a.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bpf_sHebLI

Please watch the link or read the What Would You Do section in the text on the page below, then answer the below two questions.

The Social Responsibility of Business, p. 71

1. Would your business be driven primarily by a particular social mission or simply by economics? 2. How do you think stakeholder relationships would influence your approach to business? Why?

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? The Social Responsibility of Business There are two opposing views about how businesses, and large publicly held corporations in particular, should approach ethics and social responsibility. One view holds that businesses should behave ethically within the marketplace but concern themselves only with serving shareholders and other investors. This view places economic considerations above all others. The other view is that stakeholders are not the means to the end (profit) but are ends in and of themselves as human beings (see our earlier discussion of deontological ethics in Ethics from Antiquity to the Present). Thus, the social responsibility of business view is that being responsible to customers, employees, and a host of other stakeholders should be not only a corporate concern but central to a business's mission. In essence, this view places a premium on the careful consideration of stakeholders. Consider what approach you might take if you were the CEO of a multinational corporation. Critical Thinking . Would your business be driven primarily by a particular social mission or simply by economics? . How do you think stakeholder relationships would influence your approach to business? Why?CASES FROM THE REAL WORLD Amazon Sets a Demanding Pace on the Job In a visit to an Amazon distribution center, a group of business students and their professors met with the general manager? After taking them on an extensive tour of the ve-acre facility, the general manager commented on the slowness of the visitors' walking pace. He described the Amazon Pace, a fast, aggressive walk, and conrmed that the average employee walks eight or nine miles during a shift. These employees are called "pickers," and their task is to ll an order and deliver itto the processing and packing center as quickly as possible. The design of the center is a trade secret that results in a random distribution of products. Therefore, the picker has to cover a number of directions and distances while lling an order. Those who cannot keep up the pace are usually let go,just as would be those who steal. 'his OpenStax book is available for free at httpu'icnx.orgicontenticol25?22!1.3 :hapter 3 Dening and Prioritizing Stakeholders 71 Critical Thinking - Does the requirement to walk an average of eight or nine miles at a fast pace every day strike you as a reasonable expectation for employees at Amazon, or any other workplace? Why or why not? Should a company that wants to impose this requirement tell job applicants beforehand? - Is it ethical for customers to patronize a company that imposes this kind of requirement on its employees? And if not, what other choices do customers have and what can they do about it? - The center's general manager may have been exaggerating about the Amazon Face to impress upon his visitors how quickly and nimbly pickers ll customer orders for the company. If not, however, is such a pace sustainable without the risk of physiological and psychological stress? WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Flooding in Houston: Is the Status Quo Sustainable? A symbiotic relationship exists between development and flooding in urban areas such as Houston, Texas. Imagine you are a member of the urban planning commission for the city council of Houston, which recently suffered traumatic flood damage from several major storms, including Hurricanes Harvey and Ike, and Tropical Storm Allison, all of which occurred since 2001 and caused a total of approximately L12 Chapter 4 Three Special Stakeholders: Society, the Environment, and Government $75 billion in damages. The floods also caused dozens of deaths and changed the lives of millions who lived through them. Future storms may increase in severity, because climate change is warming ocean waters. The mayor and the city council have asked the planning commission to propose specific solutions to the flooding problem. This solution must not rely exclusively on taxpayer funds and government programs, but rather must include actions by the private sector as well. One of the most direct solutions is a seemingly simple tradeoff: The greater Houston area must reduce the percentage of land covered by concrete while increasing the percentage of land dedicated to green space, which acts like a sponge to absorb flood waters before they can do severe damage. The planning commission thinks the best way to accomplish this is to issue a municipal ordinance requiring corporate developers and builders to set aside as green space an amount of land at least equal to what will be covered by concrete, (neighborhoods, office buildings, parking lots, shopping centers). However, this will increase the cost of development, because it means more land will be required for each type of project, and as a result, developers will have higher land costs. Critical Thinking . As a member of the urban planning commission, you will have to convince the stakeholders that a proposal to require more green space is a workable solution. You must get everyone, including developers, investors, neighborhood homeowner associations, politicians, media, and local citizens, on board with the idea that the benefit of sustainable development is worth the price. What will you do? Is this a matter that should be regulated by the local, state, or federal government? Why? Who pays for flood damage after a hurricane? Are your answers to this question and the preceding one consistent?CASES FROM THE REAL WORLD Corporate and Personal Choices Regarding the Environment of the Future The car manufacturer Tesla is developing new technologies to allow people to reduce their carbon footprint. In addition to a line of electric cars, the company makes other renewable energy products, such as roofing tiles that act as solar energy panels, and promotes longer-term projects such as the Hyperloop, a high-speed train project jointly designed by Tesla and Spacex. Of course, if businesses are to succeed in selling environmentally friendly products, they must have consumers willing to buy them. A homeowner has to be ready to spend 20 percent more than the cost of 16 Chapter 4 Three Special Stakeholders: Society, the Environment, and Government a traditional roof to install solar roofing tiles that reduce the consumption of electricity generated by fossil fuels (Figure 4.9). Figure 4.9 Although solar panels can reduce your carbon footprint, the tiles are much more expensive than standard roofing tiles. (credit: "Typical Solar Installation" by Tim Fuller/Flickr, CC BY 2.0) Another personal decision is whether to buy a $35,000 Tesla Model 3 electric car. While it reduces the driver's carbon footprint, it requires charging every 250 miles, making long-distance travel a challenge until a national system of charging stations is in place. Tesla's founder, Elon Musk, is also the founder of SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer that produces and launches the only space-capable rockets currently in existence in the United States. Thus, when NASA wants to launch a rocket, it must do so in partnership with SpaceX, a private company. It is often the case that private companies develop important advances in technology, with incentives from government such as tax credits, low-interest loans, or subsidies. This is the reality of capital-intensive, high-tech projects in a free-market economy, in which government spending may be limited for budgetary and political reasons. Not only is SpaceX making the rockets, but it is making them reusable, with long-term sustainability in mind. Critical Thinking . Should corporations and individual consumers bear joint responsibility for sustaining the environment? Why or why not? What obligation does each of us have to be aware of our own carbon footprint? If individual consumers have some obligation to support environmentally friendly technologies, should all consumers bear this responsibility equally? Or just those with the economic means to do so? How should society decide