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Case-3 1) In your judgment, is it wrong, from ethical point of view, for the auto companies to submit plans for an automobile to China? Explain your answer. In environmental point of view, where my ethic point of view strongly relies on, on international auto companies to submit plans for an small automobile enough to carry three people, rugged enough to commute across poor maintained roads across nation generating a minimum pollution automobile costing less than $5,000 dollars is not such a good idea. The world’s market for energy particularly oil, was based in part on the fact that China, with its large population, was using relatively low levels of energy. China would be consuming twice the amount of oil the United States currently uses if China ever reaches even the modest per person consumptions level of South Korea. Electric cars 2) Of the various approaches to environmental ethics outlined in this chapter, which approach sheds most light on the ethical issues raised by this case? Explain your answer. That is a quite interesting question, if U. S. overnment decides to intervene in negotiations between U. S. auto companies and comes to agreement or whatsoever, that U. S. auto companies will not be serving China’s auto industry needs, the deck of cards would be more likely to fall into foreign auto makers such as Germany and others. To my surprise, Korea’s auto company, Kia, was not mentioned in this article since China and Korea has strong trading transact ions. Kia would be the perfect candidate to meet China’s need for automobiles since Korea produces car so affordable rugged and environment-happy automobiles. The U. S. overnment would not have 3. The number of vehicles produced in China annually more or less equals the number of vehicles sold there, with both exports and imports at minimal levels. China became a net motor vehicle exporter in 2005 — a notable milestone — as exports more than doubled to 172,800 units, and imports increased modestly to 161,000. 29 Total production and sales each totaled nearly 6 million units. One analysis calculates that 59% of exports were pickups and other light trucks, mainly destined for markets in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa; 16% were passenger cars. Imports were ainly medium-size and larger luxury vehicles, which are coming under increasing pressure from higher-end domestic production. 30 Another auto industry source stated that, â€Å"It will likely be five to 10 years before China is exporting cars in significant quantities. † Furthermore, â€Å"China’s biggest state-run auto makers don’t have big export plans,† according to this speaker, â€Å"since they are in joint ventures with big multinationals such as GM. †31 Consequently, the most active Chinese companies with export plans aimed at North America are the producers without major joint-venture tie-ups with the large international automobile companies. American entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin in 2005 undertook widely publicized efforts to create a 200-dealer network (â€Å"Visionary Vehicles†) aimed at selling 250,000 Chery-made vehicles in the U. S. market by 2007. The up-front contributions by franchise awardees were supposed to fund the $200 million necessary to engineer a competitive vehicle able to meet U. S. safety and fueleconomy standards. By early 2006, Bricklin had signed up one confirmed prospective dealer, according to Automotive News, a trade newspaper, which labeled the initiative as one of the â€Å"Ten Big Blunders† of 2005. 2 However, subsequent reports are that Bricklin has secured $225 million in funding for research and development work at Chery from an investment banking firm located in Greenwich, Connecticut. He hopes to compete directly against the major Japanese producers in the U. S. market case-4 . Problem The Robert Hall Clothes, Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware are paying men and women different wages for essentially the same job. This is morally wrong because it is gender discrimination. II. Analysis A. The management of Robert Hall learned in 1973 that it was entirely legal for them to pay male salespersons more than female salespersons. Management feels that it is okay to pay women clerks less, because the commodities that they sell cannot bring in the same profit margins as the commodities the men sell. The women argue that selling costs and profit margins do not matter, because the skills, efforts, and responsibilities required of all clerks are â€Å"substantially† the same. Also, the women are not allowed to work in the men’s department or vice versa, which means they do not have an opportunity to make as much as the men. The management of Robert Hall must decide if women and men should be paid the same wages. If they decide not to pay the women clerks the same wages, then the morale of the women workers will decline and some women clerks might quit. Management should make a decision quickly, before women boycott their department stores. B. The primary ethical value at stake is equality. Robert Hall is discriminating against the women employees by paying them less than men and not allowing them to work in the men’s department. Kant’s philosophy states that everyone should be treated as a free person equal to everyone else. It appears that Robert Hall is not treating their female clerks equal to the male clerks. Another ethical issue to consider along with equality is that of fairness. The management of Robert Hall is not being fair in distributing the goods of the company. The women employees have the same responsibilities, skills, and efforts as the men, if not more. Rawls’s philosophy assumes that a productive society will incorporate inequalities in distributing the goods. Also, Rawls’s theory states that everyone should have an equal opportunity to qualify for the more privileged positions in society’s institutions, which the women clerks do not have. III. Alternatives A. In deciding whether to increase female clerks’ wages or not to increase them, the management of Robert Hall needs to evaluate the company’s distribution system and the fairness of the principles used in that system. They also need to analyze where the company draws the line between legally okay and morally okay according to company policy. According to Rawls, management must choose an alternative that will not discriminate on the basis of gender and improves the position of the least advantaged without making everyone else worse off to be morally right. One option for management is not to change the wages of the female employees. Robert Hall knows that it is legally okay to have different wages, so they do not have to change anything. Management may not find it beneficial or necessary to increase women’s wages given the data at hand. Another option for management is to increase the wages of female clerks to equal or nearly equal the wages of the male clerks. The morale of the female clerks will probably increase if management raises their wages. Management must analyze the impact the wage difference has on female clerks and evaluate the benefits and costs of changing the wage. The company should also take into consideration its own policy on equality. B. The first alternative is supported by the legal obligation Robert Hall Clothes Inc. has to their employees. According to a 1973 supreme court ruling, Robert Hall does not have to pay men and women equal. This was based on the fact that the men sell higher and more expensive quality commodities than the women. The company cannot sell higher and more expensive quality commodities in the women’s department, because there is too much competition in the area. In management’s eyes, the equality of female and male wages is equal on the basis of the commodities sold and to the wages of similar department stores in the area. Since management is paying the going wage of the area, the female clerks’ wages are fair. From a utilitarian perspective, not increasing the wages provides management with the greatest benefits or least costs, because their expenses are at a minimum and profits are at a maximum. On the other hand, not changing the wages of women salespeople will damage management’s relationship with women employees. According to ethics of care, management has an obligation to exercise special care toward those persons with whom they have a valuable and close relationship. The relationship between management and female clerks is one of interdependency. Management needs the female clerks to sell their goods to gain a profit and female clerks need the job to support their family. If management does not increase female wages, then the motivation and morale of those clerks will most likely decline. The second alternative is to increase the wages of women clerks and indicate the company’s policy on equality. This alternative will meet the requirements of equality, fairness, and ethics of care. The women clerks make a good point about the responsibilities, efforts and skills required of male and female salespersons. If both genders have essentially the same levels in all three categories, then they should be paid similarly. If the salary structure within Robert Hall is to be fair, â€Å"workers who roughly do similar work should receive roughly similar wages† (page 440). I believe that a fair distribution system should incorporate work duties, responsibilities, and skills into the system. On the other hand, this course of action will most likely increase the company’s costs and expenses, which would reduce total profits. Plus, this alternative may require a small reduction in male clerks’ wages, which would harm management’s relationship with those employees. But it is more important to provide a work environment based on equality, fairness, and good relationships. IV. Recommendation A. My recommendation is that management increases the wages of female clerks and indicates the importance of equality within the company. B. I believe this alternative is the most ethical. It is consistent with Rawls’s theory of justice, ethics of care, and it establishes organizational integrity. The management of Robert Hall should allow ethical values to shape and drive their enterprise instead of legal compliance. The best approach is to combine the concern for obeying the law and behaving ethically. Just because the wage difference is legal it does not mean it is morally right. If Robert Hall wants to maintain a good relationship with their employees, then they should focus on the ethical values the company and their employees believe are important. In this case, the salespersons value equality and fairness. The increase in female wages will make management’s relationship with female salespersons stronger and indicate to all employees that equality and fairness are important. I expect this change to improve the morale and motivation of the female workers, because they will feel that they are being treated equally and fairly. If the men salespeople make a little bit more than the women after the increase, then there will still be an issue of equality. The women would not be able to make as much as the men, because of the segregation of the departments. In this situation, I believe that the women should have an opportunity to work in the more privileged positions at Robert Hall. V. Implementation When management informs the employees of the change in wages, they must be clear and specific as to why they decided to change it. They need to emphasize the importance of ethical values, especially those of equality and fairness. It is important that management tell the employees that the company’s distribution system incorporates equality and fairness. Also, the employees should be told the process in which the new wage was established. For example, maybe management used comparable worth in deciding on the increases. Also, if management had to reduce the male clerks’ wages to bring up the female wages, then they need to be prepared to deal with angry male clerks. When dealing with angry male clerks, management needs to emphasize issues of equality and fairness. The best approach to helping the men understand is to ask them how they would feel if they were the women clerks. The men probably would not want lower wages for doing essentially the same job. Management will most likely not have to deal with angry male clerks, because they seem to have enough profit to cover the increase. Also, management can gradually increase women wages to reduce the impact on the company’s financial situation. Another issue that management might have to deal with is equal opportunity for the more privileged positions. This will only be an issue if male salespersons have a higher wage after the increase in female wages. Since equality and fairness are key ethical values to the employees and hopefully the company as well, management will have to desegregate the departments. In other words, women should be able to work in the men’s department and vice versa. Case 6 Eli Liily Eli Lilly Case Study 1 1. Discuss Eli Lilly’s practices from the perspectives of utilitarianism and rights. The utilitarian principle affirms that, â€Å"an action is right from an ethical point of view if and only if the sum total of utilities produced by that act is greater than the sum total of utilities produced by any other act the agent could have performed in its place. † (Velasquez, 61)    When Lilly began using homeless alcoholic subjects for phase 1 testing, they met the requirements set forth by Congress and the FDA. These subjects came forward, regardless of their personal motivation, to perform a service that would benefit the greater good. This act exemplifies utilitarianism. (Utilitarianism Principle, 63) To oppose this principle we would argue the two moral issues of rights and justice simultaneously. Some actions are morally right even if they are unjust (Utilitarianism Principle). An example of this would be a decision to steal food for your family or to let them go hungry. A person would need to decide between â€Å"legal good† versus â€Å"greater good† of feeding your family. The basic notion that separates justice from morality and suggests that one need only consider    morality. (Rule-utilitarianism, 69) 3. In your judgment, is the policy of using homeless alcoholics for the test subjects morally appropriate? Why or Why not? I believe that it is morally appropriate to use homeless alcoholics for test subjects if you consider this, an action is morally right if carrying out the action the agent exercises, exhibits or develops a morally virtuous character, and is morally wrong to the extent that by carrying out the action the agent exercises, exhibits, or develops a morally vicious character. Virtue theory, 112) To oppose this principle we would argue the two moral issues of rights and justice simultaneously. Some actions are morally right even if they are unjust (Utilitarianism Principle). An example of this would be a decision to 2. While bringing many good pharmaceuticals to market, Eli Lilly has been found to push products to the marketplace with b ad research, withhold research to the public and falsely advertise its products. Lilly was cited in lawsuits filed against the manufacturers of diethylstilbestrol (DES), a drug prescribed to women in the 1940s and 1950s to prevent miscarriages. The company was ordered to pay $400,000 in damages from DES even though the complications that developed were not known at the time. Oraflex, the American version of Benoxaprofen, was withdrawn from the market in 1982, just one month after gaining FDA approval. A British medical journal found five cases of death due to jaundice in patients taking the drug and the FDA accused Lilly of suppressing unfavorable research findings. In 1985, the U. S. Justice Department filed criminal charges against the company and Dr. William Ian H. Shedden. Lilly pleaded guilty to 25 criminal counts and paid a $25,000 fine. ase5 * Today’s announcement underscores one key fact: the real questions about Napsters future are economic, not technical or legal†. (Napster CEO Hank Barry, Feb 16 2001) * Court rulings have limited many of the features that made Napster a social phenomenon, and the prospects of venture funding have diminished rapidly, forcing Naspter to act decisively and quickly to le verage its key resources to create a revenue-generating business. * Napster: It’s the future, in my opinion. That’s the way music is going to be communicated around the world. The most important thing now is to embrace it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Dave Matthews band) * Napster is nothing but a â€Å"Giant Online Pirate Bazaar. † (Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)) * Recorded Music Industry * Prime candidate for restructuring * Disruptive Technology * Changes in†¦ * production process * production technology * distribution technology * revenue sources * roles Current Situation @ Napster * Being forced to install filters on its servers to prevent copyright violations has overshadowed the more fundamental issue Napster has faced since becoming the preeminent file sharing resource on the Internet. How can Napster transform itself into revenue-generating business, let alone a profitable business? * One can think of a profit stream as starting with the development of innovative capabilities, then incorporating those innovations into product attributes. These product attributes generate value in the market through tactical actions. The final and c ritical step, at least from the standpoint of an enterprise, occurs when that value generated can be transformed into profits through a competitive offering. Market Landscape – Problems of the Music Industry * Forget digital downloads for a moment. What are some non-technical trends in the music industry that set the stage for Napsters rise and the industrys response? * Until the mid-nineties, the global music industry enjoyed an uninterrupted boom. Due to the successful launch of the CD as the new sound medium, the industry was experiencing unheard-of success. Yet, by the mid-nineties, the turnover figures in the most important markets demonstrate clearly that the recording industry had reached a state of market saturation. * There has been noticeable uncertainty in the industry in the past few years with a lot of factors contributing to the problems. Problems of the Music Industry * Another trend is the appreciably shorter life span of artists and groups. A number of record labels are still feasting off the acts launched almost forty years ago. In some cases, they provide labels with constant sales figures even today, without needing a significant marketing budget. For example, the band Led Zeppelin (30+ years old) contributes significantly to the revenues and profits of Atlantic even today. In contrast, Warner Brothers expectations of the prematurely lauded REM, for example, are currently not entirely fulfilled, in spite of excellent sales for the group in the early nineties.