M9 (Clark)

I’m a firm believer in the Hawthorne study/effect and have been practicing it for the past twenty years in my own business.   By just paying attention, listening, and including your employees (individuals) one can expect dedication and loyalty in return. Not to mention increased productivity.   My belief to being a successful manager is having, or developing, the ability to listen, and respect, the individuals you work with.   I developed this management style only after working with a number of unskilled supervisors, promising myself I would not repeat the same poor methods once starting my own business.

**Describe a supervisor who was a poor supervisor (un-motivating, indecisive, uncaring, etc.) — what were their characteristics or actions that made you feel that way?

I’ve had a number of poor supervisors over the years.   Ones that leave little room for growth; micro-manage every move; no one is right except the manager; input refused; the supervisor’s way or the highway.   Supervisors of this nature in turn receive little to no respect, lack of loyalty, see a high turnover rate in staffing.   Managers of this style also see little respect from upper management which in turn only fuels the manager to take it out on their subordinates.   In all reality I owe my success to all the lack luster managers I ever worked with.

M7 (Clark)

Research and find an alternative/opposing point of view to Climate Change as proposed in the Introduction.

Found a really good article written by Arthur Weinstein outlining alternative and opposing views on climate change.   In his article he wrote about 5 different opinions.   One viewpoint was remedies may hurt more than rising temperatures.   In efforts to fix the problem we could very easily do more harm to the environment.   Another issue discussed was action must be taken, but U.S. shouldn’t bear the burden.   This a global problem.   It will take global effort to reduce, or eliminate environmental issues.   There are those who also argue that computer models may not be right in regards to climate change.   Furthermore, they argue the earth’s climate normally change in time 1.

1 https://listosaur.com/politics/5-opposing-viewpoints-on-climate-change

 

What environmental responsibilities do we have to the rest of the world?

We’ve the responsibility to clean up our own self-made mess.   We include factories, governments, nations, as a whole, on a global scale.   That doesn’t mean just a few countries pitch in to try to make environmental change.   It means the world comes together.   Unrealistic?   There’s a place where every nation in the world meets, the United Nations.   If we can get every nation in the world to sit in the same room, how unrealistic can it be?

 

What obligations do we have to future generations?

Our obligations to future generations are pretty clear.   If we do nothing, generations to come may inherit a barren rock, no natural resources left, a new Mars.   We’re already late to the game.   We needed to start making changes a long time ago.   Many are now starting to look to the future asking “is this really what I want to leave to my children, to their children, maybe their children’s children?   Hopefully it’s not too late to repair the damage so as our future generations can enjoy what we’ve exploited.

M6 (Clark)

Firestone 500 Steel Belted Radials

In the late 1960’s — 1970, feeling the pressure from competitors, Firestone Tire began developing the all new steel belted tire named the “Firestone 500’.   By 1972 Firestone began producing and distributing their new technologically advanced tire.   However, with little R & D time the tire immediately began having serious problems.   The problem was identified, by Firestone, as the steel belts separating from the tire tread and/or inner tire body due to adhesive failure.   Even though there were serious safety issues with the tire Firestone continued to produce and distribute the product.   Only after 1000’s of reported accidents and up to 40 known fatalities was Firestone forced to recall their tires.   In 1978 Firestone had produced over 23 million of the defective tires between 1972 and 1980, most of which were recalled.   Firestone was not only held accountable for the recall, but was also fined by the US Government.

 

Firestone article can be found here:

https://www.autosafety.org/firestone-500-steel-belted-radials/

M2 (Clark)

Good Will?

During my career in law enforcement I can count between both hands the number of times I’ve accepted a free cup of coffee, sandwich, or complete meal.   Out of those times the offers were made out of a sense of duty, culturally motivated, by the provider.   As a Field Training Officer, Instructor, and command person I strove to teach new officers (rookies) proper ethics regarding acceptance of gratuities.   Moreover, I stressed reasons why not to accept “Freebees’.

Most proprietors welcome the sight of an officer who stops in for a cup of coffee, or a quick meal.   This is especially true in high crime rate areas.   Most will also tell the officer “no charge’.  They say this is done out a sense of duty felt towards law enforcement personnel.   But then when speaking to proprietors, they will openly tell you the freebees are offered so as to attract police presence in their establishment(s) thus serving as a deterrence to crime.

So, are the proprietors offering that cup of coffee out of good will?   I think not.   According to Kant their motives are of “Self-Interest’ ……”Police Protection”, which disqualifies “Good Will’.   What’s that say about the officer who stops by because she/he knows a free cup of coffee is waiting for them?   The officer is already paid to do their job, by stopping for that free cup of coffee so as to enhance a police presence, isn’t that also being paid to do your job again?   AKA “Paid Protection’?   Ethics?

I personally would respond better if the proprietor would just tell me…’Lots of bad guys and gals here lately, would you mind stopping by more often? I’ll make sure the coffee is fresh’.   I would respond by saying ‘We’ll do our best’, and then advise other officers.   Now we could stop by, grab a fresh cup of coffee (as promised), pay for it, and leave.   Now we’ve acted on a sense of duty, Good Will, which also supports moral worth.   Both parties are happy with the outcome (except the bad guys and gals).

M1 (Clark)

How do we develop our ethics? What are the primary sources for us to develop our ethical position?

We develop our sense of ethics and moral standards over time and observance.   From the time of birth, throughout life, we observe others in effort to determine right from wrong, wrong to right.   Beginning influences perhaps includes parents, siblings, close relatives.   As we age though those influences can also include social, religious beliefs, cultural, laws, to name only a few.   However, the developmental stage is never ending it only continues, hopefully, to grow onto a higher level of morality.

 

Roger