1 more day until LOST. Check out the refresher video to get all caught up.
Thanks to mom for reminding me I’m a bit behind on my blog! That’s the kind of prodding that I need to get my behind in gear. 😀
For my entrepreneurial studies business class tonight, I had to participate in a discussion surrounding unethical business practices. For example, say a business owner reports they made $7,000 in their fiscal year, but in reality made twice that, in order to survive and stay in business. Is survival a reasonable excuse to commit tax fraud?
I like to think of creative ways to wrap the articles I write – I find them more interesting, and I hope my audience does too. So, mom’s timing was perfect in her e-mail to me this morning in that I included a shout out to momma in my discussion article. Check it out below.
Also tonight, in keeping with my pledge to get in touch with friends whom I haven’t talked with in a while, I spoke with my friend Samantha. Her and her fiancé are getting married in May – congrats to both of them!! 😀 Anyway, I chatted with Sam for over an hour! I think it’s great having friends that you can reconnect instantly even when you haven’t talked to them in over 8 months!! Those are the true friends that are few and far between – and I feel especially lucky to have a lot of really special friends like Sam. 😀
Oh, as a shout out to her, here’s a link to her web site “Sweetly Wrapped Favors.” Sam designs all the wrappers herself and she has a lot of fantastic and unique designs for weddings, birthdays, baby showers, pretty much anything you can imagine. I encourage you to check out her site!! 😀
I definitely feel some momentum happening with my über-secret project and I’m getting pretty jazzed about it!! Still more to come. I hope to make a lot of progress on my school work this weekend, which should free up some time next week to map out my plans for the über-secret project. 🙂
Well, it’s 11:30pm. I’ve finished what I wanted to for the night; so, I’ll take advantage of a productive day and get some rest. Here’s the article I posted for my BUS-110 class. Enjoy!!
“REMEMBER MOMMA”
“Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean you should too.”
That simple question, posed to most of us during our childhood, can be easily applied to many businesses faced with ethical dilemmas.
Most entrepreneurs, and even large corporations, can try and rationalize their unethical actions, much like the self-employed artist example in the book.
But, the sole need for survival shouldn’t supplant honesty, reliability, or fairness. If the artist’s business would suffer by reporting accurate financials, then perhaps she should re-examine her business plan and investigate which part of the plan is faulty. Hiding behind a “cooked book” only delays the inevitable while tarnishing her brand and integrity.
Many reputable companies, including Xerox, have attained a tarnished reputation after it was discovered the companies were manipulating their financials. The short-term gains from these practices pale in comparison to the long-term losses, including loss of reputation. In many ways, a public company’s stock can trade in tangent with its reputation. Put that reputation in jeopardy and shareholders get jittery, selling off due to lack of faith in the decisions being made by corporate officers. But, a strong corporate ethical policy and adherence to that policy can foster strong employee moral and loyalty, ultimately leading to increased productivity, efficiency, and income.
Even though it may seem that everyone is participating in some form of unethical business practices, as entrepreneurs we should be independent thinkers and make ethical choices born from our own integrity. By taking a stand, we can diversify ourselves from the mainstream. We should become forward thinking business leaders, and in-the-present problem solvers as well. In the quest to fulfill long-term social responsibilities, let’s not succumb to short-term monetary gains at the loss of one of the most beneficial effects of integrity – trust.
Remember what momma told you, “Do unto others as you’d have done unto you.” And, “always make your bed.”