Wall Street Movie - Report Example

Wall Street Movie Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Executive summary The Wall Street is a movie that was produced back in the year 1987 and it was directed by Oliver Stone. The movie revolves around the ethical dilemmas that Bud Fox a young broker faces. The characters have to make various decisions and this report view the decision for the ethics and ethical decisions perspectives. Bud is faced with the decision to make in relation to acting against the law or according to its. He is also contemplating on whether it is right to be greedy since Gekko who is his role model sees it as an applied aspect with the aim of attaining great wealth and other expensive possessions. The report depicts certain strengths, for example, they were able to receive recognition and power but in the long run they were embarrassed when their deeds were discovered and Bud had to face a jail term. Individuals can use the Universalism concept so as to solve the problem that currently exists in the movie and the claw enforces can also make laws that are strict and also penalties to those who conduct business in an illegal manner. Contents Executive summary 1 Contents 3 Introduction 4 Critical analysis of the decisions evident in the case study 4 Strengths and weaknesses of the decisions 7 Recommendations 8 References 10 Introduction This report sets out to analyze a movie. Decision making is mainly viewed from various different perspectives for example psychological, ethics and ethical decisions or personality and values based on various perspectives. This analysis will draw from the ethics and ethical decisions. This will be done by offering an analysis of the decisions that have been made in the movie and this will be done in relation to the relevant theories, frameworks and models. This section will be closely followed critical discussion of both the strengths and weaknesses of the decisions that have been made in the movie. The last section will be a recommendation section and it will offer a list of recommendations for the movie characters and this will be in terms of how they characters can be able to improve their decision making in the future. Critical analysis of the decisions evident in the case study The Wall Street is a movie that was produced back in the year 1987 and it was directed by Oliver Stone. The movie revolves around the ethical dilemmas that Bud Fox a young broker faces. Bud inputs a lot of effort as well as timer in a bid to become one among the allies of Gordon (Wall Street 1987). After he succeeds he is able to live a life that can be classified among the fast lane in the society that is he had a fancy apartment, power, money and a new and beautiful girlfriend. As the movie progresses Gekko seems to be making more demands which are unethical and illegal with the final and most touching straws being the dismantling and takeover of the Blue star airlines and Bud's father is an employee of that airline. It is usually assumed in a number of good movies, Bud drafts an idea of how he can start making things right and shun away from the unethical and illegal behavior. He enters in the world of Wall Street through the guidance of Gekko, and Gekko pushes him to perform business in an unethical manner in the aim of gaining more money. Prior to the determination of the ethical dilemmas that Bud faces we first need to have a clear understanding of the aspects that makes up unethical dilemma. Ethical dilemmas do happen in instances when there is a conflict between the actions which are right and wrong and also the advantages and disadvantages of the actions that one opts to take (Kirrane 2009). Ethical dilemmas do occur in instances when at times it appears that a wrong action may in the long run produce some perceived advantages or at times good actions will produce wrong ends. Bud seems to be confronted with various ethical dilemmas as the movie progresses. Bud’s first ethical dilemma is related to whether he should follow the law and remain poor or is breaking the law so as to make money that will assist him in satisfying his family needs. Bud made the decision of breaking the law and he decided to offer Gekko with certain insider information that relates to Blue Star airlines (Wall Street 1987). The situation even becomes more complicated since the information that he has offered relates to a company where his father works. In instances when Gekko decides to buy the stock in the company, he will be able to move the company upwards, nevertheless, Bud’s father would have never agreed to such unethical deal since he was more ethical and he would be at the losing end (Schwartz & Weber 2006). Another ethical decision that is evident in the film is that of either being greedy or good. Gekko arrogantly affirms that greed is good. Based on Gekko’s understanding, the greed that is in the American capitalist seems to be of great advantage in that it tends to drive innovation and at the same time create a lot of wealth (Withey 2009). Bud later learns that by being greedy one has to be bad. He also learns that when an individual's is guided by greed in all their undertaking an individual is left with no opportunity of doing good and in most instances he will be doing what is wrong according to the others and also according to the society in which he lives in. Through greed Bud has cheated, hurt and lied to those who seem closest to him. In the long run he needs to decide on whether the benefits that are achieved for being greedy overshadows the bad that it is likely to cause (Wall Street 1987).. The other unethical decision is related to the idea of using the insider information and this seems to be evident in various part of the movie and it is viewed from both Bud and Gordon. Bud makes a visit to Gekko and he later reveals a secret that relates to Blue star airline, he had gained the information form a conversation that he had with his father who was an employee of the organization. Though initially it was a blameless transfer of the information, it later led to a bigger opportunity for Gekko and Bud. Another ethical dilemma that is evident in the movie relates to corporate governance (Schwartz & Weber 2006). The idea of corporate governance seems to be a notable aspect of the plot of the movie. Through the film one is able to highlight various problems that are closely associated with how various corporations are run and it is evident that the corporations seems to be controlled by the stock brokers and the mangers while the shareholders who actually owns the forms have a lesser say. The ethical decision that crops up from corporate governance is whether one is supposed to act in with the core interest being on the shareholders or in their own personal interest. For Gekko the answers seem to the latter but Bud seems to be unsure. Based on the fact that he had been raised in a family that uphold ethics and he knew that his father would never approve of any wrong doing he seemed to be confused on making the decision (Withey 2009). Strengths and weaknesses of the decisions Everyone is faced with a situation in life where he or she needs to choose among the available options. In this case decisions that are being made where are more related to the ethical perspectives of it. One of the major strengths of the decision that is made relates to gaining more. Though money is seen as being the main motivating factor in the movie lucrative schemes this seemed to be a strength but contrary they risked their job opportunities and there was also a chance that they would be jailed in their immoral behavior and dishonest practices were noted (Schwartz 2001). In relation to this Bud was able to live a life that was among the first lanes in the New York. He was able to date a beautiful girlfriend, live in a fancy house and drive a car of his dreams. At first Bud seemed to undertake anything that Gekko asked him to do and he did this with the aim of getting the best position. And based on this he obtained a lot but he eventually regrets since he has to make a decision between his own father and Gekko. Eventually Bud decides to shun away from the unethical behavior and this seems to be a good decision to take in that through it he will be able to uphold his standards in relation to the society. The society expects people in the business world to conduct business in the best ethical manner and this person tend to respect and adored as compared to those who engage in corrupt dealings. A major weakness that is evident in the movie and in the decision they makes is that eventually Bud ends up in jail. Bud was able to convince Gekko to drop his interest in Blue Star airlines and Gekko eventfully agreed and it was sold to another stronger wing but Bud had to spend some time in jail. This seems to be a weakness in that though he had been able to gain all the power, money and recognition that he wanted it was shameful for him when their corrupt dealings were discovered (Wall Street 1987). Recommendations Having a close look at the ethical dilemma that relates to insider trading, individuals can use the Universalism concept so as to solve the problem that currently exists in the movie. Aspects such as trustworthiness and honesty are aspects that Gekko and Bud never portrayed as the movie progresses. They both portrayed great level of dishonesty for example when Gekko asked Bud to secretly spy on a certain man who had a great interest in purchasing Anacottt steel and they were doing this with the aim of gaining from the great level of interest that the man had in the company. This seems to be a clear depiction of untrustworthiness and dishonesty and it can be prevented if individuals followed the ethical Universalism and the rules that were closely linked to it (Schwartz 2001). With proper ethical Universalism the availability of the dilemma would be minimal. With trustworthiness, honesty, respect of other peoples' rights and avoiding harming each other, it ought to be easy to shun away from such ethical problems and situations. There would be no costs that would be incurred since there would be no use of insider information in the first place. With the adoption of universally accepted standards, values and moral individuals would be able to conduct business and make profits in the right manner. Other recommendations are that one ought to apply so as to change the decisions that are made the actors in the movie is to uphold is that companies and the law makers need to up in place strict rules as well as punishments to those who will be found conducting business in an illegal manner (Schwartz 2001). The rules would put certain ethical boundaries on the circumstances and actions of the local people’s culture, values and traditions. Through this Bud and Gekko would have been aware of what is expected of them in terms of the ethically permissible behavior and the penalties that would follow if they did not compromise. Also the managers and the stockbrokers ought to be considerate when they are making decisions. Through this they are not supposed to be greedy and they should act for the benefit of the whole society and not for their personal interest (Kirrane 2009). Bud’s father represents the people who are concerned about the society while Gekko and Bud represent those who conduct business for their own self gratification. Bud and Gekko need to they need to care for the society as well as for the shareholders of the corporations. References Kirrane, D 2009, ‘Managing Values: A Systematic Approach to Business Ethics’, Training and Development Journal, Vol. 54, no. 11, pp.53-60. Schwartz, M & Weber, J 2006, ‘A Business Ethics National Index: Measuring Business Ethics Activities around the World’, Business and Society, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 382 –405. Schwartz, M 2001, ‘The Nature of the Relationship Between Corporate Code of Ethics and Behavior’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 32. Pp. 247 –262. Wall Street, 1987. [Film] Directed by Oliver Stone, New York. Withey, J 2009, ‘Ethical dilemmas in marketing practices among small and medium sized enterprises’, Journal of Academic and Business Ethics, Vol. 2, p.1. Read More

Another ethical decision that is evident in the film is that of either being greedy or good. Gekko arrogantly affirms that greed is good. Based on Gekko’s understanding, the greed that is in the American capitalist seems to be of great advantage in that it tends to drive innovation and at the same time create a lot of wealth (Withey 2009). Bud later learns that by being greedy one has to be bad. He also learns that when an individual's is guided by greed in all their undertaking an individual is left with no opportunity of doing good and in most instances he will be doing what is wrong according to the others and also according to the society in which he lives in.

Through greed Bud has cheated, hurt and lied to those who seem closest to him. In the long run he needs to decide on whether the benefits that are achieved for being greedy overshadows the bad that it is likely to cause (Wall Street 1987).. The other unethical decision is related to the idea of using the insider information and this seems to be evident in various part of the movie and it is viewed from both Bud and Gordon. Bud makes a visit to Gekko and he later reveals a secret that relates to Blue star airline, he had gained the information form a conversation that he had with his father who was an employee of the organization.

Though initially it was a blameless transfer of the information, it later led to a bigger opportunity for Gekko and Bud. Another ethical dilemma that is evident in the movie relates to corporate governance (Schwartz & Weber 2006). The idea of corporate governance seems to be a notable aspect of the plot of the movie. Through the film one is able to highlight various problems that are closely associated with how various corporations are run and it is evident that the corporations seems to be controlled by the stock brokers and the mangers while the shareholders who actually owns the forms have a lesser say.

The ethical decision that crops up from corporate governance is whether one is supposed to act in with the core interest being on the shareholders or in their own personal interest. For Gekko the answers seem to the latter but Bud seems to be unsure. Based on the fact that he had been raised in a family that uphold ethics and he knew that his father would never approve of any wrong doing he seemed to be confused on making the decision (Withey 2009). Strengths and weaknesses of the decisions Everyone is faced with a situation in life where he or she needs to choose among the available options.

In this case decisions that are being made where are more related to the ethical perspectives of it. One of the major strengths of the decision that is made relates to gaining more. Though money is seen as being the main motivating factor in the movie lucrative schemes this seemed to be a strength but contrary they risked their job opportunities and there was also a chance that they would be jailed in their immoral behavior and dishonest practices were noted (Schwartz 2001). In relation to this Bud was able to live a life that was among the first lanes in the New York.

He was able to date a beautiful girlfriend, live in a fancy house and drive a car of his dreams. At first Bud seemed to undertake anything that Gekko asked him to do and he did this with the aim of getting the best position. And based on this he obtained a lot but he eventually regrets since he has to make a decision between his own father and Gekko. Eventually Bud decides to shun away from the unethical behavior and this seems to be a good decision to take in that through it he will be able to uphold his standards in relation to the society.

The society expects people in the business world to conduct business in the best ethical manner and this person tend to respect and adored as compared to those who engage in corrupt dealings. A major weakness that is evident in the movie and in the decision they makes is that eventually Bud ends up in jail. Bud was able to convince Gekko to drop his interest in Blue Star airlines and Gekko eventfully agreed and it was sold to another stronger wing but Bud had to spend some time in jail.

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