Comments on: The Problem with “Business Ethics” http://catholicexchange.com/2009/08/01/120886/ Catholic News, Catholic Articles, Catholic Apologetics, Catholic Content, Catholic Information Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 By: bythesea http://catholicexchange.com/2009/08/01/120886/comment-page-1/#comment-41585 bythesea Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:11:12 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/?p=120886#comment-41585 At the most recent company I worked for (about 300 employees, electronics manufacturer) the President told the employees at one of the employee meetings that "A little greed is good." He would make statements like this, and then search all of the faces in the cafeteria, where the meeting was held, to see what the individual reactions were. A person who has been running a business for decades can easily tell with such a litmus test who is on board with the corporate philosophy and who is not. Now, if I as an employee did not agree with this, how could I hope to voice my disagreement (even respectfully) without getting fired, or forced out of a job. It's hard to even keep a straight face when you hear that "a little greed is good" yet you know that while everyone may be tempted to greed, it is not a good corporate standard to have. And once you have disagreed, once you have broken with the party line, they don't want you. You are a liability. And it can be very difficult to be re-employed in the same industry if you have been dismissed. After all, what company wants to hire a "rabble rouser?" I suspect business schools also kow-tow to this "a little greed is good" philosophy. Companies support schools financially. A business school can't be supplying businesses with "rabble rousers." At the end of the day, the bottom line is the metric used. The employees you have kept, and the employees you have let go are a mere footnote. It is not a human enterprise, it is a money making enterprise. "A little greed is good." At the most recent company I worked for (about 300 employees, electronics manufacturer) the President told the employees at one of the employee meetings that “A little greed is good.” He would make statements like this, and then search all of the faces in the cafeteria, where the meeting was held, to see what the individual reactions were. A person who has been running a business for decades can easily tell with such a litmus test who is on board with the corporate philosophy and who is not. Now, if I as an employee did not agree with this, how could I hope to voice my disagreement (even respectfully) without getting fired, or forced out of a job. It’s hard to even keep a straight face when you hear that “a little greed is good” yet you know that while everyone may be tempted to greed, it is not a good corporate standard to have. And once you have disagreed, once you have broken with the party line, they don’t want you. You are a liability. And it can be very difficult to be re-employed in the same industry if you have been dismissed. After all, what company wants to hire a “rabble rouser?”

I suspect business schools also kow-tow to this “a little greed is good” philosophy. Companies support schools financially. A business school can’t be supplying businesses with “rabble rousers.” At the end of the day, the bottom line is the metric used. The employees you have kept, and the employees you have let go are a mere footnote. It is not a human enterprise, it is a money making enterprise. “A little greed is good.”

]]> By: goral http://catholicexchange.com/2009/08/01/120886/comment-page-1/#comment-41584 goral Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:38:45 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/?p=120886#comment-41584 Business ethics is putting a statement on the oversized packaging that the product is sold by weight not volume because the buyer is too dumb to realize that contents settle during shipping. Some of us might think that's deceiving but the proper business school term is marketing. Besides the price of the item is $1.99 which is well below $2.00 Business ethics is putting a statement on the oversized packaging that the product is sold by weight not volume because the buyer is too dumb to realize that contents settle during shipping.
Some of us might think that’s deceiving but the proper business school term is
marketing.
Besides the price of the item is $1.99 which is well below $2.00

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