Business Ethics No More?

Business Ethics No More?

Ethics talk about the philosophy of morality and our understanding of what is right or wrong. Every individual has a different perception that is often clouded due to cultural context, personal experiences, emotions and so on. Ethics solely depend on these individual perceptions and hence they differ from one individual to another. In the business context, ethics are a form of applied principles or professional ethics, that examine ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. 

With every organisation in a capitalist market being extremely profit-oriented, the competition among companies is at an all-time high. Because of this very reason, ethics have suffered tremendously in the field of business. Companies lose their sense of responsibility towards the customers and become fixated on making more profits in order to survive in the rat-race.

Some of the case studies that help substantiate my stand are as follows:

1] Volkswagen Cheating Scandal:

In September of 2015, the Environment Protection Agency found out that many Volkswagen cars being sold in America had a "defeat device" - or software - in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results. The German car giant has since admitted cheating emissions tests in the US. Volkswagen-manufactured Audi A3 and the Volkswagen  models Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat were instantly under the scanner. But Volkswagen has admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide, including eight million in Europe, are fitted with the so-called "defeat device". This example shows how even a giant automobile company like Volkswagen has lost its sense of ethics and morality.

2] Apple slowing down Iphones in 2017:

Apple purposely slowed down Iphones in order compensate for the decaying batteries in 2017. It appeared to feed into a long-time conspiracy theory among some Apple users: that the company had been purposely slowing down old models when a new version came out in a bid to force consumers to upgrade. Now, the company is facing lawsuits for allegedly slowing down the devices without first warning consumers.
In response, Apple has apologized for slowing down the Iphones, calling it a “misunderstanding,” and offered to sell battery replacements for $29 instead of the usual $79 in the U.S. Apple has said that once the battery is replaced, the iPhone’s speed will pick up again. This move of Apple’s again manipulated the emotions and trust of the consumers.

3] Johnson & Johnson:

The pharmaceutical giant sold powder products that were contaminated with asbestos — a pollutant in talc that has been linked to lung cancer — though there is much debate about whether talcum powder can lead to ovarian cancer. A jury in Missouri ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $4.69 billion in damages to 22 women who claimed the company’s talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer. The women routinely used Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, an absorbent body powder, to “dust their perineum for feminine hygiene purposes.”
They said they later developed ovarian cancer.
The company has been using this harsh ingredient in their products for over 40 years now and is very unethical in nature.

Ethical and unethical behavior is something that we all observe in our daily lives. I have played a role in many unethical doings myself. Whether it is lying to my parents, lying to my friends' parents to cover up for them, bunking class and hanging out with my friends and so on, I have done it all and somehow manage to justify my actions in my head. I think most of us in reality follow the "ends justify the means" principle and this principle is extremely subjective and individual in nature. 

A leader I look up to...

A Leader Who Inspires Me...

"Captain cool" Mahendra Singh Dhoni is someone I have always been fascinated with. As one of India's most successful captions, Dhoni has over time portrayed impeccable leadership skills and has been hailed as one of the most successful leaders the game of cricket has ever seen. He holds several records including most wins by an Indian captain in Tests and One Day Internationals, and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in One Day Internationals. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC world T20 cup, the 2010 Asia Cup, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

Dhoni was made captain of the Indian cricket team ahead of many senior players. He however took his time making changes in the team and even spoke multiple times about first learning from the seniors in the team. He efficiently handled the ego clashes in the team. He recognised the capable players and stars in the team and made them feel secure, instead of feeling threatened by their presence.

If there's one thing Dhoni is most popular for then it has to be his ability to stay calm under pressure. Emotional intelligence is a skill that every leader must possess. Dhoni has always been self-aware, self-regulated and empathetic towards his teammates. Dhoni letting Ganguly captain the side for a little during his last Test match is just one of the many instances that goes on to prove his caliber as a captain.

Dhoni has always remained grounded. He doesn't get depressed because of a loss or get excited because of a win. He has mastered the art of handling both failure and success efficiently.
A team leader needs to lead by example, especially when the team is not performing well and is under pressure. On more occasions than one, Dhoni has lead the team from the front. He has single handedly won matches for India. His winning performance in the 2011 world cup finals is a perfect example to substantiate his leadership skills.

Dhoni has always trusted his team and backed his players in the toughest of the situations. Everybody was stunned when Dhoni gave the ball to Ishant Sharma in a crunch situation in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Sharma had got smacked all over the park in the previous over. Sharma then went on to pick up two valuable wickets that eventually led to team India winning the championship.
Even the God of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar has acknowledged the fact that Dhoni is the best captain he has played under.

Never has Dhoni ever taken credit for the success of his team. Listening to any of his post-match presentations, interviews or press conferences would give anybody an insight into his confidence in his team members and his own team management skills. Even as the caption of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni has attained immense amount of success and his team has so far managed to win the series thrice. This wonderful man has and will continue to inspire me and many like me, who are trying to gauge the intrinsic nature of leadership. 

Internet Privacy: Are we playing a losing game?

Internet Privacy: Are we playing a loosing game?

Our perception of anything and everything today is incomplete without the intervention of technology. A smartphone for example used to be a technological rarity but has evolved to become the nexus and the focal point of our personal and professional lives. Smartphones and other portable devices have today enabled us to access the internet seamlessly. This ease of accessibility however, has increased the concern regarding internet security and privacy. From identity theft to bank transaction frauds, internet has exposed us to a new set of challenges that most of us are unprepared for.

I'm guilty of not taking my internet security very seriously. In fact, only recently have I started thinking about the whole issue. I think what triggered my interest in the issue has a lot to do with the recent developments in the Google - China nexus. Exactly nine years ago Google took a very public stand against the Chinese Government that heavily censors content, news and connects people's identities with their online queries. But in 2018 Google launched Dragonfly, a search engine that is tailor-made to enable the censorship carried out by the Chinese Government, reasserting the Chinese Government's philosophy - ' if you want to do business in China, you will do it Beijing's way.' And if this wasn't scary enough, our own government recently issued an order empowering about 10 government agencies to conduct widespread monitoring of all computers in the country, all in the name of national security. I cannot help but ask the question - ' how can anything we do online be private when our own government authorizes a privacy breech of this scale? ' 

Although the idea of citizens, who supposedly have the 'right to privacy' , being monitored by the government doesn't sit well with me, I understand that this is not something that directly translates into a dangerous threat for most of us in our everyday lives. The internet does however expose us to a variety of privacy issues of immediate concern. Some of the issues are as follows:

Identity Theft: 

Almost every website today asks its users for their names, birth-dates and E-mail addresses. All of this information is stored away in databases that can easily be hacked into by experienced hackers. This results in an inevitable identity theft. In the Indian context, this might remind you of the tragic privacy breech of the Aadhar Security Database. With the Aadhar card being made mandatory for people to access almost all government schemes in the country, government websites accidentally leaking Aadhar information is the last thing we want to hear about. 

The most scary aspect of this issue is that it can happen to absolutely anybody! Most of us think we aren't important enough to hack or steal from and I'm guilty of thinking the same. But it is in fact the average citizen, who is fairly unaware and helpless, that is targeted by hackers.

Tracking:

How many of us are guilty of accepting privacy policies of apps and websites without really reading them? How many of us immediately click on "OK" when a website asks us for permission to use Cookies? These cookies store information about the activity and identity of users online and this information is used to give every user a more personalized experience. Literally all of our activities online are tracked and recorded. The Cambridge Analytica  scandal shook the foundations of internet usage. The firm had access to crucial information of over 80 Million people, enough to create their psycho-graphic profiles, by merely using tracking their activity on Facebook. 

Search Engines:

Well it's safe to say that Google knows more about me than most of my family and friends. From basic information, to search histories, to locations and the various devices I use to login, Google has information about everything. It's scary to say the least. This vast database is so easy to exploit for most hackers. We are carefree about our privacy matters and tend to use one password for multiple accounts and websites. Most of us don't bother to secure our tracks online, even if it's a simple two-step security system that probably takes 10 seconds more than the normal security system to function.  

I think most of us are carefree about our activities online and don't bother to take extra measures to ensure our safety simply because we believe these disasters would never happen to us. It is also important to understand that people today are a lot more aware about the potential threats online and scandals such as the Cambridge Analytica case, that induced fear in a lot of people, have helped to spread awareness. Companies such as Facebook have also tightened their security systems and it's really up to us to make full and judicious use of these measures.