Capitalism

1
Chapter 7

• Capitalism

2
American Capitalism

• Bill Gates rags to riches story, opinions?
• Marx believed workers are always exploited
• Profit is the difference between what workers are
  paid, and what their work is worth
• Assumes value is static
• Imagination, mass production etc.
• What would Marx say about an information economy?

3
American Capitalism

• Rawls approach where would you want to live?
• Do humans want a system that equalizes?

4
Chapter 8

• Corporations and Morality

5
Malden Mills Story 180

• What are the facts?
• Treating workers well is just plain good
  business Agree?
• What if it had failed?
• Were his actions ethical?

6
Ethical Communication Issues

• Media use ethics
• Cut and paste mentality
• Pictures and watermarks
• Web bugs ethical?
• AKA Clear GIFs
• Examples
• ltimg src"http//ad.doubleclick.net/ad/pixel.quick
  en/NEW" width1 height1 border0gt
• ltIMG WIDTH1 HEIGHT1 border0 SRC"http//media.p
  references.com/ping?ML_SDIntuitTE_Intuit_1x1_RunO
  fSite_Any db_afcr4B31-C2FB-10E2Ceventreghomeg
  roupregister time1999.10.27.20.5 6.37"gt

7
Corporations

• What are the elements?
• Like people, corporations can
• Act, buy and sell, be sued, be protected
• Advantage of a perpetual lifetime
• How do they differ from individuals?
• They dont enjoy all rights
• Limited liability offers advantages, but
  presents ethical issues
• Are they moral beings?
• They effect people, so there actions can be
  assessed on moral terms

8
Corporations

• If they are they moral beings, we often assign
  blame and impose punishment
• Boycott, protest, blogs, etc.
• Responsibility can be assigned to
• Corporation, the individuals, or both
• However, responsibility should always be assumed
  by individuals
• The worker is responsible for his/her job
• So, why not always assign blame and credit to
  individuals within corporations?

9
Corporate Obligations

• Corporations have four negative obligations
  derived from second order ethical principles
• Moral minimum
• Do no harm
• Maintain the values of the free-market system
• Monopolistic behaviors, bribery, price-fixing
• Fair transactions
• Truth in advertising, fair compensation
• Live up to contracts
• Must be voluntary to be effective
• They also have positive obligations
• Depend on the circumstances

10
Media Ethics

• Cyber-Squatting and Shadow Sites

11
Cybersquatting

• Using a trademark name in a URL (or one that
  could be easily confused with it)
• Examples
• www.ErnestAndJulioGallo.com
• Many good reasons to protect trademark owners
• 1999 Trademark Cyberpiracy Prevention Act
  (a.k.a. the Anticybersquatting Consumer
  Protection Act)
• But what about parodies and satire
• E.g. wallmartsucks.com
• http//www.homedepotsucks.com/
• Free speech issue?
• Act allows damages awarded of as much as 100,000
  per domain name, even if there is no proof of
  lost profits or harm. Ethical?
• What about www.nobush.com vs. www.gwbush.com ?

12
From WalMartSucks.com
13
More Examples

• From http//unquietmind.com/cybersquat.html
• Procter Gamble, the makers of a new product
  Febreze that neutralizes pet odors, is apparently
  so afraid of the side-effects of Febreze, they
  have already registered febrezekillspets.com,
  febrezekillsdogs.com, febrezekillsbirds.com,
  febrezesucks.com and ihateprocterandgamble.com in
  self-defense. If you own a pet, it might be
  important for you to know that they are expecting
  these types of consumer complaints.
• www.verizonsucks.com, www.verizonreallysucks.com
• Response www.VerizonShouldSpendMoreTimeFixingItsN
  etworkAndLessMoneyOnLawyers.com

14
Media Ethics Example
15
Media Ethics Example
16
Corporations

• Is a corporation morally responsible for past
  injustices, even if there is little to no direct
  connections?
• What about affirmative action?
• Does it address the injustice done to the
  affected individuals?
• What about other protected groups?

17
Corporations

• Is it ethical to demand corporations to do public
  service?
• What about individuals?
• Does the negative injunction to do no harm
  necessarily demand positive obligations?

18
Stakeholder Analysis

• Who are the stakeholders, and what are the
  ethical obligations to each?
• Owners, customers, employees, local communities,
  vendors, competitors, disciplines, state, nation
  and the worldwide communities
• Who isnt a stakeholder may be the better
  question
• So, priorities are needed depending on each case
• The rights are sometimes mutually exclusive

19
Corporations

• Who is the corporation responsible to?
• Owners and shareholders
• Employees
• Customers
• Competitors
• Vendors
• Local community
• Larger community
• Others?

20
Corporations

• Social audit?
• Is it just a PR tool?
• Legal vs. moral vs. social responsibilities
• Are all social demands just?
• Vested interests?
• Should corporations be the primary source of
  public welfare?
• If not, who?

21
Corporations

• Social and moral audits
• What are they? What arent they?
• Corporate codes
• Not moral codes
• Cant make actions moral or immoral by fiat
• Should be more than just rules they should point
  to underlying values
• Triple Bottom Line
• Financial, environmental, social/ethical
• At the least, they get people thinking about
  ethics