Month: September 2010

Starting last year, KFC in the United States introduced KFC’s Double Down, with “two pieces of breaded chicken acting as a bun, with two strips of bacon, two slices of Pepper Jack processed cheese and a special sauce”.

KFC’s Double Down “sandwich” contains 540 calories for the deep-fried version or 460 for the grilled version, 30g of fat, and 1740mg of sodium. Health Canada says that an adult’s recommended daily salt intake is around 1500mg. Knowing that this “sandwich” is 16% over our daily sodium intake, and the fact that KFC still insists on selling it, is a perfect example of poor business ethics.

Health issues have been raised in North America about how Americans are obese and that North Americans’ lifestyle is not as healthy as it used to be. With fast food restaurants like KFC introducing these kinds of fatty, unhealthy foods is not helping our improvements on trying to be more healthy than we already are. “For the legions of Canadians who Take Down the Double Down, there will be a Wall of Fame section launching on Facebook on October 18th. There, Double Down fans can claim bragging rights and post their photos for all the world to see.” Not only are they using us to promote their unhealthy foods, they are also conducting very poor business ethics.

The things that (some) businesses will do to get the attention of society……..

http://www.cdeclips.com/en/hongkong/fullstory.html?id=48742

If you’ve been to Hong Kong before, you will know how convenient the Octopus Card can be. It was originally designed to be a payment system for all public transport. Today, it can be used almost anywhere. And folks, you no longer have to dig change out for pop because it can even be used at a vending machine!

It was found out recently that the CEO of the Octopus Card company had sold clients’ personal data, earning a profit of $44 million. According to the article, this is an example of ‘a lack of honesty and social responsibility’, but most importantly, an excellent example of poor business ethics. Even though Chan did not openly admit that she was the one who sold the company’s clients’ personal data, it is obvious that she played a huge role in this incident as she resigned shortly after this issue was made public.

It is important for the government to put enough regulations on companies, but it is as important for companies to follow them. How does management not become suspicious after having such a large profit even after there is no significant growth in client numbers?

Poor business ethics? I think yes.