Business and Corporate Responsibility

BY SANDY BOTTOMS ON CULTURE

All across the globe, the conversation is the same. We're cash-strapped, and our assets have depreciated in value. So there is only one thing to do: burn the house down. The American Dream is giving rise to something darker, something that will create a quicker return. It's the American Scheme.

The Eastern Michigan University College of Business "corporate headquarters" is in the Gary Owen building in downtown Ypsilanti. It is not difficult to find as it has a logo that strikingly weaves an E for ethos into it, to reinforce for students and presumably anyone who passes by, the emphasis on ethics in EMU's business school.

By BARCODE 2x

Spend enough time on facebook or other social networks, and you can collect a lot of people and assemble them into networks. There are some great things about these sites. You can establish easy online communication, you can reconnect with old friends, and you can meet new and exciting people. But who the hell are these people, anyway? And who the hell are you? And who is keeping track?

BY IAN BUND

Missing from recent discussions of our economic challenges are two themes:

The Detroit Three auto execs and the UAW leader didn't drive any of their cars from Detroit to Washington, DC this week. Instead, they flew. In corporate jets, in the case of the execs, and on a commercial flight, in the case of the UAW leader.

What are we to learn from the Detroit Three's attempts to secure a bridge loan from the government this week, based on their appearance before Congressional committee hearings?

I am not really asking for advice here. Instead I am giving advice. You asked about whether you should have a mission statement at a2ethics.org. While I understand the reasons for creating a mission statement, such as having a shared vision for employees in an organization to bond over, mission statements are like some opinions written by the Supreme Court. They are always vague and admit to many interpretations.

By SANDY BOTTOMS ON CULTURE

The Responsibility Project has been launched, a blogsite and short film collection about "doing the right thing." They seem to avoid the E-word that our site likes to throw around, but they are somehow getting at the same thing as this ethics magazine, it would seem. The site encourages you to "send your story" of how you took personal responsibility in a situation.

At a2ethics.org we are seeking a mission. After doing just a little research, we have found there are books on writing mission statements! Of course there are. Where have we been? Given that we want a mission and feel we will be left out of the "Mission Statement or Die!" advice that some people who just know have proffered, we took some time to look at some of the mission statements of companies and organizations around the Ann Arbor area. We don't think we can improve on any of them. This has created mission statement depression for us. But an ethical challenge for you!

Originally submitted by: Administrator

When you observe sexual harrassment happening in the workplace, what is the best course of action? If you see a co-worker being treated inappropriately, should you speak to the victim about it? How do you approach that subject? Do you drop hints to the harrasser? Sexual harrassment clauses are written into employee contracts. But it can still happen, and what is the responsibility of a casual witness at work?

Originally submitted by: barcode 2x