WEEK 8

(image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Makati_skyline_mjlsha.jpg)

       For this week, we disucussed how PLDT was a monopoly during the 1970's. There was such a thing called a "party line"which was a telephone line or circuit shared by two or more subscribers. During this time, companies used to be a monopoly. Examples would be Philippine Airlines and Microsoft. If you wanted to travel to another city or country, you would only have one choice which is PAL. Airplane fare is also very expensive compared to the prices today. Some companies already have competition today, which removes the their monopoly position in the market. Customers or consumers have other choices which affected them. For PAL, the fare is now lower compared to before since other airlines lowered their prices. There are also more choices for air travel such as Cebu Pacfic, Zest Air, AirAsia and Tiger Air Philippines.

       I think that I am lucky to experience innovation and technology because based on the stories, it was hard to communicate and do things during the past because of the lack of resources and choices. Today, we are given the different privileges such as traveling  to other cities or countries for a lower cost, having faster and better communication lines, innovative transportation like cars, buses and trains.

       Another topic that we talked about were the businesses that were unjust. An example of this would be San Miguel Beer, their main competitor was Beer na Beer. Both companies or brands cater the same market, they have similar products which is Pale Pilsen beer and the bottles look same. Due to this factor, the bottles were returned to the wrong company. Beer na Beer bottles would be with San Miguel and vice versa. Since San Miguel beer was the market leader or the leading brand, they had a lot of Beer na Beer bottles returned to their plant. Instead of returning or exchanging the bottles with Beer na Beer, the company broke or destroyed the Beer na Beer bottles which was unethical, because of this a law was passed stating that companies should still respect their competitors.

      I think what San Miguel did was wrong because even if Beer na Beer was their competitor, it would be better to have a healthy competition. When they broke or damaged the bottles there would be effects for Beer na Beer. Production would be more expensive and less productive since there would only be a few bottles available and the company needs to order or make new bottles.

       From monopoly companies, we also talked about some oligopoly companies. Examples would be Maynilad and Manila Waters. These two water companies cater the same market, however consumers do not have a choice between the two because the companies are available based on location. We also discussed ethical rules and watched a video about Microsoft.

      For the other meeting, we started the class by discussing the oil depots. Miss was suggesting that the oil depots be transferred to other parts of the country. However there would be effects which would be more cost, more time and less productivity.

      Another company that was mentioned is Figaro. It is a filipino company, and buys local coffee and supports the local farmers that plant the coffee beans. The company also promised to help improve the skills of the farmers and help the community. 

      For this meeting, we also watched a video about Electronic Development Corporation (EDC). It is a company that uses geothermal energy and help the community and environment. I believe that the company has a great concept wherein they would not only want to earn but they are also doing their part for the society and the environment.  

       Another company that we talked about was Diageo, which is a beverage company that provides alcoholic drinks.  The company needs clean source of water for their products, therefore they are rehabilitate places and provide economical capital. The company has a project of conserving water in Africa. Diageo is involved in critical issues such as: Environment, Human capital, and Social capital. In their website, it states that "Our sustainability & responsibility strategy, which covers our social, environmental and economic impacts, is key to living that purpose and to delivering our long-term success Key impact areas include: alcohol in society, water, environment, communities, our people and compliance and ethics."

       I think that most businesses should follow the footsteps of the companies mentioned above. These companies are not only concerned in making money or profits, instead they want to help society and the environment. As said in a Chinese proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." This is what the companies are doing especially for the communities where their businesses or companies are based, which is a good thing because the people in the community would be able to sustain for themselves. 

WEEK 7

(image from: http://gbnbusiness.blogspot.com/2010/05/starbucks-sued-over-hot-tea.html)

       For this week, we had the debate about the Liebeck vs. McDonald's case wherein my group was the judge/jury. We started the introduction by stating the case and gave some questions. The situation was in 1992, Mrs. Liebeck bought a cup of coffee at a McDonald's drive-thru. She was with her grandson and they stopped in the parking lot of McDonald's where she bought the coffee. She had the cup between her knees and removed the lid to add cream and sugar The cup tipped over and the coffee spilled on her lap. She was wearing sweat pants, which absorbed the coffee and kept it against her skin. She suffered third-degree burns and required skin grafts. She sued McDonald's and the jury awarded her with $3 million in punitive damages for the burns she suffered.

       The debate started with the Liebeck side, they presented arguments about the burns that she suffered. About 6% of her body was damaged including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized  for eight days and underwent skin grafting. She also underwent debridement treatments and wanted McDonald's to settle it for $20,000 but the company refused.

     The McDonald's team argued that consumers know that coffee is hot and customers want it that way. The company admitted that they were unaware that customers could suffer third degree burns from the coffee. Also, there was a reminder on the side of the coffee cup that the coffee is hot.

       The opposing parties presented different arguments and evidences. The jury decided that McDonald's won because based the convincing arguments that the group presented.

    Based on our discussion in class, McDonald's could have just paid Liebeck the $20,000 and apologized to her. There would be less cost and damages. Also, serving hot coffee is part of the menu of McDonald's however, they set the temperature of their coffee so that customers would be satisfied with it. The company thinks that when customers get the coffee through the drive-thru it would take them 5-10 minutes before consuming the coffee. While for dine-in customers they would have to wait until their coffee cools a bit or becomes warm. This would also be a strategy for the company because even if they offer refillable coffee, time would be the variable. When the customers wait for a while to cool his/her coffee and this would take up time, making them refill less.

    In reality, the jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages, which was reduced to $160,000 because they found her to be 20% at fault. Liebeck was also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages.

   Discussing and debating about this case was very challenging. We had to listen and understand the arguments of the opposing parties and decide which we think is right. Personally, I think that Liebeck is at fault in the situation because she was the one who spilled the coffee on her lap. However, I also thought about the fact that the coffee was really hot, because of the injuries she suffered. I think that Liebeck could have just held the coffee in one hand and used the other hand to add the sugar and cream.  Another option was, she asked her grandson to hold the coffee thens she'll add the sugar and creamer or vice versa. What Liebeck did was terrifying because of the burns she suffered however, she is lucky that the jury abroad was fair enough to listen and consider her case. 

WEEK 6

(Image from: http://www.beoffices.com/our-company/best-companies-3-star-accreditation)

        For this week, we learned about companies measuring themselves CSR continuum wherein there would be a rate from 0 to the highest level. We also talked about Human Right and watched a video about it.  Knowing and being aware about the human rights is important because we need to understand others. We need to understand that we are all human beings and have the same needs. The three-dimension model was also further explained. One of the statements that struck me was "It should not be State for People, but it should be People for State." This shows that that we should not rely on the state but we need to do our part as people of the State.

       Next was the topic about Employer and Employee/s relationship. The class started discussing the best companies to work with and today, Google would be top on the list. In 2012, Google was ranked No. 1 in Fortune's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For." According to an article, Google has good corporate culture. Leaders make sure that everybody has great opportunities and they feel that they're having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society. I think this is important because people look for work because they want to earn but at the same time, they also want to help and make a change in peoples lives. For Google employees, they need to Work hard, Play hard. The employees enjoy the on-site perks and this makes the employees happy. Google is a great workplace because the company believes that treating people well is more important than making a lot of money. This should be case with the other companies because employees or the people working for the company would have better output and this would be an advantage because the company could have fewer turnovers. Another company that is similar with Google is SAS. It basically has the same set-up as Google and based on the video we watched, the employees are very happy and satisfied with their work. The company also has a low turnover rate which helps save money. The owner of SAS said that if you make the employees happy, they make the customers happy, the customer then makes him happy. This simple process is very effective and it would be very effective for the company, the employees and the customers.

       If there are good companies, there would also be companies that do not treat their people well. An example of this would be Foxxcon, a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturing company. Most of the workers are reported to work at least 35 hours, and a lot of suicide incidents have happened. Some of the employees say that it was because of the stress in work and this affected a lot of Foxxcon employees. I think that Foxxcon should be aware and do something about this because they are liable for their employees. Their employees should be given a chance to unwind and tell them what the company needs to improve so that there would be lower turnover and could maintain it's image as the company that produces quality products and has good employee benefits.

       Marketing and Advertising are fields that convince people to buy or try a certain brand or product. However, advertisements today tend to be creative and tends to be inappropriate. As an advertising major, I think that it is important to know the limitations of making or doing an ad. We could be creative but not to the point that the ad or the message could offend or mislead the consumers. An example that miss shared was a whiskey ad wherein the message was: "Nakatikim ka na ba ng 15 anyos?" The ad was asking and at the same time encouraging the consumers if they already tasted the certain brand of whisky which is already 15 years in the market.  But it also has a negative connotation for some consumers because others would think that it would refer to a 15-year old girl. Also, the ad needs to be placed appropriately. For example, an ad of a girl in a bikini holding a bottle of alcohol should not be exposed in EDSA. It would be inappropriate because many people pass by EDSA including children, but if it was in a men's magazine it would be fine because this would be the target market of the certain ad or product. 

       Another topic that we discussed was about product liability. An example would be the McDonald's coffee case and the hot coffee lawsuit. It was between Liebeck vs. McDonald's restaurants. It was a very unfortunate incident when Liebeck purchased hot coffee from McDonald's that she accidentally spilled in her lap. She suffered burns, underwent skin grafting and needed medical treatment. She won the lawsuit and received a money for damages from McDonald's. Today, we can observe that the coffee that are sold in the stores already have warnings such as warning: hot coffee. This serves as a precautionary measure for both the company and the customer, which make it easier to handle. Another example are the warnings in children's toys. Wherein it says not suitable for 3 years old below, etc. These warnings are important not only for the company but most especially for consumers because they need to know the limitations of the product.

       For this week's lesson I am happy that I was able to learn a lot about CSR and relate it to my course. I think that I would my best to become a good advertiser and apply the things I learned from this class. Balance is the key with the things we do. For example, when making an ad it needs to be creative but at the same time it also needs to be appropriate for a certain audience and place. I appreciate all the things that we have discussed in class because it is a real-life experience and this shows us that as future business people we should not only care for the welfare of the company but we also need to think about our employees and especially our customers.

Source:

http://www.ibtimes.com/top-5-reasons-why-google-best-company-work-553844

WEEK 5

      

(image from: http://annaasimon.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/parable-of-the-sadhu/)

     

       For this week, the decision-making model for business ethics was introduced to the class. The class was assigned to read the Parable of the Sadhu and apply the decision-making model. I think that the model is a helpful tool in knowing the pros and cons of a plan or decision. It also serves as a guide in trying to come up with the decision given certain situations. 

      During our brief discussion about the case, it made me think about what I would do if I were in the shoes of the hikers. The goal of the hikers was to climb Mount Everest however they encountered the Sadhu and this is where the conflict comes in. The group of hikers need to reach their goal but they need to decide on what to do with the Sadhu. There are a lot of stakeholders in the given story which are the hikers, guides/porters and the Sadhu. There are different options that can be done, first is to save him and bring him to the village. Second would be to ignore or leave the Sadhu. Third would be to give the Sadhu limited help. My group followed the different steps from the decision-making model for business ethics. We thought of different options. We think that the best based on the decision is option 2. However when we used the table, the most effective decision would be to ignore the Sadhu however, we also need to consider the other theories and models we discussed before.  First would be ethics of care and virtue, this is where we could base the decision in saving the Sadhu. Second would be utilitarian, for the decision of giving limited help. 

        Corporate Social Responsibility is CSR, which is important for businesses. Friedman's definition of Social Responsibly is “social responsibility of business is to increase its profits . . . the corporation is an instrument of the stockholders who own it. If the corporation makes a contribution, it prevents the individual stockholder himself deciding how he should dispose of his funds.”  I think that the definition of Friedman was very effective and straight to the point. Businesses are made because the owners would want to earn profit and they need to convince the stockholders that the company is doing well not only in terms of finances or money but also by image and ethics.

       There are some economic models of business and the class discussed some examples. One of which was the Infant Milk that has melamine that is under the Economic Model of CSR. Another definition is "CSR is not about how you spend, but how you earn." This statement is the most basic definition of CSR because it tells us an important message that we should not think about ourselves but we also need to put others into consideration. Especially in business, many people want to earn but do not think about how they earn. Most of the business people think about putting up charities, scholarships, etc. to have good publicity. They want to show that they are giving back to others but this is not what CSR is all about. They can't just show the good side of their business or company because they have these charities and foundations because the most important thing is about how they were able to earn or gain the money that they have. It would be better if the businesses or companies would earn money in a good way and also spent it for good use. 

       The class was also able to discuss arguments for socially responsible behavior. One of the examples we had was the PASA LOAD of SMART.  This gave an opportunity for the lower class to be able to buy load and have cellphones. Also there was a project that they came up with which was the textbooks in the old/used sims. These are given out to the public school students to lessen their problem about brining heavy books to school. I think that this was a really great idea and move by SMART because they were able help the consumers and capture their trust and loyalty to the brand. In the future, I would also want to help others and give a big impact to the company that I will be working with. As an advertising student, I would try my best to think of innovative ideas so that I'll be able to help the consumers and make a good impression for the company.