Prompt 6: Where are they now?
For this week’s blog prompt you will be taking a second look at one of the companies or people we have already covered in class or one related to one we have studied. In the past we looked at these companies from a historical perspective; however, what we want you to do this week is to look at where these companies or executives are now. Did they learn from their mistakes or are they still engaged in unethical activities? Has there been any initiatives taken so that previous mistakes are not repeated? Or was their situation so dire that they are considered obsolete?
From the society and values side of the class, you can look at whether laws have changed, or social pressure, or media representations, or some other element of what we call social change.
In essence we want you to choose a company or a specific manager who had a major impact at the firm. Then using your own ethical standards assess how this company or their executives have adjusted after they were accused for immoral practices. Please use your blogging “muscle” to support your conclusions, such as rating, pics, and polls!
Be sure to use GOOD sources. For examples, there is this page of news and blog resources on our blog. This includes Global Issues in Context, an excellent resource you can ONLY GET through Bucknell. It combines news, blogs, academic articles and so on. Try putting your chosen case or organization in and see what you get.
Here are some examples to get the ball rolling… you can add to these. If you do, please be sure to tell us how your example is linked to the original case or example we looked into.
- Apple: Apple, Foxconn, Mike Diasey, This American Life
- Nike: Michael Moore, Phil Knight, Jeremy Ballinger, Fair Labor Association, Reebok, adidas, the Aspen Institute
- Enron: Arthur Anersen (and its partners), Skilling, Richard Causey, SOX law
- Weekend: Goldman Sachs, Lehman Employees, Tim Geithner, Hank Paulson, Bernanke, Fannie Mae or Freddy Mac
- Occupy or Tea Party
- Housing Bubble: Mortgage originators. Countrywide Financial. Anything that has been done around trying to either be fairer about foreclosures or to help people avoid foreclosures (I think there may be some class action lawsuits…).
- AIG: Hank Greenberg, Willumstad, AIG Financial Products Group, Office of thrift Supervision, Ratings Agencies
- Dodd-Frank, the Volcker Rule, or the new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau
Title and Tag Line Contest!
In addition, we are also hosting a competition to see who can come up with the best new title and tag line for the blog! The winner will be exempt from doing one question from the next weekly homework. If you wish to participate, please post your suggestion as a comment on this post. Best of luck!
Read this and hack! 