Ethical Management Essay Example for Free

Ethical Management Essay This essay seeks to identify the study of ethical management on a broad scope, and to specifically sieve out the issues which are common within the banking sector. This would include a case study on UBS and ethical problems which UBS have faced. As ethics cannot be divorced entirely from the study of sustainability and corporate social responsibility, this essay will also feature a look at banks, and their decisions which might be been unethical. The Study of Ethical Management While there might be many reasons why unethical behaviour happens, this essay would be looking at three of them in particular: 1) Personal Gain, 2) Strong Organisational Identification, and 3) Personality. . To examine the relationship between organizations and why ethical issues occur within them, we first define the term â€Å"Business† and â€Å"Businessperson†. The book, â€Å"Business Ethics†, written by William(2008), states that a business can represent and range from a start-up venture by some students, to a multinational corporation. Businessperson might be a sole proprietor running a business for themselves, or a CEO responsible for a multinational corporation. To take a broader view, we view the businesspeople under the personal point of view, and couple them with the other individuals who are within the organization. This would allow us to see why unethical behaviour can derive not only from the top management, but from every aspect of the organization. To expound on the individual, we refer to the book written by Schminke(2010), â€Å"Managerial Ethics†, where he identified â€Å"four individual decision-making styles†. The first belongs to an individualist mentality, this mentality ignores the stakeholders. The second mentality is altruistic, where the benefit of others is of the essence. The third group is the pragmatists, and lastly, the idealist, whose decisions are governed by principles and rules. Common Ethical issues faced in the Banking sector 1) Insiders Trading Insider trading, defined by Cornell University Law School, is when company’s stocks or other securities are traded by individuals who have access to undisclosed and confidential information. These individuals are known as insiders. To better comprehend the concerns of insider trading, we refer to the paper by Yulong Huey-Lian(1998). Two things must first be addressed. First, who do these insiders refer to? Secondly, how is insider trading illegal? By definition from the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission(S. E. C. ), insiders are, â€Å"chairmen, directors, officers, etc. , and principal shareholders with 10 percent or more of their own firm’s common stock†. People in these positions are likely to be able to gain access to the firm’s undisclosed information. However, not all insiders trading are illegal. For example, managers of firms can often purchase its own firm’s stocks to increase their own individual share and voting power within the firm. This train of thought also believes that the more stock of the firm the manager holds, the greater their ownership and thus a higher work morale is derived from it. Insiders are still allowed to purchase its own firm’s stock, if they truly believe that it is a good investment. Insider trading becomes illegal however, when trades are made by insiders with the prior knowledge of an announcement for the investor’s personal gain. When an act as such is committed, insider trading becomes illegal. This action is deemed unethical as it is unfair to investors who do not possess the material information. Other transgressions can include the handling of undisclosed firm’s information from a firm’s insider to a public investor. For a trade to occur under the basis of the privileged information, and for the recipient to have personally gained from the trade, both parties can be charged under the S. E. C. ’s regulation of Fair Disclosure. An example of illegal insider trading within banks can be seen from as recently as January 16, 2014, where David Michael Gutman from J. P. Morgan colluded with Christopher John Tyndall from Meyers Associates. As â€Å"long time close personal friends†, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority(FINRA) discovered that Gutman had shared material, undisclosed information with Tyndall over a span of 19 months. This information included pending corporate mergers and acquisition transactions, which allowed Tyndall to make informed, no-risk trading using personal and family accounts. Quoting from Cameron K. Funkhouser, he said, â€Å"David Gutman had the keys to the kingdom through his position at J. P. Morgan as a gatekeeper.. †, we can see to how unethical behaviour driven by an individual in the position of power, can taint the image of the firm. Enforcements have been put in place to prevent and to deter insiders from carrying out such behaviours. The SEC has instituted new rules, 10b5-1 and 10b5-2 under the code of Federal Regulations, and the enforcement of these regulations being made global just recently in 2013 after the insider trading inquiry regarding the acquisition of H. J. Heinz Company. 2) Profits before Ethics The relationship between business ethics and profits can be complicated at times. Profits values will sometimes conflict with ethical values which will lead to unethical business behaviour in the manager’s bid to raise profits within the firm, consequentially affecting the firm’s stakeholders. Watkins (2011) brings about the argument that for those who ethics concerns, the chase of pecuniary values creates a potential compromise between social ethics and profitable opportunities, a factor that links to the Goldman Rule. The rule states that the greater the profitable opportunities, the higher the opportunity cost for the firm to consider ethical behaviours. This is further described by Weber (2006), as he states that companies are not evaluated on their success based on â€Å"their reputation for ethics†, but on the basis of profitability. It is plausible now to see why banks are driven by a sole concern for profit and to raise the value of their stock. With that in mind, what are some ethical boundaries a bank could trespass upon? As a corporation whose sole objective is to increase profit, they carries the potential turn a blind eye to internal ethics; explained in the book by Reynolds (2011) titled, â€Å"Ethics in Investment Banking†, which defines internal ethics as ethical considerations in regards to their employees’ welfare and the considerations in the use of the shareholder resources. These transgressions can range in forms of overworking employees, to an audit coverage of losses to portray a higher stock market price. As individuals looking for greater profits either for self or the firm, especially under the investment wings of banks, individuals can turn rogue and make unauthorised transactions which goes beyond the risk limits of the banks in hope of a greater profit. Jerome Kerviel’s case in 2008; where even the hierarchy turned a blind eye to his risks due to the profit he was generating, and Nick Leeson’s famous collapse of Barings Bank in 1995 are two such examples. Investments in environmentally harmful industries Environmentally harmful projects have been a major factor against Global Warming Awareness efforts. Such investments are being funnelled by banks who are less ethical in the area of sustainability. There have been numerous campaigns to counter banks from investing into unethical projects, some of which protestors even boycotted such banks. Citigroup the world’s largest project finance bank has been known to grant loans to these projects, which are harming the environment. Citigroup was indirectly related to the Camisea pipeline in Peru which has at least 5 spillages along the pipeline to date. Which not only damages the local ecosystems, but also detrimental to the livelihood of people around the world and threatens the well-being of mankind via climate change (Hogue, 2002). A glimpse of such unethical activities reveals something prevalent. It destroys our natural environment, by means of deforestation and the release of harmful gases from the burning of fossil fuels. However, Citigroup has yet see that their funding of major oil drilling and pipe laying companies not only worsens the global warming situation but also encourages environmental insecurity. Several other big-scale European banks, such as Dutch Bank and ABN Amro, came up with a policy which prevented funding of these industries. According to (ABN Amro’s) sustainability policy, â€Å"limited to financing of companies or projects related to timber, paper, agricultural plantations, mining and/or oil and gas. The bank would consider exceptions only â€Å"when extractions are delicately prepared, and holds responsibility on issues of national forest management. † A positive example of how banks can fund environmentally friendly projects can be seen from analysing the Banking Environment Initiative (BEI), it aims to lead the banking industry in directing bank investments towards environmentally and socially sustainable economic development. The objective of the BEI is to also unravel ways to invest in clean energy and soft commodities. As quoted from (CPSL, online), â€Å"the group, currently comprises of 10 global banking institutions which stretches across Asia to Europe, the United States and Latin America. † The best way of creating a united force amongst them was if they were acting on behalf of their clients. Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has the intention to eliminate deforestation from their supply chain. As such they would prefer to form alliances with banks and work together to counter and ultimately eliminate deforestation. Banks have got to find ways to come up with a significant source of funding to finance the journey to sustainability. 4) False Accounting Frauds False accounting fraud, defined by the United Kingdom’s police, is the practice where a business, works in tandem with an accounting firm to overstate or understate company’s asset or liabilities with the intention of making the business appear financially stronger or healthier than it really is. As there are a multitude of reasons to commit false accounting fraud, we will not be listing all. False accounting allows for a corporation to gain higher credit ratings, report unrealistic profits, and hide losses to appeal to potential shareholders with an inflated share price. Some extraordinary cases which occurred regarding the falsification of accounts are such as the Enron scandal in 2001; where the audit and accountancy firm, Arthur Andersen was involved and convicted of assisting in audit fraud and subsequently dissolved. Enron was declared bankrupt and new laws were instituted to increase the accountability of firms who are auditing to remain independent of the clients whom they audit. Didn’t the code of conduct promise proper handling of UBS’s assets? He first began his illicit deals in late 2008, doing it for personal gains while covering his tracks with false accounting to the back office. This led to the back office being ignorant of the unauthorised trades as the regular books did not show it, instead, the profits were filed into a secret account called his Umbrella. Adoboli’s desk colleagues admitted to being in the know of the secret accounts, and his two bosses did not enquire into the suspicion despite the daily trading maximums being exceeded. This breakdown in corporate beliefs at the managerial level led to the unethical trading arising within the ranks of the department, and it going by unnoticed. While the integrity of the individual must be questioned, the work culture of UBS could be a factor to encourage the individual to behave unethically. Since the incident, UBS has taken a few measures to facilitate the new risk management practices. Firstly, the bank has taken step to refrain from proprietary trading. A bank would engage in proprietary trading as it benefits firms to make extra revenue. However, the disadvantage of engaging in this form of trading is that with high returns, often comes high risks. Conclusion In summary, how ethical management is derived has no hard and fast rule. However, implementations such as a Code of Conduct, or a company policy helps in setting the tone right within an organization. Through the paper, it is seen how ethical dilemmas can arise on an individual level or an organizational level. If one were to follow the many trains of thoughts regarding ethical management, they would get lost in the plethora of unions and activist fighting for ethical beliefs.

Michael Jordan :: Biography Biographies History Sports Essays

Michael Jordan Michael Jordan, the best known athlete in the world, was a leading scorer in the National Basketball Association (NBA), who led the Chicago Bulls to many NBA championships. He is, by far, the best basketball player in the history of the game. Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. He accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina and as a freshman scored the winning basket in the 1982 NCAA championship game against the Hoyas of Georgetown. Jordan was selected college player of the year for the 1983-1984 season, and in 1984 he led the United States basketball team to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Jordan left college in 1984 to play with the Bulls. He finished his first season (1984-1985) as one of the top scorers in the league, with an average of 28.2 points per game. He was also named rookie of the year and made the first of his nine All-Star game appearances. Jordan finished the 1986-1987 season as the second player, after Wilt Chamberlain, to score more than 3000 points in a single season. He led the NBA in scoring for seven consecutive seasons (1987-1993), tying Chamberlain's record, and averaged more than 30 points per game in each season. He also became the Bulls' all-time leading scorer and set numerous scoring records, including most points in a playoff game (63 points against the Boston Celtics in 1986); and highest scoring average for an NBA championship series (41 points per game in the 1993 NBA finals). He led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship title in 1991; with Jordan, the Bulls won again in 1992 and 1993. In addition to his three league Most Val uable Player awards (1988, 1991, 1992), Jordan won the All-Star game MVP award twice (1988, 1996) and a record three-consecutive NBA championship series MVP awards (1991-1993). Jordan was also a member of the United States Olympic basketball team, known as the Dream Team, that captured the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Stating that he had lost his desire to play professional basketball, Jordan announced his retirement prior to the 1993-1994 season. Initially noted for his scoring, his tenacious defensive play had made him one of the greatest all-around basketball players in NBA history. He had also become a worldwide celebrity due to his success in the NBA and the Olympics, and his numerous commercial endorsements.

Federalism Questions

6AP US History Federalism Questions I. Answer the following questions as fully as possible. Use the Internet, The American Pageant, or other sources to find the answers. Also please list your sources for each question. 1. What were the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? The Articles of Confederation were replaced by the Constitution at the Constitutional Conference in May 1787. Members of the Conference saw to replace the Articles because it was weak. The articles did not effectively unify the nation with a central government. No centralized government would lead to conflicts within and between states.Also Constitution had direct taxation, which would be a source of money for the government. There was no strong foreign policy either. 2. What were some of the key elements of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787? The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a very important law for the newly founded America. It gave all unclaimed land to the federal government. It allowed the governm ent to establish territories, which could become states after the area achieves a population of 60,000. Territories could also establish governments when their population of free white men was 5,000.The law also made waterways like the Mississippi and St. Lawrence rivers free for travel for United States Citizens. Religious freedom, habeas corpus and bans on cruel and unusual punishment were established. The northern Territories were also declared free of slavery. 3. Why was Shay’s Rebellion such a dangerous situation for the new USA? Shay’s Rebellion, an uprising of central and western Massachusetts farmers, started because the government did not pass laws that would forgive debt and print more money. The farmers needed this because the area was experiencing an economic crisis.Daniel Shays, a former member of the Continental Army led the cause. The cause was dangerous because so many people supported them. Citizens saw the rebels as the same as those who rebelled in t he Revolution. When the government squashed their movement, many people were discontented and other rebellions sprung up. 4. Why did the Constitution have a system of checks and balances? The Constitution had a system of checks and balances to keep the three branches in even power. If an unconstitutional law is being passed by congress the Judiciary Branch can stop it.The Judicial Branch can do the same for presidential acts. This would keep the power more evenly spread and allow more voices to be heard too. The checks could prevent dictatorial rule too. 5. Explain the 3/5 Compromise. How/why did this happen? The three-fifths Compromise was an agreement between the North and South met during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. The law stated that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for things such as how many House Representative a state would get and state tax distribution.The compromise was met because anti-slavery delegates wanted only free men to count, which would take power away from the South and pro-slavery delegates wanted every slave to count as a person. 6. Why did Alexander Hamilton welcome the Whiskey Rebellion? The Whiskey Rebellion was resilience against a tax on whiskey set forth by Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton established the tax to pay off the United States’ large debt. Small western farmers protested because the tax was more lenient on larger eastern distilleries.Soon, they rebelled and were quickly squashed by Washington’s newly formed administration. Hamilton welcomed the rebellion because he saw it as a test for the new government. The rebellion eventually also led to the formation of the Republican and Federalist Parties. 7. What was Alexander Hamilton’s view of the â€Å"masses† compared to Thomas Jefferson’s? 8. How did George Washington handle the issue of war between England and France? In 1792, after the French Revolution, the newly established French Republic went to war with al most all of Europe.Washington decided to remain neutral for the course of his term. This became hard because both countries begin seizing neutral trade ships and America was trying to maintain trade with both sides. 9. Why were the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions such a threat to the Federal Government? During John Adams’ Presidency, the Congress was almost all members of the Federalist Party. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who were trying to fight the Alien and Sedition Acts, could not influence Congress at all. They decided take their case to state legislatures and wrote resolutions to Kentucky and Virginia.The documents suggested that states had the power do declare laws unconstitutional, which was dangerous to the Federal Government. 10. Explain the XYZ affair. How did John Adams handle this event? The XYZ affair happened during John Adams’ service as president When Adams assumed his presidency, the French did not recognize him. Agents codenamed X, Y, and Z, demanded huge amounts of money for loans and bribery. Adams spoke to Congress and called for a navy which resulted in what is called the Quasi-War, an undeclared war that consisted of a few naval skirmishes in the Caribbean.The outcome of the war was that France would no longer attack U. S. trade vessels and United States neutrality. 11. How did the 2 party political system in American politics evolve? Sample AP questions. 12. â€Å"The Declaration of Independence issued a call for a democratic government of equal citizens that was rejected by the writers of the Constitution, who created an aristocratic government that benefited only the wealthy few. † Assess the validity of this statement. Issued on July 4, 1776 by the Constitutional Congress, the Declaration of Independence was a document that fervently called for equality for all citizens.On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was declared as the supreme law of the United States. The statement, â€Å"The Declaration of Independence issued a call for a democratic government of equal citizens that was rejected by the writers of the Constitution, who created an aristocratic government that benefited only the wealthy few,† is invalid because while the Constitution made for a more powerful federal government, officials were elected by the people, those officials’ terms were all terminal, and checks and balances were put into place.In the United States, all officials are elected by the citizen. Members of the government like the President, Congressmen, Representatives, Judges, Sheriffs, and City Officials are all decided by people in the community that they concern. Even though power is put onto a single person at some times, that individual was decided on by the people. While some officials like Supreme Court Judges and Cabinet Members are not decided by the people, they re decided by the President, who is elected by the people. The government officers who are elected by the masses, all se rve for finite terms. For example, Presidents serve four years until going up for re-election. At the time, there was no limit to how many terms a President can serve, but the people would decide that limit with their votes. Members of Congress, the House of Representatives and city officials all serve for various amounts of time before being put up to be re-elected.This means that new ideas and values can flow throughout the government and a dictatorial rule is impossible. The United States Government also has checks and balances to keep all three branches within equal power. The Legislative Branch has the power to impeach the President, approve federal Judges, and declare war, while the Executive Branch has the power to veto bills, appoint Supreme Court Judges, and the President is the Commander in Chief of the Military.The Judicial Branch can have Judicial review on both the Legislative and Executive Branches. These help evenly distribute the power more throughout government and keep one branch from taking too much control. With its election of officials by the people, finite serving terms for government officers, and checks and balances, the U. S. government established by the Constitution is far from an aristocracy.

Patent Strategies Like Evergreening Differently Impact The...

By: Anuradha Prasad Patent strategies like evergreening differently impact the developing world. The practice of evergreening not just refer to extending the original patent, but also includes strategies and practices used to protect a cluster of related, but unoriginal, technologies through the filing of secondary applications. This contributes to increased medical costs by keeping lower-cost generic alternatives out of the marketplace. This chapter gives an overview of the evergreening strategies that are employed by branded pharmaceutical companies as a tactic to bypass existing patent laws and limit generic competition in the marketplace. The frequency of such strategies demands strong patent interpretations that are protective of†¦show more content†¦Taking the advantage of this existing loophole in patent law, patent applications for the developments or modifications is not just filed by the original product developer but also by other companies including generic companies. One the one h and the branded companies advertise to customers their brand value and reliability, and on the other hand they try to cast generics negatively on the basis of poor replication, or unsatisfactory testing before commercial production of the original formula. However, the argument put forth by branded companies is that they enable the development of a non-infringing competitor product thereby channeling â€Å"designing around† the patent. A monopoly right that is suitably limited is vital in helping preserve the policy underlying the Patent Act of promoting innovation while still allowing the intellectual property to enter the public domain. II.EVERGREENING STRATEGIES A. DELAY THE LAUNCH OF GENERIC PRODUCTS/ 30 MONTH PERIOD OF STAY PROVISION In US, innovator drug companies have been able to use provisions of the Hatch Waxman Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1984 to delay or restrict the launch of generic competitor products. The innovator pharmaceutical company has been allegedly using the listing of additional patents in the ‘Orange Book ’ to try to benefit fromShow MoreRelatedNon-Market Strategy for Big Pharma Companies as a Response to India’s Protectionist and Discriminatory Policies1563 Words   |  7 Pages2012, the Indian Patent Office allowed a domestic company (Natco Pharma Ltd.) to sell a generic version of Bayer AGs cancer drug ‘Nexavar’ on the grounds that the German company’s drug not affordable to the local populace due to cost reasons. Then in March 2013, the Honorable Supreme Court of India denied patent protection to Novartis’s blockbuster cancer drug ‘Gleevac’ stating that Novartis had resorted to ‘evergreeningâ₠¬â„¢ in an effort to extend their monopoly beyond the standard patent period. The Indian