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Archive for June, 2008
How will the next President interact with Zimbabwe?
Friday, June 27th, 2008In honor of the 90th birthday of civil rights giant Nelson Mandela, I want to devote this post to an ethical dilemma facing the next U.S. President in future diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe.
Tomorrow, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is expected to be reelected in a “run-off” election that world governments are decrying as an outright sham. [...]
Burtynsky’s Photos Prove It: Businesses Must Protect the Earth
Monday, June 23rd, 2008One of my readers (let’s call him Lyle) recently asked me to contribute to a paper he was writing about the impact that our business-as-usual practices are having on the environment. Lyle asked me to visit http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/56 and watch photographer Edward Burtynsky present a series of his mesmerizing, horrific photographs on how humankind is transforming [...]
Will the next President apologize to Native Americans?
Friday, June 20th, 2008A few weeks ago, I wrote a post asking whether the next President would apologize to America’s ethnic minorities. The trigger for that post was the heartfelt apology that Australia’s Prime Minister delivered to his country’s aboriginal natives for the abuse they suffered at the hands of Caucasian settlers. Now, Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has upped the ante [...]
Chef Emeril Demonstrates How Trust Enhances Your Business
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008A few months ago I took the opportunity to recommend Stephen J.R. Covey’s book, The Speed of Trust, for anyone who wants to strengthen their business and personal relationships. Covey’s book makes the case that increased trust cuts red tape and increases the speed of business. Here’s an example to demonstrate just how right Covey [...]
How will the next President handle emergency aid?
Friday, June 13th, 2008Environmental disasters around the world carry with them interesting ethical questions when humanitarian needs and international politics collide. The recent devastation in Myanmar made headlines when the generals who head the Myanmar government declined to accept emergency supplies from the United States because they were being delivered by military ships and aircraft. While the Myanmar [...]
Did Investment Banks Deliberately Sell Faulty Loans?
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008By now we’re all well aware that the subprime mortgage mess has done major damage to the economy, both in the U.S. and around the world. Until recently, however, I thought that the subprime lenders had just gotten a little too greedy, approving iffy loans on an individual basis without fully considering the long-term implications [...]
How to Apologize to an Unhappy Customer
Monday, June 9th, 2008A few weeks ago, I had occasion to attend a two-day meeting in a hotel that had just opened for business. Unfortunately, the overeager owners had jumped the gun, opening the hotel before it was fit for human habitation. The unfinished lobby looked like a war zone, one of the two elevators was out of [...]
Will the next President tackle the Medicare crunch?
Friday, June 6th, 2008In a recent posting on ethical issues facing the next President, I talked about generational accounting and the whopping tax burden that today’s citizens are piling up for future generations. To be a little more specific, let’s talk today about one of the largest elements of the looming debt: the rising costs of Medicare and Medicaid.
We [...]
Kids Deserve Apologies Too!
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008In the “how to completely change your life for the better” category, I recently departed for Kazakhstan, where I hope to meet and adopt my new daughter. This trip will the culmination of many months of hard work of assembling documents, answering questions, getting fingerprinted (three times!) and otherwise preparing for what will undoubtedly be [...]
Doctors Learn that Apologies Can Prevent Lawsuits
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008The New York Times reported recently about an encouraging new trend in the medical profession. It seems that doctors are being encouraged to take a new approach when they make a mistake. Instead of denying, stonewalling, and waiting for the malpractice lawsuit papers to land on their desks, doctors are starting to admit [...]