a definition for business ethics boils down to knowing the...
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...from a single person b: carried on between individuals directly 3: relating to the person or body 4: relating to an individual or an individual's character, conduct, motives, or private affairs often in an offensive manner 5a: being rational and self-conscious b: having the qualities of a person rather than a thing or abstraction 6: of, relating to, or constituting personal property 7: denoting grammatical person 8: intended for private use or use by one person ("Personal - Definition And More From The Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary", 2007) The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines responsibility as: 1: the quality or state of being responsible: as a: moral, legal, or mental accountability b: reliability, trustworthiness 2: something for which one is responsible: burden ("Responsibility - Definition And More From The Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary", 2010) The words personal and responsibility when combined have different meaning to different individuals. For myself, personal responsibility means taking responsibility for one’s actions and how it will affect others. Personal responsibility is taking care of oneself. That means taking care mentally, physically, and spiritually. Taking responsibility for one’s own actions shows exceptional morale character, a trait, which can be passed along to others just through the observance of one’s actions. The act of breaking something when no one else is around to observe...
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...Problem 19-25 |Item No. |Audit Procedures |Required Disclosures and Reasons | |1 |Tracing |Must adjust the financial statements; affect | | | |your the accounting estimates and are on the | | | |books as of the balance sheet date. | |2 |Analytical Procedures |Nothing; subsequent event occurring after field| | | |work but before issuance of report | |3 |Inquiry |Disclosed as footnotes in the financial | | | |statements; aren’t on the books before the | | | |balance sheet date and have no direct effect on| | | |the financial statements under audit | |4 ...
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...Dictionary, 2013). Law can also take the form of a written code arranged and prescribed by an elected legislative body of judicial decisions, and actions of government agencies. In American law, the current state of law concern itself with common characteristics that create duties, obligations, and rights reflecting acceptable views of a given society (Melvin, 2011). The following contents of this paper cover the functions and role of law in business and society. It also discusses the functions and role of business law in the automotive industry. It is important to indicate that originally, law dealt with the concern of problems and issues regarding ownership of property. Today’s modern legal doctrines deal with complex system of principles and protections for law that provides mechanisms for resolving disputes that arise in relation to duties and rights, which allows the parties involved to enforce promises in a court of law. Function and Role of Law in Business and Society Law has significant functions and roles in successful operation of business and society, which regulate social behavior, conduct, and action. One of the most important function and role of law is...
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...E-commerce Taxation: Towards its Legalization Have you ever wanted to buy something with just one click without having to pay much as the usual? With the easy access and affordable prices, online purchasing has become the most convenient way of shopping for most teenagers. The popularity of the Internet particularly Facebook, Instagram and other social networking sites attracted many retailers to invest their businesses online without having to pay taxes like any other retailers do. By this, e-commerce continues to grow with the advancement in technology as it overshadows the traditional way of running a business by the insignificant purpose of the physical interaction between the buyer and the seller. E-commerce in itself is classified into three types: business-to-consumer in which online stores sell products to final consumers; consumer-to-consumer just in the case of eBay and Amazon and; business-to-business which involves job recruiting, online advertising, credit, sales, and the like (U, 2002, p.6). With the emergence of e-commerce, brick and mortar stores are slowly starting to degrade, thus alarming the government on the collection of lesser tax since the law regarding electronic commerce taxation is still being debated. This income generating phenomenon has been an attractive target to the government to cope with its huge loss on tax collection. So why pay tax? Richard Carlson (2002) once said, “At tax time, it helps to remember that if your tax obligation has increased...
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...levels of Corporate Sustainability in your career and the 5 principles of Environmental Law 1. In my future career as Manager, I would like to work for organizations that cater to the Triple bottom Line and works not only towards profit but also towards the betterment of the Planet and the People. As such I would like to become a “responsible Manager”- who fulfils his duties not only towards the company but towards the environment and future generations by using resources responsibly, reducing the individual and organization’s ecological footprint and engage actively in Corporate Social Responsibility, not under obligatory pressure but with a sense of responsibility towards the society and environment on which it depends. As an individual, I believe that every individual has a fundamental duty and non-negotiable responsibility to be “environmentally responsible”- to try and mitigate the toll that Mother Nature is already been through in the name of Industrialisation and globalization. I strongly feel that everyone has not only a responsibility towards one’s self and one’s organization – but also towards the environment. Hence, it is important for me to choose an organization whose goals and corporate vision are aligned with this perspective. The closer the fit between my individual objectives and the organization- the higher my productivity and loyalty towards the Company. My responsibility as a responsible Marketing Manager- The scope and responsibility of a Marketing...
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...regulating and overseeing corporate conduct and of balancing the interests of all internal stakeholders and other parties which are external stakeholders, governments and local communities who can be affected by the corporation's conduct, in order to ensure responsible behavior by corporation and to achieve the maximum level of efficiency and profitability for a corporation. (Jean, Anil and Mirko 2011, pp.10). Therefore, the corporate governance framework consists of explicit and implicit contracts between the company and the stakeholders for distribution of responsibilities, rights, and rewards; the procedures for reconciling the sometimes conflicting interests of stakeholders in accordance with their duties, privileges, and roles; and procedures for proper supervision, control, and information-flows to serve as a system of checks-and-balances. (businessdictionary.com 2012) Starbucks Company and British Petroleum Plc are chosen to explain and discuss on good corporate governance; meanwhile Enron is chosen to explain and discuss on bad corporate governance. Since Starbucks and Enron are incorporated in the United States of America (USA), therefore these two companies will be used to compare how they governance their company under principle of corporate governance of America. Corporate Governance in United States (US) In United States, after have various corporate scandals, corporate governance has rising to the forefront of public attention such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco shook...
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...elected to represent their state, not the nation. With more levels of government, more opportunities exist for political participation. Judicial power also is enhanced by federalism. Federalism also decentralizes our policies. The history of federalism demonstrates the tension between the states and the national government over who should control policy. The overlapping powers of the two levels of government mean that most debates over policy become debates over federalism. States are responsible for most public policies dealing with social, family, and moral issues. These become national issues when brought to the national government by an aggrieved group. The American states are also policy innovators, being responsible for many reforms, new ideas, and new policies. II. The Constitutional Basis of Federalism (70-76) A. The Division of Power The powers of state and national governments are carefully defined in the Constitution. States are guaranteed equal representation in the Senate, are responsible for elections, and...
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...Romans do, you must adapt to the cultural practices of the country in which you are operating are rationalizations business people sometimes offer for straying, from their own ethical values when doing business abroad. This practice is called. Cultural Relativism ----- is a term used by Adam Smith to explain the inherent mechanism at work in free market systems that keep commerce in equilibrium. It is also known as the "invisible hand" Laissez-fair Which of the following is not an article in the UN Human Rights Declaration? The right to electricity and running water. Increasing the wealth gap between nations and misusing and misallocating scarce resources are ethical issue accusations related to Multinational corporations The ----- formed in 1995 and administers it own trade agreements, facilitates future trade negotiations, settles trade disputes, and monitors the trade policies of member nations. World Trade Organization These values were developed by a reverend and the UN Secretary General. They express support for the universal human rights The Global Sullivan Principles Power distance dimension refers to...
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...advantage (Haag & Cummings, 2008, p. 29). Researchers and authors have discussed management information systems and technology over the decades. The concepts of competitive advantage, technology, outsourcing etc. have been theorized, yet discussion on the subject matter continues. While MIS strategy formulation has seen advancement, organizations are evolving and constantly changing their operating models. An example of such organization is Wal-Mart, the global retail giant. This research seeks to pin-point Wal-Mart’s key management information system strategy, while providing a deeper understanding of the organization’s management information systems strategy and its impacts. Further it aims to investigate knowledge management, e-commerce strategy, and the impact of database management which are aspects that can be incorporated into the MIS strategy formulation. To achieve this objective the literature survey was conducted to explore available published papers in the sphere of IS/IT strategy formulation. Considering that the applicability of information systems and technology is mission critical, the research design focused on the qualitative approach. The primary method of data collection was through semi-structured interviews with managers and co-managers. This was complemented by credible peer-reviewed literature. Using grounded theory approach the information collected through interviews, and the data gathered from literature survey were used to develop a thorough...
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...Timberland Jason Patterson Responsible Corporate Leadership Professor David Shirley October 23, 2011 Timberland: Commerce and Justice Case Study Analysis Overview The Timberland case study documents the company’s path towards incorporating service to community into their business strategy and overall infrastructure. Under the leadership and vision of Jeff Schwartz, Timberland began this undertaking almost immediately after the company went public in 1987. Using “doing well and doing good” as a mantra for their dual commitment to the enrichment of business and community, Timberland forged relationships with regional based organizations like City Year and Skills USA. With these organizations, Timberland formed strategic and interdependent alliances that were mutually beneficial to the continuing growth of Timberland’s business and service operations and the organizations they served (X). Building on the positive momentum Timberland gained through the fore mentioned relationships, Timberland went on to develop their own company based community service initiative called Path to Service. Through PTS, Timberland afforded company employees allotted leave hours that could be used to serve surrounding communities, whether they were company sponsored events or personal service commitments. In 1998, Timberland introduced the program Serv-A-Palooza (the largest day of service) as their cornerstone service initiative, making a commitment to surpass previous service hour standards...
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