Yoga and its separation from tradition

Business Ethics Applying Virtue Theory

Business Ethics Applying Virtue Theory Introduction The price fixing case by Micron, Infineon, and Samsung presents an interesting ethical issue since big companies at times engage in this practice in order to avoid losses that may occur due to aggressive competition.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business Ethics: Applying Virtue Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this case, three of the four major companies in the DRAM market, Micron, Infineon, and Samsung, made an agreement to fix the prices for DRAM. The demand for memory chips by the personal computer industry had led to these companies investing in bigger factories in order to provide for the increasing demand for memory chips. However, these investments had led to large inventories and intensive price competition among the major players. While competition is good for the industry, intensive competition might be damaging and in this case, it resulted in the companies having to sell their DR AMs at prices that were below manufacturing costs. The three major companies therefore engaged in correspondence with each other and came to a consensus that they would move their prices upwards in unison. Such a move would ensure that the companies were able to sell their product at a price that was above the manufacturing cost and therefore make a profit. The companies’ engaged in this price fixing in secret since such activity is illegal. Price-fixing is not an acceptable behavior since it hurts the consumer who is forced to pay more for the product. This practice also results in companies making more money than they are entitled to since they do not rely on the market forces to set the price but rather their own. The hefty penalty imposed on Infineon by the US government illustrates that the government views price fixing as an unlawful action. On the other hand, the companies have a right to make a profit and their major reason for existing is to make profits for their sh areholders.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This major goal of the companies could not be realized in the fiercely competitive DRAM market where prices had moved to below the manufacturing cost. A question therefore arises as to whether there was a breach of morality by the companies through their price fixing actions. An ethical analysis of the actions of the companies must be performed in order to determine if their actions were morally justifiable. This paper will set out to assess whether Micron, Infineon, and Samsung acted virtuously in their collective decision to move their prices upward or whether they acted viciously. Analysis In virtue theory, emphasis is placed on the agent’s motivation with the rightness of an action being dependent on the motive from which it proceeds. Liezl explains it as an action is right if (and because) it exhibits or expre sses a virtuous motive or at least does not exhibit or express a vicious motive (52). According to this account of rightness, actions are right because they are done with virtuous motives on the part of the agent. Virtue ethics analyses the character of the agent who carries out the action and the agents morality is therefore used to decide on the morality of his/her actions. While traditional virtue ethics focused on the virtues, modern virtue ethics take on an agent-based approach where motives are the primary concern (Bessant 430). Edmund Pincoffs ethics theory presents the best model to use in this scenario. In this theory, every virtue can be understood in terms of the role they play in human life and those qualities that it encourages.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business Ethics: Applying Virtue Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Gruner observes that price fixing has an effect of normalizing this beha vior and a company which engages in price fixing is more likely to continue with this habit and consider it a way of life (1). Virtue theory argues that the wrongfulness of an action can be determined by examining the kind of person the action tends to produce or the kind of person that tends to produce the action (Velasquez 132). On the price fixing case in question, we are not informed of the character of the major companies that engaged in this action. Even so, we do know that there was a statute outlawing price fixing in the US as of 2001. In spite of their knowledge of this, the three companies went ahead and engaged in price fixing. The integrity of a company that would knowingly break the law is called into question. The companies were willing to risk the costs of violating price-fixing laws and this suggests that they had a strong motivation to engage in this act. Even so, all this is speculative since the case study does not offer any suggestion that the companies were immo ral agents. An analysis of the motivation behind the price fixing actions of the companys must also be looked at since Virtue Theory considers the motivations behind an agents actions. The motivation of the companies in fixing price was not malicious. From the information provided, there is no indication that the companies intended to harm the consumers by raising their prices. Instead, their intention was to ensure that they obtained a profit on their products, which were being sold at a loss due to the aggressive competition. However, we can rightfully deduce what kind of a person such actions tend to produce. In the price fixing case, an analysis of the future consequence of the three major companies continuing with this practice reveals the following. If the price fixing is to continue, consumers will suffer.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Brander and Ross assert that the economic damages of price fixing are great since this practice causes consumers to purchase goods at excessive prices (336). Price fixing is harmful to the consumers who have to suffer from the high prices that are imposed on them by the customers. The practice is also harmful to the smaller companies which can be eliminated from the market through the dominance of the major companies. Brander and Ross illustrate that the artificial manipulation of product prices stifles free and fair competition and this might cause the smaller companies to be eliminated (336). The Virtue theory focuses on the type of person that we ought to be and not on the specific actions that should be taken (Weiss 113). In this case, the type of company that is desirable is one that is grounded in good character, motives, and core values. By engaging in price fixing, the companies in question are not going to develop a bad character and their core values will be corrupted. The price fixing actions resulted in significant monetary gains by the companies that engaged in this practice. In the fixing the computer Memory Market case, the companies involved were able to move their prices from about $1 to $4.50 a unit. At this high price caused by the price fixing, the companies were able to maximize their profit. It can be projected that the companies will become more selfish and greedy if they continue with these actions. Proponents of virtues emphasize the role of character and being a good person is more important than knowing about the rules or principles of ethical judgment (Bessant 429). Pincoff defines the moral virtues as forms of regard for the interest of others and the moral virtues under this definition include; benevolence, helpfulness, and selflessness (Weiss 113). The companies evidently lacked these virtues when they agreed to increase the price of their product. The actions of the companies do not help in the development of a moral character b ut instead encourage an immoral one. Conclusion My first reaction to the Price fixing case was that it was justifiable for the companies to raise the prices in order to gain some profit from their product. This conclusion was arrived at since in my opinion, the fierce competition among companies was damaging to each of them. Price fixing therefore seemed like the best option since it would ensure that each company remained profitable and would therefore be able to guarantee its future survival. While I appreciated the fact that price fixing is illegal, the rationale behind it seemed to be justified since a company should not be making a loss. However, an in-depth analysis of the issue using an ethical theory introduced different perspectives to the case. Virtue theory has emerged as an appropriate theory to addressing the issues raised in this scenario. While virtue theory was helpful in this case, I found a number of major shortcomings in the theory. To begin with, the theory fails to consider the circumstances surrounding the actions of the companies. The intense competition is what drove the companies to engage in the price fixing action. These external situations are very important in analyzing the moral character of the companies involved. The theory also places too much emphasis on the acting agent and very little attention is given to the subjects affected by the agents actions. In this case, the subjects would be the consumers, the community, and the small companies. The theory brought it to my attention that the intentions of the big companies had to be thoroughly reviewed. While at first I assumed that avoiding a loss was the only motivation, virtue analysis made me question the motivation of the big companies in fixing prices. From this questioning, I was able to observe that price fixing could have been motivated by the desire to stifle competition from smaller companies in the market. The theory also highlighted to me that the future consequences of the actions taken by the companies must be considered. In particular, the theory made me think about the kind of a company that the actions were creating. Ethics Theory suggests that the actions of an agent should make it more likely that the agent will successfully pursue virtuous goals in future. In this aspect, the virtue theory was very important since it contributed a different perspective to my understanding of the actions of the company. Instead of only focusing on the action taken by the companies, the theory forced me to analyze the underlying motivations and the future outcomes of the companies if they continued to engage in this behavior. By applying Ethics Theory, it can be confidently stated that the companies acted immorally by making the decision to move their prices upwards. Price fixing undermines the desirable values of honesty and fairness that a good organization is supposed to practice. Bessant, Judith. â€Å"Aristotle meets youth work: a case for virtue et hics.† Journal of Youth Studies 12.4 (2009): 423-438. Print. Brander, James and Ross Thomas. â€Å"Estimating damages from price-fixing.† Canadian Class Action Review 3.1 (2006): 335-369. Web. Gruner, Richard. Corporate Criminal Liability And Prevention. Harvard: Law Journal Press, 2004. Print. Liezl, van Zyl. â€Å"Agent-based Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Action Guidance.† Journal of Moral Philosophy 6.1 (2009): 50–69. Web. Velasquez, Manuel. Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases. (7th Edn). NY: Pearson, 2011. Print. Weiss, Joseph. Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach. Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.

McWorld Vs. Jihad by Benjamin Barber Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

McWorld Vs. Jihad by Benjamin Barber - Essay Example Neither of these two sides wishes to compromise, as the corporations are only worried about expanding their company in order to maximize profits and the tribal communities are only concern with keeping the corporations away, so conflict will always exist. Also, neither of these two sides is interested in democracy, so a battle of wills is taking place in these regions. This book does an excellent job of describing the problems that have occurred since globalization became a reality and the ideas that are presented here can be applied to a number of present day issues in society. The most obvious place where this ideology can be applied is in the Middle East, where militants have become tired of the Americanization of their economies and have decided to do something about it. In these places, war has always been a common answer to problems, as the various tribes in these areas have been feuding for centuries. Conflict is nothing new in the Middle East, so it should not be surprising that there has been a violent uprising in response to the globalization that had been attempting to sweep through the region. Since the region is very rich in oil reserves, corporations feel as though there are ways to make money off of the situation. This greed has made the area very attractive, but this attraction has come at a price. Different groups of people lay claim to various regions in the Middle East, even to the point where the present day borders are disputed regularly. Jihad and McWorld are moving in completely opposite directions, with one siding wishing to make the world a smaller place and the other side wishing to isolate the various tribes so that they each have their own space and are left alone. The problem, according to Barber, is that neither of these sides act democratically, which will causes for the current problems to last well into

How Successful was the American and Chinese Alliance in the WWII and Essay

How Successful was the American and Chinese Alliance in the WWII and Why - Essay Example China did not participate in the First World War, but Japan did. In their participation, Japan posed a great threat to western countries. Further, Japan sought dominance in the East Asian region and intervened china taking up Chinese territories (Rocky 186). It was during this war that America and China formed alliance with a view of achieving their objective. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the success attributed to the American and Chinese alliance in the World War II, and the reasons behind the success. An understanding of the prevailing conditions in China enable a clearer understanding of the situations under which the alliance between America and China started. After the First World War, Japan intruded into china’s territories. Previously, China respected all the treaties it had signed. In the international picture, China lacked a good reputation in international relations. China had internal issues, which it sought to get over first. China had the habit of not r esponding to foreign intrusions into its territories. However, after japans’ intrusion in 1930’, china responded as a nation to the imperialism. This marked China’s turning point in international interests and especially the East Asian region (Gallicchio 187). On the other hand, America was an emerging threat to all nations to take over the global economy. America participated in the First World War and realized that Japan was a potential threat to its interests. This realization prompted America to seek an alliance with the weak China. The two countries shared nothing in common in terms of relations and interests. However, America realized that strengthening China to stand up, as a unified nation against Japan would alter situations. The altered situations would be in America’s favor. Unified China would probably defeat Japan and America would no longer be under any threat. America was prepared to pay the price to unify China and enable it to stand again st Japan (Liu 71). China’s entry into an alliance with America was a pursuit for its needs to gain stability nationally, regionally and internationally. China pictured that by the end of the war, the resulting policies would enable it to compete in the international front effectively. China hoped that America would help it overcome its internal differences and stand up as unified force in East Asia. In addition, China had a quest to conquer Japan and regain its lost territories. The alliance looked promising for both nations. China belonged to the Big Four in the United Nations but at that time, it did not compete effectively (Hing 55). Therefore, Chinese leaders reasoned that the alliance and post war events would leave it in a better position. These circumstances led to leaders in Washington and Chongqing to decide to lay down a different structure in China’s international relations. The alliance was China’s best opportunity to be empowered internally and exte rnally. Their alliance came about after Japans’ Pearl Harbor attack masterminding. Shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack, Chiang, the then Chinese leader had expressed his confidence in America’s leadership and promised to that China would adopt that form of leadership after the war. He presented China as a potential center and this won the favor of Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the president of America in that era. Chiang promised America that they would serve as a market for America’

A Report on the effects of Gender within Crime

A Report on the effects of Gender within Crime Its often thought that when females commit a crime they are often given a lesser sentence than if they were a male and that more males commit crimes than compared to females. It is also often thought by females that feminists if tried by a male may get longer than they should because of what they stand for. This can also apply when the situation is turned around where the male is standing up for what they believe in. Most people believe that the only reason females commit a crime is to provide for her family and make sure her children are brought up in a stable environment. On the other hand females are portrayed are the people that are more likely to shoplift and other crime that are unlikely to be noticed. The work carried out on the area of females and crime is very limited as there are fewer reports. Gender and Patterns of crime Carol Smart has given a number of reasons as to why she thinks crime rates for females are neglected. Carol Smart indicates that because females commit so few crimes they as not seen as much of a threat as males are because they commit more serious crimes therefore females are considered to be less of a threat to society. She also says that in both sociology and criminology professions there are more males employed than women therefore more studies have been on a males state of mind for crime instead of womens state of mind. Also criminology is stimulated by a desire to control, behaviour that is regarded as challenging. Females have been seen as less problematic then men so they are given less attention for the crimes they have committed. Carol Smart has quoted judges who are being biased against females: It is well known that women in particular and small boys are likely to be untruthful and invent stories (Judge Sutcliffe 1976) how would the female fell in this case? She would fell like it was her fault like he had committed a crime. She also asks three very interesting questions about females and what crimes the commit and why they do. Do females really commit fewer crimes then males, or are the figures misleading? Some Sociologists have suggested that females offences are constantly under-recorded by the authorities Although females continue to commit comparatively few crimes, some people have suggested that the proportion of crimes committed by females has been increasing. According to a number of commentators this alleged increase has resulted from Womens Liberation. Is this so? Why do females who break the law commit crimes?. 2. Official Statistics, Criminality and Gender. Otto Pollak helps explain the answers to the above questions. He has looked at the figures of crimes committed by females over different countries so it is not as accurate as it would be if the U.K statistics were used. 2.1 Otto Pollak insists that the official figures are very vague level of female criminality. 2.2 Otto Pollak indicates that he thinks that a large amount of petty theft crimes are committed by females, and the asserted that such crimes that were improbable of coming to the awareness of the system. 2.3 Many unreported crimes were committed by female household servants. 2.4 Otto Pollak also insinuated that a females household roles gave them a considerable opportunity to commit such crimes like Poisoning Loved ones and sexually abusing their children. 2.5 The police, Magistrates and other law enforcement officials have a tendency to be male. Raised to be courteous, and are usually compassionate towards female offenders so that smaller quantity of females becomes apparent in the statistics. 3. Criticism of Otto Pollak Frances Heidensohn used the statistics for the U.K to point out the major flaws in Otto Pollaks argument. 3.1 Frances Heidensohn point out flaws in the statements above with his research. 3.2 Most shoplift is actually done by middle ages males rather than females. 3.3 That the time Pollak was writing there was a cut in the number of female household Servants. 3.4 Heidensohn draws awareness to the quantity of crimes performed against prostitutes by male clients, and the occurrence of male crimes in domestic life, all the evidence point towards males being significantly more likely than a female to commit aggressive and sexual offence in the solitude of their own home. 3.5 Otto Pollaks statistical study is based on insignificant data and unconfirmed statements. Heidensohn notes that the disguise of menstruation is by no means collective and changed sexual society have long since made gibberish of his view of passive, friendly females threatening revenge. 4. Evidence against the Chivalry Thesis 4.1 Steven box has re-examined the statistics from self-report studies in Britain and the USA. A few of these studies show some compassion regarding females, the greater part do not. 4.2 The Mass of verification on females committing serious offences does not give obvious foundation to view that they get given a degree of difference and more positive conduct from members of the community, police and judges. 4.2 Abigail Buckle and David P. Farrington preformed a small-scaled surveillance study of shoplifting in a British department store in southwest England in 1981. Shoplifting is one crime where the female offenders nearly match the male offenders in the official statistics. This study found that two point eight percent of the one hundred and forty-two males observed shoplifted but only one point four percent of the three hundred and sixty-one females shoplifted. Evidently this study uses far too small a sample to get an accurate assumption, but as one of the very few attempts to measure crime precisely it does prove some evidence against the Chivalry Thesis. 4.3 In 1983 David P. Farrington and Allison Morris conducted a study off sentencing in magistrate courts. They started out by noting the some official figures did imply more compassion towards females. E.g. In 1979 six point six percent of males were found guilty of indictable where as only two percent of females were convicted. Farrington and Morris examined data in sentencing for four hundred and eight offences of theft in Cambridge in the same year. Some one hundred and ten of these offences were committed by females. Although males receive more severe sentences than females, the study found that the differences disappeared when the harshness of offences was taken into account. Farrington and Morris came to the conclusion that there was no self-sufficient effect of sex on sentencing seriousness. 4.4 Roger Hood on the West midlands in 1989 carried out a more recent study the used a sample of two thousand eight hundred and eighty-four male and four hundred and thirty-three female defendants in crown courts. Hood compared the sentencing of males and females, controlling for variables which he had found affected the sentencing of men. He found that white women were give custodial sentences thirty-four percent less often than men in similar cases and black women thirty-seven percent less often. 5. Female Crime and Womens Liberation. 5.1 Freda Adler claimed that womens liberation had shown the way to a modern form of female criminal and has amplified females involvement in crime. 5.2 Freda also thinks that the biological theories are not precise and she believes that is has nothing to do with a females hormones, aggression and criminality. 5.3 In the USA between 1960 and 1972 robberies by females went up by two hundred and seventy-seven percent males by only one hundred and sixty-nine percent. Embezzlement by females rose by two hundred and eighty percent in the same period of time, whereas for males it rose by as little as fifty percent. 5.4 Overall arrests rates for females rose three times as fast as those for males and particularly among female delinquents. 5.5 why then were women becoming so much more involved in crime? Adler believed the main reason was that females were taking on male social roles in both legitimate and illegitimate areas of performance. She stressed the pace and extent of change saying: there is a tide in the affairs of females as well as males, and in the last decade it had been sweeping over barriers which have protected male prerogatives and eroding the conventional differences which once nicely defined the gender roles. 5.6 Adlers views proved to be very contentious, for the most part as they could be used to imply that the womans liberation was a bad thing. They replicated Substantial research into the question on whether female crime is increasing or not. 5.7 Adler is relying on statistics which are clearly unreliable as they are not recorded properly as stated earlier by Carol Smart and Frances Heidensohn. They believe that that system is too soft on females and that they are more likely to get away with petty crimes than males are. Sources Smart, C. Women, Crime and Criminology 1976 Pollak, O. The Criminality of women 1950 Heidensohn, F. Women and Crime 1985 Box, S. Recession, Crime and punishment 1987 Adler, F. Sisters in crime 1975

England vs. Spain vs. France for Control of New World Essay -- essays

â€Å"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.† Of the three major colonizers who vied for control of North America from the 15th to 17th centuries, it was the early-bird Spanish who got the worm, but after all was said and done, it was England who got the more desirable cheese. After 1763, the English had control of all land east of the Mississippi river and virtually all of present-day Canada. The English were able to gain the upper hand in the conflict for control of North America not only because of military victories, but also because of good timing. The English victory over the Spanish Armada marked the beginning of the British naval dominance in the Atlantic. England and Spain had been enjoying a peaceful relationship throughout the early 15th century. However, the relations turned sour after the Spanish backstabbed an English fleet, led by a British sailor named Francis Drake at the Spanish port of San Juan de Ulua in 1568. Drake, privately encouraged by Queen Elizabeth of England, began pirating the Spanish riches for England from the Caribbean and all along the Spanish held coasts of Latin America. King Philip of Spain, already disgusted by the religious practices of England’s royalty, began scheming for a plan to invade Britain. He sent 130 large vessels, meant to carry soldiers, to the English Channel. The once thought â€Å"Invincible Armada† was annihilated by England’s smaller, more maneuverable and better armed crafts. While the surviving Spanish ships were retreating back home, a rare Sept ember storm devastated the already diminished fleet. With a large chunk of their navy destroyed, Spain did not have enough ships or manpower to control their vast empire. Slowly, their once might... ...rth American domination, now held the entire continent, with the exceptions of Florida, Mexico, and the Californian coast, which still were the possessions of Spain. England had won the struggle for North American dominance. England won the European struggle for control of America because of their timely military victories along with a people who, at that time, were ready to expand their horizons. They defeated the Spanish Armada when and where Spain was most vulnerable. This coincided with the fact that the English people, of high and low stature, needed a new place to go while recent technological advancements made it possible for them to get there. Once there, the British were able to protect their own colony while also securing more land for the English Crown. Spain definitely got the worm, France sprung the mousetrap, and England got the cheese.

Kohlberg and piaget’s moral development

Elizabeth, a seven year old child, was forbidden by her mother to play inside the house or else she’ll tie her up side down.   One day, her little friends invited her to play a â€Å"chasing† game.   Ã‚  Because she was not to play inside the house, she told her friends to play outside the house.   They got bored with the game and decided to change it into hide and seek.   Elizabeth, a very competitive child, doesn’t want to be caught by anyone.   She decided to hide inside the house keeping in mind to be as careful as possible.But unfortunately for her, her friend Aspen, who was the seeker, saw her enter the house and followed her.   Elizabeth got nervous when she saw Aspen.  Ã‚   In the instant that Aspen entered the house, Elizabeth quickly ran towards the door but she was caught by Aspen.   They grab each other so that one of them might reach the base first.   But as they grab each other they bump into vase stand.   The vase fell and break s. Her mother caught them.   Elizabeth told her mother that it’s not her fault and include Aspen as well.Commonly, children exhibits a pre-conventional level of way of thinking, that is,   they enter the first and second stage of Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development   (Nucci, 2002).   In stage 1, children conceived an action to be right or wrong according to the punishment their parents give them.   In stage 2, the concept developed by a child is like â€Å"you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours†.  For Piaget, children are more worried about the results and consequences of what they have done rather than the true reason underlying their action (Nucci, 2002). Applying these theories to Elizabeth’ situation, she would think of horrible situations like her mother’s going to tie her up side down.   Maybe she’ll also think of different scenarios like she’ll not allow her to play ever again.   Another thing, sh e’ll make sure that Aspen will take her punishment too – this is to include the â€Å"you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours†.  Ã‚   Obviously, the child’s age is appropriate to the stage since Elizabeth is exhibiting both the characteristics that Piaget and Kohlberg described.ReferenceNucci, L. (2002, February 15).   Studies in Moral Development and Education: An Overview.Retrieved September 23, 2007, from http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/overview.html.