Journal #4
By Lacey Robertson
Week 12
Summary and thoughts:
In week 10 we talked about the company Enron and how it
faked its financial statements to make the shares increase. We also talked
about the stakeholder model and employees. We talked about how companies donate
to charities for multiply different reasons like competition, refunds, and
identity. I think that this is a fair way to motivate businesses to do things
the more sustainable way. We talked about the difference between outsourcing
and offshoring and how it affects our jobs as Canadian. The full-time jobs are
becoming part-time jobs because offshoring is moving the full-time jobs to
places that have lower wages. We also talked a bit about immigration and how it
effects us; I liked how our professor made the point that our ancestors were
immigrants and that with out people immigrating from other countries our
population would be in a decline. I would also like to add that foreign people
also create jobs here because they have that opportunity to do that here where
in their county they may not be able to open there own store due to government.
I think more people should be like European Union and put its tax profit into
infrastructures and have profit sharing. We also talked about how sometimes
companies deceive us into watching there program or buying there
products/services and believing the things we hear on TV. I think that
companies should honest with their customers and not withheld information about
their company. I believe that what the companies are doing in order to make
profit seems illegal to me and I can’t see how the government doesn’t do
anything about it.
During the lecture we were talking about RRSP, which is a retirement
plans and how if you put twenty-five dollars into an RRSP account that by the
time you do retire you could be a millionaire. I realised how little of an
amount that was and how I really need to start saving now when I am no longer
able to work I will have still have the money I saved. I was thinking about
buying shares of a business just to help save the money for retirement. We also
talked more about the stoke market and how that works. We learned that it is
regulated and that you buy and sell share amongst each other only in a public
corporation. I wasn’t surprised to hear that Wal-Mart is a private corporation
because they want the most control over who is involved in there business. Companies
like that believe that efficiency is achieved through transparency and that the
more shares they have the more control they have. The teacher also mentioned
that when you work for a company you end up concentrating on make the share
price “tick” up and down and not the underlining business. I don’t want my job
to end up like that because I think that there is more to a company then the
profit it makes. I believe it’s unethical and it’s your responsible/duty to
your shareholders to be honest to them.
In week 11 we went over some of the terms that we learned in
the previous weeks. We also learned about how corporations donate to charities
and what the different forms are. When we were talking about charities the
teacher mentioned how there are arguments against donating. I think that it is
ridiculous to say it isn’t your responsibility to use your shareholders money
for other things because it isn’t up to them to help to the community it’s the brands
or corporations. It also has more benefits then cons like special tax returns
and good reputation. We also talked about how Nissan created the Meals-on-Wheels
charitable organization. I have seen those vans around and I think that it’s
amazing that Nissan made this possible because this does actually help the
community. We are often quoting a book from Tao Te Ching, which is one of the
oldest books in history; I would love to read some of this book for insight. I
wish that not everything we did was involved in business in some way weather it
be advertisement or the privatization of almost everything on the earth. It
makes me upset that business has become more about share prices and less about
good products and the levels of business have been completely forgotten about.
There is no excuse for businesses to not to things the sustainable way because
they can cover the triple bottom line without hurting anything else plus the
market demands that you are sustainable. After this class I just felt emotional
because I feel like there is so much people can do to help or change but just
don’t. I want to work in the field of CSR because it is something I feel strongly
about and I believe that it is the future of business. I feel strongly about it
because I have been a victim of businesses exploiting people for profits.
In week 12 I was in a fashion show during seminar and
lecture was on a holiday. By reading the lecture slide I saw we learned more about
the Stakeholder Management Model. During my fashion show I talked to other
models about being mistreated and being a model in general. Most models hate
the way that they are being treated and say they are like “cows in a heard” but
they like attention they receive and the opportunities there could be.
Questions and Opinions:
How would you manage
a business enterprise with the desire and intention to have a positive impact
on society?
I would make sure that my Shareholders have the same
interests as mine. I would also produce my products in a way that is almost
organic and I would make sure that I do things like plant trees in order to cover
the repercussions. I would also donate money to locate charities and insure
that I make an appearance at all locate charity events. I would also have an
employee program like Google’s. I believe Google has a good Business plan and
stagey.
What do you see in
the future of business?
I see business as more a community in the future. I hope to
see more change in the way of sustainability. I also hope to see the “assemble
line” process change to a new way of thinking. I can also see business being
more fast pace and having more government involvement.
Why have a Corporate
Responsibility Class?
I think that corporate responsibility is a very important
part of business because it is important to understand how people take
advantage and how to avoid things like that. I like knowing which corporations
are trustworthy enough to receive my service. Corporate responsibility is also
a trend and need now to be sustainable and to donate. People want to know that
they are doing good buy purchasing a product.
Does it matter if
corporations donate just to gain profits?
I think that profits are a great motivation for businesses
because that is something that is important to them. So if they need that sort
of motivation in order for them to change then I think its fine. I think that the
happiness and the respect you gain from doing good things for others should be
enough motivation but sometimes it isn’t.
Definitions:
Outsourcing: is
more cost effective because you can find someone else who can produce your
product faster and more cost efficient then you can.
Offshoring: Is
when companies move their productions to another place to lower wages and
overhead costs.
Profit sharing: is
when you give a share or a percent of the profits from your business to your
employees. [1]
Whistle blowing: is
when a former member or member of an organization releases information about the
organization in order to protest its illegal or immoral conducts.
Efficiency: is
when production uses the lowest resources to produce the greatest amount of
products/services.[2]
Transparency: “a situation in which business and financial activities are done in an open way without secrets, so that people can trust that they are fair and honest”[3]
Appreciation: is
when the value increases over a period of time.
Dividends: are percentages
of profit that belong to the shareholders of a corporation.
Mark-to-Market
accounting: “The
accounting act of recording the price or value of a security, portfolio or
account to reflect its current market value rather than its book value.”[4]
Links:
·
Suzuki website http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/climate-solutions/carbon-tax-or-cap-and-trade/
·
Carbon farmer – ten trees “Dragons den tree
planters” http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dragonns+den+tree+planters&sm=3
·
Experts
fret Canada becoming a ‘nation of part-time workers’ http://globalnews.ca/news/1510261/experts-fret-canada-becoming-a-nation-of-part-time-workers/
· Stats Can - Trends in manufacturing employment http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2009102/article/10788-eng.htm
References:
·
D2L. Fleming College https://fleming.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/34799/Home?itemIdentifier=D2L.LE.Content.ContentObject.ModuleCO-384086
·
Mark-to-market accounting. Investopedia. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marktomarket.asp
[1]
Profit Sharing definition. Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/profitsharingplan.asp
[3]
Transparency Definition. Cambridge dictionary. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/business-english/transparency
[4]
Mark-to-market accounting. Investopedia. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marktomarket.asp
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