Reflective Journal - Personal Statement Example

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Reflective Journal Introduction In this reflective journal, I provide entries about my experiences and thoughts with regards to events that have raised ethical issues. I focus on ethical issues in both business and the non-business world. The ethical issues that I have identified include: child labour, deception, environment pollution, manipulation, and dishonesty. These issues were researched extensively so as to ensure the information provided is reliable and consistent. I understand that having a strong ethics programs can help reduce unethical behaviours, reduce vulnerability and improve reputation. Two Faces of Apple Without a doubt, Apple’s remarkable success is attributed to the ability of the company to generate products that are truly innovative with vast appeal to the customer (Sethi, 2012). The company innovativeness in my view has resulted in high profitability level and fanatic consumer loyalty. However, employees ate Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn have been working continually with no single day off and living in dormitories that are crowded. It saddens me to learn that employees at Foxconn stand while working for long hours to an extent that their legs swell and sometimes find it hard to walk. Close to 140 workers have been injured in China some years ago while cleaning the iPhone screens using a toxic chemical. I fail to understand why Apple failed to take preventive measures considering that the company knew about the hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant. According to Duell (2012), Apple knew about the situation in the Chinese plants but decided to ignore the situation. I think Apple was taking advantage of the fact that what is morally unacceptable in one country is a recognised business practice in a different country. In 2009, an employee at Foxconn committed suicide by jumping from a block of flats because he had lost an iPhone prototype while another 18 employees allegedly tried to take their own life. This led to the installation of Suicide nets so that workers could be prevented from committing suicide. Moreover, Foxconn started offering improved mental health treatment to the employees. A former employee at Foxconn as cited by Duell (2012) alleges that Apple disregarded employees’ welfare, but instead emphasised more on reducing production cost and increasing product quality. I am certain that there are no quick or easy fixes that could generate sustainable improvement in on how employees are treated at Foxconn. At Pegatron plant, more than 10,000 underage as well as student workers aged between 16 and 20 years worked in congested production rooms. Although Apple has indicated that its Chinese partners had realised almost 100% compliance with company’s workweek rule (60 hours), I have noted that the 60 hours directly violates the 49-hour legal limit set out by China. Apple in my view has not accomplished anything because employees at Pegatron Shanghai as uncovered by CLW (2013, p.2) were coerced to sign forms showing that the hours they have worked overtime were below the actual levels. Conditions at the majority of the Apple’s factories in China are so poor to an extent that most employees are living the factories after some months. I concur with CLW (2013, p.2) that Apple has to prioritise its efforts so as to improve the working conditions at Chinese factories that produce Apple products. Furthermore, Apple must look beyond the profits and start caring for its employees, especially those working on the assembly line. Employees at Chinese factories that produce Apple products are people with feeling and not machines; therefore, they have rights.  Disregarding the deplorable working conditions in these factories is unethical, and I think a big company like Apple should value people that have made the company become very successful. Volkswagen the Cheater In September 2015, Volkswagen was caught by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an enormous scandal that apparently would cost the company close to $87 billion. The diesel-engine Volkswagen models that were being sold in the U.S had installed software that enabled the cars to deceitfully pass emissions tests. Volkswagen has confessed that they deliberately cheated on the tests deliberately and that close to 11 million cars across the globe has the alleged ‘defeat device’. I am dumbfounded by the fact that Volkswagen decided to cheat so as to gain a substantial market share in the United States. Close to 482,000 cars with defeat device has been uncovered by the EPA in the United States only, which included Audi A3 as well as reported that some of the tests conducted to measure the level of carbon dioxide emissions had some irregularities and could possible affect close to 800,000 cars across Europe. The engines of the cars that had the defeat device according to EPA were emitting nitrogen oxide toxins, which are 40 times more than the required levels in the US. I understand that what begun in the US obviously affected other countries since investigations have been opened in countries like the France, UK, Australia, South Korea, Germany, and many others. As a result, close to 8.5 million cars have been recalled in Europe and another 500,000 in the US; for this reason, I now understand why Volkswagen shares have fallen by close to 35% (Hotten, 2015). To solve this issue, Volkswagen decided to buy back or fix the affected models and it could also mount a small tubular part in a number of its engines so as to ensure they observe the European clean-air standards (Gates et al., 2016). I think it was a good idea for the company to change its leadership, but a lot must be done since nitrogen oxide emissions can result in health issues or even deaths. Nitrogen oxide pollution from Volkswagen cars can lead to respiratory problems such as bronchitis, asthma as well as emphysema. I agree with Duvall et al. (2002, p.575) that air pollution caused by cars is a challenging issue, an issue that has existed due to marketplace failure. In my view, technological development in areas such as communications and transportation offered Volkswagen a greater resource to cheat the public about their cars’ emissions. At the same time, the air quality has been degrading consistently because of automotive emissions, which presents a sizeable threat to people’s collective health, especially in areas that have high population density. It is important for Volkswagen to look for a suitable ethical response that could solve this problem and also come up with remedies that could address this issue permanently. Homeless People Turned into Lab Rats When new medication reaches human testing phase, most drug companies start recruiting people to take part in various studies. I believe it is unethical for a pharmaceutical firm making new drugs for people who are mentally ill to recruit poor mentally ill patients and paying them in order to participate in such studies. Elliott (2014) interacted with numerous homeless people across the United States, especially those who has been recruited as test specimens. He established most homeless people, especially those who are mentally ill, are actively being recruited with the objective of testing experimental drugs. I have been thinking that pharmaceutical research happens in top-notch medical centres because the highly technical activities that are involved. However, Elliott’s article strikes me with reality, and now I know that Pharmaceutical companies have been outsourcing their clinical studies to other research organisations that do the trials quicker and cheaply. I fail to understand why medical research studies are not regulated tightly in order to make sure that people’s safety is protected while taking part in such studies. Elliott maintains that the homeless have been misused to test drugs such as antipsychotics, which are used for conditions, like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, depression, insomnia, anxiety as well as autism. I agree with Elliott that it is unethical to use disadvantaged people for drug trials because they are uninsured, poor, and plagued with different types of illness. I countlessly observed how poor people risk their health for a few dollars. According to Elliott (2014), healthy volunteers have for years been paid by trial sites in order to test new drugs. Nowadays, people suffering from kidney disease, diabetes, asthma and other conditions are paid to participate in these trials. I believe that paying desperate people in order to risk their health is very unethical, even if there is no coercion. Endangering a person health to test a drug in my view is similar to sweatshop labour. In the sweatshops, no one is forced to work for those companies, but poverty has made people desperate and willing to work under appalling conditions, for just a few dollars. Therefore, it is unethical for drug companies and research organisations to take advantage of people desperation. One of the interviewed nurses in Phillips (1998, p.57) study mentioned that most of the participants in drug testing programs are alcoholics, despite the fact that drug users and heavy drinkers are not allowed to take part in experimental programs because the test results could be compromised by the presence of drugs and alcohol in the body. Hitherto, the government has done little to stop this unethical behaviour that is becoming prevalent across the globe. It is unwise to consider that enrolling poor people in paid research studies is acceptable since most of this people are forced to do so for money. Dick (2009, p.58) suggest that studies that recruit poor people have to be scrutinised carefully in order to make sure that ethical research conditions are adequately met. Still, I think most participants in these trials are underpaid and are exploited by companies looking for huge profits. Witchery Dishonesty Witchery, an Australian chain store that deals with accessories, shoes and clothing was dishonest after posting a video on the social media of a model that posed like a woman. In the campaign as cited by Crossfield (2009), the model, known as Heidi has met a handsome guy in a cafe and was appealing to him to collect his jacket after leaving it behind. Crossfield (2009) posits that the video went viral, but the video was considered to be a Social Media scam for advertising Witchery’s new line of clothes. In my view, Witchery was trying to deceive the public. The campaign according to my own understanding proves that social media is not just about fun, but can be used by companies like Witchery to deceive the users and obfuscate the truth. As a social media user, I know that businesses are using social media to manipulate the users, and this could result to brand boycott by consumers. The modern world has brought about a day-to-day fusillade of multifaceted messages through different platforms, especially the social media which is currently rooted in our everyday lives. For this reason, brands are now claiming control over our Facebook and Twitter feed lying to users about their products and some give coupons in exchange for our comments. Still, I think the rise of social networking saw businesses and brands look for ways of to draw the users’ affection, advocacy as well as money. It is for this reason why companies like Witchery opted for dishonesty as a way of attracting our attention. Social media has definitely liberated and empowered me to make purchasing decisions that are more informed; still, my ability to do so is presently threatened by corrupt practices from companies like Witchery. Some companies are using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques in order to hide negative content by deleting negative comments posts and reviews. I have seen a lot of astonishing things in social media; for instance, some individuals and companies are creating fake accounts with the goal of posting positive comments or reviews. Other companies have hired people from poor countries for likes and comments with the aim of inflating their social media numbers and eventually influencing their customers (Brown, 2014). Being ethical is not costly; therefore, I think business using social media should learn to be transparent since untruthful belittling comments or dishonest claims may put the company at risk. Social media has offered the consumers the right to choose what they want to read, but some companies are forcing us to read their posts through viral marketing. Information in social media does not meet the high journalistic standards; therefore, most users have been forced to look for their own information filters. Still, advertisers are faking their endorsements and are evidently buying favourable commentary. Conclusion In conclusion, I think that the justification of competitive markets and private enterprise does not solely rest on the success of attracting many customers, but on the effect of the activities on the welfare of society and all the stakeholders. As I have evidenced in this reflective journal, companies like Apple, Volkswagen and Witchery have lost their social license of ethically pursuing their business activities and this has led to public scrutiny. In modern day business environment, being ethical is not a luxury but a must. Therefore, companies should not just focus on improving their profits, but instead, should make sure they create a wealthier and healthier environment for the employees and the society at large. This reflective journal has made me understand the value of being ethical. A number of companies have disregarded the value of ethics, and working hard to improve their bottom line. As a result, most of the workers are left vulnerable since they work in poor conditions. I have learned that ethics is about a person’s moral judgements with regard to what is right and wrong. Therefore, when a company decide to behave ethically it can experience significant benefits, such as the ability to retain employees, boost sales and profits and increase productivity. References Brown, T., 2014. he Befitting Brand: Ethical Use of Social Media in Business. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "Thomas%20Brown" Thomas Brown [Accessed 11 June 2016]. CLW, C.L.W., 2013. Apple's Unkept Promises: Cheap iPhones come at high coststo Chinese workers. Investigational Report. Shanghai: China Labor Watc. Crossfield, J., 2009. Marketing the lie – how Witchery missed the point. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "https://www.webcentral.com.au/blog/marketing-the-lie-how-witchery-missed-the-point/" https://www.webcentral.com.au/blog/marketing-the-lie-how-witchery-missed-the-point/ [Accessed 11 June 2016]. Dick, N., 2009. Enrollment of Economically Disadvantaged Participants in Clinical R. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, vol. 11, no. 1, pp.54-60. Duell, M., 2012. 'Forced to stand for 24 hours, suicide nets, toxin exposure and explosions': Inside the Chinese factories making iPads for Apple. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092277/Apple-Poor-working-conditions-inside-Chinese-factories-making-iPads.html" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092277/Apple-Poor-working-conditions-inside-Chinese-factories-making-iPads.html [Accessed 11 June 2016]. Duvall, T. et al., 2002. Ethical and economic issues in the use of zero-emission vehicles as a component of an air-pollution mitigation strategy. Science and Engineering Ethics, 8, pp.561-78. Elliott, C., 2014. The Best-Selling, Billion-Dollar Pills Tested on Homeless People. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "https://medium.com/matter/did-big-pharma-test-your-meds-on-homeless-people-a6d8d3fc7dfe" \l ".gtp3x88vh" https://medium.com/matter/did-big-pharma-test-your-meds-on-homeless-people-a6d8d3fc7dfe#.gtp3x88vh [Accessed 11 June 2016]. Gates, G., Ewing, J., Russell, K. & Watkins, D., 2016. Explaining Volkswagen’s Emissions Scandal. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/business/international/vw-diesel-emissions-scandal-explained.html?_r=0" http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/business/international/vw-diesel-emissions-scandal-explained.html?_r=0 [Accessed 11 June 2016]. Hotten, R., 2015. Volkswagen: The scandal explained. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772" http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772 [Accessed 11 June 2016]. Phillips, P., 1998. Censored 1998: The News That Didn't Make the News. New York, United States: Seven Stories Press. Sethi, P., 2012. Two Faces of Apple. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/ethics_online/0068.html" http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/ethics_online/0068.html [Accessed 11 June 2016]. Read More