Category: business ethics

The three-pronged political attack on the very notion of retirement (except for a few)

On By southwerkIn business ethics
David Yamada
David Yamada

This goes along neatly with my earlier of David Yamada’s post on living in a plutocracy. I recommend it.

David Yamada's avatarMinding the Workplace

In America, the very notion of a relatively safe and secure retirement is under relentless attack, and much of this broadside is coming from well-monied corporate interests, aided by supportive far-right politicians.

This is not by accident. Only when you connect the dots do you see a unifying force, and it’s very, very political. We haven’t been comprehending how the pieces come together because, frankly, concerns about America’s retirement funding crisis tend to be examined in silos, such as (1) Social Security; (2) public employee pension funds; and (3) 401(k) balances.

I’ve written a lot about the retirement funding crisis on this blog, but I’ve never pulled together some of the interrelated political threads. Here’s a start:

1. Attack on Social Security

Let’s open with the attack on Social Security. In reality, Social Security is among our most stable benefit programs. Although some of the concerns about the future stability…

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Life in an unequal, plutocratic society

On By southwerkIn business ethics
David Yamada
David Yamada

David Yamada has some choice thoughts here. Please read them in full and I recommend you subscribe to his site. It’s good. jp

David Yamada's avatarMinding the Workplace

We are living in an unequal, plutocratic society, and it is feeding an emotional dimension characterized by a dismissive lack of caring by many of the super rich and an angry, dog-eat-dog worldview for everyone else. So many of the employment policy issues I write about on this blog must be viewed against this broader, ugly canvass.

First, let’s establish the factual baseline: America’s wealth gap has reached extreme proportions. As Connie Stewart reports for the Los Angeles Times:

If you feel you’re falling behind in the income race, it’s not just your imagination. The wealth gap between the top 1% and the bottom 99% in the U.S. is as wide as it’s been in nearly 100 years, a new study finds.

For starters, between 1993 and 2012, the real incomes of the 1% grew 86.1%, while those of the 99% grew 6.6%, according to the study, based on Internal Revenue Service…

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Lauren Bloom has a new author page.

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Lauren Bloom has a new author page.

From the page –

Lauren Bloom
Lauren Bloom

Lauren Bloom is an interfaith minister and attorney who focuses on professional and personal integrity. Her career has been devoted to helping business professionals earn and maintain the trust of their clients, cutomers, colleagues and associates. An internationally-recognized expert on business and professional ethics.

I follow Ms. Bloom’s page. If you have a continuing interest in business ethics, I would recommend you follow the web site as well.

James Pilant

The Ethics Sage Advocates for Ethics

On By southwerkIn business ethics

ImageThe ever-invaluable Ethics sage has a new posting –

http://www.ethicssage.com/2013/10/the-benefits-of-ethic-sages-ethical-business-practices-presentations.html

Here is a brief selection below:

Understanding Appropriate Conduct

Working in a corporate environment is a two-way street.  The leaders have to respect the team and vice versa.  This involves knowing the correct way to behave in a professional setting.  Many younger team members may come to the team with fewer boundaries than their older counterparts and there have been clashes in the corporate environment due to these differences.  Most of the time, this includes comments that are too personal or inappropriate, taking breaks that are too long or coming in late every day.  For a business to operate at its full potential, the employees have to be on the same page about what is expected, encouraged or discouraged.  This helps to create harmony and expectations that everyone can live up to. 

I fully agree. There can be few in business who would not benefit from following the Ethics Sage’s writing.

James Pilant

From around the web.

From the web site, C-Suite Mentor

http://csuitementor.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/importance-of-business-ethics/

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work these simple principles out. So why do highly educated professionals and seasoned businessmen and entrepreneurs make the mistake of forgetting business ethics? It requires the courage of your convictions and a good moral base in the individuals. Dishonesty does give you cash in the short term, much like sawing off the branch that you are sitting on gives you timber for a short time. So it will always be a temptation to those with weak morals coupled with financial pressure. In many cases it takes raw courage to be honest, but out of the troubles that businesses go through, its reputation grows, and businesses with good reputations are successful businesses. Naturally, you still need a good business plan and a hungry market, as well as ethics, to be successful. But good ethics are vital to keeping you successful.

From the web site, The Importance of Ethics for Professional Accountants

http://importanceethicsprofessionalaccountants.wordpress.com/

As accounting requires skills and ethical familiarity to a great extent for that ethics are most important for professional accountants. The concept of right or wrong can be cleared by learning about ethical terms thoroughly. To make correct decisions, they help you to make your personal guts strong. The Winnipeg accountants seem familiar in ethical terms and you may take a look at their ethical behavior to explore your knowledge. You may get aware just by searching out Winnipeg Business Directory and choosing the accountant’s category will lead you to all accountants of Winnipeg. When an accountant keeps ethical factors in his mind, he can easily come out from any pressurized situation. After being a proper professional accountant by applying ethical condition at yourself, you will never give your big attention in satisfying investor by keeping up income growth. This attitude make you think for long term as all successful organizations manage for long terms, not for short term. In case of fraud, your ethical behavior makes you able to confront your special relations. You get an inner strength by concentrating on ethical factors and any fraud point you do never ignore. As an accountant, ethics becomes your first priority you can confidently treat with ethical dilemmas and areas without focusing on black and white. You feel comfortable meeting with grey areas people. After getting informed about accountant’s basics and ethical skills you should present your services for public to be useful and popular as well. You can advertise your skills by using online business directory just get listed in Winnipeg Business Directory as this business directory is providing a gorgeous access its visitors to get in touch with each other regarding relevant business, service or product need. You never under represent your time for implementing required terms. You never compromise with ethical factors and will easily go along with the crowd to do what your managers tell.

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Opinion

I am a proponent of Restorative Justice. I have a friend in Ireland. I’m going to see how he feels about the subject. I have discovered that having a common language is no guarantee that you are saying the same things.
James Pilant

Mairead Enright's avatarHuman Rights in Ireland

We are pleased to welcome this guest post from Diarmuid Griffin, Lecturer in Law at NUI Galway. You can read more about Diarmuid on our Guest Contributors Page.

The National Commission on Restorative Justice published its final report in December 2009. The Commission, announced in March 2007, was set up to examine the wider application of restorative justice within the criminal justice system.  The Commission was established following the report of the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights which recommended the development of a restorative justice programme for adult offenders in the Irish criminal justice system.

Restorative justice programmes can already be seen in operation in Ireland for juvenile offenders through the Garda Diversion Programme or a court-referred Probation Service Conference and ad hoc programmes dealing with adult offenders in Nenagh and Tallaght.  While there are various different models of restorative justice, the practice generally involves…

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Joe Mason for President 2012 – Strong Criticism of Obama’s Record

On By southwerkIn business ethics5 Comments

This video was not discovered by me but by James Fallows at The Atlantic. Here’s his take on the video –

The main complaint in this video is that Obama’s “conciliatory” and “reasonable” approach, far from being wise and strategically far-seeing, has proven to be simply weak and vacillating. This is related to the “chess master, or pawn?” debate about Obama’s strategy from earlier this summer.

(You should read all of Mr. Fallows comments. It’s a good essay.)

After listening to the video I was impressed. However, I am a little surprised at Joe Mason’s lack of a web footprint. For a would be presidential candidate, he barely exists in the world of the Internet. If my count is correct, I will be the third web site to feature this video. Please watch it now (just click on it).

Joe Mason for President 2012: Democratic Party Re-Nomination of Obama Challenged

(The Joe Mason video is also featured on Vote Third Party. Currently, the Joe Mason Campaign is apparently almost entirely a You Tube site.)

Whatever form, the Joe Mason campaign takes, it has a powerful criticism of the President’s leadership style. Many feel including myself that the President is a poor negotiator with few fixed beliefs of any importance.

Should this generate a primary challenge?

Absolutely.

Currently the Democratic Party essentially offers voters one thing only – they are not Republicans. Apparently, many Democrats think this is enough. They are so confident in this strategy that they toss their allies particularly Progressives and Liberals over the side with regularity and contempt. Further, they are absent any ideas on how to help the great middle class survive the current cycle of economic catastrophe.

The President is a pure example of this. The main and most effective threats as well as a flurry of vicious insults of his Presidency have been delivered to the liberal wing of the Democratic party to force them to get in line. They are apparently the only recipients of this kind of treatment, the Republicans hearing little but kind words.

You see, to politicians like Obama, those who have voted for the Democrats in the past have nowhere to go. Obviously, they have to vote for him, so they can be treated with disdain.

The fear of Rick Perry, Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann will bring the reluctant party faithful crawling back on their hands and knees to the only “adult in the room.”

I don’t believe that.

We don’t have to vote for Barack Obama and a good way to let him know that is a primary challenge.

The only way that Progressives and Liberals are going to have an effective say is when these kinds of politicians are humiliated at the polls and ridiculed by the party faithful.

As long as the Progressive wing of the party votes without question for a candidate there is no influence. He who can destroy a thing has power. There are easily enough Progressive voters whose defection would defeat Democrats at the polls.

That will be painful.

But is it as painful as watching Barack Obama yield time and again to the enemies of the Middle Class? Would it be as painful as having huge, almost without precedent, majorities in the House and Senate frittered away on half measures and simple inaction for two full years? Would it be as painful as watching the nation’s first real chance at health care reform thrown away for a surrender to the drug and insurance companies modeled on an old Heritage Foundation idea? Would it be as bad as watching the President ignore campaign promise after campaign promise, these superficial promises apparently only made to bamboozle the left-wing of the party to vote for him? Would it be as bad as watching a financial élite who plunged this nation into recession be rescued with taxpayer funds from their own folly?

I tell you truly, it is awful to watch the political victories of your enemies. But there is something worse, and that is to see the people you elected, you worked for, you believed in, act against your interest and call it victory.

James Pilant

Related articles

Fukushima : simulation of dispersed radiation throughout the northern hemisphere (via canadanewslibre)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is nice. I love pictures and this one is beautiful. Unfortunately, it is similar to the beauty of organisms on a microscopic slide that might very well be killing you.

This dispersed radiation on this graph is certainly doing you no good.

I recommend you look at the graph full size and get a grasp of the seriousness of the matter.

James Pilant

Fukushima : simulation of dispersed radiation throughout the northern hemisphere Radioactive Materials Dispersion Model by Kyushu University Researchers Friday, September 2, 2011 Using the supercomputer program called SPRINTARS, researchers at Kyushu University and Tokyo University created the simulation of how radioactive materials from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant may have dispersed throughout the northern hemisphere. The researcher say their simulation fit the actual measurements. It was published in the Scientific Onli … Read More

via canadanewslibre

Goldman Sachs Hit With More Sanctions (via Axsmith Law Blog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

No firm deserves sanctions more!

James Pilant

Goldman Sachs is being sanctioned by the Federal Reserve related to illegal mortgage practices, specifically robo-signing. Robo-signing is when a person signs affidavits used in a foreclosure case using someone else's name. Often these employees of banks or law firms will sign hundreds of documents in a single day – with someone else's name. … Read More

via Axsmith Law Blog

Today is the Day – Pilant’s Business Ethics is now at a new location.

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

http://pilantsbusinessethics.com/

There Were a Lot of Reasons to Move the Web Site.

On By southwerkIn business ethics3 Comments

Probably some of you are thinking why has James moved? He’s going to lose his subscriptions, his Google ranking and part of his audience is going to be unable to adapt and move on to other blogs. I might add that the weakening entries of the last few weeks while the change is underway also undercuts traffic and causes me deep concern.

But the new blog offers multiple categories on the front page and incredible flexibility on how each of those categories appear. The pages in many cases program themselves. For instance, the archives page doesn’t send you to the last few pages – it gives you an entire page of post titles

You can incorporate RSS feeds into page categories. I have already successfully done this. Essentially this means that I can feature other blogs with their most up-to-date posts. It lets me set the number of the posts up to ten and provided a description of each automatically. It updates itself every ten minutes.

When you post, the blog automatically brings up public domain pictures to use, web sites on the same subject to link to and recommends the best search terms to attach. That’s nice – extremely convenient. When a post is up and it’s clicked on, at the bottom of the post three other related posts in the blog are listed.

I want to put up the best blogs in this subject, everyone from buddies like the Ethics Sage, to the great stalwarts in the business ethics field like Chris MacDonald’s Business Ethics Blog as well as Lauren Bloom’s blog on business ethics. But I want to be cautious, other bloggers may want to limit their presence on someone else’s blog, so I’m going to prepare a presentation showing the possibilities and put it out to people I would like to feature.

Currently the new blog site looks like this. It’s kind of a mess. I don’t have a proper RSS feed for it. I am having trouble organizing some of the sections. My search engine optimization is only partly done.

Nevertheless, I am gradually working my way through all of the training film and helpful advice from the web. I have confidence that I can make it work. It’s quite an advance and I want something more. I want more people to read the blog and through it, learn of the other important blog in the business ethics world.

James Pilant