SFGate

Oil drilling in the Amazon has always been a controversial topic for the past decades. Oil companies obtain petroleum from the Amazon rainforest in order to satisfy the market demand for fuel. Yet, the contamination caused by oil extraction has brought catastrophic impacts upon the life of the Amazon and its people. “All my life they’ve been telling us that the oil companies will bring wealth and development,” said Chino Dahua, whose home as the vital centre of biodiversity has been mechanically demolished.

Oil industry operates in some of the most challenging places in the world and faces complex human rights issues. Yet, I think it is crucial that oil corporations do not neglect the responsibilities that come along with tremendous amounts of profits. It is important for businesses to constantly review their operations, at the most ethical and profitable levels. Rusty Riese also addressed the necessity of information delivery and diligent oversight performances. “All energy consumers (including the industry) have an ethical obligation to educate ourselves and those around us regarding the consequences of our demands for cheap energy and a preserved environment.”

Surely, all businesses seek to maximize profits. However, I believe business success is not solely based on momentary growths in numbers, but the sustainable operations of ethical businesses.

Beware of Business Plan Writers Who Oversell

In reference to Niki Vaahedi‘s post on the topic of business fraud, she mentioned that the lure of this action is triggered by the mentality of “getting away”. However, this is not merely the cause to such business immortality. According to Business Insider, there is much more than just that. I found two approaches especially interesting:

1) Tunnel Vision: Single-minded focus on goal achievements can blind people to ethical concerns. Taking Enron for example, employees were offered bonuses when extra sales were achieved, which made them utterly blind to what were right or wrong. And the aftermath was the infamous Enron scandal.

2) Self-serving bias: Most people think they are smarter or more ethical than others. This idea perfectly aligns with the concept of “getting away”. When others have exceptional performances, it is not down to their capacity, but something else. Those feelings often promote unethical actions, and offenders are repeatedly deceived by self-overestimation.

While we can easily reason multiple psychological assumptions to analyze these actions, keep in mind that “what’s done is done.” Sophistry cannot varnish dishonesty. And remember, business ethics is the key to economic continuity.

#Bendgate: Skinny jeans bending the iPhone 6 plus

Now that the long-awaited iPhone 6 designs have been unveiled, it is time for some criticism and reviews – are the iPhone 6’s worth the hype? In response to Si Jia Wen’s post on Making the Switch to Apple, which was written before the official release date of iPhone 6’s, there certainly has been some feedback from the new iPhone 6 users.

In Si Jia Wen’s post, she talked about Apple’s “irksome habit” of copying Android smartphones, in which certain functions performed by various iPhone products have been discredited as “clones of Android”. However, has Apple bungled an attempt to revamp the iPhone? Apart from the “eerily similar features” that the iPhone 6’s have as opposed to the Android system), it seems like Apple is having some hardware malfunction. According to the report by CBC News, the new iPhones can survive being submerged underwater for 10 seconds with no damage.” Unfortunately, many iPhone 6 users have reported “bent iPhones” under the pressure of tight skinny jeans.

A little extra flex to the screen creates multiple dimensions, but when the result is a “slightly, yet permanently distorted phone” – Apple, time to step up in your game now.

Kirk: Big Tobacco and CVS

 CVS Caremark, the second largest US pharmacy chain (originally founded as a non-drugstore operation, gradually shifted its marketing direction to a pharmacy operation), announced early this year that cigarettes and other tobacco-related products will no longer be sold at its stores all over the nation. While this decision seems to coincide with Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory in which he addresses the principle of “who really counts” (in this case the general public), in my opinion, CVS also indirectly adopts the concept of Friedman’s doctrine.

It is clear that CVS is looking at something bigger, something more ambitious by quitting selling tobacco products. Through the withdrawal of competing in the tobacco markets, CVS has won consumers’ confidence. Consequently, the corresponding rise in its good reputation for creating a healthier society lays the groundwork for the company’s future extensions (pharmacies etc).

In addition, “a shortage of primary care doctors is turning drugstore chains into big players in the nation’s health care system.” CVS undoubtedly sees the market opportunity and profitability in this deficiency. In conclusion, CVS has successfully positioned itself in such as way that both social responsibility/ethics and increased profit margin are achieved.

Indeed, the $2 billion loss in revenue is just a small dent in its $123 billion overall sales.