October 2007
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The world has woken up to ethical issues in corporate governance & accounting practices. Corporate heads that were not guillotined were forced hang their heads in retrospective shame. The heads that fell were the victimizers, and the axe that fell, fell too late, and the punishment received, was way too little compared to the suffering, pain and financial losses that the organizations stakeholders suffered. Trust of millions of investors was lost overnight.
Ethics in governance is one part of the story, the other link in this dubious chain of deceit is usually the professional services like auditing, legal and public relations which work closely with the organization. Such large scale deceit becomes possible only with the active collaboration of these so-called professional services. Hardly professional, really!
The Indian investor has been victim to a lot of companies attempting to make a quick buck in the markets. While caveat emptor let the buyer beware, is the legal term that organizations to get out of such wrangles, it is necessary to look into how these various scams are done, and to recognize the role of the professional services, especially public relations in creating and sustaining the scams.
Circa 1994. Every Indian remembers the bloody battlefield of the stock markets. While the aftereffects are well embedded in everyones memory, few remember how it all began. Upbeat stock stories in the newspapers, stories of millions being made overnight, the oldest stock exchange of the country celebrating the index at an unprecedented high. Stock market pages kept the upward arrow next to almost every stock price quoted indicating the trends. Investors scrambled, dinner conversation revolved around the stock prices, 21 year olds were sitting in front of red-blue flashing computer screens, buying and selling tens of thousands of shares in seconds.
While some companies were actually performing well, many slipped through the back-door and slipped up their shares to unwary investors. Why is the investor so gullible? And is the investor really so gullible?
The method that was used to market the fly-by-night companies to the investors combined the well-used public relations concepts of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD). Successful FUD pushes to show how you would be the only person who would be left in the race if you did not buy-in into the campaigners concept, creates uncertainty about your own analysis & gut-feel and generates doubt about the products or services currently under use. This especially works wonders in a greed-struck stock market, where more often than not, mob-psychology rather than knowledge is the deciding factor.
Usually such scams are orchestrated in connivance with some unscrupulous public relations companies. At other times, the PR companies usually have enough pointers to the possibility of such a scam about to take place. Press conferences are called, headlines blare out the superlative performances of the organization, there is talk of new acquisitions, investor meets happen and stock analysts are shown the factory, the plush office to generate confidence in the investor. The PR agency is rewarded for its great efforts by way of a few millions and the investors collective gets duped for a few billions. Case studies of this century in such dubious PR in India would include the CRB scam, MS Shoes, Harshad Mehta & Home Trade fiasco. While these are the few stories which come to light, there are many scams which get away without even getting noticed.
What is the responsibility of the public relations company in such circumstances? The agency must evaluate the client and understand program and take a view that is beyond just the fees that it will generate and take a responsible decision. The PR agency can & must become the watch-dog for the companies, advising them, guiding them and if nothing prevails, then going to the extent of resigning the account for of a larger good. This kind of discussion, though popular conversation in PR cocktail circuits, is still eschewed by the PR intellectuals in more serious forums!
Unless we work as a committed community on the principles that should guide the PR business; and take stringent action against those who use these tools-of-influence to feed their greed, the respectable business of PR will go to the depths of unrecoverable ignominy very soon.
The author is the CEO of Blue Lotus Communications, one of the fastest growing PR agencies in India (www.bluelotuspr.com). He is also an active blogger and has his own blog called http://PublicRelationsIndia.blogspot.com
Chandramouli is the CEO of Blue Lotus Communications Consultancy, a leading knowledge based public relations agency located in Mumbai,India. He is an Engineer-MBA with over 16 years of multi-functional experience and has guided Blue Lotus to a core focus in the booming sectors of Healthcare, Finance, Education and Technology.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 31st, 2007 with comments disabled.
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They say no good deed goes unpunished and sadly that is the truth in the world of the whistleblower. The theory on whistle blowing is that the individual is helping the community, and following their ethics, by reporting the offending person or company. The risk of recrimination is very high and usually results in a long and difficult fight for the whistleblower. This battle will likely including legal threats and character assassination.
So what can you do to protect yourself when you do blow the whistle? Having been through this process I have gain some insight on how best to handle the situation.
1. Documentation: Once you suspect that something is wrong you should begin documenting. Start by taking notes in a log book or note pad. This information will be helpful when you need to tell your story and will provide the detail needed to track down further evidence of wrong doing. Next, start collecting pertinent documents. The best way is to copy documents (photocopy, computers docs, etc.). When you think you have enough, double it. Pictures, phone recordings, documents, conversations, e-mails are all important and should be noted when possible. There can never be enough documentation. Once the authorities begin investigation documents had a tendency to disappear.
Many people who dont know the laws will try to tell you that these methods are illegal. The fact is they are not. In Canada it is legal to record a conversation or phone call as long as one of the parties is participating in the conversation. The removal of documents from the workplace is a gray area. Under normal circumstances removing company information is illegal, however when it is evidence it can be collected. In a Canadian court all evidence will be considered. Check with your governments laws or speak with a lawyer before taking any risks.
2. Minimize Your Exposure: When you draw up the courage, and support, to finally report the issues there are a few things you need to do. First, it is best if you stay at your job while you report the issues. Sometimes the authorities will ask you questions, that will help them with their investigation, and being at the location is beneficial. Ask to be kept anonymous, if possible, but sometimes this cant be done. Next, get your resume polished up and start sending it out. Then prepare financially by locating your employment insurance office. Tell them that you are blowing the whistle on your employer and you may be fired for it. Provide the person with the contact names of whichever authority you contacted. The idea is to build a repour, so if bad things happen, people will know the facts. Dont loose that all important safety net.
3. Go with your Instincts: Most people will tell you not to blow the whistle because there are no winners. They are partially right, but without your courage people will get hurt, the rich will get richer and abuse their powers. You can change that by doing what you feel it right. We often cloud our thinking with other peoples perceptions, but only you can determine what to do. Most of the time your instinct are right and you should trust them. If you listen to others and they convince not to go with your instincts, and then something bad happens, you have to live with the consequences, not them.
4. Be Patient: Nothing happens quickly no matter how fast you want to be done with it. The reality is that things will go much slower than you ever expected them too. The best way to make sure things are moving is to do some research. For example, if you file a complaint against a medical professional, the regulatory College that receives the complaint will have a complaints process. However, this is usually regulated by a government agency that has legislation regarding complaints. In Ontario all complaints must be handled in 120 days. If not, you can contact the Health Professions Appeal & Review Board and they will contact the College and accelerate the process.
Some other tips to accelerate the process include contacting your local politician, begin a letter writing campaign to media outlets and compiling your story onto an internet site. Be persistent when dealing with each agency, dont accept their statements at face value and always follow up.
5. The Media is Not a Solution: They can help but you have to convince them to write the story. Many times it may take months for them to move. Remember they dont want any liability, they are a profit motivated company and will only publish storys that make them a dollar. If your former employer is litigious, they will probably be too scared to publish. The media has no problem reporting history, so once a final verdict is reached, by the authorities, they will write a story. Unfortunately it will be to late to help you.
Some of the smaller media outlets may be more willing to help you. Take a look at freelance writers, who may spend more time working on your story and getting the facts. They also have the contacts you need to get it published.
6. Prepare for an Attack on your Character and Legal Threats :: The person or company you are dealing with will not let things go easily. The first response will be to discredit you. If you look like an disgruntled employee or someone with a vendetta then your story will be less believable. Its easy for the person or company to do this. If they were unethical to start with, its not a huge leap for them start lying about you after you report them. There isnt much you can do except try to disprove theyre statements. Use the document you gathered to clearly show that they are the guilty party and you were just being ethical. In the end your efforts will be recognized. You will probably receive a cease and desist letter, dont be overly concerned as this is most likely posturing. If you are worried, speak with a lawyer.
7. Use Lawyers Sparingly: Nobody can fight with the passion you have and no lawyer will ever put the amount of effort you already have into your fight. Replying to a cease and desist letter is easy, just stick with the facts, provide the evidence and take the high road. Most lawyers will act like an 600 lb gorilla, your job is to be bigger. In all likelihood they wont want to take this issue to a public forum, like a court room, especially if you have documented the case very well. That would give you a perfect opportunity to invite the media and lay your case out. Examples of cease and desist responses can be found at http://www.snakeoil.ca.
If you need legal advice, get it, but dont let the lawyer bleed you dry. Have your questions prepared on paper and sit down with the lawyer and discuss the issue. If they charge a minimum of one hour time, use it all. One good thing to do is prepare a short summary of the facts in your case, and fax it in to the law office. Dont ask question in the letter. Blowing the whistle is stressful enough without having thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Some people will tell you not to let the event consume you. If it does consume you, it will affect other parts of your life. But sometimes focussing your energy can be better if it will resolve the issue quicker. Its better to throw your whole heart into the matter, rather than fight with yourself. It is difficult to not be consumed. My advice is to simply go with it. The harder you work the quicker the issue will be resolved and the sooner you can get on with your life.
The is no reward for doing a good deed, thats only in movies. In the end however you should have the satisfaction that you made your community or country a better place. People will respect you for your efforts and hopefully inspire then to do something good and that is a reward in itself.
Darcy O’Neil is a chemical technologist who became a pharmaceutical whistleblower. His experiences, including the evidence, legal threats and decisions can be found at http://www.snakeoil.ca. Darcy is currently working as a bartender and a freelance writer.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 31st, 2007 with comments disabled.
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Globalization and technology developed at a rattling rate make our lives more comfortable but we are stranded in a tighter area in our daily lives, on the contrary. Future might be ahead that is worse than Georger Orwells Big Brother. This time private companies trace us more than the government does, ranging from GSM operators to web search engines, credit card data and survey forms.
In the era of marketing, advertising and consumpiton, it does not matter so much to get data collected about us. The heart of the mattter for the companies is what they could do with those data, how they could increase their sales and forecast future.
Data mining is a method became very popular in 1990s, which aims to reach optimum efficiency in planning and organization thru collecting data from gigantic databases and determining specific trends, allowing to forecast future. Having used artificial intelligence, this method is based on analysing significant data and trends by computers, which takes many years for an ordinary man to collect those data. In the beginning such significant data seem irrelevant, but following computer analysis, it could appear as relevant by comparing two parameters. For example, according a survey run in a supermarket chain, families buying nappies tend to buy beer as well. So, a promotion campaign is held with the concept of Party Time for the Families with Kids.
Why is it so important to connect medicine and insurance, public and private sector, automobile demand graphics with avocado and banana curves? Before answering this question, it would be better to check how such a thing could be possible.
The key concept of data mining is to purge specific data series by sorting and comparing among gigantic databases. Despite Merge and Purge and Database Enrichment methods remained out of fashion as compared to data mining, data could be really transformed into valuable information and automized easily.
It is not easy to set up such huge databases. Many legal and illegal companies and people appeared to collect databases, especially e-mails currently. Metromail is one of the largest companies collecting mail addresses, currently collecting and selling e-mails, established in 1948, hiring 3000 people with a sales turnover of over USD 281 million. It hunts data researching from different resources ranging from state records to surveys, which also include income, householding, marital status, age groups and even the team supported. So Metromail is the no 1 company as required specific name-address info. On the other hand, it has a gigantic database continously developing with data about almost every house in the USA . In addition to such legal companies, there are also pirate ones producing data for pirate CDs.
Cookies innocently embedded in our computers, security cameras tracing us on the streets, retina scanners at airports, mobile phone call centers recording what we said for us, machines recording what we wrote and tools registering our actionsIt is a world that do not care about us, but our data.
There is a new possible future ahead in case there is not a social consciousness formed to pass the overseas laws protecting invidual privacy. That future is profitable for companies, secure for states but nightmarish for us, ordinary people.
Emre Kizilkaya is a journalist. He writes articles for a communication technologies magazine, Tele.com.tr.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 31st, 2007 with comments disabled.
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We - modern America that is - have become so damn impolite. We dont give people the simple courtesy of a reply when contacted by email or phone. The idea of acknowledging someone with a smile while passing on the street is at best an anachronism; at times its even considered an affront. And being greeted when entering a store is less commonplace all the time. What are we becoming (or have already become)? Furthermore, these simple common courtesies are disappearing from the very vocabulary and experiences of the young adult and teenage populations among us. (In fact, only be an older person could write this piece from direct experience.)
What does any of this have to do with hats or e-commerce, you may ask. Stores are guilty - big time - of contributing to this decline. Businesses/employers run the daily social show in America; they are obliged to set an example and lead with integrity. This is a separate issue from Enron/WorldCom law-breaking type activity (although greed is not unrelated to this deterioration). Being polite and courteous are actions that people should adopt because its right to do so. That, in and of itself, is the reason to act as a decent human being. It is parenthetical that it is also good business to behave as such. This is not a confusing distinction, but likely has been confused, to the detriment of polite behavior, by business consultants focused on ends and outcomes rather than means and process. We all live together on the same planet for crying out loud. That is all the motivation we need.
How it got this bad is a topic for another essay. I suspect that the artificial and slippery notion that I often hear people espouse, Its just business, thus implying a different behavior in life than in business is part of the explanation. In any case, businesses need to take responsibility. Many people arent given the courtesy of an answer after applying for, or even interviewing for, a job. We say hello or goodbye to colleagues and customers in the workplace less so all the time. It is not the fault of the younger generation that these basic human social values are being lost. My son, now twenty, has interviewed for numerous jobs in his young life. It is now significantly more likely that he will not be contacted after dropping off or emailing a resume - or even interviewing for a job - than he will be. It pains me to have to explain to him how rude that is. Worse, he is now used to it; doesnt even get disturbed by it any longer. It is irrelevant that he has proven to be a very good employee, because a prospective employer owes anyone a response after he or she enters into their process for a job.
Those of us business people or otherwise - who are dismayed by this decline cannot throw the towel in. We must not yield to this rude and impersonal cynicism that is spreading like a cancer on our social landscape. Our actions must be the antidote.
The Village Hat Shop will reply to your emails and greet you when you come into our stores. We will respond if you apply or interview for a job in our organization. Yes, it is good business for us to do these things, but that is not why we will do them. We will do them because we must.
Fred Belinsky is the founder and president of The Village Hat Shop. The 4-store California chain is 27 years old. http://www.VillageHatShop.com, launched in early 1997, was the first online hat seller. Belinsky also runs http://www.Berets.com Private label brands include Jaxon Hats for men’s hats, http://www.JaxonHats.com, and sur la tete for women hats. More of Belinsky’s articles can be seen at his HAT BLOG: Everything Hats. VillageHatShop.com also publishes THE COWBOY HAT, an ezine featuring short fiction, essays, and poetry about the American West and the Mexican-American Border.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 31st, 2007 with comments disabled.
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Despite the fact, that employee monitoring is far and wide practiced nowadays, the matter raises moral dilemmas. Employee monitoring interrupts basic confidentiality rights at the same time as proponents disagree that employee monitoring is an complete violation of privacy rights. There is always an opportunity of mistreatment including work discernment and possibility of selling to interested third parties individual profiles with members of staff monitoring systems in position. Employee monitoring reports are quantitative footed, which means the fact that they are not being unprejudiced when it comes to effort performance assessment.
Even supposing that opponents disagree that companies can be held in officially legally responsible way if their workers create circumstances for hostile work settings by using telecommunication systems for own need, the question can be determined simply by introducing independent personal usage guiding principles. Thats why it is highly important for both employers and employees to know, understand and use in proper ways their rights and also remember about their responsibilities. It is the only way the optimal settings for work can be created in any company.
Employee monitoring wears down the significance of employee self-respect leading to supplementary pressure and stress and creating an unwelcoming working environment, that is unacceptable both ethically and legally. The tendency is also encouraged by the ongoing officially authorized acts, as new laws that limit supervising options for a manager are introduced. Employee privacy privileges are desecrated; unless remedial legal measures are taken which limit relevance of monitoring structures by employers, given fast rate of technological modernization, the cost in the closest future can be dramatic.
Andrew Shwartz is a professional freelance academic writer at Custom-Writing.org, dissertation help.
Andrew specializes in dissertations research proposals and literature review format.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 30th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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If you posed this question to a fourth grader, what do you suppose their answer would be? If a person were invited to speak to your class today and you saw them walking down the hall, how would you know that they are somebody!? Better still, if you asked that same question to a high school student or to someone you work with, what do you think his or her response would be?
This question, seemingly so simple, deals with our notion of self and self-worth. From an early age most seem to have an innate desire to be valued, to have self-worth, which is often measured by value others place on us. From an early age most people are taught that their value is defined by how they look, what they have, how they behave. This is reinforced by television, radio, and other external sources. Children learn these lessons early, often from their parents. Many studies have shown that children who are praised and taught their internal value (or spiritual value) have higher self-esteem than those children who are told they will never amount to anything or are taught that value is defined by materialism. Its obvious to most rational adults that we can create a direct connection to what we teach and value. What we teach and value can, however, be double-edged swords.
Lets go back to our original question and see what the children said. In several classes the question above was posed and the top answers were: (1) you would know they were somebody by the car they drove; (2) you would know they were somebody by the clothes they wore; (3) you would know they were somebody by the shoes on their feet and (4) lastly by their watch. Note that all of the evidence that a person was somebody centered on material trappings. Very seldom did one of the students respond; you would know somebody by how they treated another.
Unfortunately, the students had, by the fourth grade, been conditioned to determine human value by material possessions. The notion of self and self-value was being established by surroundings, not internal spiritual worth. We found that the older the students got, the more they were connecting value and acceptance with material trappings. This creates a foundation for what appears today to be an ethical conundrum. We see ethic breeches all around, in fact, reported in abundance. People making the wrong choices suffering negative consequences and yet, recent studies show that teens would act unethically to get ahead.
The initial responses written in this article were made by fourth graders in North Carolina back in 1996. On this day they were addressed by three people, who by all accounts, were defined as nobody. These children were addressed by inmates from Federal Prison. Each inmate shared their personal story in hopes that some impression might be made early to sway the opinion of the child and give support to making positive choices.
Perhaps, if we can help others see the consequences of the choices we made, they wont make the same mistakes, stated one inmate named Ted. While the inmates called them mistakes, society called them crimes and all were ethic breeches. There was a passion in their hearts to reach out and provide truth about unethical choices.
The messages were powerful and, make no mistake, the children especially at that age took it all in. Exposed to a hard dose of reality in the fourth grade, these children today would be in college. One can only hope that the effort to touch these lives early had some influence. It is true that once taught, it is in the brain and at some point the truth they heard that day will be a reminder to them as they make ethical choices everyday. Certainly, as the CEO of Deloitte said, Supporting education and dialogue about ethical decision-making is an important way we can encourage kids. Hes right!
On a crisp October day in 1995, Chuck Gallagher took 23 physical steps opened a door and began a new experience that was life-changing. This series of articles explores that experience and the success that followed while involving the reader in ways that could be life-altering for them. Gallagher captures the heart of the audience in an honest way that deals with human emotion. For information on Chucks keynotes and workshops go to www.chuckgallagher.com or for a free ezine on Ethical Choices contact Chuck at chuck@chuckgallagher.com.
The Choices Foundation, is a non-profit organization that has a mission to provide just those services. High school and University students are targeted to hear presentations about ethics and their consequences either negative or positive.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 29th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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Last month in Part 1, I discussed several of the reasons that have lead the residential real estate mortgage industry to the crisis it faces; at its core in my view, is the whole notion of originators being commissioned sales type closer personalities, a relatively recent concept.
As we work our way through todays industry wide mess, out the other side should emerge a wiser group of survivors, hopefully YOU will be one of them.
The benefits of replacing LOs and AEs big fat commissions, and instead offer a more traditional salary + modest bonus structure, will result in a great number of improvements to the new organizations that make it.
Considering all that went wrong these past several years since big fat commissions were common, history wont repeat itself with the absence of such available excessive personal gain as has been commonplace, plus the positives will be numerous. On the plus side we have:
A). The effect of better management control over its employees, since as W-2 salaried people, owner/operators and managers will be more careful on who they hire and how much theyll invest in training and how closely theyll supervise their activities. Not so many loose cannons poking around in the unsupervised darkness.
B). With this payroll structure, those LOs & AEs wont be so quick to close every applicant on a STATED Wage Earner 100% Option Arm with a 4 point YSP; this difference will surely result in overall better quality originations in the long run.
C). These better trained and now salaried employees, will work towards creating an improved credibility environment for themselves and their employers, and move away from the big fat commission concept of putting their own selfish interests ahead of the customers.
D). There will be far fewer thinly capitalized organizations, as this payroll structure will provide for a larger remaining checkbook balance for employers after payday. With that they can/will have better furniture, fixtures and equipment for their employees, better employee benefits and significant cash available to advertise their products.
E). This model also insures that new owner operators will begin their operations with a significant financial investment. Therefore their outlook will be to establish and maintain at the core, a more ethical and solid company than many of the fly-by-night operators we can see today on both the wholesale and retail sides.
This list Im sure you can add to as well as I can. What I describe here isnt a pipe-dream its what I saw with my own two eyes, my first 30 years in this industry; its how my first employer operated, and how I operated for several decades also.
Returning to this way of operations naturally is not the solution to all our problems, but it will mitigate future ones a great deal; as well as help restore the former luster we all had as home loan providers.
If on the other hand, you’re left standing after this cleansing is over, and you are in a position within your own organization to make these payroll changes and you don’t, then you can expect to not receive the benefits A thru E above (and others), but instead you’ll be part of the problem next time.
Article by industry veteran Peter Samuel Cugno, Chairman & CEO of Secret! University, the educational division of Americas Money Center, Inc. Questions or comments may be directed to Peter 310-833-4068 or online at: http://www.americasmoneycenter.com
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 29th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
Look around. Today, more than ever before, it has become fashionable to cheat. One could say, and come away without too much criticism, that everyone expects it. The funny thing is the person who expects it, or observes it, or knows someone who does it, never seems to admit doing it themselves. Ironically, they actually believe they are not infected. As noted, this is a national pastime.
Why is this? Why do husbands cheat on their wives and wives cheat on their husbands? Does not the vow to love, honor, cherish, and “obey”, (some leave out the “obey” part now), mean anything. Well, it appears the times indeed are changing.
In America at least, spousal cheating, encouraged by theater, movies, partytime, and yes, peer pressure, is at epidemic proportions. Does anyone feel guilty? Absolutely, just before it is time to maybe do it again. Kids today, as a result, have groups of parents i.e. first there is the real father and mother, then there is 1st father and 1st mother, and 2nd father and 2nd mother, and so on and so forth, not to mention step brothers and step sisters galore. When we talk about extended families today, we are certainly not talking of the family of 50 years ago that included aunts, uncles, and cousins right down to twice removed. Now, there is no way to keep up.
Then there is the work environment. Parents who cheat at home, cheat on the job. They lie and steal to get ahead. Oh, it is not the felonious type of stealing, although that is always possible, it is the subtle kind — stealing someone’s ideas, words, concepts, suggestions, as well as time from the company on the phone, at lunch, leaving early on weekends, calling in sick when one is not sick, and taking paper, pens, pencils, paperclips and anything not to heavy to carry. If one is in construction, they take bricks, boards, mortar and tools. Cheating on the job has taken on national epidemic proportions. Wal-Mart with their 360-degree cameras strung from the ceilings from every store watch the employees as much as they watch the shoppers.
And what about the churches and among clerics, the courts and legal profession, our schools and among the educators, the health field and medical professionals, government at all levels and among the legislators? What do we find? Cheating permeates every level of our society.
And what about the kids? Where do they fit into this?
Over 70% of them admit to cheating before they graduate from high school. By the time they finish college, 80% are willing to admit they have done it in some way.
When college business students are asked what is the most corrupt field to go into, over 90% suggest it is business. Yet, they willingly choose it as their field of specialization because that is “where the money is.”
What about the tiny tots? At what age does a child learn to cheat? Studies now show that 3 out of 4 know how to do it by the time they are 5. And where do they learn it? Why, the parents, of course.
So the old adage, “do as I say, not as I do”, really does have a beginning and a significance because it seems most have done it and really do fear their offspring or their charges will do it too. Why? Simply, because it is wrong. We all know it. We all feel it, and we all do not want our youngsters or our charges to do it. We really do want them to be better than us. The internal gut wrenching feelings get us every time. And if we don’t feel anything? Well then we are psychopaths, socially detached from society and any responsibility for good.
In today’s world the word “ethical” has taken on a new meaning of “squeaky clean” and “please look at me or my organization for we are ethical practitioners.” Do the new awareness responses mean much when you really know the facts? Lawrence Kholberg’s theory of ethical development may be hard pressed to determine why as human beings we seem to be stuck in moving forward. It seems the further we go in greater prosperity and technology development the be-hinder we get in moral development. Is it an illusion?
Actions speak louder than words. To be ethical, one must act ethically. One has to lead and show by doing and not accept society’s drifters who proclaim when observing ethical breeches that “they’re just kids” or “everybody does it” or “it was only a fling”, or “I had no choice”. Unless somebody is holding a gun to one’s head, everybody, no matter how small or how old, has a choice. They may not like what the potential outcome may be but they had a choice to do the right thing.
Is it tough? What do you think?
Fred DiUlus is an e-Education pioneer, the CEO of Global Academy Online, Inc., (http://www.GlobalAcademyOnline.com), the first president of William Tucker University, author of The Ethics Doc (http://theethicsdoc.blogspot.com), Homer’s Hot Tip (http://www.homers-hot-tip.blogspot.com), and a frequent public speaker and writer on ethics, entrepreneurship, e-Learning, and acquiring success.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 29th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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I almost felt guilty . . . Kind of like a recovering alcoholic going down the liquor isle to go smile at the selection of beers knowing he’ll never buy one, but guilty just for looking.
There I was reading the information for one of those Internet get rich quick programs, thinking about different dubious ways I could make it work.
Of course, I didn’t buy it, but the lure of fast cash and little work started appealing to me somewhere between the words “automated system” and “get paid daily” my eyes glazed over and a wicked smile crossed my lips. I actually started breaking down the numbers, that’s how bad I got: “well if I can just put 15,000 people onto a landing page and they convert at half a percent for a 3,000 dollar product . . .”
I’d been on a content bender, and I needed to escape. I’d written and edited somewhere between 100,000 and a million words that week and I was looking to relax. Most of us who have been on the Internet for any length of time know that those programs, while not scams (semantically speaking), are simply money games designed to quickly help the newbie E-marketer part ways with their money in a desperate search for quick cash and the promise of a new life.
Most of us found Internet marketing the same way.
We get duped.
I did, maybe you did.
Some people are broken from the experience, others continue buying into every scheme and money game they can get their hands on, and others actually try to figure out how the Internet works. For me the epiphany came somewhere between Godin’s Purple Cow and Levinson’s Guerilla Marketing when I realized I was on a snipe hunt for the holy grail.
There’s money to be made in the: “There is Money To Be Made Market.”
But it isn’t the kind of money I want.
That’s e-blood money.
Imagine that . . .
When you finally figure it out-you don’t want it anymore.
Strange the power of consciousness is, think you not? As Yoda would say.
Jesse lives in North Idaho with his son and dog, when he’s not working–building Content Rich websites that Google actually loves–he finds time for fly-fishing, hiking and skiing.
He recommends learning how to become an Infoprenuer and become an Affiliate Program Master for free.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 28th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
How many times have you needed to call for a service such as carpet cleaning? Mechanic service? How about a more serious issue such as a flood service?
Did you find that looking through the phone book just doesnt give enough info and searching online pops up to many unreliable, irrelevant leads? Either way, I personally find it hard at times to find quality, fast reliable service.
For instance, I thought word of mouth was the best way to get what I am looking for. So I talked to a friend when my car broke down. Sure she said, I know just the place. After agreeing to pay a ridiculous price for a fast turn around, I thought money talks, right? Not in this case, 2 weeks later my car is still in the shop and the price has doubled.
Well after explaining that I found the part myself for half the price they were charging, I would just have it towed to my location to fix it myself. I am quite handy and knew how to fix the problem, but I was going to pay so that I would not be under the hood when I needed to be out working. Trouble is I work from that vehicle and after 2 weeks you can get pretty hungry with no income.
After the manager found out that I was taking my vehicle, they cut the price in half and I agreed to let them try again. We will see how that turns out. The point that I would like to make is that I see it all to often. I see companies take on more work than they can handle or put the same person on the back burner over and over again. I am a victim of that and it feels terrible. Do you think I will send them any biz?
When I started my company Moore Services in 1997, I knew that word of mouth is the most respected advertisement and I wanted just that, a respected name that my customers could count on. From the first day of business, and even now my goal is to build a solid customer base of repeat satisfied customers. Now I have pride knowing that I still have many of my first customers all because of situations that had a negative impact on me. What I mean by that is, I knew I didnt like to be ripped off or taken advantage of and I sure dont want a single one of my customers to feel that way either.
Sometimes you just need a fast response and hope for the best after making one phone call. I spend each day making sure that all of my customers feel that calling me is in fact that one call they can trust time and again with out a doubt if they need me. If you or a friend run a company, remind yourself of the frustrations you deal with and turn the situation around to make positive impressions and experiences for your customers. They will thank you 10 fold I promise. Try to confront every frustration as a new learning experience share a smile knowing that you would never do that to a friend or a customer.
For every bad day you have, make someone elses day a good day by giving them a no hassle experience. Remember, it comes back 10 fold maybe even 20 if they have that many friends and relatives. From 1 to 10 to 100 to 1000. Now that is a lot of happy customers from just 1 happy customer. Just imagine if you gave that one person a negative experience.
Anthony Moore
http://www.shampooit.com
Dallas Carpet Cleaning by Moore Services
Perfect record with the BBB
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on October 28th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
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