Friedman

The Ethics Behind Advertising Alcohol to the Teenage Demographic

Kids who start drinking young are seven times more likely to be in an alcohol related crash.[1] Teen alcohol use kills about 6,000 people each year, more than any illegal combined drug.[2] Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and one out of three of those are alcohol related.[3] Based on the abovementioned statistics, it is evident that underage drinking is a growing epidemic that continues to plague the American social landscape. Although many attribute parents, peers and other environmental factors to shaping teenager’s perception of alcohol and alcohol consumption, “research on alcohol advertising and youth has shown small but significant correlations between exposure to alcohol advertising and drinking beliefs and behaviors.”[4] Regardless of the statistics, beer and alcoholic beverage companies continue to bombard the American public with alcohol marketing, often placing advertisements with youth-oriented themes in medium where audiences are predominantly underage.[5] Despite public outcries for change with the industry’s placement of advertisements during programs that are predominately viewed by underage audiences, beverage companies and their respective ad agencies would justify their practices with a Milton Friedman approach to stakeholder’s management. By focusing on a profit-driven model, companies can validate their practices, further perpetuating the growing rate of teen alcohol consumption. Ultimately, companies should adopt an Edward Freeman outlook on stakeholder theory, for ethically, it would satiate the demands and concerns of their apprehensive stakeholders while also acting in a more socially responsible manner. Continue reading →

Beyond the Game

Sheth and Babiak talk mention an NBA social responsibilty initaitive in their study of CSR and sports.

Milton Freidman’s article regarding the corporation’s social responsibility has been the most intriguing article I’ve read in this class all semester.  I agree with it on many levels, but also keep finding good arguments against it, as we have discussed in class.  I decided to dig a little deeper on Google Scholar, seeing which articles, specifically about sports, had cited Friedman.  367 articles had popped up as articles about or including sports that had also cited Freidman, but many past the first page only mentioned sports in passing and was not going to be useful.  The second article that was listed was unavailable to view, so I clicked on a link that gave me related articles.  After browsing for a few minutes,  I came upon an article from the Journal of Business Ethics published by Hela Sheth and Kathy Babiak, called “Beyond the Game: Perceptions and Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Professional Sport Industry.”  This was perfect, and it even cited both Friedman and Freeman.   Continue reading →

Scott Forstall: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Apple

Admittedly, what comes to mind when I think of Apple is the former head honcho, Steve Jobs.  But then again, who doesn’t?  As creative and innovative as Jobs was, there are many powerful brains that contribute to the success that Apple has had over the years.  Perhaps one of the most noteworthy contributors is Scott Forstall: Senior Vice President, iOS Software.

Before joining Apple, the Stanford grad worked at an American computer company called NeXT, Inc. where he developed core technologies.  In 1997, Forstall joined the Apple team when Apple purchased NeXT.  Today, Scott Forstall is the Senior Vice President of iPhone software at Apple.  Bloomberg Businessweek, in an article published in October 2011, named Forstall as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Apple.  Undoubtedly, Forstall has transitioned from once being a behind the scenes computer science genius to a much more visible member of Apple’s leadership team, particularly after the death of CEO Steve Jobs.  Not only is Forstall responsible for Apple’s mobile software division, which accounts for 70% of Apple’s revenues, but he is also the youngest senior executive at Apple.  Pretty remarkable, don’t you think?

Fast Company certainly seemed to agree, as they listed Scott Forstall as number two on their 2011 list of “The 100 most creative people in business.” In today’s world, Apple is known for their cutting edge innovations.  The company’s slogan, “think different” certainly describes the business model well.  Without a doubt, Apple’s success can be attributed to the company’s ability to innovate products that are not demanded by consumers.  This is not saying that these consumers don’t want Apple’s technologies, but rather that they don’t know they want them…yet.  According to an Outside Innovation article, Jonathan Seybold praises both Apple’s ability to look at where technology is going and the ability to innovate a new product that is not only better than an existing product, but one that is much different.  Not to mention, Apple is always a step or two ahead of the competition.

Over the past few weeks we’ve spoken a lot about the stakeholder theory and what responsibility a company has to its stakeholders.  It’s clear Apple’s identifies its stakeholders as Edward Freeman believes a company should.  Freeman believes that business must figure out how to create value for their customers, rather than solely focus on maximizing profits.  Apple operates by constantly innovating and creating value for their customers.  Although customers cannot imagine all of the new possibilities of products, Apple nevertheless spends each day finding ways to make their existing products better.  Steve Jobs once said, “we put ourselves in the customer’s shoes and ask: What do we want?”

Undoubtedly, Apple has created a powerful brand by never being complacent and always working to improve their existing products.  By putting themselves in the customer’s shoes, Apple has innovated products consumers never even imagined they could want.  Companies who struggle to create value should look up to Apple.  While not everyone on the Apple team can be recognized for their pivotal role in value creation, I’m very pleased that Scott Forstall had the opportunity to gain recognition for all of his hard work and dedication to the company.