I think corporations should have moral obligations and responsibilities in the sense that they should not be intentionally causing harm or knowingly aiding in harming society. It’s hard to expect them to do the right thing, because the law doesn’t even expect individuals to always do the right thing, it just expects them to avoid doing certain wrong things. In the end it’s going to come down to what leadership and board members of these corporations value and find the most important. If their main focus is profits and they break the law to work towards their goal, then they should be punished by the government. However, if they reach their goal through morally questionable, but legal, ways, then it’s going to be up to the consumers and employees of the company to push back in the ways they can impact the company. We see this today through customer boycotts and employee petitions/resignations. The reality is that corporations are going to pursue their financial interests, and if we end up being in the leadership positions that make us a part of that conversation, then we should ensure that such pursuits are ethical. Even if we are not in that position, whether we are a consumer or an employee, we can still make our voices heard.
The government needs to enforce fair play and competition between corporations. First the main concern is financially abusing the consumer. We don’t want a case where a single company can drive up the prices of their products without concern because they have no competition. That would be awful, especially if it’s for something that people really need. Therefore, the government always needs to monitor that. Also, corporations should not be able to abuse the positions they are in to unfairly target competition. That means using whatever leverage you have to hide a competitor's product from the consumer is not right. Consumers should have the fair choice of the product they prefer. This ensures better overall customer satisfaction and encourages each competitor to produce the best product they can, thereby winning over customers through quality and not through other tactics. This is harder for the government to monitor, as it would take more investigation, but unfair tactics to attack competition need to be recognized and punished. Corporations needs to accept the fact that if they want their products and services to succeed, then that is going to depend on the quality they are providing. I know this idealistic, but I think the examples we have gone over in class have shown us that companies do play better when they are forced to suffer consequences for unfair play. These companies that break the rules, their main goal is to grow, and if the government punishes them to a point where that hurts their growth, then it will be in their best interest to run and compete fairly. The government must be involved for the sake of consumers, smaller companies, and quality products. As we’ve seen, the US and EU have made some effective moves in this regard, hopefully this positive trend continues.
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AuthorMarcos Salamanca Archives
October 2019
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