Monthly Archives: September 2014

Gender Equality in Business

Posted on by under COMM 101

Emma Watson receives resounding applause after delivering her speech at the UN headquarters in New York. Photograph by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Four days ago, UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson delivered a speech introducing her new campaign, “HeForShe”, at the UN headquarters in New York. The campaign aims to eradicate gender inequalities, as well as the negative connotations surrounding the word “feminist”, by imploring men to stand up for gender equality. Some places may suffer from gender inequalities in more serious ways than others, but it does not change the fact that they exist even in the world’s most developed societies. We have heard about the injustices committed against girls and women in cultures very different from our own; however, these seem so far away and intangible that we do not truly understand them. So when Emma shed light on her experiences with sexism as a girl growing up in the UK, it was relatable and it hit home.

Emma’s speech made me think about the gender inequalities in the business world and how they will affect me as I enter the workforce upon graduation. Gender stereotypes implicitly influence society into believing that certain sexes should behave a certain way and that, logically, they will perform a task better. Pay differences between a male and a female, for the same work done, should not still be an issue. Stereotypes should not influence who gets promoted and who does not.

Read her speech here.

RE: Kerry Poon’s blog post

Posted on by under COMM 101

I found Kerry’s business ethics article and insights very interesting. Reading her post, I found myself sharing her sentiments of disgust and horror that oil supplier, Chang Guann, disguised gutter oil as clean cooking oil and sold it to the unsuspecting consumer market. This exemplifies the epitome of corporate greed. It’s especially horrifying when executives of such large, influential companies make unethical decisions because their decisions have the power to negatively affect so many people. Kerry also wrote about her feelings of anger at Chang Guann, because they ruined a traditional Chinese festival when thousands of traditional Chinese pastries had to be recalled off shelves for having used the gutter oil. So not only did this company put at risk the health of millions of people, but they wrecked a cultural holiday by trying to maximize profits with no concern of basic social responsibility. I’m glad that this company was fined and made an example of.

 

Hope Restored

Posted on by under COMM 101

Photograph by Anthony Behar/Sipa via AP Photo

Reading the New York Times article titled: “CVS Vows to Quit Selling Tobacco Products” gave me a new-found faith in corporate executives. In February, CVS made the decision to stop selling cigarettes – not to maximize profits but to protect public health. In fact, the move will cut them an estimated $2 billion in sales. As one of America’s largest drugstores, this socially-conscious decision will undoubtedly spur change in other retail stores across the US to consider similar actions. Through this, CVS demonstrates great corporate social responsibility and leadership. However, CVS also has the corporate obligation to achieve the highest profits possible for its shareholders. It’s difficult to find a balance of corporate social responsibility and profit maximization in this sort of situation, but I believe CVS has made it work. The company earned sales of $127 billion in 2013; $2 billion cut from tobacco sales will not make a huge dent. As awareness of social issues are made increasingly accessible during this digital era, this move will also give CVS a public nod of approval. Friedman’s theory that corporate executives must always act with the primary goal of increasing profits left me little hope in the corporate world. However, this article helped restore it.

Spam prevention powered by Akismet