...South Carolina Shima N. Clarke, Ph.D., PE Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina Over the course of history, the construction industry has been greatly affected by the effects of unethical practices made by owners, contractors and subcontractors. This study examines those practices, known as bid shopping, and its effects on the private sector of the construction industry. Bid shopping is primarily used by contractors and subcontractors to gain an unfair advantage over their clients, competition and subcontractors during the bidding process. Common consequences of bid shopping include lawsuits from contractors, subcontractors and vendors, refusal of the shopped party to sign a contract, compromised quality of workmanship, disregard toward safety measures, severed relationships among construction professionals and inflated bids. Education of construction professionals at the earliest stage possible is crucial to prevent the practice from happening. In addition, familiarity with all aspects of bid shopping helps construction professionals to recognize its symptoms when it does occur, so that appropriate measures can be used to deal with the issue as it is happening. Key Words: Bid Shopping, Construction Ethics, Construction Education, Bidding Process, Private Sector Construction Introduction Over the course of history, the construction industry has been greatly affected by the effects of unethical practices made by owners, contractors and subcontractors. One...
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...Week 1: Business Ethics and International Responsibility - Discussion The World Bank Situation (graded) Class, please read Chapter 2, problem 5 from the Jennings text, p. 72. This week, we will discuss the Wolfowitz situation at the World Bank. Consider the questions at the end of the problem as you make comments in the threads this week. What are the ethics here? Was Wolfowitz trying to do the right thing? Does that make a difference ethically? Throughout the week, I will bring in further questions. Be sure to read the lecture and the international ethics article stated in your reading for the week as well. Responses Response Author Date/Time Wolfowitz and Riza Parvez Rana 4/30/2012 8:06:35 PM Wolfowitz has acknowledged his direct role in the job transfer and pay raise for his longtime companion, who worked in the bank's Middle East department, to avoid supervising her. He has said that he did so only at the direction of the ethics committee. Wolfowitz and Shaha Riza knew what they were doing; it was neither an accident or an oversight, and she was complicit in a raise or series of raises she did not earn legitimately.And does anyone think Wolfowitz and or Riza should be made to repay all her raise money? RE: Wolfowitz and Riza Stephanie Garrigan 5/4/2012 11:15:26 AM By Wolfowitz's disclosure to the board of his relationship with Ms. Riza it did in effect protected Ms. Riza'sfuture whether she was a employee or not. The board then...
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...The success of modern business is apparent, but recently there is much concern in the business-and-society literature and in the general press on whether business fulfils its social role responsibly. Business ethics, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance movements have been developed in recent decades as responses to a growing sense of corporate wrongdoing. This paper attempts to explain why the three movements seem yet to have generated little in the form of widely accepted prescriptions for improvement of business behaviour to the satisfaction of the “constituents” of business, i.e. the major stakeholders. Without denying the usefulness of any of the three movements, the paper suggests that there are weaknesses in all three, especially concerning the way they conceive modern business operation. To this end business pluralism, responsive codes of practice and re-examination of the assumptions (conditions) of business operation could be helpful. In the business literature there is a major strand that celebrates business strength and seeks formulae for success. This strand was manifested in the Scientific Management tradition dating from Frederic Taylor’s work in the early twentieth century (Taylor, 1911) and continued through the Human Relations studies of Elton Mayo that sought to find growth through taking care of the “people dimension” (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939). The tradition was further developed following the publication by Peters and Waterman...
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... ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Week 1: Business Ethics and International Responsibility - Discussion This week's graded topics relate to the following Terminal Course Objectives (TCOs): A | Given an organizational requirement to conform business practices to both the law and best ethical practices, apply appropriate ethical theories to shape a business decision. | I | Given specified circumstances of a business decision to expand to international markets, determine what international legal requirements or regulatory controls apply. | | Click on the links in the "Topics" section to view the discussion topics. Then, click "Respond" to add your thoughts to the discussion thread. | Topics | Introductions (not graded, but required) | The World Bank Situation (graded) | Ethics and Patent Rights Post 9/11 (graded) | Q & A Forum (not graded) | | The World Bank Situation (graded) | Class, please read Chapter 2, problem 5 from the Jennings text, p. 72. This week, we will discuss the Wolfowitz situation at the World Bank. Consider the questions at the end of the problem as you make comments in the threads this week. What are the ethics here? Was Wolfowitz trying to do the right thing? Does that make a difference ethically? Throughout the week, I will bring in further questions. Be sure to read the lecture and the international ethics article stated in your reading for the week as well. Rather than hitting the...
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...Business Research Ethics William Stadler RES/351 04/15/2015 Jonte Lee Business Research: Ethical Research Guidelines When performing research the idea behind this process is developing new ideas from information gathered that not obvious or able to be seen by the human eye. “Forward-thinking executives recognize that analytics may be the only true source of sustainable advantage since it empowers employees at all levels of an organization with information to help them make smarter decisions” (Cooper & Schindler, 2014, Chapter 1, Research in Business, Learning Objectives). It is important for managers to have access to as much information as possible in order to perform business research and it is equally important for management to do business research in an ethical manner. The following paper will discuss an article called Business research in India, summarize what unethical research practices should be avoided, which parties could face injury or what injuries could occur to these parties, how unethical behavior could affect the organization, individual, and society, and how unethical behavior could be monitored or resolved if found occurring. Business Research in India and Ethical Research Guidelines The purpose of the article, Business research in India, was to study the progress of business research done in India. The analysts use a biblio-metric approach which is a combination of multiple articles, publications, journals, etc...
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...Loyalty = Dependence? In business, marketing has the tightest relationship with customers, the driving force of business. The relationship is based on consumer’s values and satisfaction, making the aim of marketing to identify needs of customers and provide them successfully. Successful marketing campaign results in gaining loyal, satisfied customers, which makes marketing an art of retention and development. Companies strive to maximize profit, which can be achieved by retaining loyal customers. Oxford Dictionary describes loyalty as strong commitment or allegiance. Additionally, in marketing, it means that the customer is not willing to switch to alternatives despite the marketing efforts of the competitors (Keller & Kotler, 2012). Companies need strategies to sustain loyal customers. Many believe that the amount of truth consumers place in companies might be abused, as loyalty sometimes equals strong dependence on suppliers. However, government’s role is to protect their citizens and prevent any actions that might violate ethics, but otherwise, the economy will be better off without intervention, referring to the belief of “Laissez-Faire” (Frank & Cartwright, 2013). The essay will aim to prove that loyalty does not cause overly-dependence if it does not influence ethics, and that consumers will seek for better option for themselves. The rational choice theory, which is the base of the microeconomic studies, states that individuals act rationally and choose the option...
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...Definition of Ethics and Business Ethics I learned that ethics, simply stated, involves learning what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing -- but "the right thing" is not nearly as straightforward as conveyed in a great deal of ethics literature. I think, most ethical dilemmas in the everyday living are not simply a matter of "Should Bob steal from Jack?" or "Should Jack lie to his wife?" Ethics poses important questions about how we should act in relationships and how we should live with one another. Ethics asks us to consider whether our actions are right or wrong whatever the context - personal, family or business. (Many ethicists assert there's always a right thing to do based on moral principle, and others believe the right thing to do depends on the situation -- ultimately it's up to the individual.) From my readings, I learned that many philosophers consider ethics to be the "science of conduct." Others explain that ethics includes the fundamental ground rules by which we live our lives. Philosophers have been discussing ethics for at least 2500 years, since the time of Socrates and Plato. Many ethicists consider emerging ethical beliefs to be "state of the art" legal matters, i.e., what becomes an ethical guideline today is often translated to a law, regulation or rule tomorrow. Values, which guide how we ought to behave are considered moral values, e.g., values such as respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, etc. Statements around how...
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...Running head: ETHICS IN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT Ethics in Academic Environment For the past several years, there has been a growing push for the implementation of ethics education in academic environments. With recent highly publicized scandals in the business world such as the Martha Stewart insider trading debacle, the WorldCom profit inflation situation and the Enron bankruptcy scandal, Institutions of Higher Education have increased their emphasis on ethics in their curricula in an effort to produce a qualified and ethical workforce. Students are now exposed to a curriculum that focuses intently on the study of ethical decision making models and case studies. Universities and Institutions of Higher Education are truly leading the way when it comes to the promotion of ethics. What happens though when the vehicles of ethics make the wrong turns? Recently, the University of New Mexico Foundation (UNMF) fell under scrutiny for what many consider to be the unethical funneling of large amounts of money into lobbyist spending. Although the intent was to generate additional funds and support for the school, poor decisions and lack of transparency led to a tangled web of what many consider deceit and the misuse of funds. A closer look at the situation shows that University stakeholders are uneasy about the manner in which funds were used and disclosed…or “not-disclosed”. Apparently, students are not the only ones receiving ethics lessons on campus, some administrators...
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...organisation 569 Effects of a deficient organisation structure 572 Organisation charts 573 Empowerment and control 574 Synopsis 576 Review and discussion questions 577 Management in the news: A taxing merger 577 Assignments 1 and 2 578 Personal awareness and skills exercise 579 Case study: Zara: a dedicated follower of fashion 580 Notes and references 582 15 Patterns of Structure and Work Organisation 585 Variables influencing organisation structure 586 The contingency approach 586 Size of organisation 588 Technology 589 The Woodward study 589 Major dimensions of technology: the work of Perrow 593 Environment 594 The Burns and Stalker study 594 ‘Mixed’ forms of organisation structure 595 The Lawrence and Lorsch study 597 Evaluation of the contingency approach 598 Contribution of contingency theory 600 Culture as a contingent factor 601 The changing face of the workplace 603 The demand for flexibility 605 The shamrock organisation 608 Structure and organisational behaviour 611 Synopsis 613 Review and discussion questions 614 Management in the news: Independents will always have their day 614 Assignments 1 and 2 615 Personal awareness and skills exercise 616 Case study: John Lewis, Waitrose and Ocado: distinctively successful 616 Notes and references 619 16...
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...Business Research Ethics Paper Wayne Bell University of Phoenix RES/351 Business Research Robert Caldwell July 24, 2015 The Goldman Sachs Case When we think of the word ethics, we think of rules and regulations to keep us honest or to know the difference between right and wrong. Another way of defining ‘ethics’ focuses on the disciplines that study standards of conduct, such as philosophy, theology, law, psychology, or sociology” (Resnik, 2011). Considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the financial crisis of 2007 was primarily due to the collapse of the housing industries subprime mortgage market. Residential mortgage-backed securities are commonly issued bonds that are backed by thousands of residential real estate mortgages. The Goldman Sachs case was comprised of subprime mortgages. Most business organization possess a mission statement, a code of ethics or rules to follow to be able to limit the ethical issues that may arise within the Institution, Goldman Sachs did not have any of these. In exploring ethical behavior in the banking and financial institutions whose sole existent is to increase profits through the sale of consumer loans. In 2005, the banking industry started issuing subprime mortgage loans to consumers regardless of their income qualification. “The collapse in prices precipitated the collapse in banking profits, prompting a call...
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...10 8/28/13 Explain computer ethics Computers are special technology and they raise some special ethical issues. In this essay I will discuss what makes computers different from other technology and how this difference makes a difference in ethical considerations. In particular, I want to characterize computer ethics and show why this emerging field is both intellectually interesting and enormously important. On my view, computer ethics is the analysis of the nature and social impact of computer technology and the corresponding formulation and justification of policies for the ethical use of such technology. I use the phrase "computer technology" because I take the subject matter of the field broadly to include computers and associated technology. For instance, I include concerns about software as well as hardware and concerns about networks connecting computers as well as computers themselves. A typical problem in computer ethics arises because there is a policy vacuum about how computer technology should be used. Computers provide us with new capabilities and these in turn give us new choices for action. Often, either no policies for conduct in these situations exist or existing policies seem inadequate. A central task of computer ethics is to determine what we should do in such cases, i.e., to formulate policies to guide our actions. Of course, some ethical situations confront us as individuals and some as a society. Computer ethics includes consideration of both personal...
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...Topics Development BGS Is South Africa in danger of an Arab spring? * Could generalize this into something like * What indicators point to a social uprising looming? * Could focus on certain political, social or economic factors in general * And perhaps compare this or look to what lead to the uprisings in other countries What is or should China do about its aging population? * Could do a comparative study with Japan? Other countries. Upliftment of the poor – can SA learn from China? * Are there better countries to learn from? * Do comparative study between different countries What are African countries doing/not doing (strategies, policies) to derive long-term benefit from investment from China * Could generalize this to * How can emerging? countries derive long term benefit foreign investment from developed countries * Could focus on South Africa and China’s relationship * Could look at all countries China works with BGS or ECO How do SWF’s benefit the welfare/growth of a country? * Could focus on UAE’s use of SWF’s * Could compare it to how other countries use it ECO Do leading indicators influence confidence indicator? * Could look at whether the different indicators influence each other? Sentiment which increases leads to better leading which leads to better sentiment etc Something with Behavioural Economics/Finance (COULD BE FINANCE) Germany vs Austria : Organ Donor – Ticking...
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...vs. Thomas Mulligan Social responsibility, business, shareholders, taxation, executive branches and socialism are not common words that we use in our daily routine life, unless you are in a business or administration scopes. Also, you may not aware about who is Milton Friedman, and why Thomas Mulligan has strong oppositions toward him. In this essay you are going to read a comparison of two different arguments by Thomas Mulligan and Milton Friedman. Their contentions are about corporate social responsibilities. What are responsibilities for executives and companies? Do they have to fulfill them or not? Are social responsibilities only for individuals? Wikipedia defines Social Responsibility as “an ethical framework which suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual.” It means it is not only obligated for individuals or just companies. However, Milton Friedman doesn’t think so; and Thomas Mulligan has strong arguments against Friedman’s. Milton Friedman is an American economist that received Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He has lots of theories and doctrines about monetary policy, taxation and socialism. One and the most popular of his article published in New York Times Magazine at September 13, 1970. In his article, he approached to social responsibility of companies’ and stakeholders’. Briefly, he stands behind the view that "There is one and only one social responsibility of business to increase its profits." (Friedman, 1970, p.268) ...
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...iour” (2008) Melissa S. Baucus et al explains how “Employees are told to relax standards as they seek to innovate and, to enhance creativity”. The authors described the four prescriptions that are stimulated among in-dividuals in order to make them more crea-tive which are: New Product Development and Ethics From New Product Development (NDP) to Sustain-able New Product development (SNPD) The present review aims at being a summary of the main academic articles about project in-novation and the ethical considerations behind them. In 2007 Melissa S Baucus expressed her concern for the fact that creativity researchers rarely discuss ethics. Although the num-ber of companies with ethical considerations is increasing and many are considering words such as sustainability and respect to human rights to their values and mission statements, still they are rarely consider in day to day of business planning and Innovation, Creativity, Stage Gate Controls are words which remain with a weak connection to ethics. The lack of ethical considerations has led to the creation of scenarios such as Colombia where multinational companies are developing new systems in order to extract the gold and other minerals hidden under the Colombian soil. Engineering Mining techniques are achieving the immediate goal, extract the material but they are doing it ignoring the more basic ethical considerations and to the cost of destroying both communities and environment. My hypothesis is that we need to include...
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...Business Research Ethics RES/351 August 13, 2012 Business Research Ethics Introduction Chinese-born researcher Bin Han found not guilty after he was accused of stealing research materials with plans to sell them in China (Lawler, 2002). Han is a prime example of what can happen when unethical behavior surfaces in business research. Individuals and in some cases entire firms are injured because of such behaviors. Placing internal controls in business related research can help to ensure the chance for unethical behaviors are not presented (Cooper, & Schindler, 2011). Suspected Unethical Behavior According to an article in Science found in University of Phoenix library, Bin Han who worked in the ophthalmology department at the University of California “for 13 years was fired in May” (Lawler, 2002, p1463). Approximately seven days later he was arrested and put in jail for allegedly stealing protein gel vials that were part of the University of California’s cornea-transplant research. Among his charges “were theft of trade secrets, possession of stolen property, and embezzlement” (Lawler, 2002, p1463). Some of the things found in Han’s home by investigators were part of a batch of vials owned by the university, and a plane ticket that was later discovered as an open-ended ticket to China (Lawler, 2002). Thanks to Han’s attorneys the charges got dropped down from a felony charge and changed to a lesser theft charge and embezzlement. Han’s lawyers proved the gels...
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