EC Business Ethics – Marlon

Ethical behavior is not always ideal for good business practice. In Edison’s case, he looked at it to be ethical because he was trying to promote the safety of the public and stop alternating current from taking more innocent lives. To some it was bad ethics because he contradicted himself by experimenting alternating current on living creatures. In modern time, Edison would be in jail for animal cruelty charges. His involvement with capital punishment was very unethical because their was an idea of killing. However, he let some people see how horrible AC really was.

Now in modern businesses I believe sometimes bad ethics promotes good business. Edison’s experimentation of animals to prove that DC was better than AC was very unethical in modern business. Another example of bad ethics that promote good business is the bootleggers that sell booze in the 1920s during the Prohibition. They sold booze even though it was illegal during that time. Selling booze in the black market was bad ethics but the people who sold gained vast amounts of money. Furthermore, most stores nowadays gives sales on products, but in the fine print they tell you that you have to pay the full price first. Then do the rebate to get the actual sale price. I believe that this process is bad ethics due to the fact that the stores try to take advantage of some people that forget to do rebate and don’t read the fine print. All in all, good business practice doesn’t always involve ethical behaviors.

EC Business Ethics – Elton

What Edison showed to the public to demonstrate that alternating current was an example of bad ethics.  The killing of anything to prove a point is bad ethics.  When he did this act it also lowered the reputation of the opposing competition, which is good for business.  Disgracing the name of a product will mean less people will trust it and less people will buy it.  Edison showed bad ethics by doing these demonstrations, but in turn provided a good business scheme to bring down the competition.  I believe this to be true because by my standards it is cruel to kill anything even if it means your going to be that much more successful.

Micron – Kolyo D.

Micron was an amazing place to visit in fact I want to extend a special thanks to Dr. Thompson for working hard to actually not get the trip canceled because of budget cuts due to the Economy. What we saw at Micron was an amazing display of robotics and human interaction thru computers and due to the great working environment that micron provides for the workers they are still required to wear those suits because the job requires cleanliness and organization. Overall it was a great experience and even thou the factory looked like it were completely safe there was a lot of unsafe chemicals and machinery used which shows how all of the employees had to be properly trained and educated to not panic in the event of an emergency. They are fully prepared to handle anything that might go wrong which just seem amazing to me. Overall a great experience.

Edison Electricution 2 – Kolyo D

Edison had an unethical position on the electric chair execution. His reasons for hiring brown to make the electric chair were purely due to his desire to discredit Westinghouse. He told Brown to make the electric chair and use the AC current system in hopes to actually discredit Westinghouse. His approach turned out to be unpractical because there was an old saying that I think applies very well to the situation and that is “If you can’t beat them join them”. Edison clearly knew that Westinghouse’s system was superior to his and he refused to admit it. Only bad thing came out of this for Edison. Kemmler suffered a painful and tortured death.

Linemen’s Death – Kolyo D.

First off the reason for linemen’s death is neither AC nor DC current. If linemen would have used proper procedure for wire repair he would have never been electrocuted. His mistake was that he lost balance and had to grab one of the wires for support and got electrocuted, which lead to him falling into all of the other wires and getting electrocuted some more until he died. all thou his death was a tragic one we will never know if he died from AC or DC current because there was both types of wires around him, all thou both currents are very dangerous it did not really matter which wire he grabbed on fell on. All thou some people speculate that AC is more dangerous than DC because AC has the capacity of higher voltage but DC is just as leather as AC you just need a higher enough frequency of any current to kill a human.

Lineman’s Death – Dave D

Dear Editor,

The tragic death John Feeks, a Western Union lineman, brought a harsh reality to the general public. We have now seen first hand how deadly electricity can be and I know it has made many people very sceptical about it’s use. I, on the other hand, believe that electricity will bring about a grand and new vision to the world and will change our lives as we know it. That being said I do not believe you should post articles condemning Westinghouse’s electrical system. I believe Westinghouse’s system will be much more efficient because of his ability to send electricity over long distances. While Edison’s system may be more safe, it is cost deficient. His system would require many ‘central stations’ to be installed throughout cities, driving the total cost of his electrical system through the roof. Although Westinghouse’s system has been proven fatal because of Mr. Feeks’ death, I think this will drive Westinghouse to create a much safer system. I do not believe something as great as his AC system should be thrown away because of a tragic accident like this, other inventions such as cars and trains have proven to also be fatal yet this are still widely used throughout our society. I think people should embrace this new innovation while still being careful of it’s dangers.

Very Respectfully,
              Anonymous Citizen

Extra Credit on ethics and business-June Sri

Good business practices do not always involve with ethical behavior. Edison’s involvement in capital punishment was very unethical, yet very profitable for his business. Looking from economic and business world perspective, Edison tried to decrease the demand for Westinghouse’s AC system and increase the demand for his DC system. DC system, as a substitute of AC system, would be used more. Edison did quite a right thing in business world if no ethical issue was concerned.

I think that tactics that Edison used do not directly justify in modern business, but those tactics come in another form that look more ethical. We could see that in modern business world such as an unethical business practices in US health insurance companies. Some insurance companies do not tell the consumer about many health exceptions that would not be covered in an insurance. Some consumers spend all money they gain from work to pay for health insurance, and that when the insurance doesn’t cover their health issue, they could not effort to get help from the doctor. Another example is the bank’s unethical overdraft fee practices. Many banks give a special offer to people with low income. Those banks want people with low income to overuse their money, become overdraft, and do not effort to pay those money back. When those people do not effort to pay back, and they have to find other ways to get money otherwise the dept would continuously increase (which is what banks want to happen). Some people lose everything they have in life because of those depts. Some people commit suicide because they could not find the way to get out of the dept. Bank companies were very beneficial from those overdraft fee from low income families. They get a great profit out of it, but they had a very unethical business behavior. Good business practices do not always involve with ethical behavior.

Linemen’s Death – Wesley C

Dear Editor,

It is well known that the death of John E.H. Feeks was incineration by high voltage electric wires. Rest in peace, fellow Mr. Feeks. I do not deny that Feeks’ death was tragic, but, to throw away something as amazing as Alternating Current is equally a tragedy. There is nothing in this world that is purely good. Every hero has his faults, much like every technology has its dangers. Electricity has proven to be a great power, providing the powers of fire but without the uncontrollability. The implications of AC are vast, and revolutionary. Yes, perhaps some safety precautions must be enacted, and surely, they will be, but to completely deny a technology solely because of one unforeseen incident is outrageous, and the convenience we sacrifice by denying Alternating Current is too much. Now that the horrible danger of our AC is known, we can focus on prevention of another occurrence. Perhaps we’ll wrap our electric power lines with Remember, our technology is new, and very little is known about it, but it is also powerful and great.

Sincerely,
Alexander Carlson

Lineman’s Death – Robert

Dear Editor,

Although the horrible death of John Feeks, a Western Union lineman, was caused by Alternating Current, it does not mean that AC current is less safe than DC current. Mr. Feeks was removing dead wires from a large mass of wires when he received a shock. He then grabbed another wire to steady himself and was electrocuted. He then fell into a large network of wires and was electrocuted again until he died. However, the type of wires that he touched and the type of current running through them are unknown. The reason that Mr. Feeks died was because he was because he was not taking the correct safety measures. While Alternating Current is still dangerous and can still kill a person if it’s voltage is high enough, this fact is also true for Direct Current. AC current is a better choice for our country because it can provide power to a much much larger area then DC current. It can do this by using transformers, which can raise or lower the voltage running through the wires.

Sincerely,

An informed citizen

Lineman’s Death – Ryan C

Through the past decade that the general public has been provided with electricity, be it from an alternating current or a direct current, there have been a minimum number of misfortunes. As with any new technology, there are unavoidable accidents which result largely from ignorance and inexperience as we explore the new capabilities and flaws of the new technology. These accidents are regrettable and sometimes tragic; however, for society to develop and progress, new technologies must be developed and tested. As a concerned customer of the Westinghouse Electric Company, I do not believe the solution to this issue lies in the elimination of a new technology (and thus entire companies), but within the local government to require standards of safety within all electrical companies. We have an amazing new technology on our hands that can only lead to an improved standard of living for the peoples of the great United States and the world, but it is up to us to develop the technology that will aid posterity, not hinder it.

 

Charles Harrison