Photo Source:                                                                                                                                  Photograph by Rick Rycroft, Associated Press                                                                                Retrieved on September 22nd, 2014 http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Canada+joins+WestJet+charging+checked+domestic+flights/10214182/story.html 

The Air Canada and Westjet duopoly in Canada makes it easy to overcharge customers for services on top of their already expensive airfares. Consumers are unable to push back and force change in these airlines decisions because Canada lacks competition in this industry and these airlines are well aware of the unwavering high demand for their services.

This article peaked my interest because I am constantly flying from Vancouver to Edmonton throughout the school year. This added $25 fee, though not much once or twice, eventually adds up. Without choice in airlines, I will be forced to pay this fee for checking baggage every time I fly home. This new additional fee only applies to those flying in the economy class. These subtle changes over time may eventually lead to a shift in people purchasing seats in business class over economy class, ultimately generating more profit for the company. When the Transat Inc. CEO stated, “We will look everywhere we can to make more profit,” it was evident that airlines put a higher importance on profit than their customer service. These big companies are willing to cut corners and take advantage of customers to make a profit and remain competitive globally, not a very comforting thought when you are in their aircrafts thousands of meters above ground.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Canada+joins+WestJet+charging+checked+domestic+flights/10214182/story.html 

Photo Source: http://www.dillerlaw.com/gm-ignition-switch-recall-starts-multiple-investigations/ Retrieved on September 10th, 2014

The stakeholder theory states that for a corporation to be successful it must never look at one particular stakeholder in isolation but rather consider each stakeholder’s individual desires equally, which creates value for everyone. The values of the consumer stakeholder’s of General Motors were neglected when the corporation ignored the substandard ignition switches in two models of cars. This oversight by the leaders of GM resulted in thirteen deaths of GM customers.

One would assume GM has a code of ethics that emphasizes an importance on open and honest communication with customers while constantly improving their services and investing in innovative solutions to create value for stakeholders. If these values exist, they certainly were not applied when the company failed to recall two car models until a decade after the defect was discovered and thirteen lives had been lost.

Overlooking this defect was a breach of ethics of any reasonable consumer producing company. The decision was most likely made in order to avoid the high cost of a recall and a public relations setback.  Ironically, these objectives were not achieved. Instead, the company faces both costly setbacks and a severely hindered reputation a decade later. The article references a term “ethical fading”, a way of describing how managers often place a high importance on internal stakeholders values such as profit while losing sight of their company’s morals, resulting in a breach of ethics and a lack of recognition for all stakeholders in the company.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/keith-rupp/2014/04/02/gms-recall-crisis-is-a-result-of-poor-corporate-decision-making