Company Description and Background Before turning into a huge corporation with global reach, Lockheed Martin went through multiple stages of development, most of which faced periods of failure and fallback. Lockheed Martin has nearly a century long history and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and sellers of weapon, aircraft, surveillance devices, and detection systems. Its story began during the World War I when the Loughead brothers first began to build airplanes and sell them to hobbyists. They operated within an emerging niche of the military weaponry market, but their airplanes were not created in time to become involved in the war. Over the decades, the company perfected its models to eventually build the Lockheed Vega, one of the first legendary airplanes of the time and the leading machine in the market. Before the start of the Second World War, the company has experienced several ups and downs; however Continue reading
Business Ethics
Case Study on Ethics: British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Business ethics is an important aspect in the attainment of organizational success. Businesses follow certain rules that govern their activities and processes in order to avoid involvement in unethical business practices. However, despite the existence of business regulations and legislation, businesses still engage in unethical practices due to factors such as negligence and financial greed. In 2010, BP Oil Company was involved in an ethical incident dilemma that led to huge fines that affected the company’s bottom line. The BP oil spill refers to an oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. It was so severe that it was described as the worst oil spill in the history of the United States’ oil industry. It occurred after a Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, sank, and spilled oil for more than two and half months. The accident caused severe environmental damages and led to the demise of 11 people. According Continue reading
Case Study on Business Ethics: Adelphia Communications Scandal
The Adelphia Communications scandal occurred in March, 2002 when three of the original founding family members which included the father John Rigas, and two of his sons Michael and Timothy, along with two other company executives were arrested for improperly taking assets from the nation’s sixth-largest cable television company. The scam involved one of the biggest financial frauds faced by a publically held company. In the end stakeholders were forced to absorb massive losses as their shares in stocks fell sharply. The Rigas family hid billions of dollars in debts by falsifying its financial records, and blatantly lying to their investors about it. Adelphia was founded in 1952 by John Rigas and his brother Gus Rigas in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with the purchase of their first cable franchise for $300. After 20 years, the Rigas brothers incorporated their company under the name Adelphia which derived its name from a Greek word Continue reading
Stakeholder Capitalism Model
Stakeholder capitalism model says that company should make decisions by taking into account the interests of all the stakeholders in the firm. Stakeholders include all individuals or groups who can significantly affect the welfare of the firm in the aspects of not only the financial claimants, but also employees, management, customers, local community, supply chain members, local or national government and creditors. One of the important variables in this model is considering all stakeholders’ interest as they are people who support and sustain the company. In the stakeholder capitalism model, it is argued that firms should pay attention to all their supporters that can affect the firm. Managers and boards of directors of company have vital roles on making decisions that suit multiple competing and inconsistent constituent interests. However, there are different demands and interests from stakeholders. Customers want low prices, high quality, expensive service and so on. Employees want Continue reading
Case Study: Nick Leeson and the Collapse of Barings Bank
In 1985, Nick Leeson had a job as a clerical work at Coutts & Co. The Coutts & Co is a private banking house in United Kingdom which own by aristocrat. This bank was a subsidiary of the National Westminster Bank. During that period, the stock markets were rising for several years and the bank were expanding into a new financial instruments coming in and demand for labor was high. During that time, Nick Leeson was the person who had many working class young men. After two years, Nick Leeson moved to Morgan Stanley, one of the US investment bank. Nick Leeson be a settlements clerk at that bank. Nick Leeson can absorb more knowledge about new derivatives market from that bank. In 1989, Nick Leeson was applying a for job at Baring Securities due to his own knowledge with trading in Japan, that time Nick Leeson was 22 years Continue reading
What is Corporate Philanthropy?
Corporate Philanthropy is when the business decides to the promote welfare of the society in which they work and live. It is focused on treating people right, working for a cause to make changes for the betterment of the community. The organizations undertaking corporate philanthropy make donations to other organizations working for the development of the community or work directly by undertaking some initiatives. These donations could be in cash or by volunteering time or offering use of company’s facilities. The organizations usually have a separate team looking after this aspect. The company aims to create and achieve a positive social impact by supporting these beneficiary causes. The business has to utilize its resources and put them to use, so that they become useful for the society. Corporate philanthropic initiatives add value to the company, but the most important aspect is that these values have to align with the long-term Continue reading