...“The Land Ethic” Reflection Paper Part I. A summary of The Land Ethic In a persuasive essay, Aldo Leopold tries to explain how we are ethically and morally obligated to take care of our resources. In his paper, “The Land Ethic” Leopold explains how we have viewed the land as, “strictly economic, entailing privileges but not obligations”. This is the main statement in his essay, and throughout the writing he elaborates on this statement. He says we have not given the land (the soils, waters, plants, and animals) the respect it deserves. He talks about our National Anthem and how we sing of “our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave” and then he questions our uses of our ‘resources’ and in an almost disgusted way, says if you say you’re going to ‘take care of it and love it’, than follow through. He discusses how land ownership has played a big part of how we now use the land in different communities and poses the question of many researchers; What if the outcome of settling the states, and planting the fields if “the plant succession… had given us some worthless grasses, shrubs, and weeds to a condition of unstable equilibrium”. Where would we be today? He talks about resource conservation as an ethic and the land which contains the most diversity such as marshes, bogs, dunes and deserts may be privately owned. But if the owner was ‘ecologically minded’ he would, “be proud to be the custodian of a reasonable proportion of such...
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...Ethics in Business Saint Leo University February 26, 2012 Abstract Ethics in business is as important as the business model itself. A company can become very successful without a strict adherence to ethics. However, that success is often short lived. As children we are taught a basic understanding of ethics. We are taught to share, play nice, and not to cheat. However, somewhere along the way ethics seems to take a backseat to the dollar. In the government’s case, not only is ethics losing out to the dollar, it is losing to the thirst for power. This is where regulation with stiff penalties and public shame come in to play. Regulation is needed to keep companies honest and force them to practice fair business standards. A company must educate the employees on the importance of ethics and the consequences of not adhering to them. Without ethics who are we? We must be diligent in ensuring businesses are ethical. Otherwise there will be a two tiered society of the haves and the have-nots. What is Ethics? The Business Dictionary (n.d.) defines ethics as, “The basic concepts and fundamental principles of right human conduct. It includes study of universal values such as the essential equality of all men and women, human or natural rights, obedience to the law of land, concern for health and safety and, increasingly, also for the natural environment.” In other words, ethics is an accumulation of your morals put into place. So how does a person’s individual morality...
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...INFORMATION PAPER ATSJ-BTB 23 JULY 2013 SUBJECT: Summary of the Army White Paper: A Profession of Arms 1. Purpose: To summarize the Army White Paper: A Profession of Arms and capture the thesis, main points, and objective of the writer. 2. Facts: a. The author notes the purpose of his writing in the beginning prologue, “This White Paper serves to facilitate an Army-wide dialog about our Profession of Arms. It is neither definitive nor authoritative, but a starting point with which to begin discussion.” He alludes to future refinement of the paper once TRADOC receives feedback from the Army community. b. Organized into five sections, A Profession of Arms begins by defining “Profession” and its implications to the Army. The paper then delves into the Army’s “Professional Culture,” before discussing the effects of “Army Ethics” in developing that culture. Lastly, it analyzes the role of U.S. society in the development of Army ethics and culture. The paper concludes with possible future changes in the meaning “Profession of Arms” after a decade of war and a request to begin a community dialogue on this topic. c. To start the discussion, the author defines Profession when he states, “Professions produce uniquely expert work, not routine or repetitive work.” He continues by describing truly expert work as taking years of study and practice. The writer transitions into how the Army is an “American Profession of Arms, a vocation comprised of experts...
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...Ethics Reflection Paper For the past several years ethics has become an increased topic within the business scene. Although the term, ethics, is nothing new it has become a highly talked about subject ever since the Enron scandal occurred several years ago. In the following, the role of ethics and social responsibility in developing a strategic plan, considering stakeholder needs will be explained as well as how a student’s ethical perspective has evolved throughout the program. Due to the fact that the general public is increasingly involved and interested in the activities that businesses do, the businesses must be at their best behavior. Stakeholders and the general public have a better understanding as to what businesses do and they know when businesses are not doing the right thing ethically. Two of the most sensitive topics nowadays are the way businesses deal with the environment and how they are treating their finances. If the general public and stakeholders alike find out that a particular business is hurting the environment or don’t have a plan to avoid damaging the environment they will have a serious public relations and financial problem. Also, as it occurred with Enron, if the stakeholders find that there is something unethical about the financial dealings within the company, the company risks serious hardship including bankruptcy. It is important that companies nowadays consider the role of ethics and social responsibility while developing a...
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...their Government should hold Unocal responsible for paying them a daily wage for the work that they do. Unocal: Moral responsibility of Unocal is to take the responsibility to do research on the said territory and could choose not to go into an impoverished country where the Government / Military have no regard for the rights of humanity. Choosing to continue embarking on business agreements with impoverished counties without doing the proper research is unethical and immoral, and can show how a company can continue turning a blind eye to make a profit. What are the stakeholders' moral failings? The moral failings of the Burmese Government / Military, and Unocal are that they hold no regard for the Burmese people. Value, Virtue, nor ethics are being used here; it is an exploitation of a people. There is no one being held accountable for their actions. Unocal puts up a good front for special visitors, even though the United States State Department released findings that state differently about what is going on in Burma. What ideals or obligations are in conflict? The ideals and obligations to treat everyone fairly are in conflict. If you treat only the people that live around the pipeline with respect, and try to help them have a better way of life then that should follow through with all of the people of Burma that are involved with the pipeline. What is the best outcome, given the consequences? The best outcome would that the Burmese people that are...
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...1. Strategic Management The Nature and Value of Strategic Management Dimensions of Strategic Decisions 4 Formality in Strategic Management 9 Benefits of Strategic Management 11 Risks of Strategic Management 11 The Strategic Management Process 11 Strategic Management as a Process 16 Summary 18 Key Terms 19 Questions for Discussion 19 2 3 PART TWO STRATEGY FORMULATION 2. SM_Prelims.indd 17 Company Mission What is a Company Mission? 23 The Need for an Explicit Mission 24 Formulating a Mission 24 Basic Product or Service; Primary Market; Principal Technology Company Goals: Survival; Growth; Profitability 26 Company Philosophy 28 Public Image 29 Company Self-Concept 33 Newest Trends in Mission Components 33 An Exemplary Mission Statement 35 Boards of Directors 37 Agency Theory 38 22 25 2/8/2012 10:17:09 AM Contents How Agency Problems Occur 39 Problems That Can Result from Agency 39 Solutions to the Agency Problem 40 Summary 41 Key Terms 41 Questions for Discussion 41 Appendix A: Company Vision 43 Appendix B: BB&T Vision, Mission, and Purpose 3. 4. SM_Prelims.indd 18 44 Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics The Stakeholder Approach to Social Responsibility 52 The Dynamics of Social Responsibility 54 Types of Social Responsibility 57 Corporate Social Responsibility and Profitability 60 Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 66 The New Corporate Governance Structure 69 Privatization as a Response to Sarbanes-Oxley...
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...Ethical Conduct Ethical and Socially Responsive Business Kenyetta Keys BUS 100 - Intro to Business Professor Gillian Martin December 15, 2013 Ethics by definition, according to BUSN Introduction to Business, refers to sets of beliefs about right and wrong good and bad. Ethics are the basic concepts and fundamental principles of decent human conduct. Ethics include universal values such as equality of all men and women, human or natural rights, obeying the laws, concern for health and safety, and the environment. Business ethics involve the application of these issues in the workplace. Social responsibility, again according to BUSN Introduction to Business, is the obligation of a business to contribute to society. Being socially responsible means that people and businesses must behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Social responsibility is the obligation of a business towards the welfare and interests of the society in which it operates. This paper will describe key areas of the Chipotle’s code of conduct that are of significant importance to the business, explain key steps that should be taken to ensure that employees follow the code of conduct, and suggest ways in which the restaurant can engage in socially responsive activities in the community within which it operates. Let’s start off with some background information about the restaurant. Chipotle...
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...Lion King. The story happens on the land of honorable kingdom. Simba is the little prince of the kingdom and his father, Mufasa, is the august king. However, Scar, Simba's uncle, is willing to take the place of Mufasa. Aiming to be the new king, he plans to kill both Mufasa and Simba. Then, Scar always makes little Simba out of Mufasa's controlling area, so that he can eaier to take Simba's life. Luckly, Mufasa saved Simba in time. However, Mufasa is killed by the trap made by Scar and Simbar is driven away. During his fugitive life, Simba meets tactful Timon and kind Pumbaa. They bring Simba up and make him strong. Finally, Simba decides to go back to his land and reconquer his kingdom. Though the fight, retake the king of his land, Simba grows up to a brave and responsible king. From this move, Simba is my favorite character. According this move, I also learned learning from good and bad leadership. Powerful metaphor of light and shadow illustrate the differences between ethical and unethical leadership. Those who cast shadows abuse power, manipulate information, and deceitful, and act incongruently. Behaviors and traits of leaders who cast light include humility, compassion, courage, optimism, and integrity. In this move, the light is Simba, he is very kind, smart, and brave. As a leader, Ethic is the heart of his leadership. His leadership that is effective, in his goals was achieved, and that follows a sound and ethical process. Also, Character development is an essential...
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...Christians and Stewardship of Their Environment 1. Introduction Our earthly habitat is not an unexpected occurrence of little worth, but rather, it is one to be highly valued and preserved. The biblical doctrine of creation helps the Christian to understand the true significance of the world in order to deal with the environmental crisis. The Bible says, “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited…” (King James Version, Isaiah 45:18). In Christian teaching, God not only created Heavens and Earth, but expressed His delight in His creation. This creation meant, everything encompassing the trees, the rivers and all kinds of elements that go into preserving the environment (Genesis 1:31). Therefore, the destruction of the environment is against God’s will. The main problem in the stewardship model is the fall of mankind into a state of sin and depravity (Genesis 3). As a result of the fall, we are in rebellion against God. We no longer act as the stewards we ought to be regarding the earth and its resources. Therefore, we tend towards exploitation and abuse. In addition, the earth has been cursed as a result of the fall (Romans 8:20; Genesis 3:17-18). Action Institute expressed it this way; “Nature now produces floods, fires, earthquakes, weeds, and crop destroying insects (“A Biblical Perspective on Environmental Stewardship”). This...
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...Case-In-Point: Hurricane Katrina Environmental Issues and Ethics February 18, 2011 Case-In-Point: Hurricane Katrina I remember hurricane Katrina like it just happened yesterday. I watched awe struck half horrified and half amazed by the power of this storm and the extent of the flooding that occurred. I watched as people were plucked from their roof tops as their houses were completely engulfed by the flooding. I watched as The United States was unprepared for this magnitude of flooding and unaware this was going to happen. My first thought as I was watching this unfold was how this could have happened and what caused this amount of flooding. Unintended Consequences According to According to Raven, Berg, and Hassenzahl (2010), there are a number of unintended consequences from humankind’s involvement in the development of New Orleans. In the development of the city of New Orleans, engineers constructed a system of canals and levees. In doing so, they have disrupted the delta building process and build-up of coastal wetland (Raven, Berg & Hassenzahl, 2010). The wetlands would have helped absorb some of water and provide a natural protection against flooding. In addition, the effects of global warming from changes to the carbon cycle and rise in CO2 levels have caused melting of the polar ice causing a rise in sea level, desalination of the oceans changing the currents, and an increase in ocean temperatures causing increase frequency...
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...Science defines human life as a characteristic that exhibit a process with organization, growth, adaptation, etc.; however, ancient sages told people human life is extremely valuable and sacred, as a religious doctrine in the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill.” Moreover, when people talk about ethics, they will think about rules to differentiate right and wrong. It might be wise maxims of Confucius or religious beliefs. The most general way to define “ethics” is that “moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior” (American English in Oxford Dictionary). Bioethics is a pretty young interdisciplinary study, which is considered with ethical questions related to the relationships among human beings, animals, and environments in the late twentieth century. Based on this, bioethics derived three main subdisciplines, which are medical ethics, animal ethics, and environmental ethics. Although each sub-discipline has particular study area in bioethics, there still are overlaps of ethical considerations and approaches. This makes it difficult to easily discuss ethics questions such as stem cell research, xenotransplantation, the ethical status of animals and the ethical status of the environment. Further discussion about the vital issue of moral status solutions is necessary at the same time. In the rapid development of the natural sciences and biotechnology has greatly promoted better living conditions and improve the living standards of people around the world...
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...Memorandum To: Asi Clen, Deputy Chief of Planning & Operations CC: Jay Willie, Director of Maintenance & Transportation From: Danisha Benjamin, Accountant Date: February 11, 2012 Subject: Request for Permission to Research Employee Parking Lot Construction Introduction The purpose of this memo is to request permission to pursue research on the opportunity of constructing a secured parking lot for employees of the Department of Human Services (DHS). With over 1,000 employees and over 300 clients daily, the Department of Human Services is one of the busiest organizations located on Hospital Street, St. Thomas. Besides Human Services, Bergs Home, a housing community known for criminal activities and Bethlehem Shelter, a temporary housing for the needy, are located in this area. At the rear of the building, directly across from Bergs Homes and next to Bethlehem Shelter, is a newly cleared area that has become the permanent parking for employees. Issue Without predetermined parking spaces, an average of 100 cars can fit in this area. Due to the lack of security, anyone can park in an available space. Often, clients, visitors of Bergs Homes, and volunteers of Bethlehem Shelter occupy this parking area. Consequently, parking for DHS employees is affected. In addition, during 2011, a string of robberies occurred in this rear parking lot. On different occasions, three employees were robbed at gunpoint. Other...
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...Sky Air Inc.: Business Ethics Case Brock A. Reeves University of St. Thomas Summary of the Case Study Sky Air Inc. was an airline with its head office in Idaho Falls. It came into being in 1986. Its founder, Samuel Kaplan, was once an air force mechanical engineer. Apart from his engineering background, Mr. Kaplan was also a talented golf player. Having been born and brought up in Idaho Falls, Kaplan found out that there was a gap in the airline industry there. He believed that the region needed an extra carrier bearing in mind that the only airline, Vixenne Air, was performing poorly. Other problems related to the services offered by Vixenne Air included ineffective services to the customers and violations of the air safety precaution. Kaplan realized that he was capable of running an efficient airline due to his wealth of experience in the air force coupled with his mechanical skills. Since the inception of the company back in 1986, Sky Air Inc. had grown gradually. In this case study, Mr. Kaplan wished to sell some shares of Sky Air Inc. to generate money to take care of his forthcoming triplets as his wife was expecting. The potential partner would only have a 30% stake in equity without any representation in the management board. The buyer, Thyestean Ventures, offered $6 million which Mr. Kaplan concluded was too low for a company such as Sky Air Inc. Main Problem The main problem presented in the case study was the low buying price suggested by the potential buyer...
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...Utilitarianism and Business Ethics INTRODUCTION Welcome to philosophicalinvestigations - a site dedicted to ethical thinking (rather than one page summaries!!! Though I'm afraid I do add those at exam time - market pressures!). I hope you enjoy this case study which also has a powerpoint that goes with it. There's plenty of other useful material on this site - case studies, handouts, powerpoints and summaries, and also I have written a number of books including best-selling revision guides and a useful book on 'How to Write Philosophy Essays". Click here for details. If you're worried about exams you might at least print out my strengths and weaknesses summaries under each moral theory. I deliberately quote only from my five favourite ethics books, click here to find out which they are - because you might like to buy one of them to supplement your study. Of course, it's important to quote the philosophers themselves in their own words - see my handouts, or for what academics say about them - see the key quotes section under the topic area of each moral theory. And if you'd like to blog on anything in the news send it to me - I'd be delighted to read it and - if it fulfils the criterion of good ethical thinking (!), post it!!!!! Utilitarianism is a normative, consequentialist, empirical philosophy which links the idea of a good action to one which promotes maximum pleasure or happiness, found by adding up costs and benefits (or pains and pleasures). It has two classic formulations...
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...Ethical Treatment of Animals Amber Marie Keldie Soc120 Dr. Monica Jones. September 30th 2012 Ethical Issue Analysis for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Summary: Of all the agricultural land in the US, 87% is used to raise animals for food. These animals are fed more than 80 percent of the corn and 95 percent of the oats the US produces. Meat animals of the world alone consume food equal to caloric needs of 9 billion people- more than the entire human population on earth. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat. A vegetarian food will make ten times as many humans happier than a non-vegetarian one, not counting the happiness gained by animals. Meat eating results in a lot of wastage of food that would otherwise have fed many more people. Ethical Issues Analysis I believe in the ethical treatment for all animals are an ethical obligation by all humans. We have come to an era that we believe that all humans should be treated equally and fairly. Well, what about our other living, breathing counterparts? They deserve to live their life as they choose in quality and in the pursuit of happiness. Just as Europeans came and took over Northern America's land and resources on the Indians. We have also taken over the land and resources from all of the animals. The moral point of view in the killing of animals for food as an indulgence which is not a necessity for our diet is killing another living being...
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