Group Six Discussion

-Group Six-
Since the invention of currency, some people have attempted to gather money unfairly. From the absurdly high leverage of risky banks to the unsustainable business model of Charles Ponzi (seen to the left), the many ways to pilfer money are only limited by the imagination. The catch of course, is that business models are marked by an equal amount of instability as unfairness - No-one wants to lose their money through scam or guile. Conversely, win-win business models promote much more stability, as do ethical models in general. Bill Gates is renowned for his philanthropy and "billionaire's club" of charity, while maintaining his position as the richest man in America. Buying from Microsoft is akin to making a minor donation. Huntsman intends to leave an even more remarkable legacy of kindness, he intends to donate his entire fortune to charitable causes by the end of his life. Covey's 7 habits all point to ways in which we can build good business attributes and help others succeed without being "shady" in our approach to life and business.

After reading "Winners never cheat" and watching the movie about the current recession, do you believe it is easier to obtain success through honest principles, or is the better way to succeed in business is to cheat, lie, and steam roll other people over?

Remember that there are always two sides to the story. Carlie brought up examples from her economics class about how her Professor thought that the "Bribes" in other countries to get a foot in business was a part of the culture, a tax (If you will). Please be open minded with your thoughts and feel free to share them, this should be an easy way to share your feelings on business and what you feel is ethical. Responding to this can also be a great way to share one or more of the 5 required blog posts that have to be done in four weeks.

Work Space

My group read Tom Kelley's book, The Art of Innovation. This book is about the company IDEO and the process that they take to create new products. One of the keys to being creative and innovative that Kelley pointed out is the importance of working in a great space. So at IDEO they have a very creative and energetic work space, where employees are allowed to express themselves. A couple of days after reading this section in the book, I saw a story on the news about another company that also promotes having a fun and inviting work space. The picture above is one of the desks that can be found in a Zappos office. If you don't know, Zappos is an online apparel and home goods vendor. These are the types of desks that the customer service representatives sit at as they take calls regarding customer's complaints or problems. I personally have ordered products from Zappos before, and found that I needed to call in to the customer service department with a question. I have never talked to a more friendly and helpful sales representative in my life. They were very accommodating and gave me store credit, even when they were not at fault. After connecting all of these together, I wondered if there are even more benefits to a creative work space, besides just giving the employee that environment to be more creative with new ideas. Both IDEO and Zappos employees have the freedom to decorate their space how they want, which could then make them feel more at home while at work. Is it possible that having more of an emotional connection with a workspace would make an employee more comfortable, happier, and therefore more willing to be loyal and give their best effort to the company? I also found another example of this in the Pixar movie, Monsters Inc. At the end of the movie (spoiler alert) the monsters realize that children's laughter gives more energy than a scream does. So when the monsters change their focus on getting kids to laugh, the atmosphere of the work space changes, literally. The monsters put more work into their job, because they love to be there. I'd love to hear any of your experiences or opinions that relate to this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak-jzSuYb9Y Jaimie Beazer

Criticism pains?

Discussing the benchmarks in class today made me think of a quote by Winston Churchill (1874-1965). He said,

"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."

I think a lot of us who struggle with criticism may never have stoped to think of it in a such a light. --Pain is uncomfortable, but it is necessary to bring mortal danger to our awareness. If we ignore pain, we ignore our very survival and well-being. Criticism is much the same thing except its function is to alert us of other hazards that are holding us back from our potential success in all other walks of life. It hurts, but ignoring it will always render us worse off. The Covey Benchmarks are a great resource for constructive criticism. If we can view these criticisms as merely our "alert" of the qualities in our life that need to be remedied, and honestly strive to understand and act on them, then our benchmarks will in fact be one of the greatest tools for our life success.

Cason Wortley

Greed is Good (Group 8)

What did greed do to this country?

The deregulation of the banks was not necessarily the problem that led to the downfall, but rather the people in charge at the time of deregulation. The banks in 2008 saw greed and personal gain as being more important than the welfare of others. They had a mindset of getting wealthy quick, no matter the cost to others. How could the principles in "Winners Never Cheat," by Jon M. Huntsman, have been applied to help prevent the economic crisis of 2008?

Group 8: Michaela Ferguson, Blair Jensen, Blake Brinkerhoff, Cason Wortley, and J.D. Ogilvie

$$$ - Lauren Bagley

While watching the movie Inside Job, i cant help but realize that the world relies so much on money. From gambling to banking derivatives money is the main factor.  The business people who were filmed are those who let money take over their lives, and therefore it resulted in thousands of people loosing their houses and going into debt. It was also quite humorous to watch when those people being interviewed were to talk about a topic they did not feel to comfortable with or knew they were in the wrong. Usually these men would answer politely others would shutter and get angry at the interviewer.  Not to mention those men who had so much money, millions to be exact, and did not want to be confronted of it in front of the camera refused to be interview. What these men didnt realize is not only where their salaries staying at this incredible rate, but those who thought they had some sense of security with these men and their businesses, lost everything.
Lauren Bagley

Let's Not Be Too Hasty in Our Criticism

Like many of you I found my emotions being manipulated by the movie Inside Job. After all--that is the purpose of the movie and the people involved in the production are experts. However, I have lived long enough to know that things are not always quite as black-and-white as ideologues would like us to believe. For me, the financial collapse is a study in arrogance--but not necessarily a lapse of ethics. While I do believe that there are evil and conspiring men (and women) in the world, I do not think that there are very many people who are as evil as the Joker in Dark Knight. Yet that is the impression I was left with as I left class today. When I get that feeling, I always try to stop and reflect on my personal experience with people. My experience is that most people are generally trying to do their best within the limitations of their experience and their physical capacity. Let's be honest, we all have our own set of weaknesses and, yes, even moral lapses. If every decision we made and every action we took was subject to the intense scrutiny of an investigative reporter who was strategically cutting and pasting together his/her version of our life story we could all be made to look stupid, arrogant, lazy, immoral, etc. I am not suggesting that there wasn't some form of ethical lapse by many people who were involved in the collapse of the financial system. I do believe that many people are greedy--and that greed is a by-product of arrogance and self-righteousness. I do not believe greed is specifically restricted to people who work in the financial sector, or who participate in market exchange systems. Greed is not a function of the political sytem or the systems used to make and distribute goods and services--but rather is a manifestation of a deep human "flaw" that is manifest in small and large ways in every society and in every person. I really wish that I was not subject to these moral lapses in my own life--but alas I catch myself in the clutch of human weakness way too often to be too critical of others. For me the take away from the movie is that I need to increase my personal commitment to apply the timeless, universal and self-evident principles embedded in the Private Victory to my own choices and actions. After all, society is just a collection of individuals. Shouldn't our tendency to be critical of others be informed by a healthy skepticism of those who want to point out the weakness of others without ever turning the lens of inquiry on themselves? Who do you think paid for the movie Inside Job to be produced? What do you think the motive was for making the movie? Was it really produced as a public service to help us better understand the complexity of this issue--or were there more devious motives involved? I don't know the answers to any of these questions--but I do know that the world is very complex and when I feel my emotions so effectively manipulated I try to stop for a moment and engage the more critical thinking dimensions of my brain. This approach has never failed me in the past.

INSIDE JOB-ANDREW HOSTETLER

After watching the movie once again I was reminded that it's all about the money. From sports to business money can be the controlling factor in if we do something or now. People in the film inside job let there greed take over. When many people were confronted in interviews and asked why they did not say something they were usually blank, stuttered, or lost of words. It is because their pockets were getting deeper too. I remember the scene from the movie Dark Knight. Harvey just locked up many of the cities mobsters and the Mayor asks him if he is up for the challenge cause not only are the mobsters angry but those who were involved with them; cops, politicians, journalist, anyone whose wallet is about to get lighter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3AiU3JIRBw

Andrew Hostetler