Applied Ethics and Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Applied Ethics and Social Responsibility Essay 1) Why do you think Starbucks has been so concerned with social responsibility in its overall corporate strategy? â€Å"I think that Starbucks has been concerned with social responsibility in its overall corporate strategy because in the long run it affects the bottom line. By being socially responsible, the business is also showing that they care about more than their profits. Caring about more than just profits allows for greater employee commitment, investor loyalty, as well as higher customer satisfaction. Research has also shown that social responsibility and good business ethics contributes to higher profits. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2013)† 2) Is Starbucks unique in being able to provide a high level of benefits to its employees? â€Å"No, Starbucks is not unique in being able to provide a high level of benefits to its employees. Business ethics has become more important in the business world and it has been found that if a company is dedicated to taking care of its employees, the more dedicated the employees will be. If an employee sees that the company is acting and treats them in an ethical manner, the employee is more likely to act in an ethical manner. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2013)† 3) Do you think that Starbucks has grown rapidly because of its ethical and socially responsible activities or because it provides products and an environment that customers want? â€Å"I think that Starbucks has grown rapidly because it has combined a product and environment that people want with great business ethics and social responsibility. This combination has allowed the company to expand exponentially during a good economy and maintain in a bad economy. By being socially responsible and treating their employee’s right, the company has less of a turnover rate and in the long run has been able to avoid large layoffs and shutting down a large amount of stores. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2013)† 4) In what other ways does this case relate to the concepts that we have learned in the chapters so far? â€Å"This first chapter has shown that ethics is a big part of business. It can basically make or break a company. In the case of Starbucks, it has made them. They have based their business around social responsibility and ethics and have been able to maintain in an economy that has tanked because they treat their employees and customers right. According to our textbook, being ethical pays off with better employee performance, and higher employee honesty and integrity. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2013)† Bibliography Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, L. (2013). The Importance of Business Ethics. In O. C. Ferrell, J. Fraedrich, L. Ferrell, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (pp. 17-22). Mason: South-Westen.

Black Elks The Earth is All that Lasts Essay -- Native Americans

Black Elk's The Earth is All that Lasts The U.S. Military played a dramatic role in shaping the west as we know it today. The U.S. Military has mistreated the Native Americans in numerous ways in the past. Also, they have virtually eliminated nearly all the Native American Tribes in the United States. Before the arrival of the U.S. Military, Native Americans lived almost peaceful lives. In the article "The Earth is all that Lasts," Black Elk talks about what happened during General Custard's Last Stand and what it was like to be a Native American during that period of time. In the past, many things have influenced me of how the Native Americans had to survive. For instance, some types of material that helped me realize just what the Native Americans had to endure in order to survive were history classes, books, the Internet, movies, television shows, and this article. In Black Elk’s article, the account of Custer’s Last Stand only reinsured my views. Black Elk explains some of the suffering and how the Native Americans had to search for a new location constantly. Black Elk also shows that the military drove the Native Americans out of their homelands, and how badly the Native Americans were treated. The U.S. Military has used many different strategies to eliminate the Native Americans. There were things such as, peace treaties, and battles. Mainly, they did this for power, land, and "yellow metal" or gold. Someone had to suffer if the U.S. Military and United States Citizens were going to take over the west and it happened to be the Native American Tribes, the rightful land and territory owners. Native Americans tried to come up with peace treaties, but the U.S. Military hardly ever abides by them.... ...eople in return. In conclusion, I am embarrassed that we, Americans, could have performed such a horrible act toward the Native Americans, who are human beings like the rest of us. I also really enjoyed reading Black Elk’s essay because the person telling the story was a Native American. It was really interesting to hear the views of what happened from a real Native American, and not from someone who went to the library and found a book on Native Americans and started to write not knowing whether or not the information was true or a lie. Overall, I feel that this article really taught me about what the Native Americans had to do to fight for the rights and their lives. Works Cited Elk, Black. "The Earth is all that lasts." American Voices: Culture and Community. Ed. Dolores LaGuardia and Hans P. Guth. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1998. 144-156.

Pan Europa Essay

Background Pan Europa Foods is company, located in Brussels, Belgium, producing high-quality ice cream, yogurts, bottled water and fruit juices. Its products are sold throughout Scandinavia, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, western Germany and northern France. In January 1993, the senior-management committee of Pan-Europa Foods must decide which major projects to fund for that year. The available funds for implementation is set as 80 million euros. However various managers, have proposed projects totalling 208 million euro. Capital rationing has been identified as the main problem that the management of the company has to deal with. The management has to identify projects that would best achieve benefits of strategic importance. Problem statement According to case there is no evidence that projects would be proposed with some alignment to any strategy, mission or vision. There are only few criteria defined that projects should apply to, like Minimum Payback period, expected IRR, etc. There is no strictly defined project selection methodology in place. The project selection is based on the discussions and voting by the seven managing directors. The financial tests were the payback period and internal rate of return, which meant that the time value of money was ignored. Analysis The current funding for Pan Europa is mainly rooted in debt financing – debt-to-equity ratio is 125%, that is more higher than most of they peers have. After price war is over, Pan Europa bankers strongly recommended to reduce debt level significantly. Therefore company should pay attention on actions how to decrease capital spending. There might be several finance based methods for project evaluation in place, like NPV, Annuity (due to project characteristics), IRR, etc. And the results for evaluation might differ significantly. Like, if we are looking for long term activities, then, using annuity calculation we will find that preferred project would be the Strategic Acquisition. Projects sorted by this figure would be: Strategic Acquisition Eastward Expansion Snack Foods Southward Expansion Inventory Control System Artificial Sweeteners New Plant Expanded Plant Automation Conveyor System Expand Truck Fleet Effluent Treatment Program (which has no NPV) While the Effluent Treatment Program has no formal NPV it can be considered an investment of 4M now to save a cost of 10M in 4 years. In fact, there are many aspects that could invalidate the simple NPV analysis of the projects. They include Risk Political considerations Regulatory issues including health, safety and environmental Incompatibility with corporate strategy Resource availability Strictly speaking there are no ‘must to do’ projects on the desk. Water treatment project (Effluent Treatment) is upcoming in nearest future. But right now there is no evidence that this project has to be started right now. The new regulation might come in 4 years, but might be postponed as well. Of course this project shouldn’t be forgotten. All existing project might be split in a following sections: Increase efficiency Extension (either new plant building or new market capturing) R&D Regarding risk assessment, Projects that involve small technology changes like expanding the truck fleet would have low risk. Increasing levels of technological sophistication such as automation or introducing artificial sweeteners into products would also increase implementation risks. From financial perspective as the risk area we should consider that any producer in a capitalist environment is attempting to increase markets with new products in new areas. The prospective customers may simply choose to not buy the product. There are many risks regarding project implementation itself, like project size, complexity and length of the period of return, etc. Meanwhile tangible risks, there are several aspects, like correlation between several projects. For instance market expansions will come together with necessity to increase ability to deliver goods to consumers location (most probably truck fleet upgrade will be required). All projects mentioned in case are evaluated against financial figures, but besides  financial aspects, there are several non-quantitative points included. Projects that impact the company’s regulator compliance such as effluent treatment (environment) and warehouse automation safety. Several of the projects could impact the company’s image. For example, the focus on low fat products (artificial sweetener project) might increase companies reputation. Prospective Project evaluation should be done based on several factors. One of the most important points is financial benefits evaluation. There might be following characteristics taken in account for evaluation: Does the project fits in corporate strategy? Expected cost level, does it exceeds Tolerable Cost Value. Maximum payback period analysis. IRR evaluation, does the project meet minimum IRR? Risk analysis – does the project incur high risk? Financial characteristics were chosen due to significant information presence in case. Besides financial aspects several other might be taken in consideration, for instance – social factors (staff treatment), then company would focusses more on projects improving environment for labor force. Applying screens and criteria mentioned above and strictly following companies internal rules, the following projects would be eliminated outright: Truck Fleet upgrade because it does not meet the minimum IRR and exceeds the maximum payback period dictated by company policy. New Plant, Plant Expansion, Artificial Sweetener and Plant Automation all because they exceed the maximum payback period dictated by company policy. Strategic Acquisition would be eliminated due to excessive risk.

The Holocaust Of Schindler And Francisca Nee Luser

Oskar Schindler saved thousands of Jewish people from the horrible tragedy that was the Holocaust. Some would say, at one point in Schindler s life, he was an aryan man with no financial problems whatsoever. Schindler was truly a brave man that sacrificed his life for many others. Schindler simply saved others out of the goodness from his heart. â€Å"Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) was born on April 28, 1908, in Svitavy (Zwittau), Moravia, at that time a province of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy† (Holocaust Encyclopedia). â€Å"Schindler grew up with all the privileges money could buy. He was born Catholic†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jewish Virtual Library). â€Å"Oscar’s parents Johann Schindler and Francisca nee Luser were both Germans from Silesia, who had settled in Svitavy, where he worked in insurance, and the selling of electrical generators for domestic purposes, and dealing with farm machinery† (Holocaust Education Archive Research Team). â€Å"A sister Elfriede wa s born in 1915 - Oskar was very close to her, as was his relationship with his mother. After leaving full time education, Schindler worked in the family business in Svitavy, after a short break he commuted to Brno, where he worked for an electrical company called Moravska Elektotechnica (M.E.A.S.), as a representative.† â€Å"After attending a series of trade schools in Brno and marrying Emilie Pelzl in 1928, Schindler held a variety of jobs, including working in his father s farm machinery business in Svitavy, opening a driving school in Sumperk, andShow MoreRelatedThe Holocaust Of Schindler And Francisca Nee Luser1045 Words   |  5 PagesOskar Schindler saved thousands of Jewish people from the horrible tragedy that was the Holocaust. Some would say, at one point in Schindler s life, he was an aryan man with no financial problems whatsoever. Schindler was truly a brave man that sacrificed his life for many others. Schindler simply saved others out of the goodness from hi s heart. â€Å"Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) was born on April 28, 1908, in Svitavy (Zwittau), Moravia, at that time a province of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy† (Holocaust