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Business Ethics
« Previous EntriesWhat’s the big deal about Paula Deen?
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012This may be the post that brings the world down on my head, but I have to wonder why everyone seems to be madly shoving each other aside for the opportunity to vilify Paula Deen. For those of you who’ve been vacationing on Mars for the last week or two, here’s the short version. [...]
Don’t threaten to sue … unless you really mean it!
Friday, January 27th, 2012Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s focus on a mistake that too many businesspeople make. On the theory that “the best defense is a good offense,” some people make it all too clear to their contractors, suppliers, and consultants that, if a single mistake is made, they’ll take [...]
Can we afford corporate tax breaks?
Friday, January 27th, 2012President Obama’s State of the Union has stirred up a hornet’s nest in Washington. It’ll be awhile before the dust settles enough to know who’s coming down where on his various proposals. However, I want to focus on one aspect of his speech that seems to me to be very relevant to business [...]
There’s no place for poison in juice boxes!
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012Righteous indignation often strikes me as misplaced and sometimes even a little silly. When people start posturing they usually stop listening, so it can be very hard to have a real conversation with someone who’s up on his or her high horse. Nonetheless, I’m about to climb onto mine, and here’s why.
Change.org is [...]
If people wouldn’t steal, we wouldn’t need Internet piracy laws
Thursday, January 19th, 2012Yesterday’s blackout of Wikipedia and other highly trafficked websites must have put quite a dent in a lot of people’s time online. The blackout was, of course, to protest Congressional proposals to enact tough new laws against online piracy. The entertainment industry, the publishing industry, and other providers of creative content are strongly [...]
What’s in America’s orange juice?
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012The Wall Street Journal reported today that Tropicana orange juice producer Pepsico Inc. didn’t notify the Food and Drug Administration that there was a fungicide called carbendazim in its orange juice. According to the Journal, another juice company reported to the FDA that it found low levels of the carbendazim in its own orange [...]
$270,000 may not be enough to stop animal cruelty
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012In April of last year, I reported on the efforts of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to call to account the Feld Corporation, the company that operates the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. At the time, Ringling had been accused of abusing its elephants and allowing a lion to die by [...]
Don’t manage impressions
Saturday, January 7th, 2012Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, I want to touch on a subject that’s been bugging me of late. Recently, I’ve been called upon to deal with a group of professionals who didn’t handle a sensitive situation particularly well. Their behavior offers a lesson that smart businesspeople would [...]
Whatever happened to Jiminy Cricket?
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012Friends know that the oldest decoration in my office is a little ceramic figurine of Jiminy Cricket, Pinnochio’s “conscience” in the classic Disney film of the same name. I bought the figurine shortly after graduating from law school, and keep in where it’s never far from my sight. Why? Because I believe [...]
Believe!
Friday, December 23rd, 2011Every once in a while, a movie comes out that knocks my socks off. “Arthur Christmas” (produced by those lovely English lunatics who brought you “Chicken Run” and “Wallace & Grommit”) did just that. Oh, it was clever. We now know why you can’t find Santa’s workshop on Google Earth (underground tunnels), [...]
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