634.5.4.RB_StevensEric

Do you feel ethical guidelines make a difference to marketers? I think that ethical guidelines can be used in the marketing industry. With these guidelines I think that a sense of fair business practices can be obtained and the playing field and advancements of these companies can come at a cost of good practices. The idea that guidelines can be used at as a reference on how to do business should be standardized throughout the marketing community.

How can companies balance the need to win with being ethical? The product should be able to speak for themselves and the lower the costs and the unhidden agendas by the companies can make a huge difference in the way the consumer will view the company as a whole. By maintaining an atmosphere of ethical behavior in the, marketing and sales of these products can be achieved. I understand that the free market is based off of a capitalistic idea and that profit is the main goal of any company.

Is it ethical to track your buying habits or web visits to target you for marketing purposes? I think it is ethical to track the buying and tracking websites that people go to in order to market the product that consumers may be interested in. the unethical part is taking advantage of an issue where someone may be needing a product and they will practically pay just about any price for the product. The person who tracks the spending habits may try and sell the consumer a product they know the buyer may have an issue paying for. I understand that the buyer is responsible for the purchase but the supplier may also understand this and leave out the details of the cost in the end with finance charge in order to make the sale.

As a leader, how will you manage the ethical aspects of your marketing efforts? I believe in transparent marketing and the intentions of the supplier should be known by the consumer. I have witnessed educational institutions (Not Embry-Riddle) take advantage of students in order to make a profit for the school. I know of one institution who has said that we are solely a for profit institution and this does not sit well for me.

A634.9.5.RB_StevensEric

Reflect on the three key lessons you take away from the course. Reflect on your perceived value of this course. Include both positive and negative aspects of your experience. What might you have done to improve your learning experience? How might the University or your instructor provide additional support for your learning? Were there topics covered that seem particularly relevant or irrelevant to your experiences and to what you expect to come in future courses?

I look at the three issues of morals, ethics, and how we apply these in our everyday lives. In this course I have learned a lot about ethics and morals in a different way. I thought I understood ethics and morals but I have learned that what I believed ethics and morals were was better explained in this module. I liked the breakdown of what each of these topics were and how they applied to every possible scenario that we may face. I believe what I have taken away from this course is a much better detailed understanding on what exactly morals, and ethics and how they are perceived and applied to different facets of life. Some of the positive aspects that I learned from this course are how to apply this understanding in both my personal and professional life.  Some of the negative aspects that I learned in this course were that some of the interpretations that I had of morals and ethics were not what I believed they were. I have since opened my mind to a better understanding of this concept.

I do not have a lot of suggestions on how this course can be improved for a better learning experience. I think the material is excellent for learning and understanding the concepts of ethics and morals. I believe that the University and the Instructor did a fantastic job the method of delivery and the interaction and positive reinforcement of good ideas by the instructor.  I feel the topics that were presented in this course were a great balance of instruction and practical application. I would like some more application into team exercises in sensitive ethical issues so that conflict can sort out by team.

A634.8.3.RB_StevensEric

In Chapter 12, LaFollette (2007) discusses gun control. Do citizens have a right to bear arms? Answer the question in your reflection blog. State your opinion and follow up your position with supporting documentation. Next, present the opposing side to your stance. Use external sources to enhance your claims.

I believe the citizens have the right to bear arms. I feel this is a fundamental right granted to us by the Founding Fathers of this country. I believe that felons coming out of prison as long as they were not convicted of a violent crime should have the right to own firearms.  The second amendment guarantees the right to bear arms under the pretenses of a militia. I understand this was written during colonial times but the militia was made up of citizens.

Now others believe that the right to bear arms by citizens is not a guaranteed right. The opponents argue that the reason the second amendment was created was for fear the United States wouldn’t work and that other states would invade their state and take over. I find this argument has very little merit and that the idea that other states even in colonial times invading each other highly unlikely after the Revolution involved all states against Great Britain. They also argue more guns is the reason behind the increased suicides, murders, and other mass type shootings.  This can be disproved based upon the United Kingdom’s violent crime rate and the strict gun law that is has.  The UK has Eight times the higher violent crime rate compared to the US.

References

Cornell University Law School (2014) retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/second_amendment

Lstverse retieved from http://listverse.com/2013/04/21/10-arguments-for-gun-control/

Real Science retrieved from https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/09/11/uk-violent-crime-rate-eight-times-higher-than-the-us/

A634.7.4.RB_StevensEric

The example that I will be sharing is an example of the slippery slope that was mentioned in the video. The example that I will use was with three undercover narcotics detectives that were responsible in the street level dealers selling illegal narcotics.

The detectives were assigned to what we in law enforcement refer to as a TAC team whose main responsibility is to apprehend dealers who stand on the street corner selling narcotics. The detectives initially started out making a positive impact in the drug trade here in Jacksonville, Florida and they were making multiple drug arrests and were making a difference. The slippery slope began when they would allow the drug dealers to walk away after seizing their narcotics in return they would act as informants. Now this is standard practice in turning criminals into confidential informants which could have a bigger payoff. The problem with this is that they are required to report these informants to the chain of command which they did not. Ultimately they began to use these informants to get to the middle dealers where the dealers would have more money. The detectives would threaten the dealers with prison time if they did not cooperate. This is where it turned illegal.

The detectives then began to insist the dealers pay them a stipend in return for protection from other officer involvement. These detectives were now making 1,000-2,000 dollars a week from these stipends. This   continued to escalate until a dealer refused to cooperate and they planted narcotics on the dealer where they arrested him and he was convicted and sentenced to prison. The dealer eventually went to prison where he complained about these detectives to the FBI.

Unfortunately these detectives moved to robbing individuals who were not associated with the drug trade and they robbed a store owner and they murdered this individual. The detectives were eventually caught and they were all convicted and sentenced to prison. This is an example of how they began with small ethical dilemmas and it escalated to murder. So day for my profession.

A634.6.3.RB_StevensEric

Order, Frugality, and Cleanliness

These are the three that I decided to reflect upon in this blog. I took the quiz and I was informed that I need to work on order, and frugality. I think cleanliness was an important aspect of this virtue quiz. By no means would I consider myself as unclean but when it comes to some of what I thought was trivial cleanliness actually enlightens me to not procrastinate and let the dishes soak. Does this mean that I am not cleaning the kitchen after every use the fact that my counter s had to be clean but the pots could soak overnight showed the procrastination I currently practice?

On frugality I feel that I am frugal to many degrees and I wished this was a trait that my wife shared. I am glad she isn’t reading this but I do watch what I spend my money on in the hopes to save money and to ensure all the bills are paid. The reason behind this is because it allows me to nice things and to have spending money without the stress of financial burdens. I have not always been this way and I remember spending money on items that I did not need and when I found an item I needed I did not have the money for it because I spent it on something that I did not need.

Order is the last subject and without a doubt I understand that this is something that I fail to do. I believe that I can be the procrastinating king and I tend to wait until the last possible moment to complete a task which causes me to rush things and the quality of the work could have been better. I understand this and I try to improve this virtue.