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Social Ethics
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Will conflicts of interest ruin oil spill tests in the Gulf?
Monday, May 24th, 2010Wouldn’t you think things were bad enough in the Gulf of Mexico? The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has already dumped millions of gallons of crude into the waters of the Gulf and ugly residues are starting to wash ashore. The New York Times reported Friday that local environmental officials in the Gulf states [...]
Now we know why BP hasn’t apologized
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010For the past several days, I’ve wondered why British Petroleum’s CEO, Tony Hayward, has skipped the crucial words “we’re sorry” when discussing the oil leak that’s pouring into the Gulf of Mexico after one of his company’s offshore drilling platforms exploded. It seemed odd because Hayward had already said that BP would pay for [...]
Plan and pay to prevent disasters
Friday, May 7th, 2010Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, we need look no further than British Petroleum and Transocean for this week’s example of bad litigation risk management.
When BP’s offshore drilling rig, run by Transocean, blew up on April 20th and started hemorrhaging oil into the Gulf of Mexico, it created [...]
Did regulatory corruption lead to environmental tragedy?
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010On September 12, 2008, when the outcome of the Presidential election was still very much in doubt, I wrote a post asking whether the new President would interact ethically with the powerful oil and gas industry. It gave me chills to realize today that my 2008 post cited a report from the Inspector General’s [...]
Can we please stop pointing fingers and just mop up the oil???
Monday, May 3rd, 2010As the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to grow, it’s hard not to indulge in a lot of useless finger-pointing. The Obama Administration, under fire for failing to move faster to contain the spill, is blaming British Petroleum. BP CEO Tony Hayward has promised that the company will pay all [...]
Business ethics on Earth Day
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Earth Day turns 40 years old today - that’s the good news. The bad news, if we’re to believe the experts who are all over the media this week, is that our planet is in worse shape than ever. Landfills are crammed to bursting, temperatures are rising, ice caps are melting, and exotic [...]
Were Goldman Sachs’ investment products too complex to regulate?
Monday, April 19th, 2010The SEC’s claim that Goldman Sachs defrauded investors with a complex series of mortgage deals is certainly food for thought. Goldman denies the charges and, until a court finds otherwise, has to be presumed innocent. But stock values have taken a dive in the wake of the SEC’s announcement that it’s going after [...]
Don’t tolerate bullies
Friday, April 2nd, 2010Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s turn to a topic that’s been much in the news of late. The recent, tragic suicide of Phoebe Prince has made bullying in the schools a prime topic of discussion nationwide. But bullying doesn’t stop when you graduate and enter the [...]
You want a latte with that handgun?
Friday, March 5th, 2010It can’t be easy to run Starbucks these days. Even before the recession hit, the wildly popular coffee chain had become the poster child for extravangant self-indulgence. All too often, if personal finance gurus wanted to demonstrate how little sacrifices add up to big savings they’d point an accusing finger at the decidedly [...]
Even Tiger Woods is only human
Monday, February 22nd, 2010It’s been an interesting few days, as I’ve found myself discussing Tiger Woods’ apology with interviewers from across the U.S., Canada and Europe. More than a few people have criticized the apology as being too “scripted” or dissed Woods’ delivery as too “wooden.” A handful of angry critics have refused to accept the apology [...]
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