Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

The Gradual Return of American Manufacturing

September 23, 2014

In the 1950s, more than 150 television manufacturers called the U.S. home. Today, not even component parts for TVs are produced on American soil. Still, that hasn’t stopped Wal-Mart from slapping “Assembled in the USA” stickers onto many flat screen TVs stocked in its stores. That’s because the company buys the televisions from South Carolina’s Element Electronics Corporation, which imports all their items from China.

That doesn’t mean Element is simply a middleman operation though. TVs that arrive at the Continue reading →

Global, Manufacturing, Distribution, Wal-Mart, Element Electronics

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

Corporations Fill Foreign Aid Void

September 2, 2014

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In the mid-20^th century, many struggling nations around the world relied heavily on outside governments for assistance. Foreign aid of this nature accounted for 71 percent of all worldwide capital flows as recently as 1960. As the years progressed, however, governments largely removed themselves from the global development game. Today, foreign aid accounts for less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget and only 9 percent of current capital flows.

To fill this void, non-governmental organizations and groups such Continue reading →

Global, Ethics, Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Foreign Aid, Coca-Cola

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Keeping the NFL Green in Sustainable Stadiums

August 14, 2014

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With preseason football already under way, it won’t be long now until the NFL season officially kicks into full gear. And although the intensity of the gridiron will undoubtedly remain the same, some fans might notice big changes around their local stadiums. That’s because after years of outcry to green up the game, a number of NFL teams have revamped their arenas with a variety of energy-saving and cost-cutting measures.

In San Francisco’s Levi’s Stadium, for instance, an 18,000-square-foot Continue reading →

Marketing, Sports, Branding, Sustainability, San Francisco, Philadelphia, NFL

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

The NCAA’s Image Issues

August 11, 2014

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In 2014 a judge granted Northwestern University’s football players collective bargaining rights. Although it was later overturned, this landmark decision heightened the debate about compensation for college athletes to a whole new level, and it didn’t take long for another major legal ruling to follow it. In early August a U.S. district judged found in favor of former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon and 19 others regarding the image rights of athletes. According to the ruling, the NCAA violates anti-trust Continue reading →

Ethics, Labor Relations, Sports, Copyright, College, NCAA

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

EU Nations Add Underground Economies to GDP

August 5, 2014

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Even though the U.S. has a gross domestic product (GDP) valued at nearly $17 trillion, that huge figure still doesn’t come close to providing a complete picture of the American economy. Each year billions upon billions of transactions go undocumented, untaxed, and ultimately unrecorded by official GDP statisticians. Whether it’s earning a few bucks by mowing a neighbor’s lawn or by selling drugs, these concealed deals all form what’s known as the underground economy.

Many economists have said that it’s Continue reading →

Ethics, Europe, Finance, GDP, Financial Data, Underground Economy, Regulation

Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility

Tax Dodging Corporations Cost the U.S. Billions

August 1, 2014

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For decades big companies have done their best to avoid hefty corporate tax rates levied by Uncle Sam. The U.S. government collects 35 percent of a domestically based corporation’s income, a figure based on the entirety of the company’s worldwide revenue. This mighty bite from the bottom line leads many firms to reincorporate their companies in places like the Cayman Islands or Ireland, where the corporate tax rate is just 12.5 percent. While this process of “inversion” is entirely legal, Continue reading →

Global, Ethics, Regulation, Taxes, Ireland, Cayman Islands

Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 17: Accounting, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Controversy

July 31, 2014

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Led Zeppelin’s 1971 epic “Stairway to Heaven” is widely regarded by music critics as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. It’s also been one of the most profitable. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes long, the band refused to release the song as a single, which forced fans to shell out more cash to buy the album it appeared on. When coupled with the song’s substantial royalties from radio play, “Stairway to Heaven” has earned at least Continue reading →

Ethics, Product Development, Copyright, Entertainment, Regulation, Music

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

FDA Keeps “Super Salmon” Banned

July 28, 2014

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As people become more skeptical of the ways science intrudes on the content of their food, controversial products like genetically modified crops face increasing opposition. That’s bad news for AquaBounty Technologies, a company that has been producing genetically modified salmon for more than 20 years. Called the AquAdvantage, the fish reach market size in two years rather than three. In order to engineer the salmon, scientists combine the gene of a large Chinook salmon with a gene from a fast-growing Continue reading →

Ethics, Food, Product Development, Regulation, GMOs, Fishing, AquaBounty

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Seattle’s Historic Minimum Wage Raise

July 20, 2014

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In early June, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray signed a bill into law that will raise the city’s minimum wage to $15-an-hour. At more than double the federal level, Seattle’s new wage floor will become the highest in the country once it is fully implemented. Large businesses have until 2017 to reach the $15 mark while small businesses can wait as late as 2021. In both cases, wages will be slowly raised in the intervening years to make the process Continue reading →

Ethics, Human Resources, Compensation, Minimum Wage, Seattle

Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Bored Young Men Cause Big Problems for Foxconn Factories

July 11, 2014

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A few years ago, a rash of employee suicides at Foxconn Technology prompted investigations into the working conditions at the Chinese manufacturing giant. As the maker of such in-demand items as the iPad and Hewlett-Packard servers, Foxconn employs tens of thousands of people who work long shifts and live on-site. The monotonous work and the dorm-like living quarters can make for a grey life on the Foxconn campus, leading to depression and worse.

Foxconn responded to this bleak state Continue reading →

Management, Global, Ethics, Manufacturing, Labor Relations, China, Foxconn

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law