Entry # 9 – An Inconvenient Truth

For this week, we watched a documentary film about global warming. An inconvenient truth, a film by director Davis Guggenheim, was based on the United States’ former Vice President, Al Gore, on his campaign about the issue of global warming. Having watched “An Inconvenient Truth” for the first time, I actually thought to myself, I’m not really that well-informed when it comes to global warming. Though it has been given a bit of importance in the previous years, its definition has only been given emphasis and not the effect itself.

Global warming is actually one of the major problems that the world is currently facing. Before, this so called “global warming” was not really given importance ‘til people of the earth are now experiencing its effects. Here in the Philippines, we’ve experienced stronger typhoons and warmer weather. If the global warming gets worse, there will be even stronger typhoons that will cause more floods and more deaths, and an even warmer weather that will cause drought. No doubt that even the livelihoods will also die because of the extremely hot weather.

What’s even worse is that the biodiversity among plants and animals will also be affected because of the changing temperature. We Filipinos are already used to the ‘hot’ weather they say, but if the weather continued to get hotter or say the weather kept on changing, can we still say that we’ll get used to it in time? All of these are just like a chain reaction. It’s like stronger typhoons means more floods, more floods mean more deaths and destruction of resources, warmer weather means more drought, and so on.

Those are not actually the most shocking effects of global warming. In fact, if global warming got worse and worse every single day, what’s the worst thing that could happen to the Philippines? Our country just might get removed from existence. Why? It’s because if the globe continued to get warmer, the sheets of ice in Greenland and Antarctica will continue to melt and because of this, the sea level will rise and because we are below sea level, we might get covered with water and be erased from the globe.

What’s sad about people these days is that they are so used to the current environment that they don’t really notice the changes at all. Although some already know about the current situation of the climate, it’s still sad to think that only a few take this seriously. Global warming is not something that we should take for granted. It’s something that we should be aware of, and take action onto. I mean, let’s face it. We humans are the major cause of global warming. “Did the planet betray us? Or did we betray the planet?” as what the advertisement says.

Everything in this world is created for the benefit of mankind. But some people see it as an opportunity to make wealth, when it should be seen as an opportunity to make developments. One of the things I learned from this class, CSRGOVE, is the intergenerational equity under the social justice values.  It says that “Each generation should leave the future a world that is at least as diverse and productive as the one it inherited. The benefits of development must not be consumed now while leaving the costs to the future.” We are all responsible for everything that we do on this planet. We only have ONE planet; therefore, we are the ones who are responsible for taking care of it.

Entry # 8 – The Million Dollar Decision

Everyday, we make decisions. There are decisions that are not that important and there decisions that would affect the rest of our lives. For this week, we studied a million-dollar case on Pegasus International Inc., a company dealing with a moral dilemma. The company is planning whether or not to expand in a country where bribery is a normal thing to do in doing business. Now, while exercising the implementation of making ethical decisions in their company, they were considering the option of expanding since it will be of big benefit for the company, holistically thinking.

Pegasus International Inc. is a leading manufacturer of integrated circuits (chips) and related software for such specialty markets as communications and mass storage. The company is committed in taking the lead in the new millennium of technology, providing the hardware and software solutions ready even before the market needs them. They are also known for their strides in the wireless communication.

The ethical issue comes in when they were planning to expand their business in China. They have to get the license needed to be able to do business in the country, legally. Now the problem is, most of the companies doing business in China are hiring agents to do the dirty job for them. The CEO of Pegasus International Inc., Tom Oswald, is a model of an ethical leadership. “I wonder if paying someone else to do the crime is the same as our doing the crime,” Oswald says. The company itself has a strong emphasis on ethical behavior and respect for each other. But the investment in China alone represents a $100 million of business annually and if they don’t expand into china, it will be a big loss for them.

In dealing with moral dilemmas, as what I have learned in this class, it is important to follow the step-by-step process of the Decision-Making Model. By determining the facts, identifying the ethical issues involved, identifying the stakeholders, considering the available alternatives, considering how a decision affects the stakeholders, one will be able to know what the best decision should be implied.

First things first, it’s like asking if bribery is moral or not. Probably, it’s immoral, no matter which side you look at it. But that doesn’t mean that they should not expand their business in China. In my own opinion, the most important thing that should be thought carefully in this situation is the consideration of the available alternatives, thinking of the ways on how these alternatives will impact the stakeholders and the company itself. Bribery is not good. Therefore, they should think of ALL the POSSIBLE ways on how they will be able to pursue doing business in China, provided that these ways do not involve the violation of doing either unethical or illegal acts.

Making a decision has a big influence in our daily lives, even in the business world. It will not only affect you, yourself, but also the people around you. We should know how a certain decision will turnout, cause it will only result in either a regret, or a success.

Entry # 7 – Community: Defined in Business

 

For this week’s discussion, I learned about how the involvement in the community can be used as a business strategy. A community is defined as the members of the society who are aware, concerned, or in some way affected by the operations and output of the organization. Most businesses build symbiotic relationships to the communities wherein they support educational opportunities not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it will also develop the human resources and consumer skills of the community.

Before, community relations were not considered as strategically important with the firm’s ultimate performance. But in the present time, through community involvement, firms will have the most benefit because there will be improved stakeholder relations, enhanced reputation and brand image and preference, strengthened brand value, increased customer purchase intentions and many more. Personally, I think that having community relations does not only serve as a business strategy, but also a way to help create a sustainable business environment, and build team spirit and trust with the stakeholders.

Having seen community relations as a business strategy, firms also have responsibilities to the community. These responsibilities involve economic issues: which involve jobs, supplies, raw materials, utilities, etc., legal issues: which involves the license to operate and preserving viability of local small businesses, ethical issues: which involves living wage and assisting community groups and lastly philanthropic issues: which involves employee volunteerism and the traditional roles to the community (giving resources to worthy cases).

Learning all these things helped me think of what kind of business leader I am going to be. In the corporate world, being ethically and socially responsible might help me be successful in the long run. Actually, it can also be applied in our situation at the present time. As a student, I should start responding to my responsibilities in the community and the country as a whole. Who knows, maybe after 5-10 years people might look up to me and see me as a perfect example?

Entry # 6 –The Debate about the Hot Coffee Case

 

The highlight of this week was the debate about the McDonald’s vs Stella Liebeck Case or most commonly known as “The Hot Coffee Case”. The class was divided into 3 different groups. One will be the affirmative group, those who will testify how McDonald’s truly liable for the incident. Another group will be the negative group, those who will testify how Liebeck is accountable for the incident and the remaining group will be the judge and the jury. I belonged to the affirmative side of the group.

The hot coffee case was about a 79-year-old lady named Stella Liebeck, who sued McDonald’s for accidentally spilling coffee onto her causing third-degree burns requiring her to be hospitalized for eight days. That’s the short side of the story. If I were to read only this side of the story, I would say that indeed, the whole incident is all Stella Liebeck’s fault. But… this is the misreported and misunderstood side of the case.

What happened really was that Stella Liebeck was sitting in the passenger seat of her grandson’s car having purchased a cup of McDonald’s coffee. Her grandson stopped the car in a parking to give time for Stella to put cream and sugar in her coffee. She tried to hold the cup securely between her knees but the cup tipped over spilling the hot coffee onto her. Yes, she suffered third-degree burns and required hospitalization for eight days. Additional information perhaps, she was only granted $160,000 and not $3 million. Well in the first place, she was only asking for $20,000 for the hospitalization but then McDonald’s refused to settle.

According to some of her interviews that I’ve watched in YouTube, she knew that the coffee was hot. I mean, admit it. We all want our coffees hot but one thing that she did not understand was that why it caused her third-degree burns. Basically, McDonald’s was serving their coffee at a high temperature for some marketing research that says that if the coffee is hotter, it will taste better and that customers will take time to refill their cups because they’ll consume it slowly for the coffee is too hot.

During the debate, both sides were able to justify their roles as with whose side they were on. But at the end, the negative group won. As to my side of the story, I think that our group lacked teamwork and communication and we only focused on the cups that McDonald’s was using and not the real evidences opposing the other team. But although we did not win, I know that we did a great job too and I’m glad that we were able to justify ourselves.  All in all, I think the jury had made the right decision for the negative side of the class justified themselves well.

At the end of the day, it’s still about the lesson of applying ethics in the business world. As a business management student, I must think of my stakeholders and how my products will affect them. In the business world, it’s important for the corporation to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers but as customers; they must also remember that the company is not always responsible for everything.

 

Entry # 5 – Continuation of the Service Learning (Second Community Visit)

 

 

The second visitation of the community was scheduled last Monday, June 24, 2013, which is a holiday or most commonly known as “Manila Day” or “Araw ng Maynila”. The meet-up was scheduled at 8 in the morning and we left the school at around 9:30. We waited for the others to come and again, our coordinated got angry for we were already delayed for an hour and a half

We arrived at around 10 in the morning and what we did first was that we organized our plans for the day and as soon as we finished planning, we headed to the barangay hall to get all the necessary information needed for the output. Unfortunately, the barangay captain was not around at that time so we interviewed the secretary instead.

We learned not only the history of the CPCD or the Concerned Parents for Community Development, but also the history of the barangay itself. We headed back to the CPCD after gathering all the information needed and discussed the plan among our groups. The visitation was only a half-day work so after planning, we departed the area and went back to the school.

I realized that organizing projects is not that easy. We really have to make an effort in doing such things. A good business leader should be, no matter what, committed to what he/she is doing.

Entry # 4 – The Parable of the Sadhu

            This week’s discussion was about applying the Decision-Making Model for Business Ethics. It is important to follow the step-by-step process in the Decision-Making Model to arrive at an ethical business decision.

• Determine the facts
• Identify the ethical issues involved
• Identify stakeholders
• Consider the available alternatives
• Consider how a decision affects stakeholders
• Make a decision
• Monitor and learn for the outcomes

At the middle of the discussion, we were asked to group ourselves and discuss the Parable of the Sadhu. The Parable was about a situation wherein a basic ethical dilemma suddenly intruded into the lives of a group of individuals.

The hikers were from of different places. While they were on their way, one of the hikers (from New Zealand) found an almost naked, barefoot body of an Indian holy man, a sadhu to be exact. No one wanted to be responsible of the sadhu for they only had a limited time traveling over the pass. Stephen perhaps, the archaeologist with a deep moral vision, was concerned with the state of the sadhu.

As I was reading the parable, I understood how it relates to the business world. No one was willing to assume ultimate responsibility for the sadhu. Each contributed their part but did not really give a complete effort in securing the safety of the sadhu. Yes they helped the sadhu but only in a way that it did not really solve the basic problem in the first place. They just passed the buck to each other waiting for someone to take full responsibility of the sadhu.

Suddenly after reading the parable, there were some of the things in this world that became clear to me. I understood how sometimes people can only think of themselves specifically when it comes to situations that they are not really concerned about.  No one would be willing to commit one’s self beyond certain self-imposed limits. “Will I be willing to commit myself in the service of others?” is somehow the question that I would be asking myself someday. Will I feel obligated to help those who are in need? Well, no man is an island they say. We all need each other’s help. I’ll feel the need to be helped by someone and there will be someone who will need my help. I hope acting ethically will help people to think holistically and stop being individualistic.

Entry # 3 – Production and Promotion (First Community Visit)

 

 

            For this week, we visited our community for the first time in Tondo, Manila for the long-term project that we were going to implement in the community area. As I have said in my previous entry, we decided to go for the Concerned Parents for Community Development or CPCD for short. A quick background about the organization, it was formed in the year 1986 wherein problems concerning social services, education, human rights and shelter for the homeless and other issues regarding poverty in most urban poor areas were widespread.

Our visit was scheduled on a holiday, which was last June 12, 2013 meeting up at exactly 8 in the morning. I got in school on time and to my surprise, there were only a few students in our team and we had to wait for the others. I remember how our coordinator was starting to get furious because we were already running late and we were still waiting for the others to come. We left the school quarter to 9 and while we were heading towards the place, I can’t help not to look at my surroundings.

Perhaps many do not know that I came from a province and that I am not really familiar with the areas here in Manila. So as to satisfy my curiosity, I paid attention to the road and the things around me. What I noticed was that, there were really a lot of children just playing along the streets without their parents’ supervision. I guess I’m still not used to seeing those kids just playing and tagging along without knowing that their lives could be in danger.

As we arrived in the area, the representative of CPCD first gave us a brief history of the organization and then introduced us to the most basic need of the community. Starting from the sole purpose of the organization, the group has identified the need to have more teaching aids in their daycare center. Furthermore, the representatives also wanted to make their organization known to attract more partner organizations, to help them raise more funds for their proposed programs/activities.

So as to meet the needs of the community, our group has decided to provide the organization with the teaching aids they needed such as educational books (old ones), story books, charts, etc. The group also decided to produce brochures including their community profile, vision-mission, history, programs/activities, location, organizational structure, partner organizations, etc. to promote their organization and the community as well.

At the end of the day, we evaluated our plans if our project will last for a long time, if it involves our skills and talents, if it will be well documented and if we would be able to accomplish it by the end of the term. It was nice to think that we would be able to help a community and that at the same time; we were getting involved in the basic problems and needs of the community. It’s amazing how we were given such an opportunity to see and experience how someday, we would be able to apply it in our own company’s corporate social responsibility and provide a bigger help for the communities in need.

Entry #2 – Ethics: Its Definition and Application in Decision Making

 

This week’s discussion was all about ethics’ definition and its application in our everyday lives. We all have different definitions of what ‘ethics’ really mean. It can be based on what we believe as good or bad. It can be based on what our religion is teaching us and it can be based on what the society thinks what is right or wrong.

Generally defined, we can refer ethics as the activity of examining one’s moral standards or the moral standards of a society, and asking how these standards apply to our lives…reasonable or not. With this definition, we could relate ethics as the proper way of dealing with other people, professionally.

Applying ethics in our everyday decision is really crucial for it affects not only our lives, but also the society as a whole especially in the business world. We are all “made in the image and likeness of God and endowed with the signal gifts of reason and freedom that are unique in all of creation.” Therefore as followers of God, we must promote what is morally right and acceptable for we are a representation of God as humans.

Thinking of what’s the most ethical thing to do will help us make the best decision that we could make in our lives and apply it especially as business management students. But then again, I personally think that it’s still up to us if we will choose the right thing to do or the other way around. Some people choose to tolerate unethical doings and some don’t. That’s why it’s important to learn about people’s values. All of us have different values that we prioritize and if we know an individual’s values enough, we will be able to predict better that individual’s behavior in a given situation.

Balancing the pros and cons at a given situation is really important. This will help us identify which decision would be most beneficial and well help us determine who are the audience that will be affected by the decision made. “Am I making an ethical decision?” is what someday I’m going to ask myself in the corporate world. Perhaps I would remind myself that I should think of what is for the common good, that I should remember to think of what would benefit the most.

Entry #1 – The Start of a New Beginning as a Lasallian Business Leader

             The END of my year as a freshman marks the START of my year as a sophomore. It’s a start of a new beginning they say, as it embarks a new journey and experience for most students. I still can’t believe that I am now in my second year as a college student. It seemed like it was just yesterday that I was still called a “frosh” by my upperclassmen. Generally speaking, I would say that I’ve had a fair share with the ups and downs of the school year.

            To start off with my fourth term in DLSU, my friends and I have decided to enroll in a class called CSRGOVE or Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance. This course focuses mainly on the pressing global issues of social responsibility, sustainable development and corporate governance. This course will also provide a venue for students to grow more as a Lasallian business leader promoting the common good for national development.

            During the first day of the class, I actually thought that this course is just going to be one of those boring subjects wherein the students will just be oriented with the proper ways on how to be socially and ethically responsible, as what the name of the subject suggests. But then, I was wrong. This course is more than just being responsible, for it is actually an opportunity for students to make moral and acceptable decisions given a certain situation.

Learning through giving service to others was also emphasized in this course as Ms. Guanzon oriented us with the long-term projects that we will be implementing within the term. I actually thought to myself that this would be fun since I haven’t been to a community service before in manila since I have taken up ROTC instead of CWTS for my NSTP last school year. I also thought that this would be a great opportunity for us students to be involved in the “real” world. My group mates and I decided to go for the most convenient organization, which is the CPCD or the Concerned Parents for Community Development. Although we are not that familiar with the organization, we were excited to reach out and use our skills and talents to help and assist them with their community’s needs.

I hope that this course will not be much of a hassle, but then again I know that we need this course and that this will help us to grow more as Lasallian business leaders for God and country.