Last March 20th, our group went to Manila Boy's town for Service Learning activity. This charity is located in Parang, Marikina. Let me get this out of my chest... OH MY GULAY THOSE BOYS WERE SO MAKULIT! Due to the
increasing number of small children roaming helplessly in different places of
Manila without their homes and families, lost along the way and/or abandoned by
their parents, the creation of Foundling Home was established. The Mahay
Foundling Home was built to create a place to keep children away from harm and
at the same time be afforded of the needed love and affection for their normal
growth and development.
Their vision is to
provide shelter, education, utmost care, protection and guidance through a
package of residential care and services of the institution that will
adequately prepare the children for Christian living, good citizenry and better
future.
There is need for children to inculcate moral values and positive attitudes so they can become productive, responsible and healthy members of the community. They should be provided with learning opportunities and enhance their socio-economic stability, self-sufficiency and social responsibility. There is a need to develop self-worth and sense of dignity and proper perception of their roles as members of the family and the community.
Our Service
Learning included the following activities:
1.Good Manners and Right Conduct
Session– Integrate positive values, attitudes and habits to their daily
activities such as table manners, greetings, and performance of simple
household chores
2.Waste Management Session – educating
the kids on the importance of recycling and its impact to the environment
3.Fun Learning Activities –
playing, storytelling and team games which offers opportunities for creativity,
camaraderie and teamwork
It was tiring but rewarding. At the end of the day, learned a lot and we will cherish this experience forever.
Our group discussed the Marcopper Mining Accident.
The
first operations for the Marcopper mine date back to 1956, when the company
Placer Dome Limited became active in the area by undertaking extensive
geological mapping and drilling. Mining operations started in 1969 through the
exploration of the Mt. Tapian ore deposit, containing copper concentrate, as
well as gold and silver.
The
first disaster happened in 1993, when the Marcopper silt dam in the
Maguilaguila creek collapsed and flooded nearby villages and the Mogpog River,
which has long suffered from recurring floods due to siltation caused by the
collapse. The colors of the river, ending in the Tablas Straight, have ranged
from peach to brown to gruesome red and toxic green or violet. Flooding was so
severe that several houses were swept away. Livestock, crops and farmland was
destroyed, the river was heavily polluted and two children were drowned.
Our group's objective for the case analysis was to be able to determine what Marcopper should have done after the accident so we could resolve its environmental and social impact.
Our group presented 3 alternative courses of action :
1.Continue not doing anything
2. Continue Operating
and participate in the cleanup effort
3. Discontinue mining
but do other business using current resources and participate in cleanup effort
Based on the Markkula
Framework, we recommend ACA 3(Discontinue mining but do other business using
current resources and participate in cleanup effort) due to the following
reasons:
Improve the environmental
and social condition in Marinduque
It will ease the tension
between Marcopper and the people of Marinduque and build a relationship of
trust
Marcopper will gain public
acceptance, improve its branding and most likely gain customer loyalty
Marcopper will gain investor
confidence
Company leaders and their
employees can take genuine pride in their accomplishments knowing that
they abided all the rules or hurt people by accomplishing their goals
The Royal Dutch/Shell Group forms one of the world's largest
businesses. It has a complex corporate organization which consists of more than
2,000 companies worldwide ultimately controlled by two parent companies. The
"Shell" Transport and Trading Company, a U.K.-registered company, has
a 40% interest in the group, and the remaining 60% is owned by the Royal Dutch
Petroleum Company, a Netherlands company. Collectively, the group is involved
in oil and gas exploration, production, refining, transportation, and
marketing. It has large interests in chemicals--it was probably the world's
ninth, largest chemicals business in the late 1980s--and diversified activities
in coal and metal mining, forestry, solar energy, and biotechnology. MOSOP campaigned against the environmental damage caused
by oil extraction in the Ogoni region of Nigeria and for increased autonomy for
the Ogoni ethnic group.
Should Shell continue its operation in Nigeria given the various human rights violations and environmental deterioration related to its business operation? There are strengths and weaknesses to this scenarios mainly : Strengths
Shell is the largest in size
and revenue in the global oil industry. It is a leader in the
LNG(Liquefied Natural Gas) where a portion of resource some from Nigeria.
Due to the strong
exploration capability in Nigeria, there is a guarantee of continued activity
and increase in financial growth over the decades.
Weakness
Human Rights and
Environmental Issues can degrade the image of the company due to different
regimes and policies. Due to its strong presence in Nigeria, the company
might be forced to withdraw because of security problems and attacks on
production.
Shell’s ethical code of
conduct has become under scrutiny due to different allegations of
corruption. Employees were involved in various deals to pay bribes to the
Nigerian military and other foreign citizens. The company also hid the
nature of the payments to avoid suspicion.
In our opinion, Shell should continue business
but operation will be based on international regulations and ethical
considerations due to the following reasons:
It will ease the tension
between Shell/Military and the Ogoni Tribe and build a relationship of
trust
Promotes better culture on
ethics and a higher sense of social responsibility amongst the employees.
Employees produce best in an open and ethical environment.
Shell will gain public
acceptance, improve its branding and most likely gain customer loyalty
Shell will gain investor
confidence
Company leaders and their
employees can take genuine pride in their accomplishments knowing that
they abided all the rules or hurt people by accomplishing their goals.
Lamoiyan
is the company that manufactures Hapee Toothpaste in the Philippines. With
prices 30% lower than the leading brands, Hapee is the 3rd
toothpaste brand in the country. Moreover, this is a company where corporate
social responsibility is embedded in its vision and mission statements.
Tangibly, they are employing hearing-impaired individuals to work in the
assembly line and foster a culture of tolerance among its employees (i.e. basic
training on sign language to non-hearing impaired employees etc). While there
are both upside and downside to investing in the skill set of hearing-impaired
employees, a threat presented in the case is the lowered costs of competitors
by outsourcing marketing, accounting and operations to third-party agencies.
Given all that best practices, How do we sustain Lamoiyan Corporation
despite competitors’ efforts in decreasing production costs (i.e.
Contractualization and outsourcing)?
The Group presented 3 alternative courses of action :
1. Maintain the status quo of the company and
continue leveraging the employees’ skillset
2. Complete transition to contractualization and
outsourcing
3. Devise retrenchment program for hearing-impaired
employees to decrease long-term cost
The group chose alternative 3 which I totally agree because of the following reason:
·The
transition of competitors to outsourcing is still a threat.
·There
are other ways to control costs in the company to maintain market lead, in
terms of price.
·Based
on the Markkula Analysis, this is the ACA that is most in line with the
company’s mission and vision statements.
·There
are various ways available to support growth employees and still leverage on
this (i.e. loyalty of employees, quality of the products)
Gap faced several labor cases, more particularly on child labor from their different factories worldwide. In El Salvador, their partner Mandarin Oriental paid it's workers about 12 cents for assembling clothes that would've retailed for $20 in the US. Workers would have to work for long hours with very low wages. There were reported violence against union supporters, sexual harassment from the supervisors, lack of drinking water, and even not being allowed to use the rest rooms and being forced to sweep the factory grounds under the hot sun as punishment. In Honduras, 13 yo girls worked 13-hour shifts and paid only 31 cents an hour. Girls would have to undergo pregnancy tests, had to work without overtime pay.
We could try to understand this case from different perspectives. On the outset, working can be harmful to the physical, mental and moral development of a child. Child labor is defined by the International Labor Organization as 'work that deprive children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity.' From the perspective of the children who live off from work, they can argue that we do not understand the depth of poverty in these countries. Families rely on child labor so they can survive. Children do not have to attend school because education was not compulsory. Come to think if it, working did not deprive them from going to school because they did not have to in the first place. From a business point of view, outsourcing from third world countries compounded by hiring underage workers drops overhead costs. However, companies cannot withstand the negative publicity associated with this practices--that is, if the company gets caught. How do we solve this problem then? We should have a way to improve the standard of living. A universal public education should be a norm and an imposed child labor law that prohibits this problem must be in practice. In the mean time, companies should at least provide a best working environment to these children.
The
movie ‘The
Smartest Guys in the Room’is a comprehensive history and analysis of
the rise of Enron and its dramatic and catastrophic collapse. It starts when Ken
Lay becomes CEO of Houston Natural Gas and concludes with the collapse of Enron.
Along the way it paints a fascinating and compelling picture not only of what
Enron did as a company, but also the personalities that ran it and the details
of where and how it went wrong.
The core of the Enron story is the people,
an array of brilliant, egotistical, and arrogant executives who create a
corporate culture that selects for raw intelligence and vicious competition and
discards most of the social virtues typical of a corporation. Both the
intelligence and the arrogance come through clearly. Whatever else those
involved in the Enron story were, they were smart. The company was filled with
people capable of solving advanced equations in their head, and brilliant
economists who came up with both revolutionary trading techniques and ways of
exploiting legal loopholes before anyone else. That it captures not only the
weaknesses but also the strengths of Enron and shows how much talent was let
loose in an environment with no effective controls.
I think that one of the obvious systemic causes of the Enron
scandal is the legal and regulatory structure. First, laws regulations allow
firms to provide consulting services to a company and then turn around and
provide the audited report about the financial results of these consulting
activities. This is an obvious conflict of interest that is built into the
legal structure.
Second, a private company like Enron currently hires and pays its
own auditors. This again is a conflict of interest built into the legal system
because the auditor has an incentive not to issue an unfavorable report on the
company that is paying him or her.
Third, most large companies like Enron are allowed to manage their
own employee pension funds. Again, this is a conflict of interest built into
our legal system because the company has an incentive to use these funds in
ways that advantage the company even when they may disadvantage employees.
And fourth, most companies like Enron have codes of ethics that
prohibit managers and executives from being involved in another business entity
that does business with their own company. But these codes of ethics are
voluntary and can be set aside by the board of directors. The managers and executives,
of course, have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the company and
its shareholders, But the law leaves considerable discretion to managers and
executives to exercise their own business judgment about what is in the best
interests of the company.
Add to
this, in an individualistic point of view, managers at Enron grew arrogant,
thinking themselves as invincible. Due to its leaders, there was a tendency for
the company to seal itself off from forces on the outside. Or perhaps it was
the corporate culture in which they operated that led to the problem. They had
rank-and-yank performance appraisal system, which eliminated anyone who fell
behind, survival of the fittest as they say.
It
was painful to watch the outcome of this scandal. However, I am more pleased
that I had the opportunity to watch this movie as this shows an accurate
picture of what us, the future leaders would have to deal with in the near
future.
Ok, it's the second time we have an ethics analysis regarding Ford. Hopefully this is not indicative of the company's priorities and values nowadays. Here's the link of the case.
To summarize: Car has tire/gear problem. Ford blames Firestone. Firestone blames Ford. People die.
According to investigation, there were 46 deaths and more than 300 incidents involving the Firestone tires in Ford Explorer. There was a tire recall but long after all the injuries and deaths. Of course the company face a lot of mounting lawsuits.
Who then should be accountable? According the the presenters, the Explorer's lack of stability was mainly due to lower recommended psi and also due to the modifications which were made to the Firestone ATX and Wilderness tires. Ford Executives however, put the blame on Firestone with now the infamous statement 'it is not a vehicle problem and is a Firestone problem'.
The group presented various alternative courses of action at the moment when Ford and Firestone knew about the issue. Ford should have not lowered the psi and modified the firestone and wilderness tires just to lower costs and pressured to hasten the quality assurance process just to meet the release/introduction deadline. Ford should have at least sent a notification to their consumers of the modification made. Firestone on the other hand, should've had their own quality control and made sure that the tires attached to the car would be on par. They should not have signed-off releasing the car without their recommended psi. This case wouldn't have been as messy if they did not point fingers at each other and blame one another for the fault that is clearly directed at them both. It would be best that when this issue came about, they immediately recalled the units, modified its configurations and changed it cars. The cases filed were dragging and left an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
We had an ethics/business analysis of Brian's Franchise. Here is the link of the 2-pager case.
The ethical dilemma in this case was to determine whether Brian should continue or stop his marijuana planting business. The presenting group gave 3 alternative courses of action :
Continue selling in Amsterdam
Change business model
Plant something else aside from marijuana
The group determined that Brian should discontinue selling marijuana and focus on other plants to cultivate.
The class also provided other alternative course of action: Brian can sell marijuana to legal channels such as pharmaceuticals as medicine. This sparked a bit of debate amongst the class because it crossed a fine line between ethics and business.
I agree with the presenting group's recommendation to stop selling marijuana because I have seen the effects of this drug to a close relative. Seeing someone that you love spiral down because of addiction is heartbreaking. Brian in the case is a bright young fellow that can choose to jump careers because he has the talent to do so. He is not in dire need of money and does not have a family to support. True, there are losses on costs if he jumps ship, however, could he see himself being the person who supplies drugs to addicts whom are not only wasting their life but their family's as well?
The case in my eyes was black and white and does even a tinge of gray in it. Everything is a choice and we should always do the correct one.
I am thankful that I am connected with institutions that value charity. Through their guidance, I have experienced tree planting, assisting the elderly, take care of orphans, teaching children in an indigenous community, build houses for the families who were affected by the typhoon, and so much more.
As part of my MBA curriculum, I am again fortunate enough to have an opportunity to help. We were asked to create a CSR activity with our chosen community or charity. Since we believe that the children are our future, we chose to help out Tuloy Foundation which helps out orphaned children. According to their profile, Tuloy Foundation has been in the service of poor, abandoned and orphaned children, particularly the ones of the streets, since 1993. These children, coming from impoverished families, are helped by the foundation through a comprehensive program that provides the stability and security of a home, education, practical skills training, and equipping them with healthy values for their transformation into contributing members of future generations. Tuloy is heavily dependent on donors and benefactors to cover for food, basic needs and education. As of now, there are about 220 resident and 800 non-resident children in our care that are hopeful because every donation that comes in means that another child can be able to eat, live and study. The health of kids are often neglected because of that, we chose provide medicines for the sickly orphans. For this CSR activity, we will organize a fund drive to raise money to buy the needed medicines. Personally, I will seek help of my friends, office mates and family members to donate. I'll research more on how I could raise more money, though. According to an article from Harvard Business Review, there are 5 reasons why we should donate to charity:
May improve your sense of well-being
Supporting a cause can help you feel informed about issues of social injustice
Giving to charity out of Spiritual conviction can strengthen your spiritual life
Volunteering with charity may result in physical and social benefits
Donations are tax deductible (For businesses only)
I can't help but to feel excited in executing our Service Learning Activity!
My dad adores his Ford Explorer. He does not like anyone to drive his car, not even his children who maybe a better driver than he is. It maybe my Dad's influence on me, but I have always had a fond interest in Ford Cars. I've been drooling over the Mustang GT500 for 3 years now.
For this weeks session, we were asked to analyze the Ford Pinto Case. To summarize, company builds car, car has terrible problem, company ignores it, people die. In 1968, then Ford president Lee Iaccoca decided that the company would not sit idly by as new Japanese competitors dominated the small car segment. He pushed the board to green light the Pinto Program and a couple of months later, the program was underway. It had impressive targets, weighing no more than 2000 pounds, priced at $2000 and a delivery deadline of just 25 months. I guess it's too good to be true for Ford. A problem was quickly discovered in the fuel tank design. The fuel tank, positioned behind the rear axle and in front of the rear bumper would tear away and spill fuel beneath the car. Also, the tank was easily punctured by bolts protruding from the differential and nearby brackets. This would create fire in seconds. Engineering teams quickly proposed solutions such as installing tank shields or borrow a design Ford already used in it's Capri--a much safer gas tank. Ford still pushed the Pinto into production. According to Motherjones, by conservative estimates Pinto crashes have caused 500 burn deaths to people who would not have been seriously injured if the car had not burst into flames. The figure could be as high as 900. So who is to blame for all these?
Safety Engineers were apprehensive to tell Ford President Lee Iacocca about the flaws in the design as they knew it wouldn't matter. If anyone would mention it to Iaccoca according to a Ford Safety Engineer "That person would have been fired. Safety wasn't a popular subject around Ford in those days. With Lee it was taboo. Whenever a problem was raised that meant a delay on the Pinto, Lee would chomp on his cigar, look out the window and say 'Read the product objectives and get back to work.'"
Why did Lee Ioccoca allow the
Ford Pinto to be released? Iacocca was in a hurry. He wanted the car in showrooms for the 1971
model year. That meant one of the shortest production planning periods in
modern automotive history: just 25 months, when the normal time span was 43
months. That also meant that the Pinto's tooling was developed at
the same time as product development. So, it was later alleged, when Ford
engineers found a serious defect in the gasoline tank, it was too late. The
tooling process was well under way.
With all that death's over his head, how could he set aside all that guilt?
Our professor showed us a Work - Leisure - Integration Matrix. Here's what it looks like :
We were asked to determine which level we are in the matrix and share it to our group.
So where am I in the matrix? Let me give you a brief background of myself. I am a 25 year old, female who recently left as job as an HR Advisor in a multi-national company to focus on their family business while studying MBA. I am not in a relationship, I love dogs and I have friends whom I occasionally go out with when I think I am financially capable to do so. I collect Loki merchandise and those little lego toys(I only collect villains). Career-wise, I feel like I am in a stand still. Granted, my father is happy that one of his young-lings finally took interest in the business he built and I am am happy that he is happy. However, I find working in our business a tad boring. Maybe I was accustomed to the fast paced, professional companies that I worked with before. Pay is not going well too, nowadays. I am given allowance, and I feel that by savings are slowly thinning up. I could go find another job, but after one of our Admin goes back from maternity leave(June, she hasn't left yet). I plan to work in HR again as soon as I get my father's consent. So if I were to choose which stage I am in for Work, I would be in Job:getting. I may sound like an ungrateful spoiled kid, but I am not ready to work in our business.. yet. Maybe after I have experienced being at the top when I've climbed up the corporate ladder. When I am not at work, I study. I am very thankful that I am taking up MBA right now. Aside from it being an escape from the monotony at work, it has become my beacon of hope(haha). I meet interesting people, I learn a lot and I am hopeful of what this course can offer me. Going out with friends may be challenging to do now, however, I know that it will be better towards the end of the year. I am beginning to find comfort with myself and with my family. I am currently in Utility for Leisure. Combined, I feel like I am still in the Gratification stage. I have 'work' and have fun but there is a gutting feeling that I am just coasting in life. I am living life on auto-pilot. I haven't done any major life changing decisions lately and I missed doing that. After ranting out about life, I often feel fueled. It is a good feeling.
Answering online assessments have become an unwelcomed hobby recently. From 'Which Spice Girl are you' to 'What fast food chain are you based on your favorite pizza topping?'--I've answered it all.
A few weeks ago, We were asked to answer a values assessment. Sure enough, I had a relatively easy time answering. I did a personality test October of last year. Here is the result:
Your values show:
Seeking new opportunities to develop and grow helps you find a deep sense of meaning and progress in your life
Utilising the wisdom of your experience to guide and benefit others adds meaning to your life.
You have high aspirations and seek to improve your circumstances.
You like to ensure information is clearly understood and expressed.
You see possibilities where others cannot and you have an understanding of the steps needed to get there.
You seek holistic balance by striving to maintain harmony in all aspects of your life.
Experience has provided you with insight and understanding, enabling you to think clearly and to guide others.
Ohmygoodness I sound like a saint!
After taking both test done online and in school, I have learned that values are fundamental to each and every person and help provide us with personal, social and cultural worth; in essence, they shape our identity and help us find our place in society. Not only do they guide us by signifying what is important, good or useful, but they can also inspire and motivate us. Regardless of social and cultural differences, mums globally see the responsibility of instilling values as their individual role.
Life Plan... To those that haven't found their purpose or even iffy to set goals in life, composing a Life Plan is difficult feat. It's embarrassing to say, but I am part of that group. Well, I do have plans in life but I tend to do it in the most obscure kind of way. The more abstract my plan is, the better. I find comfort in the assurance that I have a higher chance for success if I lack the timeline and metrics for it. It all changed when I was required to to a career and life plan for an assignment. I was put into a pedestal, and I did not have a choice but to do it(maybe I did, it was just risky not do it for my grades sake).
Part of that life plan was to create a personal vision and mission statement. After careful thought, I managed to come up with these:
Personal Vision Statement
I
envision myself as an individual of character and competence, committed to live
a life of passion, compassion, with a pursuit for excellence, while staying
true to self.
Personal
Mission Statement
My mission is to find
peacefulness within myself by looking inward while using my heart and mind to
pursue knowledge, creating balance among all my obligations. I want to build a
reputation of being dedicated to every goal I choose to pursue while having successes
in per personal and professional life.
An AHA moment! I didn't expect it, but these simple statements made a profound impact in me. When I was young, I was always intrigued what Serena must feel like when she transforms into Sailor Moon. I think I had a taste of that when I made my vision and vision. I felt a sudden surge of enlightenment because it put things into perspective. My actions are a reflection of what my vision and mission is in life. It was easier to create my career and life plan after that.
St. John Baptist De La Salle led a truly
remarkable life as he exhibited the following traits :
1.Risk Taker
When he was accidentally exposed to poverty chasing Andre,
he realized that he needed to help the impoverished. He sold all his assets to
finance his advocacy of educating the poor. He had the boldness to train
ordinary people to teach and went to other lands to develop other schools.
2.Innovator
During the 16th Century, schools did not have
any structure. Instructors would teach students one at a time, leaving the
other students rambunctious. Before their one on one with the instructors,
students would render work without appropriate pay. St. La Salle introduced the
class system where children were taught in groups. St. La Salle also made a
class schedule where students would attend class at a specific time and would
end on time. This arrangement is far more efficient and effective than their
previous system.
3.Servant Leader
According Robert
Greenleaf, a servant leader is servant first, it begins with the natural feeling
that one wants to serve, to serve first. St. La Salle embodied this concept as
he gave up all this material belongings to serve the poor. He believed that
leading to educate the poor would lead the next generation to a better future.
He specifically shown he was a servant leader when he gave out all his bread to
the poor and not minding that there was nothing left for him and his teachers.
4.Mentor
St. La Salle
acted as a positive role model to all the brothers, teachers and his students.
He was willing to share his skills, knowledge and expertise because he believed
his cause was for the better good. He was very approachable to the children and
had the ability to listen and see what needs to be changed in a person or even
the society, and focus on that area or opportunity.
The life of
St. John Baptist De La Salle taught me that we can perform miracles by touching
the hearts of people who are around us. People need a light that would guide
them to a gracious path. As positive role model, others should be able to see
in my wisdom how they should behave. As I am in a position of relative
influence in our company, the way I behave should be a representation to those I
teach. I should inspire and lead the staff by being gracious when it due and
encouraging to do better if there is an area of opportunity.
