Napster is an online service that allows computer users to share high-quality digital copies (MP3s) of music recordings through the Internet. The San Mateo-based company does not actually store the songs but instead provides an access to every user’s hard drive if he is currently logged on to the service. Napster therefore functions as a sort of clearinghouse, which collects stores and disseminates music recordings. Members can log onto this service, search for the song of their choice, by artist or song title, identify where MP3s of interest are and then download them from another user’s computer hard drive. Napster claiming to have around 15 million users in just a years’ time, has become one of the most popular sites on the Internet. Indeed, students were using Napster so much that many universities had to block the website in order to regain bandwidth. Right from its launch, the Napster case Continue reading
Business Ethics
Business Ethics in Human Resource Management
Business ethics are the moral doctrines that direct the way to business behave. Business ethics determines the actions of every individual that distinguish the right or wrong. Every business organization must develop the codes of conduct and ethics that should be followed by all the members. Ethics can be taken as the crucial way to self-presentation and public perception of the organization. Business ethics in human resource management is related to the employee’s issues. Human resource management plays an important role in setting up and implementing ethics in the workplace. Implementation of ethics in the workplace has been one of the challenging tasks for the organization. Various human resources issues can be handled properly by the application of ethics and code of practices by the managers in the workplace. Ethics generally determine what is right and what is wrong. With the help of business ethics, proper allocation and maintenance of Continue reading
Important Recommendations for Ensuring Good Corporate Governance
Historically attention was paid to the subject following the collapse of Savings and Loan companies in USA in the mid 1980’s and the SEC of USA taking a tough stand on the same. It is ironical that once again it was the US which brought in Sarbanes Oxley Act and along with it very stringent measures of Corporate Governance. In passing, we may add that there is no corresponding legislation in India. Later, Adrian Cadbury report was an important milestone, which spelt out 19 best practices called the “Code of Best Practices”, which the companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, began to comply with. Some of those guidelines applicable to the Directors, Non-executive Directors, Executive Directors, and others responsible for reporting and control are as follows; Relating to the Directors the recommendations are: The Board should meet regularly, retain full and effective control over the company and Continue reading
Historical Perspective of Corporate Governance
The seeds of modern corporate governance were probably sown by the Watergate scandal in the United States. The global movement for better corporate governance progressed in fits and starts from the mid-1980s up to 1997. There were the odd country-level initiatives such as the Cadbury Committee Report in the United Kingdom (1992) or the recommendations of the National Association of Corporate Directors of the US (1995). It would be fair to say, however, that such initiatives were few and far between. And while there were the occasional international conferences on the desirability of good corporate governance, most companies — both global and Indian knew little of what the phrase meant, and cared even less for its implications. More recently, the first major stimulus for corporate governance reforms came after the South-East and East Asian crisis of 1997-98. This was no classical Latin American debt Continue reading
Digital Technology and Personal Privacy
Privacy includes several contexts for individuals. There are three aspects of individual expectations to define the term “privacy”. The first aspect is the expectation of anonymity, which was defined as “The Right to Be Let Alone”. Individuals would expect an environment where no one can access their personal information in no matter physical or digital world. Another one is the expectation of control over information. Individuals would expect that professionals and companies would only collect the customers’ information for the purpose of providing services and they would not use or disclose the information for other commercial purposes. And the third expectation is about the confidentiality of personal documents, including e-mails and medical records. Individuals would expect that they could feel free to conduct online or offline activities without others disruptions. However, these expectations are being challenged by the digital technologies, which keep collecting personal information in our daily lives. This Continue reading
Ethical Conflicts in Business
The dilemma of ethical decision making in business settings arises out of the tensions or conflicts between what is good for individuals, organizations, and society. These conflicts manifest themselves in rules that govern organizational behavior and in concrete decision situations. Individual versus organizational conflicts are apparent when personal values of employees conflict with the requirements organizational tasks. For example, a junior accountant’s audit opinion may be based on ethical grounds. It may be rejected by his or her superiors who do not want to relinquish the business of the client by giving a negative opinion. A salesperson may consider the company policy of giving large discounts or personal gifts to selected customers to attract their business unfair and unethical. A marketing executive may object to company advertisements on the grounds that they are not truthful. Conflicts between organizational and societal interests arise when corpo rations consume public goods without paying Continue reading