...Introduction Unethical business research continues to be a problem facing corporate America in the 21st century. According to Cooper & Schindler, (2011, ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others. The fundamental goal of ethics in business research is to adhere that in the end, the research outcome does not cause harm or grieve to the parties involved. Unethical business activities include but not limited to; violating non-disclosure agreement, breaking participant confidentiality agreement, using invoicing irregularities, avoiding legal liability, misrepresenting results, pervasive, and deceiving people (Cooper & Schindler, 2011). This paper talks about inside trade case study--Galleon Group’s founder Raj Rajaratman unethical business research that was discovered recently. Author of the paper focuses on; unethical research behavior involved, injured parties as a result to the research, Unethical behavior effect on the organization, the individual, and society, and Avoiding or resolving unethical behavior. Unethical research behavior Insider trading is one of the examples of unethical business research. Recently, Galleon Group--a well-respected and promising hedge fund’s founder Raj Rajaratman found himself making headlines for similar unethical researches. Along with him—his acquaintance Rajiv Goel, Intel managing Director and Rajatman’s college roommate (Wall Street Journal article (Kalita 2009))...
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...Unethical Business Practices From 1999 to 2006, John Mackey used the internet to post inaccurate information concerning one of his competitors. He was attempting to drive down stock prices, buy out his competitor thereby eliminating competition, and finally create a monopoly. Normally making business profit is not a bad thing. One technique is for a business to cut prices, thereby becoming more competitive -- a plus for the consumer. Another is when a company or CEO uses devious tactics or unethical means to influence the market for corporate or personal profits. According to a statement made by Brian Schactam from CNBC, “John Mackey used a pseudonym on financial message boards to bash rival Wild Oats as a bad business not worth its stock price.” Those inaccurate postings concerning Wild Oats caused their stock prices to fall and deterred other investors from buying the stock. That tactic is highly unethical. An article on Daily Finance blogging dated July 11, 2007 cites the following statements and sources made concerning Whole Food CEO: “John Mackey often criticized Perry Odak, Wild Oats' former CEO, who resigned last year. "While Odak was trying to figure out the business and conducting expensive 'research studies,' to help him figure things out, Whole Foods was signing and opening large stores in OATS territories," Rahodeb wrote in 2005. "Odak drove off most of the long-term OATS natural foods managers" and brought in executives who "didn't know too much...
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...Unethical Business Practices Charles Graham RES351 March 24, 2014 William Greer According to the Department of Justice (GlaxoSmithKline to Plead Guilty and Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Fraud Allegations and Failure to Report Safety Data, 2012), in 2012 pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, LLC (GSK) plead guilty to fraud allegations and failure to report safety data, and agreed to pay $3 billion to settle civil and criminal liabilities. GSK was heavily promoting well known drugs for uses other than what they were intended, and approved for by the FDA. These promotions for non-intended uses were being made through back channels, such as directly to physicians through sales representatives, speakers at sponsored events, as well as advertising in medical journals. GSK had been circumventing the approval process to increase sales of drugs such as Paxil, and Wellbutrin, both anti-depressants. The company had neglected to provide information to the FDA regarding specific findings in research done after the drugs had gone to market. In one medical journal, GSK had published a misleading article that was contrary to actual findings. The misleading claims of GSK to healthcare providers regarding the effectiveness of specific drugs have had far reaching affects, of which cannot be immediately determined. Several of the medications are well known and branded for anti-depressants, and diabetes. According to the US Department of Justice release, GSK had made unsubstantiated claims that...
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...demands on drivers for delivery times. Even if Wal-Mart was unaware of the actions of their driver, they should not shift blame for a devastating accident onto the victims. Over the last several years, Wal-Mart has been under fire in the media for questionable ethics, including over working and under paying their associates, poor working conditions, refusing to compensate overseas workers for injuries and deaths sustained on the job, and bribing government officials for political favors. The company constantly proves to be unwilling to do the right thing. Aside from being ethically right, adequately compensating Morgan, McNair’s family, and the other passengers would go a long way to improve the public opinion of Wal-Mart. Strictly from a business perspective,...
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...Unethical Business Research Conduct A lawsuit brought upon city Assessor Bill O'Brien by a tax investigation firm, Tax Data Solutions (TDS) that he used last year states that he violated his contract and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (Smith, 2010). Between 2006 to 2009 the city of New Haven hired the company to investigate people and businesses that owe for vehicle or personal property taxes. O'Brien is accused of adding accounts to the grand list, withholding payment for accounts researched by TDS, reducing personal property assessments, and even removing accounts added by the Assessor before him (Smith, 2010). The unethical research behavior that was involved in this case was financial misconduct. By removing and adding accounts as well as misconstruing numbers in the accounts he is squandering the work done by the tax investigation firm. Misrepresentation is also involved because by distorting the numbers he is providing falsified data to the taxpayers of the city as well as the government. Not only does this hurt the tax payer, but by falsifying numbers it can make the city look more profitable than it really is. The injured parties in the lawsuit was the TDS firm because they were not paid for their work, their work was falsified and their contract was broken. Though not in the lawsuit the taxpayers of the city are also victims because they are being lied to by their Assessor. The unethical behavior has affected the business by costing them money in regards...
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...Nike Inc. Nike’s Unethical Business Practices Nike’s Unethical Business Practices Love those Nike shoes your wearing? Have you ever thought how they were made, who made them, and at what price they were made at? I bet you probably don’t. I bet that you see those Nike shoes at the store, and think to yourself, “oh I like those shoes, I have to have them,” and then buy them. What you don’t know is that those pair of shoes you just bought were probably made in a third world factory by employees who are probably working in harsh working conditions. These factories are not owned and operated by Nike, but contracted by Nike. Nike chooses to locate the majority of their production in such countries because of the abundance of cheap labor. Nike contracts factories around the world in effort to get the best product for the cheapest price made, without concern for contracted factory employee. Nike has not been concerned about what goes on in these factories only that the product is made, because Nike is not in the business for Human Rights, they’re in the business of athletic shoes sales. The Ethical Dilemma Nike has been accused with human rights violations. The charges that were made against Nike include the following: the use of child labor in factories, unsafe working conditions including exposure to toxic chemicals and the use of machinery without the proper safety precautions, pay below minimum wage and forced overtime hours. The contracted factories Nike uses to produce...
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...Unethical Behaviour http://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/115557.aspx The World Health Organization found children in developing countries who fed on Nestle’s infant-formula had mortality rates five to ten times greater than that of breast-fed children. The problem was Nestle’s sinister campaign of appointing uniformed nurses to distribute the baby formula to poor mothers for free, long enough for lactating mother’s milk to dry up. The mother and child now became entirely dependent on Nestle’s infant formula, and since most of them could not afford the formula, they gave their children an insufficient quantity of the formula. The formula also required clean water, which most mothers could not access. Nestle again made the news when they sued the country of Ethiopia, one of the world’s poorest countries, for six million dollars during the time when it was in the midst of the worst drought in 20 years. Nestle wanted compensation for its stake in the Ethiopian Livestock Development Company (Eldico), which it obtained through an investment in Schweisfurth, a German company. Ethiopia had nationalized Eldico and sold it for a profit. Nestle finally reached a settlement of $1.5 million with Ethiopia, the maximum the government could afford. Recently, Nestle has made headlines again for getting caught spying on Attac, a non-government organization. Nestle has been ordered to pay compensation to the organization. (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/21523). Numerous...
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...Decision-Making in Business and the Repercussions of Unethical Choices In business, managers must attempt to take ethical approaches to all areas of work so as not to compromise the company, the employees, or the organization’s consumers. Specific criteria have been established for managers to follow in order to remain ethical, even when faced with unethical situations. Ivancevich, Konopaske and Mattseson identify these criteria as the following: 1. Utilitarian outcomes. The manager’s behavior results in optimization of satisfaction of people inside and outside the organization. In other words, it results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people. 2. Individual rights. The manager’s behavior respects the rights of all affected parties. In other words, it respects basic human rights of free consent, free speech, freedom of conscience, privacy, and due process. 3. Distributive justice. The manager’s behavior respects the rules of justice. It does not treat people arbitrarily but rather equitably and fairly (2012, Pg. 357-358). By following these three criteria managers are able to help the company, respect rights of the companies’ employees and follow the law. These three criteria are what should be the foundation of every business in order to satisfy the needs of the company, its employees and follow the laws created by the government. This is not always the case, as is visible with many companies seeking to circumvent the law, disregard for employee rights...
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...Week 5 Individual Assignment By Felicia Lattimore The SOX Act: Unethical Practices and Behavior in Business Accounting LAW/421 – CONTEMPOARY BUSINESS LAW September 6, 2014 Aretha Somerville Introduction Unethical decisions can ruin a business. Dishonest behaviors by accountants, such as falsifying financial statements, over-billing or misleading regulators, can tarnish a company's reputation, causing loss of customers, employees and/or revenue. In some cases, unethical behavior is also illegal and can result in fines and even jail time for not only accounting executives but management executives as well. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was enacted in 2002 in the wake of a series of high-profile corporate and accounting scandals. SOX introduced major changes to corporate governance and the regulation of financial reporting that affected both publicly traded companies and their auditors. Ten years after the passage of SOX, there has been a dramatic increase in financial statement restatements. This is due to statement issuers complying with SOX during their initial preparation. This trend has been attributed to improved corporate governance as a result of SOX. Although we have not seen restatements as large as those of Enron and WorldCom in recent years, it is not clear that SOX has caused a reduction in the number of restatements across all publicly traded companies. The number of restatements during 2007 through 2009 declined, but they remained...
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...Unethical Business Research RES 351 May 13, 2013 Unethical Business Research Unethical business research can be described as many things. From asking inappropriate questions, to using participant information for unintended purposes such as selling goods or services, these acts have caused major scandals in the business world. Good business ethics are the foundation in which a company is built on. All businesses have a code of conduct that is set out by human resources and upper management. This code will set the behavior expectations for employees in their daily tasks and projects for the company. Alliance Capital is among one of major companies that conducted unethical research in the early 2000’s. Before their downfall they caused damage financially and personally, which had effects nationwide. People Involved Alfred Harrison was the vice chairperson of Alliance Capital, and the manager of Florida’s pension plan account (Lawyershop.com, 2003). He used a “V-method” approach to investing, which lead Alliance to the purchase of 4.9 million shares of Enron in late 2001. Frank Savage, a director of Alliance was another key member involved in the company’s unethical acts. Frank was also a member on Enrons’ board and many suspected that he pressured Alliance to purchase the shares even though the company was on the downfall. The actions of both these individuals caused Alliance to be charged with "breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach...
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...Find an article using the University Library or in the Electronic Reserve Readings that discusses unethical business research conduct that has resulted in individuals or a firm being convicted, or at least tried for, this conduct. Some examples include the following: • Asking inappropriate questions • Skewing research results • Failing to maintain participants’ confidential information • Using participant information for unintended purposes such as selling goods or services Summarize the article you researched. Write a 750-word paper in which you address the following questions: • What unethical research behavior was involved? • Who were the injured parties? • How has the unethical behavior affected the organization, the individual, and society? • How could the unethical behavior be avoided or resolved? In the 1932 case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was a 40-year project administered by the US Public Health Service in Macon County, Alabama. The study consisted of 400 men being promised free treatment for an epidemic of bad blood in their county. The treatment was withheld from the men and was never given. The study was tested on a group of African American men who were told they had bad blood and never received standard treatment for syphilis,. Syphilis is a sexual transmitted disease. It can lead to a range of painful, chronic and deadly symptoms, such as infection in the nerve-system, or cardiovascular-complications. Even-though the cure of penicillin was available...
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...Fact Scenario for Authentic Assessment Project Global Enterprises, Inc. (GEI) GEI is a long-term military contractor and manufacturer of protective body armor, munitions equipment, and armored vehicles, with annual revenues of $300 billion. GEI employs 140 workers each highly paid union technicians and mechanics, members of the Union of Munitions and Armor Workers (UMAW). GEI manufactures protective body flak jackets, night vision rifle scopes and armored tank vehicles for the US military. Contrary to international law and treaties, it also manufactures land mines exporting them to Afghanistan and Iran, its best foreign customers. More than half of its profits derive from these clandestine operations. All of GEI's products have problems. Although paid handsomely for its body armor, munitions equipment and armored vehicles, the materials used in manufacturing are substandard. The flak jackets do not fully protect military service members from most antipersonnel ammunition. The simple addition of superior quality material in the flak jackets would prevent most injuries, but GEI did not tell the military because changing materials would be costly, and GEI fears it would lose its contract. In addition, its night vision rifle scopes work erratically and often not at all, resulting in injuries and deaths of service personnel in combat situations. The armored vehicles, though strong and sturdy on the sides and top have only a thin sheet of steel on their undersides...
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...Strategic management analyzes the major initiatives taken by a company's top management on behalf of owners, involving resources and performance in internal and external environments It entails specifying the organization's mission, vision and objectives, developing policies and plans, often in terms of projects and programs, which are designed to achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the policies and plans, projects and programs. A balanced scorecard is often used to evaluate the overall performance of the business and its progress towards objectives. Recent studies and leading management theorists have advocated that strategy needs to start with stakeholders expectations and use a modified balanced scorecard which includes all stakeholders. What Is the Difference between a Policy and a Strategy? Policy is the spheres or scope within which decisions are taken by the subordinates in a company or organisation. Strategy is an action that managers and directors take to achieve one or more of the company's goals. The difference between strategy and policy is that policy is a set of guiding rules intended to influence decisions and actions that reflect agreed practice in terms of power while strategy is a high level of approach to an issue that is designed to deliver change by implementing policies. The major difference between Policy and strategy is that Policy refers to a guide to the thinking and action of those who make decisions while strategy...
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...Effects of Unethical Behavior Anita Pleasant ACC/291 March 10, 2014 J. Leanne Janis Is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Working? Today’s corporate executives are well aware of the consequences and punishments they face since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act in 2002, but is the law enough of a deterrent for senior management? Over the past decades many CEO’s have risen to their positions with little training in accounting or finance, and it makes one wonder about the type of decision-making process these non-accountants employ when making financial reporting decisions. The SOX Act was implemented to protect the financial markets in the United States by encouraging corporate officers to become more involved in financial reporting decisions, and holding them more responsible for the data within each financial statements their company issues (Maroney & McDevitt, 2008). Can these in individuals without the necessary accounting training understand and make the accurate financial statement adjustment decisions required by the SOX Act? The Tyco International scandal is a prime example of how a chief executive officer (CEO) who obtained his position by rising up through the company used unethical behaviors which almost destroyed the organization. Even though the scandal occurred before the SOX Act was enacted, it demonstrates how unethical behaviors can affect a business. Dennis Kozlowski started working for Tyco in 1975 as an assistant controller; he joined the board...
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...Unethical Business Research Conduct There are several reasons a company can be found guilty of an unethical/illegal crime. Whether they were asking inappropriate questions; skewing research results; failing to maintain participants’ confidential information; using participant information for unintended purposes such as selling goods or services. The list could continue through a long dissertation. On Monday, July 2, 2012 an unprecedented conviction for Health Care Fraud Settlement was reached. GlaxoSmithKline LLC pleaded guilty and had to pay $3 billion dollars in criminal and civil liability suits. GlaxoSmithKline LLC was guilty of a few of these unethical and illegal practices. They not only skewed research results but they also used unethical business practices to sell their goods/prescription medications. They illegally promoted prescription drugs and failed to report certain safety data. They were found to be civically liable for false reporting practices. They also pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal information. Two counts of introducing misbranded drugs and one count of failing to report the safety data they were found civically liable for to the Food and Drug Administration. Misbranding is when the FDA approves a drug for one purpose and a manufacturer promotes it for other uses. GlaxoSmithKline LLC participated in preparing and distributing a misleading medical journal article that stated that Paxil was effective in the treatment of depression on patients...
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