PHI 2604 Chapter 10

1. Elucidate “conflict of interest” in the workplace.
2. Come up with one example of a conflict of interest you’ve recently witnessed.
3. What constitute “insider trading”?
4. How about downloading music or videos one doesn’t pay for? What’s a trade secret?
5. Define “bribe.”
6. Define “kickback.”Comment the case of some American executives at Honda.
7. Go over the seven rules on “gifts.”
8. Define “whistle blowing.”
9. Is self-interest more important than the interests of the public?

Goldman Sachs an example of fraud

The fraudulent practices of Wall Street exposed:

A new lawsuit accuses Goldman Sachs of purposely unloading $93 million in mortgage-backed securities it knew to be junk onto a client, then betting against those same securities in the lead-up to the financial crisis. Basis Yield Alpha Fund, an Australian hedge fund, filed the lawsuit against Goldman Sachs on Thursday, asking for more than $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit alleges that Goldman Sachs overcharged for two sets of mortgage-backed securities that it sold to Basis; lied about the securities' expected performance; did not provide timely, accurate information about the securities' true value; and failed to disclose that the firm was actively betting against the securities at the time of the transaction -- all which the hedge fund says contributed to its collapse.

What is Occupy Miami all about?

What is Ocupy Miami all about? Pedro Santana, a young member of the movement speaks.

What do you think?

Should we thank corporations for the air we breathe?

The above illustration, which is getting wide circulation in market-oriented blogs is posted by a John Hinderaker. Each arrow points to a distinctive well-known brand product. The illustration has the pedagogic aim of exhibiting the protesters' bad faith, which consists of wearing products made by the corporations they criticize. Hinderaker relishes the following platitude:

I've always wondered: where do people who don't like corporations work? Do they seriously want to turn the clock back by centuries –it would take some research to figure to how many– to a world in which the only forms of business organization are sole proprietorships and partnerships? And who do they think designs, manufactures and distributes the products they use? Elves? 

Hinderaker confounds "work," an essential productive human activity with "wage-labor," an economic category, as if the former was a sufficient condition of the latter. A more perverse conclusion of his argument is that since we're all consumers, we are forced to accept -even justify- corporative excess as a blessing. We should fall on our knees & thank Gap for the opportunity to purchase a pair of jeans at fair market price!

Additionally, we should be grateful for Gap's being-there, as it were, for as long it exists people will hold jobs. Is Hinderaker referring to those in the production-line in China or Indonesia, making $7 for a 12-hour day, or America's retail, where being a manager earns you $7.50 an hour without commission? In Hinderaker's bureaucratic paradise, people hold jobs not because they are competent at doing something. Rather, work becomes an undeserved gift bestowed on individuals by a corporate superstructure.  

Hinderaker's corporate genuflection is not surprising, but he distorts the real aim of this movement, which is not to denounce corporations for just being corporations, which is vapid, but to denounce corporate excess, i.e., unethical corporate-friendly legislation, unfair corporate tax breaks, irresponsible corporate deregulation and its dramatic aftermath: lack of opportunities, unemployment, the crumbling of American manufacturing and organized labor, urban blight, etc, etc.

(Hypothetically speaking, I don't have to thank Gap for the jeans I paid for, nor wearing Gap jeans renders me impotent to denounce Gap's unethical corporate practices).

 Occupying what?

To "occupy" may show a group's determination to seize possession of, and/or maintain control over a place. This is not done by force. It's a right enacted by the force of consensus. To put it simply: There is the real, public space where protesters camp (Zucotti Park, Miami's Government Center, etc), and there is an ideal space of freedom. One needs the other. "To camp" in the physical space happens because one already dwells in this ideal space. "To occupy" is to do both. Occupy Wall Street or Occupy Miami protesters redefine the rules of dwelling: 1- They now live "outside" for the sake of all of us. 2- Their place takes over and opposes Wall Street's "center." 3-  Their "occupation" makes for a primal political happening. What is it?

Wall Street is the center of the 1% that rules the remaining 99%. This brutal gap exposes financial capitalism's unfairness. Acting as a gate of capital flowmation into the periphery, Wall Street's inflowence visibly erodes region, place and borders. The "occupying" movement counters this engineering kinematics of globalization with a "political place," which reclaims what's rightfully theirs, ours. This interconnectedness between material and symbolic brings forth possible new couplings:

We've dwelt in the wrong place for too long!

I'm closing this post this post on Thursday, October 27.

Homework Chapter 9

1. Define: Legitimate and illegitimate influence.
2. What is "informed consent."
3. Why do companies use polygraph tests? Mention the three most common assumptions.
4. What's the purpose of personality tests?
5. How do companies monitor employees on the job?
6. Define "assumption of risk" and "right to refuse dangerous work."
7. What's a "Hawthorne effect"?
8. What's OHA

regardless of some of the reasons of some of the people, the cause makes sense as people's cause

www.occupymia.org

Link to "Moral Issues in Business"

This is the link to your texbook. It contains flashcards, quizzes, etc. Play with it.

Chapter 8: Homework

1- Why do corporations use screening?
2- Explain the difference between "job description" and "job specification."
3- What does "test reliability" mean?
4- In "qualification" vs "seniority", which, you think should take precedence?
5- Define: (a) inbreeding, (b) nepotism, (c) termination, (d) position elimination, (e) layoff.
6- Go over the 7-point guideline to help minimize the chance of unfair wages and salaries.
7- Briefly describe the history of the Union Movement.
8. In light of the developments in Wisconsin Why is collective bargaining important?
9- Explain (a) Direct strike, (b) Sympathetic strike, (c) Boycott and campaigns.

Check out this link on Testing Job Applicants
Job satisfaction: oxymoron?