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This is a 6 minute video Cable Hardin and I did for Daktronics. I was supposed to be for incoming employees, to learn more about Daktronics and the values the company holds. It has, however, become somewhat of a sales tool as well. Some customers are interested in who they are buying equipment from.

Human Values in Marketing

This is one of a series of fictional case studies based on real ethical dilemmas. It is designed to promote questions and commentary. We welcome your participation. With unemployment at an all-time high and 50 percent of the downtown shops vacant, Tony Pell, mayor of Weldon, had been working with a regional business-development agency to revitalize what most locals called "the dead downtown."

Philosophy is the core of our business structure. In order for a change to be down with our economic mess, we really need to go back to our basic values and principles.

Ethics and morals can be changed and throughout history the US has done a good job of adapting even if it took years to happen.

"...those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population" (the Nobel committee)

Once again sustainability is a vital aspect of the success of a business. If shareholders do not see companies making strides towards managing their resources efficiently, they will not be invested for long.

This article looks at the ethics in science, and the value that is placed on it. I thought this articale does a good job of pointing out that we do not drop all morals and ethics when looking at the facts.

This brings up the question as to whether our moral values are the same as they used to be. Are we slipping in regards to our professional behaviors?

I thought considering last week's reading, this blog post was good to look at. It coincides with Maitland's argument for sweatshops. The part I found most interesting was this: "The most important aspect relating to the morality of sweatshop labor is that it is voluntary. That is, sweatshop laborers get up in the morning and choose to work in a sweatshop instead of doing anyother possible thing on any given day. Why would they do that? It's simple, by working at a sweatshop a laborer is able to earn more for himself and his family than he would otherwise be able to were he not employed at that sweatshop. The laborer has the choice to either perform some other task for money, produce his own goods and services, or go work for the sweatshop. He has made the decision that what he gains by working at the sweatshop is more valuable than what he would gain doing anything else." It begs the question of who gets to decide what these workers do in their lives to support their families and how they should feel about those choices.

Another good reflection on this issue, jdybing. One of the issues with this type of argument is that it's rather theoretical. It simply isn't true of all people that "The laborer has the choice to either perform some other task for money, produce his own goods and services, or go work for the sweatshop." Even if this is true, the next question is whether we should just accept a type of work and working conditions that demoralize people and trivialize the value of their lives. What Maitland says of sweatshops is just as true of the practice of child labor early in the industrial era of the US, where children were not only doing dehumanizing work but doing so under extremely dangerous conditions. It's hard to see how anyone would actually "choose" this type of life given viable options for doing something else.

I thought this was interesting and meshed well with Abraham Verghesse's talk about the value of touch. I really liked how Whitehouse notes the benefits of touch to both parents and the fetus's ultimate health and development.

An article about a company using Social Media to find reach out to its customers on a more personal level.

Very excellent ethical question in medicine. Should criminals be higher in a list when trying to receive organ donations?

A friend had shared a picture on Facebook that I saw today. It was copies from two articles about two different crimes. One was of a wealthy white man and one was of a homeless black man. The pictures note the sentences and crimes committed and imply that there was disparity in the sentencing. Here is a post I found on the two cases. What are your thoughts on the different cases?

I did some extra research on these two cases as well (including Snopes). I posted the linke that I did (and only that) for a couple of reasons. 1) Because of the potential inequality of the two cases and 2) because I don't think that most people look past the information give to them. I was glad to see that someone (granted you are the professor, but still) looked into the stories a bit more. I think that also says something about ethics. I recently sent a friend of mine (who was making claims about products other than those she was selling). The claims were that there was bat guano in many brands of mascara. She told me she had heard this from an optometrist but she had never done any research on her own. When I did (because I did not want to make claims that I did not know to be true), I forwarded some of the sources I found to her. In our society, we tend to take things at face value.

Aha, very clever test :) Glad you're doing some of the critical thinking that, as you indicate, we need to be doing much more of. Keep up the good research!

Advertising has a great influence on the way people understand themselves and the world around them as well as all the fundamental values and behavior (Foley 1999, p.220). Thus ethics and moral principles in advertising should be widely taught, motivated and understood well by advertisers so as to affect people positively by delivering their intended messages behind their Ads.

Prisoners at some Texas state jails are scaling back to two meals per day on the weekends, as part of budgetary belt tightening. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Prisoners in Texas jails have been tightening their belts as the state cuts back on weekend lunches to save money.

My first thought when I read this title was that it was disgusting to me that they would cut out a meal. Then, as I read the article, it became less about the fact that they were cutting out a meal (especially if it is true that they are still getting the same nutritional values as before). As the representative from the ACLU pointed out, there are many over-incarcerated individuals in prison. Instead of pulling out a meal, perhaps it would be wise to look at who they have in prison and see if an alternative punishment/treatment would be feasable. This would solve not only some monitary issues, but overcrouding in general and possibly even help rehabilitate better.