...Chick-fil-A’s Ethical Forte Chick-fil-A’s Ethical Forte There are many variations of what the term “ethics” actually means. To some, ethics is simply a personal feeling of what is right or wrong. While to others, ethics is simply a standard of behavior that is acceptable by their society and culture, otherwise known as the law. According to Baack, the definition of the term varies according to individuals’ moral philosophy, which ultimately comes from their own personal values, which are bias according to one’s religious beliefs, familial upbringing, social interactions and cultural surroundings. On the other hand, the term “business ethics” is more standard consisting of guidelines regarding how each individual company chooses to conduct business and develop relationships with their employees, their clients and with potential partners. A company’s devotion to their values and ethical behaviors can often make or break a company. In 1967, when S. Truett Cathy opened the first Chick-fil-A in The Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta, Georgia, he had a business ethical system that he has not deviated from to this day. Today there are over 1,605 Chick-fil-A restaurants located in 39 different states and in Washington, D.C. (Chick-fil-A, 2012). The company has had 44 consecutive years of positive sales growth and in 2011, it’s annual sales exceeded $4.1 billion dollars. Recognized as the “pioneer” of quick service mall food, the company has also many other innovative concepts...
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...behaviors that are defined as acceptable by the American people. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the ethical standards of the fast food chain Chick-Fil-A and determine if the company establishes a code of ethics. The Webster Dictionary defines ethics as following accepted rules of personal and professional behavior. It is prescribed philosophy dealing with questions of what is good and what is bad combined with moral duty and obligation, the principles of moral behavior governing an individual or group. By implementing a standard of ethical behavior, as a business, the restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A in my opinion exemplifies a living code of ethics as a cognitive, affective, and behavior manifestation of an ethical organization. In your opinion has Chick-Fil-A set a new standard for a positive ethical organization and does the concept of ethics and integrity have a deeper meaning that what the dictionary definition provides? Chick-fil-A (chick-fil-ay, a play on the US pronunciation of "fillet") is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of College Park, Georgia, specializing in chicken sandwiches. It was founded in 1946 by S. Truett Cathy. Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant, The Dwarf Grill – later renamed the Dwarf House – in Hapeville, Georgia in 1946, and developed the pressure-cooked chicken...
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...S. Truett Cathy was a successful entrepreneur almost from birth. He started by selling Coca-Cola door to door, then magazines and newspapers, before finally entering the restaurant business. Several successful years later, he began working on a chicken sandwich for his restaurants and customer response was so great that Cathy knew he was on to something special. Cathy initially wanted to license the sales of the product to other restaurants, but saw that it could created quality control issues and damage to the Chick-fil-A brand. Therefore, Cathy developed a unique franchise opportunity that he deployed first to malls and then to stand alone stores based on his core values of conservatism, encouraging corporate social responsibility, and entrepreneurship (Cathy, 2013). It allowed others to cover the majority of the variable costs of running a restaurant, while he assumed much of the fixed costs of building the restaurant so he could retain more control than competitors. Unique Franchise Model After making it through a strenuous interview process, a person can become a Chick-fil-a franchisee or “Operator” for only $5,000 which is substantially lower than the industry average (Cathy, 2013).What Chick-fil-A gives up in terms of initial fees, it makes up for in other areas. In general, Chick-fil-A requires operators to cover between $250,000 and $900,000 for the location's variable costs such as inventory, as well as fixed costs such as equipment rental, insurance, location leasing...
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...Executive Summary of “Transformative Leadership: Achieving Unparalleled Excellence” For , MGT 3110 February 6, 2015 Abstract This paper summarizes the article written by Cam Caldwell, Rolf D. Dixon, Larry A. Floyd, Joe Chaudoin, Johnathan Post, and Gaynor Cheokas regarding the need for a new type of leadership in today’s social work environment, defined as Transformative leadership. The article itself varies in the definition, however in a broad sense Transformative leadership is maintaining good moral standing and sound business ethics among employees and individuals inside and outside the workplace. However, in order to reach this theoretical level of business related moral and ethical leadership known as Transformative leadership, one must be able to interpret and utilize the six other forms of leadership. The six forms of leadership discussed in this article are Charismatic, Level 5, Principle-centered, Servant, Covenantal, and Transformational leadership. There will be a total of ten propositions (P) that correspond to a given model of leadership and will be referred to as (P1, P2. etc.). When these six models of leadership are combined and used in conjunction, it is known as transformative leadership which makes up the content of this article. Keywords: Ethics, Transformative leadership, Covenantal leadership, Moral standing, Proposition, Level 5 leadership, Servant leadership, Principle-centered leadership, Transformational leadership, Charismatic...
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...strong cultured company. At the end of the case analysis, we would have been able to devise possible solutions for the present and future times. Background. The story of Chick-fil-A will be incomplete without the man who turned a dwarf house into a giant brand. Samuel Truett Cathy was born in 1921 into a religious family and in fact was named to honor a Baptist evangelist. These factors would plan a significant role in Cathy’s life. At an early stage, Cathy developed entrepreneurial skills; he delivered papers and sold Coca cola and helped with the meals. And at the age of 25, he and his brother opened their first restaurant- Dwarf House. Cathy soon realized he could prepare chicken faster and insert between two buns. He went ahead to trademark the name Chick-fil-A borrowed from the then steak fillets. Cathy explored expansion through licensing but failed because he could not control quality. And in 1967, he opened his first chain restaurant from where he expanded till this date. External Analysis. For a restaurant business, there is bound to be several stakeholders such as shareholders, creditors, management, suppliers, government, customers, operators and so on. CFA focused more on “people”. Cathy was...
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...has led to a loss of confidence by the investing public in the system of financial reporting and accountability. The globalization and diversification of accounting services, combined with market competition and high profile corporate collapses has drawn attention to the accounting profession and its perceived ethical standards. (Cooper 2007) Ethical values provide the foundation on which a civilized society exists. Without the foundation, civilization collapses. On a personal level, the answer to the question of the highest aspiration might be wealth, fame, knowledge, popularity, or integrity. But if integrity is secondary to any of the alternatives, it will be sacrificed in situations in which a choice must be made. Such situations will inevitably occur in every person's life (Cooper 2007). Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. Whether a person derives ethical values from religious principle, history and literature, or personal observation and experience, there are some...
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