A634.9.4.RB_SchreterPaul

         After spending some time reflecting on this course, there are three lessons that I have been able to take away. These three lessons have stuck out at me for one reason or another and I believe they provide great value for my future. These three lessons include the ideas of making management a profession, poor actions/decisions are likely to be habitual, and finally the idea of egoism.

         Doctors, lawyers, and military members all take an oath before starting their respective profession; managers do not. Perhaps it is time for managers to take an oath. It is said that “professionalizing management would greatly curb misconduct, because moral behavior is an integral part of professionals’ identity—a self-image most want strongly to preserve” (Khurana & Nohria, 2008). While I may not be in any position to professionalize management, it is something that I can implement within my own organization. The United States Air Force already does this by having all noncommissioned officers take an oath prior to putting on the rank. Organizations that make such an oath a big deal helps guide the leaders it creates into making the right moral decisions.

         The next lesson that I learned was that a lot of the ways people behave is purely habitual. It is said that “habits – including our traits, abilities, and character – carry the marks of our environment. That is the sense in which our habits are social. They also embody our previous choices, including our choices to strengthen or alter our habits” (LaFollette, 2007). In other words, a racist may not be racist because they choose to be evil, they may be racist because of how they were raised or the environments to which they’ve encountered.

         Finally, the last lesson I learned was the idea of egoism. It is said that “the psychological egoist claims it shows that everyone always seeks to promote her own interested” (LaFollette, 2007). In other words, Mother Theresa helped people because it promoted her own interests. Had she been running a multi-billion dollar company she probably would have been miserable; whereas helping the poor and sick made her feel good inside. This for me has me rethink why I do what I do and I’ve been able to come to the conclusion that I’m an incredibly selfish person! I’m intrinsically motivated to help people and helping people makes me feel good inside; if it didn’t make me feel good, I probably wouldn’t be doing it!

         This week I’ve discussed the idea of making management a profession, that poor decisions made are often times habitual, and finally that even the kindest of actions can be generated out of personal self-satisfaction. The first lesson opened up the possibility of implementing my own oath that members of the organization take, the second lesson allows me to see people with a fresh set of eyes and become more empathetic, and finally the last lesson changes how I view things and what motivates people. This has been an interesting course and while valuable lessons have been learned, I’m glad that it’s finally done!

References

Khurana, R., & Nohria, N. (2008). It’s Time to Make Management a True Profession. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2008/10/its-time-to-make-management-a-true-profession/ar/1

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

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            Should guns be legal? That’s the question that’s being asked in this week’s blog. There are many proponents that fight for the legalization and ‘right’ to own guns; others believe the world without guns will become a better one. I will be going over arguments that support gun ownership, arguments that are against gun ownership, and finally a view on my personal opinion of the matter.

            America is well known for its gun-toting citizens and culture (DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER, 2015). Many of its citizens believe in the right to bear arms and to have the ability to protect oneself. In this week's discussion board topic we also discussed the idea of punishment and preventing crime, where Wilson claimed that one of the reasons why crime occurs isn’t due to the “severity of punishments, but about their certainty” (LaFollette, 2007). An argument that many pro-gun proponents support is that gun-owning communities will have less crime because the certainty of punishment is greater. It is said that “most criminals want to minimize their risks when committing a crime. If they know that someone in a house is armed, they will be less likely to enter that house” (LaFollette, 2007). These are compelling arguments indeed, but if they were true, why haven’t other countries adopted similar minds of thought?

            Other countries in the world have decided not to allow guns for it’s private citizens; the United Kingdom and Japan being two of them. While those supporting guns believe that gun ownership will reduce crimes, statistics have thus far proven them wrong. Data shows that there are more deaths per 100,000 citizens relating to an assault by firearm in the United States, compared to all means of assault in the United Kingdom and Japan combined (LEACH-KEMON, 2015). The data shows that there are less gun-related crimes in countries without laws that support gun ownership towards its private citizens. It’s the countries that don’t allow firearms, which have the lowest crime rates in comparison to other similar countries.

            When I originally grew up and lived in America, I had the same views that many gun owners believed. While I never owned a gun myself, I had the viewpoint that the country as a whole was safer because many good guys owned guns. However, after living in the United Kingdom for over four years, my views have almost flipped. Not based on any sort of fact or statistical analysis, I genuinely do feel safer walking down the streets at night and in the early mornings. There isn’t much you can do in terms of self-protection against a gun, but with the removal of such weapon, life just feels better!

            So this week I discussed a little bit about the views on why guns should be legalized, statistics on why guns shouldn’t be legalized, and finally a little bit about my personal viewpoint on the matter. I’ve lived in a country where guns were legalized and I’m currently living in a country where guns aren’t legal. Out of the two, I can genuinely say that I prefer the country that hasn’t legalized guns; overall it just feels safer.

References

DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER. (2015). Gun-toting demonstrators surround Texas mosque shouting 'Stop the Islamization of America!' to protest accepting Syrian refugees. Retrieved from Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3329552/Gun-toting-demonstrators-surround-Florida-mosque-shouting-Stop-Islamization-America-protest-accepting-Syrian-refugees.html

LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MA: WileyBlackwell.

LEACH-KEMON, K. (2015). Visualizing gun deaths: Comparing the U.S. to rest of the world. Retrieved from Humanosphere: http://www.humanosphere.org/science/2015/10/visualizing-gun-deaths-comparing-u-s-rest-world/

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            Like with many organizations, there are specific values that the United States Air Force expects from its members. The video this week discussed some of the core values that most organizations expect, which the Air Force is no different (in fact it could be argued that these values are even more important in the military sector than civilian). The two values I’ll be looking at are not sharing confidential information and not touching co-workers inappropriately.

            One of the ethical values that Chuck Gallagher shared was the idea of keeping confidential information confidential. The way he brought this up was by saying “we sit down on our social media, or wherever it happens to be, and we begin sharing or discriminating information, and it might be very easy” (Gallagher, 2013). This, of course, is completely unethical as company secrets might get into the wrong hands. The Air Force expects its members to “ensure no discredit to the Air Force or compromise of operational security when using personal and government information systems or social media” (Department of the Air Force, 2015). Many members, leaders included, have violated this value by posting pictures on social media of their times on deployment. While seemingly innocent by themselves, enemies are able to gather these photos and collect sensitive information like base perimeter details, checkpoint information, or perhaps relative locations of one area to another (for example the sleeping quarters to the chow hall).

            The other ethical value Chuck Gallagher brought up was the idea of not creating a hostile work environment. He mentioned that “it’s unethical to go up to someone who’s a coworker and inappropriately touch them” (Gallagher, 2013). This in itself should be completely obvious as being unethical. The Air Force talks about this by stating all members should “actively support and enforce the Air Force’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy for discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Every Airman deserves to work in an environment of dignity and respect” (Department of the Air Force, 2015). There have been many cases of sexual harassment in the military and not only has it brought discredit to the Air Force, but when members don’t feel safe because of the people they work with, something’s wrong.

            This week I looked at two different ethical values that Chuck Gallagher has shared with his audience. In both cases I explained scenarios that have actually happened where the actions of certain individuals not only compromises the security of forward deployed locations but actions that create an unhealthy work environment, which is not only discrediting to the individual but to the Air Force as a whole.

References

Department of the Air Force. (2015). The Airman Handbook.

Gallagher, C. (2013). Straight Talk about Ethics! Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE

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            So supposedly Benjamin Franklin had a self-improvement program that included 13 different virtues that he thought guided people to becoming a good people. After taking a virtue test’s, three different virtues came up that the website recommended I work on (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002). The three that I will talk about include temperance, order, and cleanliness.

            The first virtue that I can improve upon is temperance, where the website mentioned “as a young man, Ben tried not to drink too much. Maybe you should consider being the designated driver next time you go out partying” (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002). As soon as I read this, I thought no way. It’s said that “habitual light to moderate alcohol intake (up to 1 drink per day for women and I or 2 drinks per day for men) is associated with decreased risks for total mortality, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, and stroke” (O'Keefe, Bhatti, Bajwa, DiNicolantonio, & Lavie, 2014). Plus, living in Europe, I like to do as the Romans do and have a glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage on most nights. So why not drink?

            The second virtue is order, which the website stated “Ben followed the maxim ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’ It may be time to clean out the backseat of that car of yours” (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002). This is true and is usually something I keep in my everyday life. However coincidentally, I just moved properties and I happen to have a bunch of donations that I’m trying to get rid of in the back of my car. Between work and school, it’s something I’m slowly working on, as it is difficult finding the time and energy sorting it all out (I’m still sorting out my new flat).

            The third virtue is cleanliness, where supposedly “Ben wrote ‘tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes or habitation.’ You might benefit from spending more time cleaning on a regular basis” (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002). Similar to the second virtue, this is something that I would like to do and implement more into my life. There was a video I watched about why we should care about making our beds, which has many benefits like feeling a sense of pride, accomplishing the first task of the day, or feeling good after a bad day (McRaven, 2016). Since attending basic military training, this is something that I’ve adopted into my life. That said, I do usually go bigger and clean everything from body, clothes, and habitation. That said, after moving to a new flat I’ve found that things have gotten incredibly messy. With a lot of personal stressors in my life I haven’t been on top of things, but slowly I’m getting my life back together.

            The three virtues that were recommended to be to improve upon were temperance, order, and cleanliness. While I don’t think the first virtue is something I’ll exercise, the other two are ones that I need to improve upon. Right now I’ve got a lot going on so I’ve been neglecting those virtues however there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.

References

McRaven, W. H. (2016, February 16). If you want to change the world, start to make your bed every morning. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTlhfjjEWD0

O'Keefe, J. H., Bhatti, S. K., Bajwa, A., DiNicolantonio, J. J., & Lavie, C. J. (2014). Alcohol and cardiovascular health: the dose makes the poison ... or the remedy. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 89(3), 382.

Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (2002). Virtue Quiz. Retrieved 2015, from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/exp_virtue.html

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After reading this week’s article on marketing, I really don’t see any ethical problems with marketing in itself. If the public is too stupid to come up with their own conclusions, isn’t it their own fault? Even if we did try to employ ethical regulations onto marketing techniques, what would they even look like? This week I’ll be expressing my opinions on what ethical guidelines I think should exist, my thoughts on tracking a consumer's buying habits, and finally, how I would manage the ethical aspects in my own marketing efforts.

            There are certain regulations that I think should exist when it comes to ethical guidelines for marketing campaigns. The first regulation I think would be necessary is no outright lies. For example, if Coca-Cola claimed their drinks cured HIV; this is clearly a lie. Another example might be if McDonalds claimed their meals caused people to lose weight; clearly another lie. The second regulation would be one straight out of the DMA’s Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice, “clearly, honestly, and accurately represents its products, services, terms and conditions” (Direct Marketing Association's, 2014). This complements the first regulation by going a step further. An example of where this might be violated is if a marketing campaign claimed a service had a one-time fee of £19.99, but what they don’t tell you is that there are additional monthly fees of £9.99. This would be a violation of clearly expressing the terms of the service and being dishonest by leaving out important information.

            With regards to being tracked with buying habits, I see absolutely no wrong by this and even encourage it. Google already does this and states “many websites, such as news sites and blogs, partner with Google to show ads to their visitors. Working with our partners, we may use cookies for a number of purposes, such as to stop you from seeing the same ad over and over again, to detect and stop click fraud, and to show ads that are likely to be more relevant” (Google, n.d.). What makes this a good thing is that their focus is to make the ads more relevant to me. As a male, I have no intentions of ever buying women’s underwear or sanitary products, so I rather not watch advertisements that deal with those categories. Instead, I rather see things that I was actually interested in, like new games or new technology products. This week's article brings up the following point, “making a consumer need a product he or she might not have thought about without being exposed to promotion just to make profits is widely considered as unethical” (SAYED & GHAZALY, n.d.). I completely disagree with this statement as most companies are for-profit companies. So, of course, that’s the idea. In addition, what’s wrong with introducing a product that the consumer may not have known they wanted otherwise? That’s like saying we shouldn’t have advertised cars when they first came out as people were probably perfectly happy to travel by horse or foot! Of course consumers need to be exposed to products they might not have known otherwise; this then gives the consumer the freedom to make their own decision with regards to what they want to do.

            Lastly, I would manage my own marketing campaigns by following similar guidelines outlined in the DMA handbook. One such principle was already mentioned before by clearly stating what a product is, does, and what the consumer would be agreeing too. Another principle that I would like to follow: “delivers its products and services as represented” (Direct Marketing Association's, 2014). This compliments the previous principle by delivering a product that we said we would deliver. If the product was advertised to work a certain way, then the delivered product needs to work as advertised.

            This week I discussed some of my opinions on what ethical guidelines I think should exist, what I thought about being tracked for advertisement purposes, and finally how I would manage my own marketing team. While I’m no marketing expert nor have any experience in such field, I do have my own opinions on the matter and don’t think the reading material has much weight with the points their trying to convey. While the articles intentions may mean well, I question the solution they seek and the world that they envision for the future.

References

Direct Marketing Association's. (2014). Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice. Retrieved from Direct Marketing Association's: http://thedma.org/wp-content/uploads/DMA_Guidelines_January_2014.pdf

Google. (n.d.). Advertising. Retrieved 2016, from Google: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/

SAYED, H. E., & GHAZALY, I. E. (n.d.). Is Marketing Evil?Marketing Viewed as a tool. Retrieved from Ethics-Based Marketing: http://www.ethicsbasedmarketing.net/2.html