Matthew Ho's Blog

B. Edwards 2 Receptions 87 Yards 1 Touchdown 67 Yards Longest Reception
Fairly impressive stats for a NFL receiver.[NFL.com]

How exactly do business ethics and sports relate to each other? Wide receiver Braylon Edwards of the New York Jets was charged with a DUI on September 21st, and played football on Sunday. The Jets’ management were, “very disappointed about Braylon Edwards’ actions,” and even though he, “failed to follow Jets guidelines of discipline,” he was allowed to score a key touchdown in Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.

An organization like the Jets require to meet a certain standard in profits. Attendance, merchandise, and sales within the stadium are all very important, especially after moving into a brand new New Meadowlands Stadium. Their performance on the field also relates to the amount of tickets they sell and television ratings they receive. After all, getting a W (win) in football is the most important thing in the game. So does an organization like the Jets practice proper ethics or allow their superstar to score touchdowns?

Anssi Vanjoki says using Android is like peeing in your pants for warmth.

With all the class discussions about marketing of cars and the consumer’s preferences, I couldn’t help but come across Vanjoki’s statement regarding the android operating system. So what exactly does Vanjoki mean by, “Finnish boys who ‘pee in their pants’ for warmth in the winter?” I see it as a way of saying that Android (an operating system designed by Google) may look like a nice alternative now, it may not be the best decision for the company’s future.

“Relying on Android as the universal OS may lead to “permanently low profitability” with users failing to distinguish among different brands if they all offer the same experience.”

I agree with statement, as I have discovered competition in business is relentless. A company must provide something original and fresh in order to keep consumers excited about their brand. Of course, there are situations involving customer loyalty, but the cell phone industry seems to be obsessed with the latest and greatest pieces of technology in smaller and sexier form factors. Nokia plans on using a new operating system named MeeGo as their future operating system. Or should they jump on the android bandwagon.

The previous class discussions regarding the automobile industry has been my inspiration for my first ever Comm 101 blog post! After viewing this short trailer of, Roger & Me, by Michael Moore, I began to look into the business ethics involved in General Motors Company’s laying off 30,000 employees. (60,000 as of 2005; 80,000 to date USA today)
At the time of the documentary, 30,000 people were left without a job. This caused a huge economic disaster within the city. Many families were left without an income, and were forced into poverty. GMC’s decision to lay off this large amount of people is correlated towards business ethics. Roger B. Smith, GMC’s chairman, is the antagonist of the film, and was a key factor in leaving people without a job. The competition of Japanese manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota took a toll on GMC. (link) They failed to distinguish the important factors within their own SWOT, and allowed for an international company to take a share in the automobile market. I feel that GMC has failed to provide stability for their employees and laying off as many employees, leaving them without any source of income, was an unethical approach in solving their problems.

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