Benjamin Franklin, Business Ethics, And How To Present An Idea

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics

From the Benjamin Franklin biography by John Torrey Morse, Jr., page 39.

In another enterprise Franklin shrewdly enlisted the boon-companion element on his side, with the result of immediate and brilliant success. He began as usual by reading a paper before the Junto, and through this intervention set the people thinking concerning the utter lack of any organization for extinguishing fires in the town. In consequence the Union Fire Company was soon established, the first thing of the kind in the city. Franklin continued a member of it for half a century. It was thoroughly equipped and efficiently conducted. An item in the terms of association was that the members should spend a social evening together once a month. The example was followed; other companies were formed, and fifty years later Franklin boasted that since that time the city had never “lost by fire more than one or two houses at a time; and the flames have often been extinguished before the house in which they began has been half consumed.”

Franklin does not go out with an idea convinced in advance of its success. He carefully tests his ideas with a chosen audience. The Junto was an association he created of other capable young men. They came together to discuss ideas, exchange information, and to lobby for their interests. The idea for an organization to fight fires made abundant sense but he tested it in front of this chosen audience to gauge its reception.

The Junto gave him a testing ground for his ideas. He could get feedback in a safe environment. If his idea was not well thought out, it will not be reported. If successful, he can then take an idea which has passed muster in an intelligent practical organization and test it out in the community.

One of the things that gets us in trouble is pride. Franklin in his autobiography admits that vanity (pride) was key to much of his success. That he is able to recognize that and give it due credit is amazing. Most of us spend our lives lying about ourselves to everybody including and particularly ourselves. Pride has it proper place as Franklin realizes. But when you have to much you tend to over reach.

The idea for a fire company is so obviously good, it would have been easy to bypass the testing steps. It would have been easy just to expect the idea to sell itself. After all, isn’t everyone afraid of fire and hadn’t the city almost burned down twice within memory? But he still kept to the process of testing and development building a successful execution from the ground up.

Watch how Franklin takes even the best of his ideas and carefully works them into reality. How many of us once convinced of an idea can proceed intelligently and cautiously to build consensus for it? No, generally we tell everyone how great it is and reflect astonishment when disagreed with. We can learn from Franklin’s example.

There is certainly an ethical element in the level of respect he is demonstrating in this process for other opinions, the thoughts and ideas of the other members. He is recognizing the importance of these other individuals in the community. He is celebrating their importance, communicating clearly the importance of their thoughts and their support.

He doesn’t just sell an idea. He build allies, develops friendship and allows others to mature and develop by being his friends and associates.

Can you do that?

James Pilant

Do EVERYTHING You Are Supposed To AND Still Lose Your Home?

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Philosophy of Business

This is an AP report about one woman’s struggle to stay in her home.

Next time someone says, “They knew what they were signing!” – Ask them, “Should the banks should have to abide by their agreements?” Because what we are seeing across this country over and over and over again are banks renegotiating the loans, making a deal, and then foreclosing anyway.

Where do we go to find the bank’s personal responsibility?

James Pilant

Pennies-Be-Gone: The Ethics of Rounding (via The Business Ethics Blog)

On By southwerkIn ethics

Chris MacDonald gets high marks from me. His writing is good all the time. And this one is one of his best.

Read about the ethics of the decline and fall of the American penny!

James Pilant

Pennies-Be-Gone: The Ethics of Rounding The always-useful Consumerist brings us this story, with a self-explanatory title: A Lone Dunkin' Donuts Sort Of Abolishes Pennies One donut shop is taking a stand against the bacteria-ridden zinc disks of suck that are pennies. Reader Tom sent us [a photo of a sign] from a store he recently visited. In a policy change that was probably born during an 8 AM rush, this franchise appears to be are rounding customer totals up or down to the nearest f … Read More

via The Business Ethics Blog

Woman Owes 1.5 Million For Downloading And Sharing 24 Songs.

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics

From Yahoo Music Blog, The Amplifier –

What’s the value of a song? Jammie Thomas-Rasset has spent the last few years in court debating that question. The Minnesota mother of four is being penalized for illegally downloading and sharing 24 songs on the peer-to-peer file-sharing network Kazaa in 2006, but how much she owes the record labels has been in question. The jury in her third trial has just ruled that Thomas-Rasset should pay Capitol Records $1.5 million, CNET reports, which breaks down to $62,500 per song. It’s a heavy penalty considering the 24 tunes would only cost approximately $24 on iTunes, which was Thomas-Rasset’ argument, too.

I know it’s wrong to download and share songs. But does that kind of unethical act merit this kind of overwhelming response? I don’t think so.

Is the recording industry biting itself with this kind of nonsense? Yes, it is.

How will that be felt? I don’t know. But I can’t believe that when you do something stupid over and over again, that you won’t get hurt.

From further in the article –

Burying a Midwestern mom in insurmountable debt isn’t the best publicity move, so rather than argue the labels are entitled to the cash, the RIAA has sought to make this trial into a cautionary tale for anyone considering illegally downloading music — a reminder that there are penalties. But as the constantly declining weekly Nielsen SoundScan sales figures demonstrate, nothing seems to have deterred music fans from stealing rather than purchasing songs and albums.

This case is potent symbol of how the lawsuit has drifted from defending the poor and helpless into a tool for crushing corporate opponents.

James Pilant

Judge Started Shutting Down Foreclosures TWO YEARS Ago For Bad Paperwork!

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics, Philosophy of Business, White Collar Crime

Brooklyn State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Schack discusses his decision to turn down bank foreclosures for bad paperwork.

(Beware, this has a commercial.)

It’s 4:27 long.

The New York judiciary has gotten tough on the Mortgage industry.

James Pilant

Five Mortgage Myths Debunked

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Capitalism, ethics

This is from CNN Money. I found it on You Tube. It’s useful information, so I pass it on to you.

It’s 4:12 long.

(Watch out, it has a commercial in the front.)

James Pilant

You Can Have My Huge African Fortune

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics4 Comments

I got this e-mail, today. This is priceless. They must have run out of royal families. I feel sorry for them. With all their royals dead, all they have to scam you with are African banks flooded with dead people’s cash.

Why are they writing scams when they could write novels? Look at the detail they put into this story! You have a Concord crash and all the relatives are dead. I mean isn’t this just like one of those Alistair MacLean novels?

But, of course, they quickly got down to the nitty gritty with the killer sentence – Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank as relations or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be remitted.

It really killed the flow of the story.

Well, I am foolishly untrusting! So, if you want my African fortune, you can have it. You don’t even have to send me a thank you.

Here is my “letter.”

{By the way, did you like the picture? Like my African bankers, these are crooks! (shepherd’s crooks in this case)}

 

AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING MANAGER,

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK.

 

OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO,WEST AFRICA.

Dear Friend,

I am the manager of auditing and accounting department African Development Bank (A.D.B). I got your address in Burkina Faso chamber of commerce through yahoo details. In my department i discovered an abandoned sum of $25.7 m US dollars (Twenty five. Seven Million US dollars). In an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family in a concord plane crash in the year 2004 in Paris that almost took the whole life of the passenger’s on board. Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I and now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and i don’t want this money to go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed Bill. The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after six years, the money will be transferred into the Bank treasury account as unclaimed fund. The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a Burkina be cannot stand as next of kin to a foreigner.

We agree that 40% of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 10% will be set aside for expenses incurred during the business and 50% would be for me. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank as relations or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be remitted. Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the letter of demand for you to apply for the claim immediately.

I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer. You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this letter. Trusting to hear from you immediately.

Yours faithfully

DR WAHEED ABDUL

AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT. (A.D.B) BANK.

Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the letter of demand for you to apply for the claim immediately.

I hope this got a laugh. It’s all it got from me.

Best Wishes,

James Pilant

Benjamin Franklin, Business Ethics, Newspapers And Teaching

On By southwerkIn business ethics

From the John Torrey Morse, Jr. biography of Benjamin Franklin (pages 23-24)

But the famous almanac was not the only pulpit whence Franklin preached to the people. He had an excellent ideal of a newspaper. He got news into it, which was seldom done in those days, and which made it attractive; he got advertisements into it, which made it pay, and which also was a novel feature; indeed, Mr. Parton says that he “originated the modern system of business advertising;” he also discussed matters of public interest. Thus he anticipated the modern newspaper, but in some respects improved in advance upon that which he anticipated. He made his “Gazette” a vehicle for disseminating information and morality, and he carefully excluded from it “all libeling and personal abuse.” The sheet in its every issue was doing the same sort of work as “Poor Richard.” In a word, Franklin was a born teacher of men, and what he did in this way in these his earlier days gives him rank among the most distinguished moralists who have ever lived.

I, myself, am a teacher and a good one. Franklin is very good. He is fond of facts, fascinated with reason and inclined toward discussion, both intelligent and moderate.

But do not think for a moment that Franklin was not willing to be angry or unwilling to use strong language. He knew that civility is not a one way street. He was a leader in revolution, at times, a soldier and a master of spies.

We need Franklin’s example now, more than ever. Franklin believed in virtue, virtue ethics like those practiced by the Greeks. That system says that we do the right thing because it is a better way to live, that it has benefits and we profit by them.

Those benefits are generally internal, how we feel about ourselves, others, this life or the next one. But Franklin takes it to a place where we can see that you can be virtuous and effective, honest and successful, hard-working and prosperous. He takes virtue ethics and shows how when applied with diligence and intelligence, a balanced life is possible.

The Greeks of the Classical Age believed in the moderation in all things. I do not. Neither did Franklin.

However, we can certainly say that Franklin believed in moderation in most things and recommended such to others.

Let that be our lesson today.

James Pilant

Are Our Homes Just Monopoly Board Houses?

On By southwerkIn Capitalism

From The Mail Online –

Standing as a monument to the credit crunch, this life-sized Monopoly house was created as an ironic statement on the global financial crisis.

Created by Canadian artist An Te Liu, 44, the 36ft by 44ft work called ‘Title Deed’ was built in Willowdale, in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Art is a political statement. The artist wants to let us know that what we find to be important in our lives, something we hold in affection and dear in our memories is now just a toy for financiers. First a chip in the global securities market, then a bailout bad debt to get money from the government, then a cash cow to be mortgaged not refinanced because while refinancing makes sense, the numbers on paper are more important. In brief, the homeowner gets it in the shorts, every time, with any possible exception.

Seeing property as a home, a loan, a debt, an investment and something that is more monetised than we realise, the artist wanted to use the iconic board game as a metaphor.

‘Just as the sub prime mortgage crisis hit America and was caused by traders and bankers playing their games in Wall Street, so the common man was squeezed because of that,’ he said.

‘Our homes are not necessarily what we think they are. They are property just like in Monopoly to be remortgaged and used as collateral.

I admire the sentiment and I like the artist’s willingness to send a message. Surely, we need more messages, more senders and less compliance with a state of mind that allows mind boggling evasion and contempt for the law.

James Pilant

500 Posts

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I have posted more than 500 times.

I could not have done without your encouragement and kindness.

My Thanks!

James Alan Pilant