Ethics - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Jimmy John’s Drops Non-Compete Clauses for Sandwich Makers

January 19, 2017

For many corporate executives, non-compete agreements are just a part of doing business. Since companies want to hang on to top talent as long as possible, they often insert clauses in contracts that prevent employees from joining competitors for a certain amount of time. While this limits a staffer’s options when looking for a new job, their high-level status usually provides them with plenty of alternative choices.

That’s not quite the case for sandwich makers, however. While non-compete clauses are Continue reading →

Franchising, Non-Compete Clauses, Food, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Ethics, Jimmy John’s

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Portland Institutes Tax on Companies with High CEO Salaries

December 15, 2016

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In 2010 the median salary for the 200 highest-earning executives in the U.S. topped out at nearly $10 million. Just five years later, though, that number doubled to almost $20 million. Meanwhile, researchers at the Economic Policy Institute found that CEOs in 2013 earned more than 300 times the salary of average workers. For comparison, in 1965 chief executives brought in just 20 times more pay than their average employees.

To combat this increasing inequality, last week government administrators in Continue reading →

Executive Compensation, Regulation, Management, Taxes, Motivation, Leadership, Ethics, Portland, Compensation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

New Law Protects Consumers’ Right to Leave Negative Feedback

December 13, 2016

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In December 2008, John Palmer ordered some items from the online retailer KlearGear and never received them. His wife Jen responded to this poor service by writing a critical review about the company on a website called Ripoff Report. The incident eventually faded from Palmer’s memory until three years later when she received a demand from KlearGear to take the review down. If she didn’t comply, the company said, they would fine her $3,500 for violating a non-disparagement clause that Continue reading →

Regulation, Consumer Feedback, Yelp, Consumer Review Fairness Act, Credit Rating, Ethics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Supreme Court Toughens Rules on Insider Trading

December 8, 2016

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In 2014 a New York appeals court nearly changed the way that lawmakers deal with cases of insider trading. The dispute centered around two hedge fund managers who passed along confidential information between tipsters like a game of telephone. While the pair had been convicted in their first trial, the decision was eventually overturned upon appeal. This set a precedent for insider trading cases in which the prosecution had to prove that the tipster directly received some sort of compensation Continue reading →

Stocks, Legal, Supreme Court, Insider Trading, Ethics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Cell Phone Numbers Become Key Pieces of Personal Information

November 15, 2016

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From a young age Americans are taught to keep a close eye on their Social Security number. After all, this unique code acts as an identifier for everything from bank accounts to medical records. If it falls into the wrong hands, all of your personal information could become compromised. To prevent this from happening, the government requires companies to keep Social Security numbers private while advising individuals to reveal it only to trusted parties.

But in today’s digital age there’s Continue reading →

Social Security, Security, Mobile, Personal Information, Ethics, Identity Theft

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Bonus Chapter D: Personal Finance

Patagonia: Attempting to Operate Ethically While Pursuing Mass Appeal

November 3, 2016

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Since its founding in 1973, the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia has strived to make quality goods in an ethical manner. This combination of strong values and superior products has allowed the company to grow into an $800 million brand. But over the years Patagonia has run into a number of roadblocks in their quest to “build the best product” and “cause no unnecessary harm.” For example, in 2010 an animal rights group revealed that the company had been buying goose Continue reading →

Supply chains, Sustainability, Patagonia, South America, Taiwan, Apparel, Clothing, Product Development, Ethics, Branding

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Improving Conditions at Bangladesh’s Garment Factories

November 1, 2016

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In April 2013, more than one thousand Bangladeshi garment workers died when the Rana Plaza building collapsed. Considered to be the deadliest garment factory accident in history, the tragic event led to worldwide condemnation of many Western clothing companies. After all, brands like H&M, Walmart and Zara had long pushed producers in Bangladesh’s growing garment industry to make clothes faster and cheaper. While this allowed retailers to set low prices at their stores, the focus on efficiency forced Bangladesh’s factories Continue reading →

Ethics, Manufacturing, Clothing, Labor Relations, Zara, Walmart, H&M, Bangladesh, Human Rights, Garment Industry

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Chinese Factories Produce Knockoffs at Record Speed

October 25, 2016

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Israeli entrepreneur Yekutiel Sherman had a great idea for a product: a selfie stick that folded seamlessly into the back of a smartphone’s case. He spent a year carefully designing his idea, producing prototypes and securing small investments from family and friends. By December 2015 Sherman launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to finish funding the item, now called Stikbox. But while the project immediately attracted investors, his popular crowdfunding campaign also caught the attention of Chinese bootleg manufacturers. Within Continue reading →

Knockoff products, Operations Management, Global, Product Development, Ethics, China, Manufacturing, Supply chains, Product Distribution

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Poultry Plant Employees Endure Inhumane Working Conditions

October 18, 2016

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The grisly nature of the meat industry practically ensures that the business will never be pretty. Still, conditions in a slaughterhouse can always get worse if management marginalizes their workforce. According to the global development agency Oxfam America, that’s precisely what’s happening at a number of U.S. poultry plants. In facilities owned by big names like Tyson, Perdue and Pilgrim’s Pride, workers complained that superiors regularly denied them bathroom breaks. Some even reported wearing diapers while working on the line. Continue reading →

Poultry, Management, Tyson, Ethics, Perdue, Food, Employee Mistreatment, Labor Relations

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions

ATM Fees Reach Nearly $5 for Out-of-Network Withdrawals

October 14, 2016

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If you’re in need of cash in a pinch, you’d better hope that your bank has an ATM located nearby. For the 10th consecutive year, the fees charged by banks for usage of ATMs by non-customers has risen to a record average of $4.57. That number is actually the combination of two separate fees: one charged by ATM owners for non-customers and another by the account holder’s bank for withdrawing out-of-network. In 1998 the combination of these charges amounted to Continue reading →

Hillary Clinton, Ethics, Fees, Regulation, Dodd-Frank, Banks, ATMs, Bernie Sanders

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law