American Business Culture in Novel and Film -- all Street, Martha Stewart, and a Cookbook Mix of Greed and Gracious Living
Perhaps the quintessential film about American business culture is Oliver Stone's 1987 drama "all Street." The film's infamous Gordon Gekko, as portrayed by Michael Douglass, is shown as a hollow charlatan whose ethos that "greed is good" highlights the corruption of American business culture. However, quite often, breaches of American business ethics are not nearly so obvious. The protagonist of the film, as portrayed by Charlie Sheen, is a callow and easily corrupted young man, eager to make money, and easily swayed by the promises of American capitalism.

However, although the general American business culture's lack value of ethics may 'feel' accurately portrayed in the film, in reality, quite often a lack of ethical norms is not quite so raw nor so obvious on all Street. Business people's reasons for starting…...

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Works Cited

Elias, Paul. (April 19, 2004). "ImClone Stock Passes Pre-Scandal Levels." AP Wire. Accessed on April 24, 2004 at  http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/business/article.adp?id=20040419173809990012 

Harrigan, Susan. (July 2, 20040. "When Greed is Good Gone Wrong." The Baltimore Sun. Accessed on April 24, 2004 at  http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bal-greed02,0,7607649.story 

Status of Corporate Scandals." AOL News. (April 24, 2004) Accessed on April 24, 2004 at  http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/business/article.adp?id=20040305155809990005 

Wall Street." (1987) Directed by Oliver Stone.

World War II -- Techniques Adopted by American usinesses to Expand War Production
During World War II, American industry geared up with several highly effective techniques. These techniques included but were not limited to: absorbing factories and workers idled by the Great Depression, building new factories in new geographical areas, attracting workers from rural areas to industrial areas, using blacks and women in significantly greater numbers, and using/improving mass production. Through these methods, U.S. industry met the military demands of World War II and made America rich by the war's conclusion.

American businesses expanded World War II production in several ways, discussed here in no particular order of importance. First, America used existing factories and built many new ones while it also used idle workers and attracted new ones. Post-Depression American was saddled with a significant number of unemployed workers and idle factories; however, by the summer of 1941, more than half…...

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Bibliography

Keegan, John. The Battle for History: Re-Fighting World War II. New York, NY: First Vintage Books Edition, 1996.

Overy, Richard. Why the Allies Won. New York, NY W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1997.

Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Whitt v Teeter
American Business Legal Environment - American Business law is also known as commercial and corporate law. It governs all business and commercial transactions, but most consider it to be a branch of civil law that has evolved into a more specific level of focus. This form of law governs manufacture and distribution of goods, guarantees, accidents, corporate responsibilities, contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods. In the United States, unlike some other countries, commercial law is part of the purview of the U.S. Congress and the civil codes that govern laws between the states. This template came about based on needing to establish some sort of legal venue that would transcend individual state's jurisdictions so that goods could be transported between states and still have legal protection (Commercial Law, 2010). Many efforts have been made to create a more unified, "national" code that deals…...

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REFERENCES

Commercial Law. (2010). Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. Retrieved from:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Commercial_law 

How the Legal System Works. (2012). Find Law. Retrieved from:  http://public.findlaw.com/abaflg/flg-2-2a-4.html 

Introduction to the Court System. (2003). Syracuse University College of Law. Retrieved from: http://www.law.syr.edu/Pdfs/0Intro%20Court%20System.pdf

Is Workplace Sexual Harassment on the Rise? (April 16, 2010). SHRM Poll Online.

Racism and Business Ethics
Despite a myriad of laws outlawing discrimination and protecting civil rights, racism continues to pervade all aspects of American business.

This can be seen in the pay disparity between the races, the ongoing discrimination against black men seeking employment and lack of racial minorities in upper management and other decision-making positions in industry.

This paper uses the utilitarian and value judgment theories to examine the ethical nature of racism in business. The first part of the paper evaluates how these two ethical traditions would view racism. In the second part, the paper looks at the various methods for addressing racism in American business, focusing on diversity training and affirmative action. It then evaluates the rightness of these programs, both from a utilitarian and a values-based ethics.

In the conclusion, the paper argues for a combination of diversity training and goals-oriented affirmative action as an ethical way to address the pervasive…...

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Works Cited

Ayvazian, Andrea and Beverly Daniel Tatum. 1997. "Diversity-training programs are productive." In Discrimination: Opposing Viewpoints. Mary E. Williams, ed. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.

Belz, Herman 1992. Equality Transformed: A Quarter-Century of Affirmative Actions. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers.

Grant, Michael. 1989. The Classical Greeks. New York: Charles Scriber's Sons.

Mill, John Stuart. 1970. The Subjugation of Women. Boston, MA: MIT Press.

By channeling his energy in another direction, Gates shows that he is not a one-dimensional leader only involved in promoting his company, but a three-dimensional leaders interested in helping the world be a better place. Just one of the programs that has gained media attention is the eradication of malaria, a disease almost non-existent in America but still prevalent in many other parts of the world. Another writers notes, "Malaria strikes 300m people every year, mainly in the farming parts of Africa where mosquito eradication programmes are nonexistent. Of those infected, 1.1m die, most of them children below the age of ten" (Vesely, 2003). The Gates Foundation, along with pharmaceutical companies, are committed to eradicating this, and other diseases such as smallpox, that have been out of control in many other parts of the world, largely due to a lack of funding and support.

Ultimately, Bill Gates leadership style is one…...

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References

Editors. (2007). Biography: Bill Gates. Retrieved 12 March 2008 from the Microsoft.com Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/bio.mspx.

Gates, B. (2006). How I work. Retrieved 12 March 2008 from the CNN.com Web site:  http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/30/news/newsmakers/gates_howiwork_fortune/ .

Hanlon, M. What a Microsofty; Bill Gates created the modern computer and, with ruthless business brutality made himself the richest man in the world. (2006, June 17). The Daily Mail (London, England), p. 46.

Heller, R. (2006). Management styles & leadership styles of Warren Buffet & Bill Gates. Retrieved 12 March 2008 from the ThinkingManagers.com Web site:  http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/management-styles.php .

Business
Pros and Cons of Partnership as a form of business

Partnership is a form of business where one or more individuals come together for the realization of a common economic goal. As with other forms of businesses, there are numerous pros and cons that come with it. One of the primary advantages is the pooling of resources that can be used for the achievement of the common goal. These common resources can include capital as well as skills needed for the successful execution of the business objectives. Another advantage is the lower rate of taxation. The profits from the business is treated as personal tax and so, the slabs are much lower. Lastly, it offers a high degree of flexibility and is simpler than many other forms of businesses such as corporations.

Partnership comes with its disadvantages as well. Firstly, partners have a joint and several liability which means they are liable…...

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References

Hanson, Mary. (1998). The Business Adviser Partnership: The Pros and Cons. Bizadvisor.com. Retrieved from:  http://bizadvisor.com/PartnershipProsandCons.htm 

US Small Business Administration. (2012). Retrieved from:  http://www.sba.gov/ 

Warren, Carl; Reeve, James; Duchac, Jonathan. (2011). Managerial Accounting. California: Cengage Learning.

Moore, Karl. Pareek, Niketh. (2010). Marketing: The Basics. New York: Taylor & Grancis.

American Express is a global, diversified financial services company headquartered in New York. The company is over 150 years old, founded in 1850. It is best known for its credit card, charge card, and travelers check business, but has numerous ancillary operations that are profit centers. Analysis's rank American Express as the fourteenth most valuable brand in the world, estimating the worth of the brand at over $21 billion dollars (AXP, 2009). Despite this length of time in the marketplace and service level, American Express remains vulnerable to the machinations of the economy, and thus any additional product lines must be carefully considered.
Problem Statement- American Express using Quality Management to Excel in a Highly-Competitive Niche Market. Business Executive Exclusive Perks Card from U.S. Express (The BEEP Card) -- Do we launch with current levels of Business commitment in the field?

Organizational Background - American Express is a diversified global financal services…...

One set of concepts from each area was utilized to explain how the situation at Grand Bois may have come about. The end goal of the authors was to "provide business practitioners, ethics teachers, and readers interested in corporate conduct with insights useful in understanding why managers may act the way they do."
It could be argued, according to Hamilton and Berken (2005), that Exxon managers had made a sound business judgment, based on facts that were not known, at the time. The industry still contends that the majority of exploration and production waste contains no harmful compounds, and that for this reason the disposal techniques that are used at the Grand Bois facility were not only cost effective, but also environmentally safe.

Just because the exemption of this waste for hazardous materials was brought about by political lobbying does not mean that it is not scientifically or justified.

Oftentimes, political lobbying,…...

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References

Beschorner, T. (2006). Ethical theory and business practices: The case of discourse ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 66. Retrieved December 1, 2006, from ProQuest database.

Bowen, M. & Power, F. (1993 Apr). The moral manager: Communicative ethics and the Exxon Valdez disaster. Business Ethics, 3(2). Retrieved December 1, 2006, from Business Source Complete database.

Call for an extra Exxon Valdex payout. (2002). Disaster Prevention and Management, 11(3). Retrieved December 1, 2006, from ProQuest database.

Carson, S. (2006 Mar). Gert's moral theory and its application to bioethics cases. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 16(1). Retrieved December 1, 2006, from ProQuest database.

In that regard, even the protections available in more sophisticated societies cannot prevent major governmental corruption, exploitation, or unethical business practices in the private sector.
Therefore, the prospect of expanding our company presence to Kava does not obligate us to become more directly involved in Kava government or politics, but it does impose an obligation on our part to encourage the most beneficial organizational values and practices at every level. Business management principles must be shared in a manner that best cultivates a fundamental respect for human rights, equal rights, ethical principles of fairness and equity.

Naturally, in addition to attempting to instil socially responsible organizational values in Kava, our ethical responsibility requires us to determine a fair method of apportioning the measurable value that we derive from our Kava operations between the Kava people and our financial interests. It should go without saying that we will restrict our operations, organizational…...

Business Ethics
Ethical issues and dilemmas have always been hitting the operational performance and sustainability of business organizations. They directly affect the way an organization formulates and implements its policies, operates as an active participant in the industry, and competes with other organizations for the sake of accomplishing its strategic objectives. Ethical issues may relate to the organization's social responsibility or corporate responsibility; both are vital for the organization to ensure a sustainable future in its industry. This paper discusses an ethical issue which was faced by one of the world's most admired organizations -- Apple Inc. The main purpose of the paper is to highlight the ethical issue in which Apple was involved; the consequences of the ethical issue and the individuals involved in the process. The paper starts with a brief introduction to Apple; its main product offerings, industry, scale of operations, and major strategic decisions which it makes…...

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References

Apple, (2012). Labor and Human Rights. Retrieved on September 26th, 2012, from

Enderle, R. (2010). Apple and the Ethical/Business Problems of Child Labor and Other Unsavory Practices. Retrieved on September 26th, 2012, from

Hinks, P. (2012). Apple's new leader faces ethical dilemmas at Foxconn. Retrieved on September 26th, 2012, from

Hyatt, J.C. (2012). Apple, Foxconn, Promise Improvements for Workers. Retrieved on September 26th, 2012, from

Business
How would you characterize the differences in corporate structuring and ownership rights for various countries around the world?

There are different ownership types. People can structure their businesses or organizations under one of several organizational structures. The types include: sole proprietorship; general partnership (composed of two or more persons who agree to contribute money, labor, and/or skill to a business and run it together); a limited liability company (LLC) (formed by one or more individuals or entities through a special written agreement that details the structure of the LLC); a Corporation; a limited partnership; and a limited liability partnership (LLP).

A limited partnership is composed of one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. The general partners manage the business and share in its profits and losses. The limited partners share in the profits of the business, but losses are limited to the extent of their investment. An LLP…...

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Sources

CPA The Development of International Standards on Auditing  http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/1999/1099/Features/F141099.htm 

Peter L. Rousseau and Richard Sylla (2003), Financial Systems, Economic

Growth, and Globalization

 http://www.nber.org/chapters/c9594.pdf

American and Chinese Business Cultures
Though there is no universally accepted definition, culture denotes a set of values, beliefs, traditions, practices, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a given group of people (odrigues, 2009). Culture defines a people's way of life -- how they do things, communicate, behave, relate with one another, and so forth. Culture theory, especially Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, illustrates that cultures tend to vary from country to country or region to region (Hofstede, 2001). These differences imply that norms, behaviors, attitudes, and other elements of culture differ across countries or regions. For instance, the culture of Americans tends to differ from that of the Chinese, Africans, or Arabs.

Culture permeates every aspect of society -- from organization and social relationships to communication and business. Business is especially influenced by culture. Culture affects how organizations are structured and managed, how employers relate with employees, how decisions are made, how…...

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References

Alon, I. (2003). Chinese culture, organizational behavior, and international business management. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.

Althen, G. (2003). American ways: A guide for foreigners in the United States. 2nd edition. US: Intercultural Press.

Cook, G. (2012). The influence of national culture on American business people -- managerial implications for central Europe. Central European Business Review, 1(2), 46-51.

Geert-hofstede.com. (n.d.). Country comparison. Retrieved from hofstede.com/united-states.htmlhttps://geert-

Confidence in Hong Kong's legal system is a direct result of its links with the rest of the world. if, in our haste to use Chinese, we change the standard and the meaning of the law, and non-Chinese speakers get pushed out of practice, then we risk losing those links.' The traditional Chinese structure has focused on mediation for civil and commercial cases, with lawyers widely viewed as troublemakers, and on executive punishment for criminal cases; there has been no history of justice through an adversarial process. As the Asian Wall Street Journal warned, "A drift into linguistic balkanization -- part English and part Cantonese, plus jargon grafted from the Chinese mainland -- could unmoor Hong Kong from the international business community." (Callick, 1998, p. 84)

Part of doing business with a foreign county is seeing how they see you. It was essential to impress upon the American companies with which…...

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References

 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000426944 

Austin, Michael. "Saul and the social contract: constructions of 1 Samuel 8-11 in Cowley's 'Davideis' and Defoe's 'Jure Divino.'." Papers on Language & Literature 32.4 (1996): 410+.

Hong Kong Telecom

Alford reports that "for some, the earth moves when they discover that people in authority routinely lie and that those who work for them routinely cover up. Once one knows this, or rather once one feels this knowledge in one's bones, one lives in a new world. Some people remain aliens in the new world forever. Maybe they like it that way. Maybe they don't have a choice." (Alford, 52).
ith respect to the case study at hand here, this was an experience which afflicted me with heavily mixed feelings at Allied. The vacuum of integrity in the industry was counterintuitive to my understanding of business practices that were sensible in the long-term and that abided traditional moral conditions in their execution. As a major consequence of this paradox, I found myself often in a position where balance was crucial. The major divide between my commitment to my principles and…...

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Works Cited:

Adams. G. And Balfour, D. (1998). Unmasking Administrative Evil. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Alford, C. (2001). Whistleblowers. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Bennis, W. & Biederman, P.W. (1997). Organizing genius: The secrets of creative collaboration. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.

Berman, E. et al., eds.(1998).The Ethics Edge. Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association.

The consequences of even a few dissatisfied customers can be enormous: "Dissatisfied customers turn to competitors; loyal customers spend more, refer new clients, and are less costly to do business with" (Arendt & Harris, 1998, p. 27). The authors point out that because it costs about five times more to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one, and since dissatisfied customers tell at least twice as many friends about bad experiences than they tell about good ones, it is clearly to the small business owner or manager's advantage to seek high levels of customer satisfaction and retention.
According to Gebhardt and Townsend (1990), although the notion that little things can add up to have an enormous positive effect has gained wide acceptance, many companies continue to remain sluggish in their response to the reality that little things can also have an immensely negative impact on a company's…...

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References

Arendt, L.A. & Harris, J.H. (1998). Stress Reduction and the Small Business: Increasing Employee and Customer Satisfaction. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 63(1), 27.

Benjamin, S. (1997). Words at work: Business writing in half the time with twice the power. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.

Clarke, M.A. (1997). Policies and perceptions of insurance: An introduction to insurance law. Oxford: Oxford University.

Cummins, J.D. & Tennyson, S. (1992). Controlling Automobile Insurance Costs. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 6(2), 96.

Crenshaw holds significant historical importance in Los Angeles as it has been a center of African American culture and community in the city for many decades. It has been home to various influential figures, institutions, and events that have played a major role in shaping the social, cultural, and political landscape of the city.

Crenshaw is known for its rich history of activism and civil rights movements, with organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) being active in the area. The neighborhood has also been a hub for African American businesses, arts, and culture,....