Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy Essay - 1377 Words

SUMMARY CRITIQUE OF: â€Å"Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy† (by David Callahan) In â€Å"Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy,† author David Callahan explains the fundamental reasons for the decay of simple business ethics in today’s economy in order to meet bottom line standards. Callahan draws conclusions from everyday businesses such as auto mechanic services, law offices, and even professional medical firms to prove that people will almost always choose financial stability over integrity. The economic life in America has transformed itself into a vast land of professionals focused on achieving â€Å"lean and mean† businesses in efforts to achieve the â€Å"American Dream,† but in essence lose sense of their morals. What happens when an employee is†¦show more content†¦Not to our surprise, the employee would almost always choose their economic stability over their integrity. It is still not easy to say that the employee’s conscious didn’t warn t hem of the risks, the first time. It begins with just a simple upgrade tune up and then trickles to $1,000 in new auto parts. If we look back at the Sear’s auto mechanic example, a mechanic could easily convince the customer that their car needed a whole new system because of the customer’s lack of knowledge of the subject. The customer automatically assumes there is a guaranteed trust commitment to their service, but in turn gets fooled. The evidence unearthed by investigators found nearly identical reports of cheating at one Sears auto repair shop after another. The art of deception played a key role in fooling customers. The â€Å"ordinary people† at the New York City law firms were bound by an oath to abide a rigorous code of ethics (Callahan 33). Though these lawyers dealt with legal affairs of America’s largest companies, they were faced with not meeting year end billing requirements. In the most desperate cases of being downsized, lawyers turned t o padding their hours by simply making up the numbers. They rounded up their hours and added in miscellaneous hours which was described as the â€Å"new math† (Callahan 39). â€Å"Let me tell you how you will start acting unethically†¦OneShow MoreRelatedVolkswagen s Impact On The World s Best Known Car Manufacturers1584 Words   |  7 Pagesthat the company was involved in. Volkswagen failed in establishing the triple bottom line, social responsibility, and sustainability. The long and commonly held belief was that the only responsibility of business was to maximize the wealth of its shareholders. Today, however, companies must be socially responsible and focus on what is now called the â€Å"Triple Bottom Line† that is compromised of: environment, economy and people. All of this ties into the sustainability goals that companies are nowRead MoreAmerican Culture : The People s Way Of Life Essay1747 Words   |  7 Pagesappear not to be bothered by whether they are right or wrong. 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