Copy of Stand Your Ground: Topics to Consider

1. I am choosing this topic because I believe in a pay for performance mentality. When we talk about economics for a company. If you have a top executive that comes in and turns the financial state of the company around they should be rewarded. While we all like to say a pat on the back will suffice, most want money. If there was no longer a need for employees in that role and the company had to suffer some attrition to get rid of excess costs so be it. While many will argue that they could have used his bonus to employe more people, that bonus is not sustainable and will not result in years to come of these people's salaries. I believe that I will be "for" this action. - Alyssa

2. 1. Letting the marketplace set the price of prescription drugs-even when the result is that many persons who need the drug will be unable to afford it-is both good usiness practice and ethical behavior

2.1. Letting the marketplace set the price for prescription drugs IS good business practice and ethical behavior. This topic interests me for several reasons: 1. I feel very passionately about free-market economics. My dad is a small business owner and i am a small business owner, as such we feel it is the free market that allows us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors and become successful. 2. We are starting seeing the effects of the ACA on the economy. When the government mandated that insurance carriers must accept those with per-existing conditions, most insurance carriers underestimated how much that would cost and all took serious losses last year. In fact, in many states it back fired; in AZ this year, there is only one insurance carrier on the ACA network. Rather than providing access to care, it actually decreased it by only providing one option to those that need it most. Furthermore, everyone in the country is paying more for their coverage. 3. Whether we like to admit it or not, humans have always placed sometime of monetary value on human life. We know traffic accidents cause death, but we still allow cars to drive at high speeds. We know that alcohol is related to heart disease, liver disease, and cancer, but it is still sold. As humans we just need cars and like alcohol to much to place any more serious regulations. 4. Nobody chose this topic and it seems like a challenge. - Josh Taylor

2.2. I chose this topic in light of the prescription drug controversies that have occurred in recent years. Mylan and their monopoly on the epipen showed a cost that ballooned from $100 to $608 over the past decade. Probably the biggest story had to do with Martin Shkreli, the Diapram CEO who hiked the cost of the AIDs medication from 13.50 to $750! I do think it's unethical when people in developing countries or poorer populations are unable to afford medicines that these pharmaceutical industries create simply because of patent protections where one pharma company monopolizes the market and therefore has the ability to set an excessive price point. I do not agree that driving excessive econmic profitability is an acceptable justification for not providing poor and impoverished populations with the necessary medicines - Ryan Warnock

3. 3. Receiving a high executive bonus based on dramatically improving and/or turning around company performance and stock price—even when one of the primary strategies used is to lay off many long-term workers—is both good business practice and ethical business behavior.

3.1. I'm choosing this topic because I recently read "The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team" by Patrick Lencioni in which the CEO of a dysfunctional company had to make some tough decisions regarding the employment of some of her executive board members. I'm interested in what arguments would arise to the contrary of my current position: that this is both good and ethical business behavior. --Sophia Ege

4. 4. It is both good business practice and ethical behavior for tobacco companies to heavily promote e-cigarettes.

5. 2. Using contract workers as a way of lowering total payroll costs by avoiding paying benefits is both good business and ethical behavior.

5.1. I am selecting this topic for a few reasons; 1) I started as a contract employee at the job I have now, and 2) my job continue to staff through contract agencies. With regard to this topic, I currently stand in the realm of 'ethical'. FIrms staff due to business need, and oftentimes business need can be seasonal depending on the profession. The work volume in my firm very much so resolves around health insurance, benefits and coverage. Because of this, our work volume nearly triples during renewal season (January-March). We staff up prior to renewal season to account for this workload surge, and do so through staffing agencies (using contract employees). The reason I do not feel this is unethical is that there are stipulations in place, and a maximum assignment of 1 year is allowed before we are forced to make a decision as to whether to hire or release. I personally feel that this 'temporary assignment' makes most sense for our firm, and is meant to drive employees to perform at a stellar level. It helps us set apart high performers from average or low performers, giving us the opportunity to offer full time employment only those who have earned it. It also allows us the time to ensure we only hire those who fit with our work culture, and who share our values. (Alison Maloney)

5.2. I’m currently neither completely for or against contract labor, or even part-time labor for that matter. I don’t think it’s unethical per se but not necessarily ideal. It makes sense to me, at least fiscally / logically, why companies choose to go this route in order to avoid the tremendous costs of benefits. On the other hand, as a fellow human, I think it “kinda sucks” (for a less-than-eloquent-way to put it). I’ve known people who were 1099 contractors who have shared what seemed to be not-so-great experiences. I also feel like using contract labor puts pressure on the laborers to need and/or rely more government assistance like healthcare, which doesn’t really help us as a society in the end since it continues to raise our taxes, etc. Unfortunately, health benefits are grossly expensive for an individual to pay on their own, not to mention if they have a family with young children. On another note, I think the idea of contract labor takes away from the “team” mentality. It differentiates “us” from “them.” Sure you could lower the costs of payroll, but the company culture, employee retention, etc could definitely be negatively impacted in a way that all your savings can’t fix. I think at the end of my research I may be more for it than against it, especially since companies like Lyft & Uber, who I use occasionally, are a type of contract labor employer. Respectfully – Mia M. De Marzo

5.3. I am against labor contractualization. I am exposed to this situation as it is widely accepted practice in the Philippines. Companies hire employees as part-time for a period of 6 months, paid at minimum without any other benefits. It has only one main purpose, to increase profit which is absurd and greedy. This is possible in my country because there are surplus in labor supply. This affects the quality of products and services because there is no commitment and accountability in the perspective of the employees. Their mindset is focused on their salary and there no ladder to climb. I am choosing this topic because I can relate to the topic. - Jarrell

6. 5. When conducting business outside the U.S., it is both good business practice and ethical behavior to participate in forms of bribery to facilitate business deals, if the custom of the country allows/expects this practice.

6.1. The importance of international business ethics has been rising steadily along with the growth of international business. Technologies like the Internet have made international business all the more viable and many companies can only find the desirable growth and profit they seek by expanding into new markets. This means that just as business ethics domestically have grown in importance along with the power and significance of major businesses, so must international business ethics take center stage as a major concern of the modern era. The primary problem of international business ethics lies in the fact that most cultures and nations hold entirely different standards of both law and ethics. In the US, business ethics can be employed because, in general, the disagreement between what actions are ethical and what actions are unethical in a single culture will be lesser than the disagreement between two entirely different cultures with different values and cultural practices. As a result, one business might believe it is acting perfectly in accordance with international business ethics, while another would view that first business as acting in a completely unethical fashion. - Cody Hull

7. 6. Paying bank executives millions of dollars in annual bonuses, soon after the firm received penalties for admitted fraudulent sales practices, is both ethical behavior and good business practice.

7.1. I believe this is unethical and bad business practice. I am all for executive bonuses however, they need to be based on good results in regard to the financial and employee culture health. The same executives that just got in trouble for being bad leaders and allowing their company to sink to fraudulent practices should not be the same leaders that are then rewarded monetarily one year later. As the saying goes, "a fish rots from the head down." Even if the executives were not the ones actually committing the penalized acts, they allowed it to happen on their watch either by leading with a poor example, turning a blind eye, or not caring enough to be engaged and put a trustworthy and successful team in place. I am against this topic. - Laura Cuoco

8. 7. It is good business practice and ethical business behavior for a firm to cuts costs to improve profitability by shutting down operations in its home community, terminating hundreds of workers, and then moving the business to a low-wage location in another country.

8.1. I am selecting this topic because of my first-hand experience in supply chain that overseas low wages do not equate overall total cost savings and profitability for a company. One needs to also consider the longer leadtimes and cost for transit, different rules and regulations, and potentially lower quality as well. I have helped my companies set up new manufacturing plants overseas and I’ve also helped shut them down after experiencing more stock-outs, loss of sales opportunity, increasing obsolescence inventory and poorer quality output. I believe that a company can cut costs through leaner operational changes and product and process redesign. Moving a poorly run business overseas will just make it worse. (Stacy Trinh)

8.2. 7.1 I will be discussing why it is good business practice and ethical behavior for a firm to cut costs to improve profitability by moving operations to low-wage locations in other countries due to my firm belief that for us to succeed as a human race here on Earth successfully enough to reach out to travel the stars, we must globally join together to achieve a global community and government. Part of that process would need to include growing trade partnerships and open borders, driven by open-mindedness and acceptance of others. All these combine in a truly free market economy to say that if someone else is willing to do the work for cheaper elsewhere, we as a corporation should take advantage of that, but still need to be mindful of the needs of the workers we have here. In doing so, we would work to provide transition plans, long-term education efforts to bring those workers into the jobs that are available, and training to take advantage of the strategic advantages we have locally. In the end, I