Times are hard, and things have gotten tough for Americans over the past three years.  A mini-recession has caused millions of layoffs, taking unemployment into record-breaking numbers.  Neighbors have lost their homes to foreclosure, short sales, and bankruptcy.  Businesses in our communities have closed, some after 20 years of service, others after only a couple years.  It has been devastating for many families throughout the U.S.  Burdened with high debt and low or reduced incomes many families have suffered from the decisions of the past.  What options are there?  File for bankruptcy like 1.3 million other American consumers did in 2009 (NumberOf)?  Or like 8.7 percent of job seekers in 2009 (Petrecca) there is always the option of starting a business and becoming self employed.  In this past recession, starting a business became the solution for many.  People who never imagined themselves owning and operating their own business were forced into entrepreneurship.  According to Laura Petrecca, 530,000 new businesses were started every month in 2009.  To improve the state of our economy we must first improve our individual and family financial situations.  More Americans need to think outside the box and start a business that will enable them to make a profit from their passions.

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Businesses have a huge amount of power to change society.  They can convince people to buy a certain product or to shop somewhere else. The criticisms occur after people have followed the guidance of these self-serving corporations and as a result found dissatisfaction.  Companies also find critics from those that they employee.  Employees find dissatisfaction in a company that does not keep its promises and fails to meet the employee’s needs. Some things never change.

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What was once considered good PR, or window dressing for community relations is no longer a choice. Consumers, employees and society expect corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from most if not all corporations.  This has driven companies to become more involved either in supporting their own causes or causes that support rehabilitating the environment, which they are destroying.  What does a company do to engage in the community or corporate philanthropy?

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Culture

“A system of shared knowledge, values, norms, customs and rituals acquired by social learning” (Textbook 37).  The emphasis on “social learning” implies that culture is not genetic and that one person can be immersed in and a part of many cultures.  As an example my parents instilled in me a culture, one that was based on their knowledge, experience and religious beliefs.  I came to know this culture through communication and the example they set.  Our class, mainly due to the teachers unique teaching style has a culture of its own.  There seems to be a unity or bond between the students because of the level of discussion we have in class.  We are open to discussing and sharing almost anything with each other because there is this relaxed no pressure atmosphere that the teacher presents in his teaching style.  As in a business, there is typically some diversification of cultures primarily because each person has a different cultural background.  However, in a business environment these individuals regardless of their cultures must become familiar with a “corporate culture”: that is the values, ethics, beliefs and behaviors that a corporation has and displays in its day-to-day operations.

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Business Ethics

Examining the good versus the bad in any situation where a business is faced with making a decision.  Generally these “business ethics” are prewritten and predetermined in order to support making the correct decision.  Businesses operate in a society and as such they are bound to duties and responsibilities within those societies.  Corporations should be held to a standard, they should be held accountable and their ethical systems should be made know to everyone that decides to do business with them.  How an organization chooses to conduct its business effects more then the parties directly related to that business.  Business ethics applies to all aspects of business conduct including both the individuals associated with an organization and the organization as a whole.  “Theoretically, a code of ethics sets guidelines for ideal behavior. However, in reality, it represents minimum standards of behavior. These minimum standards often become the goal, rather than a “trip wire” to signal unacceptable behavior.” (Schafer)

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