Ethics

Wal-mart is the undoubted king of the retail world. Started in 1962 by Sam Walton, Wal-mart opened its first shop in Arkansas, marking the birth of what would expand to become the most dominant retail chain not only in the United States, but in other countries as well. Walton set out to create an establishment which would sell goods at the lowest prices possible. According to Fishman (11), Wal-Mart employs 1.8 million people worldwide and runs 3889 stores in the USA alone. Wal-mart dwarfs other retailers in Canada, Mexico and England. To customers, Wal-mart is where they purchase commodities at the lowest prices. Few consumers would knowingly buy a commodity at a higher price if they could buy the same at a lower price elsewhere. As such, Wal-marts low prices have endeared the retail chain to the customers of other retailers, forcing many rivals to form mergers or fold up. However, Wal-marts business practices have come under sharp criticisms from workers and business experts. These have raised allegations of among others, poor pay for workers, mistreatment of staff, and use of threats to force suppliers to lower prices.

Grievances from suppliers
Wal-mart keeps a well-guarded tradition of keeping information of its relationship with its suppliers secret. Neither suppliers nor Wal-mart openly discusses the supplier-retailer relationship, included prices at which Wal-mart buys commodities from the suppliers. However, Wal-mart has for long been accused of exerting much pressure on suppliers to sell commodities at Wal-mart dictated prices. In some instances, the retailing giant dictates prices which are not a true reflection of the suppliers production and operation costs, or the prevailing demand-supply trends. Wal-marts dominance and its capacity to buy commodities in very large scale drive many suppliers to accept Wal-marts demands, if only to retain the retailer. Wal-mart often threatens to seek alternatives for suppliers who cannot supply at the prices fixed by Wal-mart (Fishman, 11).

Exploitation of workers
Although they have been key to Wal-marts irrefutable success, workers at Wal-mart have not shared in that success. Wal-mart hourly pay-rates are much lower that its smaller rivals and has come under more fire for not paying its workers. Wal-mart has been to court for failing to pay workers and for gross discrimination in pay, training, transfers and health-insurance (Cascio, 26). Possibly in its attempt to lower its operations even further (and therefore keep commodity prices at their lowest), Wal-mart has employed hundreds of illegal immigrants who work overnight and are dismissed at daybreak (Fishman, 12). Illegal immigrants can be paid at even lower rates and are unlikely to move to court if not paid or if abused or discriminated against at work.

Although Wal-marts prices are unrivalled wherever it has branches, its business practices are unacceptable morally. To achieve its success, Wal-mart sacrifices the well-being of its suppliers and workers.  Driving suppliers to supply at prices dictated without regard for market forces can destroy suppliers yet Wal-mart will simply switch to another supplier once one collapses. Underpaying, overworking and mistreating workers are also destructive to their persons.

Graffiti define images drawings, writings, or symbols that are applied to a surface without the permission of the owner of the surface (Manco 47 Halsey 170). Graffiti describes any kind of public markings appearing in any form like simple written words which may be meant just to elaborate wall paintings. Los Angeles City Governments website shows that the City of LA has spent in excess of 7 million cleaning up 31 million square feet in more than 650,000 locations that had been littered with graffiti images. In addition, the government asserts that graffiti comes with negative effects on the neighborhood. It also increases the cost of governments spending to clean up and restrain it, apart from stimulating crimes as gangs use it to mark territory and hence perpetuate the culture of gangs.

The anti-graffiti act is not in a position to get full support from the citizens because artists, cultural scholars, and liberty supporters perceives and supports graffiti as face of arts, humanities and freedom. Therefore, they are in support of graffiti and hence try to persuade the government to preserve it. This paper is to conclude whether graffitis benefits outweigh its cost.

Graffiti affects the community in different aspects. Graffiti destroys the public beauty and makes it untidy. Although there are few areas in which graffiti is allowed for the essence of beauty, graffiti in most public spaces are undesirable. Graffiti usurp public spaces that are supposed to be used for other useful purposes (Ganz 89). They change the appearance of public spaces by putting graffiti that few people can understand. For example graffiti can put images on an individual building destroying the beauty of other buildings. This means that rather than serving the benefits of the intended purpose of sending information about a group that is not well affiliated to the society, graffiti turn to a sore in the public eye as not many people can enjoy the beauty of the landscape with graffiti around. According to Ferrell (1998) the growth of new forms of freight train graffiti may be meant to spread them from their source point but they destroy the natural beauty of the freight train. Graffiti images are supposed to send given information but when they are put in the wrong place, they turn nuisance. Furthermore, not may people can understand some of the graffiti image because they are complicated and meant to pass message to specific people.

Considering the benefits and cost of graffiti, it is evident that graffiti has many negative effects compared to its advantages.  Graffiti is eye sore to some people who cannot stand having it in the public space. This implies that they are ready to go extra mile and commit millions of dollars every year to clean up. Rarely will individuals get money from their pocket to fund the clean up exercise but they are likely to turn to the local authority and demand cleaning up of their neighborhoods.

Therefore taxes, which I and you contribute, will go to clean graffiti instead of being committed to other useful development projects. For example in Anonymous (2010) NSW uses millions of dollars every year to clean up graffiti in public spaces. NSW spends about 100,000 to clear up graffiti every year. This money could be committed to other projects that are likely to assist the residents.

Campbelltow Council spent an average of 280, 000 in 2009 to clear up graffiti. On the other hand, McGillivray and Curwen (2007) assert that California spends more than 7.8 million dollars every year to clean up graffiti in public and private places.   It is therefore evident that graffiti comes with economic effect to the local authorities and since local authorities depend on taxes contributed by resident, it is evident that graffiti eats into the pockets community members.   Graffiti has no economic value that can match the amount of money spent every year to clean them up. It is only practical that while fighting graffiti appears like an endless fight that may not be won soon, efforts should be directly towards avoiding graffiti as this would save the community thousands of dollars used to clean up graffiti.

Gangs who draw graffiti are also a threat to the society. Graffiti has been associated with gangsta which means they try to explain their existence to the rest of the society. As a mark of identity, it acts to instill psychological fear to the community members but this fear is in one occasion or another confirmed (Austin). Several incident of attack from graffiti gang members have been recorded in major cities. In Orange County, a Garden Grove gang member was handed a 40 years   imprisonment for attempted murder of a father of five who say him tagging a block on cul-de-sac (Austin).  Ivan Garcia, a 26 years old Garden Grove gang member was doing graffiti with his friend when they realized that Mr. Pugh, a father of five had spotted them. Even through he had not alerted the authority on what the gang members were doing, Ivan Garcia decided on him and short him on neck, leg and hand. Mr. Pugh suffered major injuries as some parts of his brain had to be removed. He was left with loss of memory, lack of motor and verbal functions, and confined to a wheel change.

Although the gang member has handed a 40 years jail sentence he left behind a devastated family which would struggle to meet its daily needs with incapacitation of its bread winner. Mr. Pughs wife and children will live with the pain of an incapacitated father who had provided for them for all those years.  This would be a social and economic loss to the society as well because in one way or another, the society will have taken care of the incapacitated Mr. Pugh. This is not justifiable since it resulted from irresponsible actions of gang member who did not want to be disclosed to the authority for doing graffiti. Evidently, gang members who do graffiti are not only sore to the eyes of the public but they are also a danger since they can attack any member of the society. For Mr. Pugh, he has to live with increased cost of medical care which means he may have to deprive his family comforts of life.

It was not his will, neither did he wish it but it happened due to graffiti.  The cost of associated with the graffiti is more than what the society is likely to benefit.  In consideration of the danger posed by gang members to the society members, there is not way that benefits of graffiti outweighs its cost.
The beauty of the environment reflects how people value themselves. The more well kept the environment the more it reflects the care people accords to their surroundings. People can judge more about you by the place you live rather than whom you are. This means that the surrounding environment reflects the wellbeing of the people. An environment that is filled with graffiti images all over the place reflects type of people who are not careful about their environment. It reflects people who do not care about their surrounding. The need for a beautiful environment may be the reason why people go an extra mile to clean up the environment since it reflects who they are. In this regard, it can evident the benefits of graffiti does not align with the needs of the community to have a beautiful environment (Ganz 76). It increases the cost to the society to maintain their environment since no one wants to live in a filthy environment. NSW is recorded to spend more than 100,000 to clear up graffiti every year while Campbelltow Council spent an aver geo 280, 000 in 2009 to clear up graffiti (Anonymous).  McGillivray and Curwen (2007) shows that California spends more than 7.8 million dollars to clean the environment and rid if of graffiti. This money could be used to finance other important public program which will be beneficial to the community.

Graffiti also incur cost of research. According to Rosie high technology graffiti clean put teams are testing where Darth Vader can really clear up LA of graffiti.  Although they have provided revenue of research or researchers, through which they have documented important information about the gangs, the cost incurred in these researches is enormous and could be directed to research on other important matters affecting the public. Research is expensive and one of the limitations of research is that not many people are able to meet the cost of research. Governments and local authorities have used money to research the most appropriate ways to control graffiti. Although there is no documented evidence which shows the accurate amount of money that has been committed to research on graffiti, it is evident that graffiti cost a lot of money on research.

Although graffiti is considered a form of art that is misused in the public space, the cost of graffiti is enormous compared to the benefits (George 19). Graffiti images are drawn was a way of expressing information of a group that has not access to public mainstream media through which they can give their idea (Landers). However, graffiti is a form of deviance because even when the authority puts clear warning against drawing graffiti images, they keep on appearing in public spaces (McGillivray and Curwen). Graffiti has few, if any, benefit to the society but to clean them, it takes a fortune for most local authorities.

In conclusion, the fact given above shows that graffiti is most costly to the society. Authorities use millions of dollars every year all over the world to clean graffiti images. Graffiti also destroy the natural beauty of the environment.  It makes a given community appear irresponsible especially if there are graffiti images in most public spaces.  Thousands of dollars have been used in research on graffiti and enforcement of laws against graffiti. In addition, the gangs that draw graffiti pose great danger to the society since graffiti acts as identity that perpetuates the gang culture. The society incurs more cost that benefit for due to graffiti.

Poverty can be defined as the state of having no means to afford essential human necessities such as food and clean water, clothing, good healthcare and shelter. Currently, poverty is the worlds most teething problem. Shah suggests that almost half of the world population lives on less than two dollars per day. In 2008, the World Bank placed the poverty threshold at 1.25 a day, with those who live below this line being in absolute poverty. Absolute poverty quantifies the number of people below a certain fixed poverty line, regardless of their race, nationality or even technological rankings.

Causes of Poverty
As a matter of fact, causes of poverty are so diverse, ranging from personal to international influences. For instance, laziness is attributed to be a major cause of the predicament to individuals. The world demands that people be industrious and therefore those who are just naturally lazy will usually find themselves miserable as a result of their incompetence.

In many cases, politics have resulted to appalling situations in most developing countries where this problem is immense. Poor political scene that is evident in most of the countries in Sub Saharan Africa has resulted to poverty crisis to thrive for decades. Consequently, the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to widen. Incompetent governing policies are also another hindrance to successive development in any given country (Balisacan and Fujisaki, 1999).

International political benefits is another contributory factor to poverty, which has led to a diversion of the accessible resources from domestic requirements to Western markets (Shah, 2010).This poses a great barrier to impartial development in any given nation, leading to deprived basic social services.

Effects of poverty
Poverty is usually associated with negative situations such as homelessness or poor quality housing facilities, lack of access to healthcare, violent acts such as human trafficking and prostitution, drug abuse and insecurity. One of the main consequences of poverty is sickness and mortality. There is an estimated worldwide mortality rate of over 24,000 children per day due to poverty (Shah, 2010). A person in a state of destitution is more vulnerable to poor health which leads to subsequent deaths.
It is also very evident that poverty has adverse effects on the academic outcomes of school children.

There has been an increased rate of school drop out cases, for teenage students living in poor communities. Moreover, under-equipped schools struggle so much to meet the requirements of their students (Parsons, 1988). This translates to insufficient education, which contributes to repeated cycle of poverty, thus inhibiting poor children from lifting themselves out of poverty.

In addition to this, poverty has far reaching psychological effects which include emotional problems to the individuals, such as depression, marital distress and low self-esteem. (Parsons, 1988).It is also important to mention that, poverty can result to mistreatment of the victims, depriving them of their rights. In most cases, the poor people are manipulated out of their desperation, through coercion by those with an upper hand.

Conclusion
Poverty is an issue of global concern. Due to this, a number of measures have been taken by many governments in the world as well as non-governmental institutions in an effort to prevent it. The government of the United States of America and other rich countries have been in the fore front in providing donations through funds and other resources to the poor communities in the world (Perry  and World Bank, 2006).In line with this, there are non- profit organizations that have initiated projects aimed at alleviating poverty in third world countries. This has seen construction of social facilities such as hospitals and schools, therefore improving the lives of those people in dire need of basic necessities.

However, greater improvements cannot be realized when bad governing policies are still intact. There is need for government institutions to lay down policies that will facilitate faster realization of economic development, especially in the third world countries where this problem is rampant (Perry and World Bank, 2006).If this can be implemented, then millennium development goals, which are still a big challenge in most of third world countries, will have been achieved.

The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was the worlds largest Islamic bank which involved in many criminals activities due to which the bank was eventually shut down and was perceived as the worst bank operated ever in the history of world banking sectors.

Introduction
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was established by a Pakistani banker Agha Hasan Abedi in 1972. BCCI was registered in Luxembourg. It reached at height within a decade. It has more than 400 branches which were operated in 78 countries. It was among the worlds largest private bank ranking 7th position due to its excessive assets of US20 billion (History Commons).

BCCIs Involvement in Criminal Activities
BCCI became the target in 1980 during which an undercover operation (extending two-years) was held through the Customer Service of United Sates. A fake wedding was concluded through the operation which was attended by the drug dealers and BCCI officers across the world. These violators built a working relationship and personal friendship with the Special Agent (undercover) Robert Mazur. The key bank officers were put in trial in Tampa for six months after which, they were seriously charged and imprisoned for lengthy period. Many other crimes were revealed during cooperation between bank officers and law enforcement authorities (American Patriot Friends Network).

Major Tips of BCCIs Criminal Activities
A Congressman Charles Schumer conducted a Congressional investigation between 1979 and 1991 which revealed around 700 tips regarding criminal activities of BCCI. The following are the major tips which were received by the federal law enforcement commissions and the same visualized the BCCI involvement in criminal activities
Promotion of political unrest in Pakistan.
Financial supportingto terrorist groups.
Smuggling weapons to numerous countries such as Iran, Libya and Syria.
Organized criminal linking in Italy and United States.
The above are only the major tips but indeed, around 700 tips were revealed through the Congressional investigation (History Commons).

CIAsIllegal Involvement in BCCI Bank
For the last ten years, CIA had been paying to its 500 British Informants through BCCI Bank. The information of illegaloverseas business deals and sales of British arms were reported to the CIA by some informants. The spectrum of CIA informants involved in criminal activities include
124 people in politics or government
53 in banking, industry and commerce
24 scientists
90 in the media
75 in academia
124 in communications
Although, individuals were not specifically named but few of themwere in senior positions (American Patriot Friends Network).

Closure of BCCI Bank
The Bank of England shut down the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) on July 5, 1991 and the regulators shut down BCCI offices in dozens of countries and seize about 2 billion of the banks 20 billion in assets. Many militants including Bin Laden had operated accounts in BCCI. The President of UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan,owned 77 of BCCI sharesand approx 1.4 million accounts were operatedby people who had likely lost their monies upon closure of the bank (History Commons).

Conclusion
Thus,the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)financially supported many militant organizations through the money which was generated through illegal activities including illicit drug trafficking and arms trafficking, therefore, it is right to claim thatBCCI worked viciously, violently and criminally in favor of deadly terrorist service across the world due to which theBCCI deserved tobe shut down and the criminals operating BCCI will never Rest-In-Peace (Ambit ERisk).

The ethics on virtues and vices revolve around the type of character that reflects a persona question on character that is very significant with the choices and the decision that a person invokes.  It supports the theory that a persons character is determined by the chosen virtues and vices, as people get to possess the power and the ability to choose what type of virtues and vices they would want to possess.  It reflects the power of freedomthe liberty to decide what type of person he or she would want to become.  From here it is evident that the human good centers on the will to accommodate virtues that a person desires to acquire.  This common good is being applied intentionally for most of the time, with an intention centered on the will and the happinessthe virtues or the vices that is set for a success in performance that is usually set to acquiring the common good and happiness that are the most basic things desired by human beings.  It gives the notion that a human beings virtue is centered mainly on desire and aspiration.  This leads to the pleasure of achieving ones most wanted end.

Main Body
Personal vision of the world
Virtues.  I have a number of virtues that replicates my desire to get to a common good set to acquiring happiness and pleasure.  For the most part I am a lighthearted, happy-go-lucky type of person.  I enjoy happiness because it gives me the pleasure of seeing the world in its beautiful color and state.  I define happiness in human life as an everyday matter that is acquired through little acts and achievements that reflect a persons desire to be happy.  It reflects the desire to enjoy the world and to be a person whom I want to become.  For this I end up being what I want to witness in my world to be happy because I want to witness happiness and pleasure.  I care much about others because, inwardly, I want others to care for me, while creating a world that is happy and pleasurable, one that is filled with love and caring.  This reflects small reactions of pleasure and displeasure that are often the surest signs of a mans moral disposition FOOT year, which Foot has indicated in her work.      

Vices.  I also have some vices, such as smoking and drinking.  These vices are under gluttony, which is the excess of a sphere of existence, specifically our attitude towards our desires.  It appears that, under Aristotles theory about the desire of the human being, I am exercising a weakness of the will, since I cannot keep my desires under control.  I should be one of the continent people, who have unruly desires but manages to control them.  I could also be one of the temperate people, who have desires that are naturally directed towards that which is good for them HINMAN 2005.  It would be better if I am capable of controlling my desires, especially with respect to cigarettes and liquor.

Set of values
There are a set of values consistent with the corresponding virtues and vices that have been mentioned, and these are the following
With respect to acting audaciously in the face of danger (with respect to health), courage is the mean between the excess of rashness and the deficiency of cowardice.

With respect to the enjoyment of pleasures and desires, temperance is the mean between the excess of intemperance and the deficiency of insensibility.

With respect to spending money and attributes, generosity is the mean between the excess of wastefulness and the deficiency of stinginess.

With respect to relations with the strangers, friendliness is the mean between the excess of being ingratiating and the deficiency of being surly.

Based on the given set of values and the stated virtues and vices that have been mentioned earlier, it is evident that there is the deficiency of cowardice, an excess of intemperance, an excess of wastefulness, and the mean of friendliness.  There is a need to control the desires of gluttony and wastefulness, and to put more courage in controlling the desires to pleasure in order to get the mean, which ultimately leads to happiness.

Critical analysis
 According to Foot, virtues are generally beneficial FOOT year.  There are virtues, such as courage, temperance, and wisdom, which are very significant when relating to people.  They benefit people while making decisions in their dispositions and challenges.  The virtues of charity and generosity are also present in the given set of values (under friendliness).  These virtues are assisted by the sacrificing of ones interests and desires.  The human good is present in these values, with the presence of positive service, as indicated in Foots stated principle.  According to Foot, Virtues are in general beneficial characteristics, and indeed ones that a human being needs to have, for his own sake and that of his fellows FOOT year.  This gives the indication that courage, temperance, generosity, and friendliness are virtues that have to be possessed in order to attain the common good, the pleasure, and the happiness, which reflect the common end.

Foot also mentions the absurdity of moral failings, such as pride, vanity, worldliness, and avarice, which according to Foot, harms the possessor in one way or another.  These moral failings prevent people from attaining the mean, which can give them much more pleasure and happiness than the worldly possession of material things and vanity.  These moral failings, such as pride, vanity, and worldliness, can prevent people from attaining the common good present in the desire to attain pleasure and happiness.  Thus, they have to be minimized, if not deleted, from the set of values being presented in the former.  They can prevent me from attaining the common good, which leads to happiness and gaiety, which are my chosen ends.  There is a need to lessen the moral failings to acquire the common good.

Conclusion
A persons chosen character is significant with the choices and the decision that come with portraying the chosen character.  With the power and the ability attached to this liberty, the person reflects over the will to accommodate virtues that the person desires to acquire, with common good and happiness as the two most basic things desired by human beings.  A persons virtue is being centered on desire and aspiration, with the pleasure of achieving ones most wanted end.  Since the virtues being presented point out the excess in intemperance and wastefulness (with the deficiency of cowardice and the mean of friendliness), it is evident that there should be more courage and less temperance and less generosity in the values that are presented.  By controlling the mean, it should lead to greater happiness and the conviction of the common good.

Virtues are generally beneficial they benefit people in the decisions and the dispositions that are to be made FOOT year.  Charity and generosity should be among the list of virtues a person should acquire, but to be wasteful and intemperate, however, is an exaggeration of the mean not suitable for the attainment of true happiness and common good.

Executive compensation in the United States is generally appropriate. Note that the lucrative exit package for Bill Hogson is the prevailing market package for a prominent multinational and telecommunications company. High exit compensation packages have the virtue of allowing poor leaders to resign earlier than later to spare the company from further poor decision making. Hogsons poor performance as company CEO attests to this fact.

Performance-based pay is an attractive solution because it motivates managers to work harder. If a manager outperforms, then heshe can expect higher salary grade and other compensations. There is, however, a major drawback. Suppose that a manager underperforms for more than two successive fiscal years. The manager may as well stay on board without the benefit of a lucrative compensation. This will inflict further damage to the company. This will also shield the company from acquiring the best talents in the industry. An alternative solution is to set the compensation to its market price. The advantage of this alternative is quite obvious. While it motivates managers to work harder, it also pressures them to leave their positions if they underperform.

The long-term effects of CEO performance are not always visible at the end of the fiscal year. For one, the long-term goals of the company are usually not viable within a fiscal year. To measure the performance of the CEO or manager, the criteria that should be utilized are the short-term goals of the company.

Performance-based pay mat allow CEOs to artificially inflate stock value in the short-term. The CEO may exaggerate his performance in the short-term at the cost of long-term goals. Outstanding performance in the short-term does not necessarily translate to positive effects in the long-run.

With a history spanning less than fifty years, Wal-mart is a relatively young company. Target and Kmart opened their first shops in 1962, the same year which Wal-mart opened its first. In its forty-seven years of operation however, Wal-mart has revolutionized shopping in the United States and many other countries across the world. Wal-marts founder, Sam Walton, started the company guided by the idea that if he sold everyday necessities at prices lower than other retailers, consumers would frequent his shop (Fishman, 2006). The international retail chain has remained most loyal to its call of not only bringing down commodity prices, but also keeping them lower than the prices of all its competitors. Today, Wal-mart is the most dominant player in the global retailing arena, having grown to an extent where its closest rival makes only a fraction of what Wal-mart makes every year. Other retailers have been forced to lower their price, if only to stay afloat, while many former giants have lost the competition to Wal-mart and closed shop. While customers across the world are attracted to Wal-marts unbeaten prices, experts have argued that Wal-mart keeps prices low by breaking the law and flouting ethical standards in its operations. This paper examines the extent to which Wal-marts business practices are morally acceptable.

Relationship with workers
Although no retailing chain makes profits half as huge as Wal-mart, the company is notorious for poor pay to its workers. While its smaller competitor Costco pays an average rate of 17 an hour, Wal-mart pays an average of 10.11 for full-time workers (Cascio, 2006). Some of the worker-related complaints raised against Wal-mart include locking employees inside stores overnight, refusing to pay its workers, and such serious illegalities as hiring illegal immigrants to work overnight and paying them badly (Fishman, 2006). Although Wal-mart does manage to keep its commodity prices low, this is done partly at the cost of its workers. Predictably, Wal-marts employee turn over rate of 44 percent is over three times the turn over rate recorded at Costco (Cascio, 2006).

Relationship with suppliers
Due to its dominance in the global retail market, Wal-mart suppliers pay much attention to its needs and instructions. For instance, when Wal-mart argued that the paperboard box in which most deodorants were packed served no purpose other than increase the cost of production and take up shelf space, suppliers ditched the paperboard box. The effect was a reduction in the prices of deodorant due to the fall in the cost of production. While the Wal-mart effect endear Wal-mart to its customers due to lower prices, some of the tactics used by Wal-mart to win lower supplier prices are anything but ethical. According to Fishman (2006), Wal-mart exerts intense pressure on suppliers to deliver products at ever lower prices.  Wal-mart shows utter disregard to what the suppliers do to reduce their production costs in order to deliver at the prices dictated by Wal-mart. As long as goods are delivered at low prices, Wal-mart does not care whether the suppliers hire illegal immigrants, compromise the quality of the goods supplied, or improves the production process to reduce production and operation costs. In a way, Wal-mart forces suppliers to either lower prices to what Wal-mart approves of, or lose the supply deals to local and international competitors who are ready to supply Wal-mart at lower prices. Unfortunately, many suppliers bow to pressure from Wal-mart to lower prices.

Conclusion
Although commodity prices at Wal-mart are lowest, Wal-marts are morally unacceptable. Although lowering commodities is central to Wal-marts cause, there can be no justification of trading in lower quality products, hiring illegal immigrants, underpaying workers and forcing suppliers to sell at dictated prices. Wal-marts model, though attractive to consumers who are able to access commodities at low prices, violates state and national laws, and falls below all measures of moral acceptability.

Steinberg states that there are some issues which are very challenging to the society concerning the nature of human development and justice when it comes to serious juvenile crimes (para, 1). This is due to the fact that people do not expect crimes to be committed by children let alone children being criminals. The unexpected connection between childhood and criminality brings about a dilemma that is hard to resolve (Steinberg para, 1). Some of the ways out of this dilemma are trying to redefine the offense as something of less magnitude than a crime and redefining the offender as somebody who is not actually a child.

For almost a century now, the American society has chosen to redefine an offense as something less than a crime (Siegel and Welsh p, 211). Hoge, Guerra and Boxer states that most juvenile offenses have for long time been treated as delinquent acts that need adjudication within a separate justice system for juveniles (p, 154). This system is designed in such a way as to recognize the exceptional needs as well as the immature condition of young persons and stresses more on rehabilitation over punishment. Steinberg asserts that the two guiding principles that have prevailed concerning young people are that they have different competencies as compared to adults, which necessitates adjudication in a different type of system, and that they have different potential for change and therefore qualify for a second chance as well as an attempt at rehabilitation (para, 4). The operations of juvenile courts are carried out under the presumptions that offenders are immature meaning that their development is incomplete, their judgment is immature, and their character is still undergoing development.

However, in the recent past as Steinberg states, there has been a tremendous shift concerning the way crimes committed by juveniles are treated by policymakers as well as the general public (para, 6). This shift has resulted in great changes concerning policies that deal with the way juvenile offenders are treated. Gale argues that instead of choosing to defend offences committed by young people as delinquent, the society has opted to redefine them as adults and transfer them to the criminal justice system that deals with adult crime (p, 76). Some proponents in society have come to agree that there are those young offenders who should be transferred to the adult criminal justice system due to the fact that they pose a serious threat to the safety of the society where other juveniles live (Siegel and Welsh, p. 214). Proponents, as Hoge, Guerra and Boxer illustrates, argue that the magnitude of the offense committed by these youth deserves a relatively more harsh punishment (p. 174). They also argue that the history of repeated offenses do not augur well for definitive rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. This however, does not describe the large number of young people who are currently being put on trial in the adult criminal justice system. Steinberg argues that majority of these have been charged with crimes that are not as violent to merit such a harsh punishment (para, 7). When this transfer of juvenile offenders to adult system begins to become a rule instead of an exception, it characterizes a primary challenge to the very ground that the juvenile system was anchored in- that young people are different from adults.

Debates concerning transfer policies can be viewed from different angles. Developmental psychologists would ask whether the differences drawn between people of various ages under the law are rational in light of what is known concerning age variation in different aspects of social, emotional, and intellectual functioning (Hoge, Guerra and Boxer, p. 179). One major issue based on developmental psychology that emerges is about the creation of a boundary between young people and adults in matters of criminal justice. Developmental psychology seeks to identify the scientific reasons that justify the separate treatment of adults and young people within the criminal justice system, especially with reference to the age bracket, 12-17 years, highly under political analysis currently (Steinberg para, 9).

First and foremost, this age bracket is an intrinsically intermediary phase. It involves swift as well as dramatic changes in individuals social, intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities. It is a phase where a line concerning competence and incompetence of individuals can be drawn. Secondly, teenage years are a period of potential flexibility (Gale p, 98). Young people are heavily influenced by experiences in school, at home, as well as other social settings. To the level that flexibility is possible, transfer of young people into a criminal justice system that rules out a rehabilitative response may be an unrealistic public opinion (Siegel and Welsh, p. 211). Adolescence is a decisive phase through which numerous developmental trajectories are firmly set up and increasingly hard to change. Numerous experiences that adolescents go through have devastating cumulative impacts. Irrational decisions and poorly formulated policies relating to young offenders may have unpredictable harmful outcomes (Gale, p. 104). According to Steinberg, mitigating factors such as mental illness, emotional stress and self defense should be critically evaluated when trying a young person (para, 14). A punishment that is fair to an adult may be unfair to a young person who was not aware of the penalties of hisher actions. It would therefore be unethical to give life sentences to juvenile offenders. The way laws are interpreted and applied should vary when dealing with a case in which a defendant understanding of the law is limited by intellectual and emotional immaturity. The repercussions of administering long and severe punishment are very different when the offender is a young person as compared to when heshe is an adult (Steinberg, para. 17).

Fredrickson, G.M.(2002). Racism A Short History. Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press. The book is about the evolution of racism- from the earliest known account to the latest issues. It especially focuses on the racist deeds of the German Nazis during the World War II. The book was particular about the execution of Jews in Germany which was known as the Holocaust. The book also described the rise and fall of racism from the Middle Ages to the present. It described racism as the theorizing effect of human differences in which humans have no control.

Sigler, J.A.(1987). International Handbook on Race and Race Relations. New York Greenwood Press. The book describes how each race matures through time. It also discussed the relationship of different races in terms of different aspects of their lives. Another focus is on how each race were able to handle the situations involving racial conflicts. The author also presented some logical solutions on how to approach the growing problem.

Bulmer, M.  Solomos, J.(2004). Researching Race and Racism. New York, USA Routledge. Bulmer and Solomos argues that racism is reflected in a growing body of theoretical and empirically based work on various facets of race and racism in both contemporary societies and historical periods. The research focuses on the sociological effects of racism. But there has been a growing racial disparity in other fields such as anthropology, politics, geography, media and cultural studies, law and the humanities. The educational system has been having efforts on how to resolve the ever growing issue. There has been a congregation of scholars who have carried out research in this field to reflect on various aspects of the methodologies they have used and the dilemmas they have faced in developing their theories about race and racism.

West, C.(1993).Race Matters.Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press. The book showed statistics relating to racial discrimination and violence. It also presented several cases where racism is the main factor in committing crimes. It especially focused on the events that happened in Los Angeles. It showed that the gravity of the situation is far more complex than what people originally thought.

Feagin,J.R. (2001). Racist America Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations. New York, USA Routledge. Feagin presented the main causes of racism in America. The implementation of several laws has racist origins. The United States is considered the hardest hit by racism compared to any 1st world nations. Feagin also presented the future events that could happen to the nation involving cases of racism.

Sharp, D.(1999).Pro  Con The Death Penalty in Black and White. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. The article explains how the implementation of death penalty has had racist implications. The victims were the most affected by this crisis. The increased number of blacks in the death row resulted to protests around the country. The article showed statistics that one of the main causes of death penalty being imposed on black people is social injustice.

San Juan, E. J.(1998). HYPERLINK httpphilcsc.wordpress.com20080906racism-in-the-usa-reflections-at-the-end-of-the-20th-century o Read RACISM IN THE USA Reflections at the end of the 20thcenturyRacism in the USA Reflections at the End of the 20thCentury. Remarks on the 9th Annual MSS Convocation. The article is about the authors remarks on the issue of racism. The problem is not only seen in the US but all over the world. He explicitly describes the racist views of people in his own nation. He leaves people questions regarding racism that would make them think its importance to the welfare of the society.

Dyer, E. (2007). Pitt Study Finds Stark Racial Disparities. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The article focuses on cases of stark racial disparities in Pittsburgh. The Center on Race and Social Problems released its first report on racial demographics in the greater Pittsburgh area. The report looked at the lives of whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians in the city and in Allegheny County. It is one of the most comprehensive surveys ever done on the quality of life of multiple racial groups. It explores six areas, including family life, economics, intergroup relations and mental health. In almost all of these areas, blacks in Pittsburgh often severely lag behind their white counterparts and in some cases -- such as professional employment and family life -- are at the bottom of the well among all the racial groups.

Rice, S.(2008). The Death Penalty in the United States Response to the Periodic Report of the United States to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. CERD Shadow Report, 2-8. Retrieved from httpwww.abanet.orgmoratorium. The United States has failed to take any measures since the last CERD report in 2000 to address the

substantial body of evidence that the race of the accused (black) and race of the victim (white)
increases the percentage of blacks charged with death eligible offenses and substantially increases the percentage of cases where the jury imposes death. It has even disavowed and ceased any further development of the United States Department of Justices significant study of racial disparity in the death penalty in Federal cases


Dieter, R.C.(1998). The Death Penalty in Black and White Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides. Journal of Death Penalty Information Center. The review shows the results of the studies made which underscore the continuing injustice of racism in the application of death penalty. The first study showed the infectious presence of racism in the death penalty and demonstrates that the problem has not slackened a bit. The second identifies one potential causes of racism in the implementation of death penalty the majority of the death penalty decisions are made by whites.

Southern, R.(2007). How to Prevent Racism in Your Child. Journal on Racism in America. The article shows how racism has become a lightning rod for the opportunistic people of every color. Racism is in the open, but it is often disguised. Racism is always ignorant. Feeling superior or entitled based solely on color is a lack of education. Racism is one thing that can never be totally erased. The author suggests that for racism to be eradicated,  it must start at home with the education of the children.

Cassel,D.(2007). Color Complex How to Prevent Racism from Becoming Genocide. Journal on The Center for Civil and Human Rights. The article says that if preventiveactionremains problematic, in recent years the UN has made strides in developing preventivewarningsystems and indicators for genocide. On the tenth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide two years ago, Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed a genocide action plan that included the new post of a U.N. special adviser on genocide, who would report to the Security Council through Annan.

Kundnani, A.(2009). Racism in the Mainstream. The Journal Issue 27.The review states that  racism has not really gone awayit has simply changed its shape. The terrorist attacks of 911 and 77, along with new forms of immigration, have been the pretexts for racism to reinvent itself. We should not be diverted from this reality by the fact that skin colour is no longer the sole basis for this new racism. Race was always socially constructed from colour. That todays racism, in new social conditions, takes culture or religion as its raw materials does not make it any less real for its victims. While Nick Griffins BNP has been quick to understand thisand focus its campaigning on Muslims and asylum seekersmany liberals remain trapped in old ways of thinking about race that, over the last decade, has repeatedly played into the BNPs hands.

Shah, A.(2010). Racism. Retrieved from HYPERLINK httpwww.globalissues.orgarticle165racismhttpwww.globalissues.orgarticle165racism. Racism is also a very touchy subject for some people, as issues concerning free speech and Article 19 of theHYPERLINK httpwww.un.orgOverviewrights.html o Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United NationsUniversal Declaration of Human Rightscome into play. Some people argue that talking about supporting racial discrimination and prejudice is just words and that free speech should allow such views to be aired without restriction. Others point out that these words can lead to some very dire and serious consequences (the Nazi government policies being one example).

Opinion.(2003). Death Penalty and Racism. USA Today. The article show that While blacks and whites are murdered in roughly equal numbers in the USA, the killers of white people are 6 times as likely to be put to death, according to a statistical analysis released last week by the anti-death penalty human rights organization Amnesty International USA. It found that of 845 people executed since the U.S. resumed capital punishment in 1977, 80 were put to death for killing whites, while only 13 were executed for killing blacks.

Amnesty International.(2001). Racist Application of the Death Penalty. The journal talks about African-American Thomas Miller-El, a murderer of a white man, is to be executed after being convicted of the crime after a robbery that led to Douglas Walkers death. Out of the 180 juries that handled his case, only 5 were African-Americans. The racial difference among the juries had a great effect on the judgement of the death penalty among those convicted.

Associated Press.(2001). Glaring Gap Between Blacks, Whites on Illinois Death Row. Nearly 23 of Illinois death row inmates are black, a higher  than in any other state except Louisiana looked at the 163 Illinois prisoners who were on death row at the end of 2000. Of those inmates, 103 were black and 60 were white - or about 63  to 37 . 9 inmates were of Hispanic ethnicity, although the report did not indicate their race. Death penalty supporters and opponents disagreed about the significance of the statistics. But both sides said the numbers merit a closer look.

International Commission of Jurists.(1997). Administration of the Death Penalty in the United States. Human Rights Quarterl, 19, n.1., 165-203. The death penalty debate in the U.S. is dominated by the fraudulent voice of the anti-death penalty movement. The culture of lies and deceit so dominates that movement that many of the falsehoods are now wrongly accepted as fact, by both advocates and opponents of capital punishment. The report presents the true facts of the death penalty in America. If you are even casually aware of this public debate, you will note that every category contradicts the well-worn frauds presented by the anti-death penalty movement. The anti-death penalty movement specializes in the abolition of truth

Marr, C.(1992). Criminal Law An Evolutionary Analysis of the Role of Statutory Aggravating Factors in Contemporary Death Penalty Jurisprudence. Washburn Law Journal. In the last couple of years, there has been a growing belief that the death penalty is applied fairly in this country, despite news reports that some individuals were incorrectly given death sentences. Sixty percent now say the death penalty is applied fairly, while thirty-seven percent disagree. In 2000, fifty-one percent said it was applied fairly, and forty-one percent said it was not. During that year, Illinois became the first state to institute a moratorium on the death penalty, and the use of the death penalty in Texas under then-Governor George W. Bush was a major issue in the 2000 presidential election campaign.

Cheating among students is a relevant academic issue that needs to be appropriately addressed by both parents and teachers. There is no denying about the fact that it is present in almost all levels of academic studies and remains to be a constant challenge among school authorities, teachers and even parents. One of the concepts behind cheating is that there is always a chance that the student will not be caught. He or she can get away with the act of dishonesty and end up getting good marks without the hard work. This is one of the reasons why students continue to cheat over the years to the point of becoming more creative, crafty and even high-tech with their methods of cheating. Technological advancements, particularly the presence of the Internet, further increased the incidence of cheating among the students.

Cheating refers to an act of dishonesty or the act of practicing fraud. It is also associated with a certain act that deliberately violates the rules. In the academic setting, the most classic example of cheating is copying answers from another classmate during an exam or hiding a tiny piece of paper that bears several codes pertaining to the exam. Another form of cheating that is frequently being done by students is asking or paying somebody to do their projects and term papers for them. There are many other forms of cheating. In fact, its unceasing existence had even led to its evolution to higher forms. Through technology, students in general had managed to take cheating to another level. This is a major challenge among educators in the academic field.

Plagiarism is another form of cheating that is very common among students especially in dealing with term papers, report papers and other reports. Plagiarism refers to copying of languages, thoughts or ideas of another author and representing them as an original work (Business Dictionary). An example of plagiarism is the copy-paste practice that students do nowadays. The internet is the most popular source of information and the most accessible as well. There are some students who tend to build their paper or project report by simply getting various resources from the internet and copying one idea after another using the copy-paste method. There are also some who tend to copy the entire content of an internet resource to be submitted as it is and then presenting it as their own. Plagiarism carries negative connotations of dishonesty and cheating (Sutherland-Smith, 2008, p. 202). Indeed, such form of cheating can be a major temptation among students especially when they know that they will not be caught anyway and they have good chances of passing their subject.

Cheating has indeed become more widespread at present as compared to how it had been in the past due to the development of various high tech gadgets. At present, it is much easier to cheat and commit plagiarism due to the accessibility provided by many digital devices such as cellular phones, pagers, PDAs, laptops and Internet. Students have become more resourceful in coming up ways to maximize the use of digital and high tech gadgets to their advantage even in their studies. Electronic encyclopedias online and on CD-ROM are another source for plagiarized reports and term papers. Some students simply copy and hand in an article as is Foss, 2000, p. 2).

Despite the prevalence of cheating and plagiarism in the academic field, there are a lot of measures that educators can do in order to minimize or probably attempt to eradicate these academic concerns. It is not enough to remind or warn the students not to cheat or not to copy directly from online resources. The best way to deal with this problem is to let the students know that the teachers are aware of the present methods of cheating. It is extremely necessary for educators to express their awareness about the things that technology can provide. It is important that we encourage students by assuring them that we are listening and we will act (Foss, 2000, p. 3). Appropriate preventive measures that are sufficiently and liberally implemented by the teachers can discourage students from cheating and committing plagiarism. On the part of the teachers, the best defense against high technology cheating is information. It is critical that they are aware of the current students behaviours and that they know how to act upon them in the best possible way. Punishing the students will not solve or eliminate the problem of cheating. In may not even serve as the best method of discipline after all. The best measures that teachers can do are to explore software and hardware in computer shops and read instructional technology journals, attend technology seminars and workshops, explore the internet particularly online paper mills and learn how to download and edit a paper, explore the copy-paste schemes, learn how to surf the net and do online researches, and learn more about online plagiarism checkers and how to use them. Students are less likely to cheat when they know that their educators and parents are well-informed. Educators should not allow students to make plagiarizing and cheating as a form of game wherein whoever cheats the most is considered the winner (Foss, 2000, p. 6).

Well-informed teachers who are capable of dealing with different levels of cheating brought about by technology can help in encouraging students to work harder and to learn how to stand on their own merits. This can help in strengthening character education in school.

In most instances, students resort to cheating when they know that they will not be caught anyway. Another reason is because the Internet offers a lot of resources that allow students to come up with school papers without exerting any effort. Thousands of reports and research papers can be downloaded free and thousands more are available for sale from Internet paper mills (Foss, 2000, p. 2).

Also, there are many things that keep students and people, in general, very preoccupied nowadays. Technology has something to do with this issue again. The presence of social networking sites, online games, various game consoles and different kinds of hand-held portable multimedia gadgets are getting a lot of attention from people especially the students who generally fall on the young adult age group. As a result, lesser time is being devoted to their studies because of their tendency to get hooked on these high tech gadgets and electronic devices. Thus, they are tempted to cheat during exams for the obvious reason that they fail to achieve the right balance between their academics and their new hobbies brought about by technological advancements. One of the issues is the increasing use of the Internet and Internet technologies in our teaching and learning spaces (Sutherland-Smith, 2008, p. 202).

There are many other reasons why students cheat. Some students are suffering from personal or family problems while there are also some who simply do not have much time to study due to other obligations such as work. There are also a number of students who are acting rebellious thus they resort to cheating and then there also some who simply want attention. Regardless of the underlying reasons, the main issue is the act of cheating itself and how it should be addressed by the educators.
Cheating is not an excuse for whatever reasons there may be and it will never be acceptable in the field of academics. Plagiarism, for example, is just similar to stealing. If a student commits plagiarism, it is like stealing ideas and thoughts from another author in an attempt to pass a subject.

This is not the right process of learning or earning a diploma, certificate or degree. Passing the academics always involve learning and contributing a lot from the academics. There is no such thing as a short cut towards quality education. If a certain student cheats, gets away with it and earns a certificate there is no fulfilment in the achievement. It is similar to throwing away the money that was paid for the tuition because what has been earned has no quality and meaning.

A person who cheated in the academic field will never learn the value of hard work and is most likely to cheat even in the professional field. Such behaviour and attitude does not guarantee success or personal fulfilment. Cheating can become habitual and later on can actually make a persons character. Sadly, cheaters never succeed and therefore do not deserve a position in any professional field.

Introduction

The essay reflects upon business ethics in general and more specifically about the ethical issues raised by pollution from commercial and industrial enterprises. It discusses three important ethical approaches and a few remedies to the environmental protection. The central idea is to provide a detailed explanation on how the commercial enterprises behave towards the environment and what ethical issues are raised by their behavior. To establish the relationship between the behavior of commercial enterprises and the ethical guidelines, the essay discusses the case of a multinational company Unilever dumping its waste in a river located in South India.

For centuries now, business entities have contributed towards the environmental degradation and more often than not they have gotten away without paying the price. The reason for such a behavior could either be because business entities have seen environment as a free good or an unlimited good. There could be other reasons too, but none can justify the excessive destruction to environment that has been caused by these entities globally over the years.

Evaluation of the Case in Light of Business and Environmental Ethics
Unilever is one of the biggest FMCG multinational companies and operates in various parts of the world. Hindustan Unilever Ltd., a subsidiary of Unilever, in India was exposed by the local residents and ex-workers to have dumped huge amounts of toxic mercury in the local river and the forest behind its factory from 1984 to 2001. Although this mercury thermometer factory operated by Hindustan Unilever has been closed now, is considered a toxic hotspot with elevated, even dangerous, levels or mercury recorded inside and outside the factory.

The company had accepted the allegations and also promised to clean up the mess but environmentalists and ex-workers are of the view that the data the company has published regarding the environmental damage incurred does not measure the true costs inflicted upon the society.

Environmentalists further suggest the there is a need for an independent assessment of the social costs incurred by the company. It is further noticed that companys own CSR guidelines indicate that the mercury level in soil should be between .03-.07 kg whereas the factory site contains more than 300 KGs of mercury.

The subject of Business Ethics has developed three environmental approaches to analyze the Hindustan Unilevers case. The first and the most basic approach is the Ecological approach. This approach is of the view that nonhuman parts of the environment deserve to be preserved for their own sake, regardless of whether it benefits human beings. The approach propagates that the welfare of nonhumans is also valuable and because of this intrinsic value, the firms should respect and try to preserve them. Hindustan Unilever has done the complete opposite of that. It has disturbed the course of nature by polluting the water, marine life and also the atmosphere for the local residents. The company had failed to understand that it does not only have obligations towards the people in the society but also to the nature. It has neglected the interrelationship between the various parts of the ecological system in which the factory had operated. It failed to realize that the factory was depending on the natural environment for its energy, material resources, and waste disposal and the environment in turn was affected by excessive dumping of the toxic mercury.

The second approach towards environmental ethics is termed as the Environmental Rights approach. This approach is of the view that human beings have a right to a livable environment. This approach stems from the principle of rights and duties which states that people have a right when they have an entitlement to something and it is the duty of others to act in a way so as to either provide that entitlement or not deprive them of that entitlement. It is very clear from the case of Hindustan Unilever that it has deprived the people, living in the South Indian region, of their entitlement to a livable environment. The livable environment does not only mean a desirable environment but also something that others have a duty to provide. Hindustan Unilever has completely failed to fulfill this duty and in fact worsen the environment for the local people. And since environment is a common property of everyone, the company has also ruined it for all the people living in this world and also for the generations to come. This approach suggests a complete ban on activities which are harmful for the environment. Accordingly, we observe from the Hindustan Unilevers case, that the factory was shutdown. However, this has led to one of the several ethical dilemmas by closing down the factory, thousands of people became unemployed. The dilemma facing the government was whether it should let the factory continue to pollute the environment or shut it down causing a large number of layoffs.

The third approach to analyze this case is termed as the market approach. According to market approach, the environmental problems should be seen as market defects. This is so, because it states that the price of product must not only reflect the private costs incurred by the producer but also the external costs incurred to the society or community. Therefore if the prices do not reflect the external costs incurred through, say, environmental degradation, it would mean that the resources in the economy are not being utilized efficiently causing a market failure. According to the Hindustan Unilevers case, the company does not seem to be incorporating the huge external costs into its products pricing. In fact, the company has incurred excessive external costs in order to reduce its private costs and sell the product at very competitive rates. Therefore, by not taking account of the external costs, Hindustan Unilever had become a victim of three economic deficiencies. Firstly, the company was over producing because the demand for its products would be much less if the consumers knew exactly what they were actually paying for the products. Secondly, since the external costs were completely ignored by the company, it did not try to minimize the costs. Thirdly, Hindustan Unilever failed to distribute its products efficiently because not all the consumers had to pay the same price those who lived near the factory and were directly harmed by the toxic waste obviously paid a higher price.

Consequences of the ethical dilemma
It has been seen that people are more inclined towards making unethical decisions when they behave in a socially unresponsiveness manner, that is, when they measure their personal costs and benefits only and end up ignoring the social costs and benefits of their decision. A more ethically responsive decision making process would be when an individual would equally and appropriately measure hisher personal costs and benefits against the social costs and benefits (Hunsley, 43).

The aspect of making unethical decisions in the short-term brings its negative consequences with itself. For example, if an individual makes unethical and socially unresponsive decisions, in which he only weighs his costs and benefits, then heshe is inclined to get caught in the ethical trap. The ethical trap is a situation when a person who has already made an unethical decision is forced to make another unethical decision to support his previous decision. Therefore, not thinking ethically and not making ethical decisions leads to very critical and complex situations for organizations like Hindustan Unilever. Facing and dealing with such critical ethical dilemmas and traps is not only problem some for the organization but also wastes a lot of money of the organization. The clean-up costs that the Hindustan Unilever had to incur after the shut down if its factory is an example of the costs that organizations end up incurring once they are caught in an ethical trap. Governments of certain countries, like India, penalize such commercial enterprises in order to compensate for the social problems caused by the organization (Barnet  Cavanagh).

The ethical trap forces a person to continue making unethical decision, which in return causes a major ethical dilemma. Thus, trying to correct two unethical decisions becomes much more difficult as compared to correcting one unethical decision. The ethical trap leaves no way out for the person who gets caught in it (Hirst Thompson).

Therefore, organizations at all aspects of their lives can implement ethical decisions to avoid the life-long torture of an ethical trap or to face ethical dilemmas.

Recommendation
Unethical decisions and socially unresponsive behavior can be totally eliminated from the society if every organization starts thinking according to the welfare of the society as a whole. Unethical behavior has always arisen due to selfish and personal interest behavior. When people and organizations get obsessed with their own benefits, they turn a blind eye towards the benefits of the society. Another important aspect of making ethical decisions is to have courage and bravery to face any circumstances, which make arise after following the right path (Kotler  Lee, 2004, p74).

The Hindustan Unilever should internalize the cost of pollution by absorbing the external costs itself and reflecting it in the prices of its products. This will provide justice to the people who were being made to pay the price for the environmental degradation and it will also limit the environmental exploitation carried out by Hindustan Unilever and other such companies.

Furthermore, the company may install pollution control devices for the treatment of polluted water and also for other airborne pollutants. This will ensure that the water from the factory containing toxic waste or other pollutants may not cause environmental degradations once it is disposed off in the rivers.

Besides, Hindustan Unilever should be extremely careful in the future with its decision making processes and should be extra careful with all its operations and actions so that it does not get caught in an ethical dilemma in the future. The company should properly understand the consequences it will have to go through if it gets caught in another ethical dilemma. The cost of dealing with ethical dilemmas is high due to which the company would lose large amounts of its hard earned profits and loyal customer base too.

Conclusion
In short we conclude that the ethical dilemma that Hindustan Unilever had to face as a result of dumping toxic mercury in the river resulted in many consequences for the company itself and for the environment and for the stakeholders as well. Therefore, in order to bring the situation under control, several ethical theories and codes have been discussed in detail so that in future organizations should prevent themselves from ethical dilemmas and ethical traps.

Moreover, after critical analysis and thinking, several recommendations and solutions have also been presented in this paper so that organizations such as Hindustan Unilever follow these recommendations and lead the operations according to the proper code of ethics and CSR principles so that they can prevent themselves from facing an ethical dilemma in the future.

Organizations should be more society oriented, that is, they should work hard towards making the society and citizens happy by protecting the environment and nature of the world.

Research also shows that many successful organizations of the world have launched several environment protective programs through which they protect and improve the environment and work towards a social cause. Such actions are not profitable for the organizations in any way, but they improve the reputation and name of the organization extensively. Consumers feel loyal and good about organizations that work towards the benefit of the society and environment.

Self-Analysis Letter
The revised paper is a more detailed, comprehensible and more valuable piece of literature. It, now, provides a more objective analyses of the case and in some detail too whereas previously it was quite an opinion based paper. This objectivity has provided the paper with more convincing power and allows the reader to fully understand ant relate to the topic the reader knows that the work is based on valid ethical theories and on the feeling and beliefs of the writer. The reader should be capable of making his own opinion now on the specific ethical issues that have been discussed in the paper how a commercial enterprise should deal with an ethical dilemma, what costs should be compromised in proving oneself as a more ethically sound entity.
More specifically, the thesis of the paper is very clear now and proper support and evidence is provided, by referring to new sources, to prove the thesis. The detail in which the case is discussed in the revised paper has also become a good referencing point for the reader to understand and relate different ethical theories to the unethical activities of the commercial enterprises.
Apart from a more enlightening piece of literature, the changes made in the revised paper have also allowed me to better understand the subject of ethics and also to communicate better. I have learnt that unless the thesis is supported with objective facts and hypotheticalproven theories, there is very little weight to the words of writer that are solely based on his own beliefs, ideas and understanding of the world.

Reproductive science has over the years undergone a series of remarkable developments. While many of these developments are very welcome, some have raised serious debates regarding their ethical place in society. Today science has brought promises of designer children. This is to say that parents will now be in a position, for whatever reason, to choose the kind of traits they want for their children. There are those who argue that this technology will make it possible for designer children to help out their siblings and other children with particular health conditions. While this sounds like a very noble idea, there are several questions that arise from it. This study is concerned with the moral implications of designer children in as far as their production is concerned. It will specifically deal with the issue of producing designer children for the sake of helping address particular illnesses in other children.

Designer Children-Savior Siblings
One of the major arguments advanced by reproductive health professionals is that the application of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in the creation of designer children is beneficial in that these designer babies are in every respect savior siblings. In other words, their tissues can be used in order to save the lives of children living with conditions such as leukemia, thalassaemia, as well as rare anemia (Boyle and Savulescu 1245). According to these experts, treatment of such conditions is only possible through a donation of bone marrow or stem cell from an individual whose tissues match those of the infected person. They further argue that PGD can easily make it possible for the production of a baby with traits matching those of the existing one, thereby saving their lives.

However, serious ethical questions arise from this argument. First, children who are created for such a reason are actually reduced to mere commodities. In other words, the reason for creating or rather producing that designer child is to save the existing one, meaning that the child created is not brought forth for their own sake, but for the sake of another child. This could have serious ramifications for the designer child, because it would be totally impossible to conceal from the child the reason for its creation. This could permanently damage the child psychologically because of the feeling of being unwanted (Liao 117). It is ethically wrong to create a child whose entire life will be shrouded with the knowledge that they were produced for the sake of another child. The main question in this case is as soon as the reason for its creation is over, what next for the designer child.

At the same time, in order for the designer child to fulfill the purpose for which it was created, it would have to be subjected to unnecessary suffering during the process of tissue harvesting. The child is in this case not able to choose whether to accept the tissue harvesting or not. It can be extremely traumatizing and in every sense morally intolerable.

Another ethical issue that arises with this technology is that it brings about a damaging effect on genetic diversity of humanity. This could expose humanity to risks that may be unforeseen at the moment. The proponents of producing children to suit particular needs seem not to realize this fact. At the same time, assuming that this technology were accepted, it would expose humanity into a further problem of inequality, mainly because only those who are rich enough would afford such an expensive technology. This would simply further social inequalities (Sheldon and Wilkinson 534). According to the ethical principle of justice, all should be treated equally, and creating designer children tends to create two camps of humanity the genetically rich, and the genetically poor that is, those with the advantage of the designer genome and those without. This would also be ethically intolerable, and it would be a serious error for humanity to move towards that direction knowingly.

Conclusion
While an appreciation is made of the nobility of the arguments of the proponents of the use of PGD in the production of designer children, this study has raised serious ethical problem that come with this progress. To reduce children to mere commodities not only goes against morality, but also against God, who is the supreme creator of all that is. It is important that every human being be appreciated and brought forth for their sake, rather than for the sake of others. While it is important to save the lives of others, this decision should be left to the individuals to decide whether or not to donate tissue. In the case of designer children, this decision is left to the parents, thereby reducing the children to commodities that can be subjected to parental manipulation at will. It is therefore morally unacceptable to produce children for the sake of others.

Coco Chanel Ethical Fashion Designer and Integral Member of the Womens Liberation Movement
Coco Chanel was a fashion pioneer whose career spanned the end of the first wave and the middle of the second wave of the womens liberation movement in the late 19th through mid-20th century.

Chanels modern philosophy and creative aesthetic informed her clothing designs such that menswear was created for women, and the result was an elegant, yet powerful take on the feminine form. Chanels use of the male figure when crafting her clothing for women helped women to feel professionally competent and independent during a time in which women were asserting themselves as equal to men and demanding equal rights, and insisting on ethical treatment.

Chanels designs were informed by simplicity and elegance. Her style encouraged women to break out of stereotypical housewife roles by showing them that they need not dress for their husbands, but dress for their jobs. Women saw that they could be elegant and feminine and sophisticated while supporting themselves financially. Chanel was concerned with the ethical equality of women in the workplace as well as in the home. She saw that women could empower themselves through the way they dressed, especially when that dress involved challenging mens views of the way women should dress.

During the second-wave of the feminist movement, gender inequality in the law and in culture was directly addressed by protesters across America. Instead of focusing on how men socially and psychologically dominated women through their broader education and professional opportunities, the second wave movement narrowed down on the laws which prevented women from moving freely in society. Women were unable to own property, unable to refuse sex with their husbands, and unable to work in the financial and other professional sectors. Women were barred from social clubs, and insulted and called whores if they socialized with men by themselves or after dark. Women were not supposed to drink in public, and they were expected to marry young and start having children and make their occupation in the home.

Chanel challenged the cultural ethos by making clothes which showed women and men that women need not flaunt their curves, their bosoms, their legs, and yet could remain feminine in a quieter, less obvious way. Her designs became classic and known for their classiness and respect towards women. During the time Chanel was designing, Simone de Beauvoir wrote her famous treatise, The Second Sex, in which she referred to women as the other.  This idea harked back to Virginia Woolf, who wrote of the denial of womens creativity and interests outside raising children during the first wave of the feminist liberation movement. Later in the second wave in 1963, Betty Friedan wrote, The Feminine Mystique, which further explored the problem with no name which was the dissatisfaction of educated women who were relegated to working in the homes and who set aside their desires, viewing them as selfish, since they interfered with their traditional role in the family construct.

Chanel became known as an ethical designer through her involvement with the feminist liberation both directly and indirectly. Chanel was a businesswoman, and did not outsource the finances of her company to a man she appeared as the ambassador of her brand, instead of sending a man to negotiate for her Chanel herself campaigned against cultural and political inequalities, and grew her brand in the process. Chanel unveiled her brand in 1909, when one of the greatest freedoms of women at that time was how they expressed themselves through appearance and dress. Frills, flounces, and curls were no longer fashionable. Instead, short haircuts, flat-chested silhouettes and simple design were in style.

Chanels designs were comfortable and practical. During World War I, women could take on the jobs of the men who were fighting, and they could not do so were they to wear restrictive, ornate fashion and hobble skirts. In 1953 Chanel came out of her early retirement (in 1939) because of her distaste of post-war fashion. She re-introduced comfortable shapes, and by 1959 her Chanel Suit became the uniform of professionally well-dressed women all over the world.

Chanels involvement in the womens movement for equality defines her ethical view that both women and men deserved to be equals in the workforce and equals in contributing to the state of their nation.  The financial and professional ethos of Chanels designs catered to the ethical views of the times that it takes two genders for a family, for a nation, and for the success of the modern movement towards industry. Chanel did she tolerate counterfeits of her designs the Chanel suit was copywrited to protect Chanel and her business, and to encourage other designers to create their own innovative steps towards being part of the womens liberation movement.

It is neither ethical nor correct for a woman to design clothes that another woman cannot wear. Chanels designs catered towards the female body, and kept the classic traditions of modesty and elegance alive. Chanels tendency towards modesty evoked her implicit understanding that women have the right to own their bodies and the right to express their bodies how they choose, whether or not they are in public. When Chanel first came to be known as the name-brand designer she is today, it was noted that she affirmed the right of a woman to own her own sexuality. The highly unethical standard of the time was for women to give themselves to their husbands whenever the husbands demanded sexual favors, and Chanels clothes denied men this idea, as well as implying that a women could undress herself however and whenever she chose, in her own personal style, just as she could dress herself however she chose.

Chanels designs of simplicity and elegance made it clear that mens view of women as objects of sexual desire and conquest were highly unethical. Women were empowered when they wore Chanels designs. All of a sudden they felt the power of their femininity as well as their personal and professional power. Modesty and sensuality were conveyed in a lens of power, not a lens of weakness and supplication. This was a great turnaround from the previous conceptions of womens place in society and relationship to men. Along with mens idea that a women dressed solely to please them, the idea that a woman herself took pleasure in not dressing to please men was a huge cultural and psychological transformation.

It is simply unethical to act as if one sex has the right to command another to act or be a certain way. One of the ways in which fashion can perpetuate this unethical situation is to restrict women to certain forms which are in vogue and prey on womens self esteem by making them believe that if they do not dress a certain way, they will be outcasts of their society. Fashion has served throughout the centuries as a way to make people feel included or excluded. Purple has always been associated with royalty, copper with poverty, silver with longevity, and gold with godliness.  There exists significance in all of the fashions of the times, and in each case fashion has served to introduce people to one another before they have personally met. When one sees anothers outfit, assumptions are automatically made as to that persons standing in society, the persons age, their marital status, and their profession.

There are statements which are familiar to persons living in the late 19th century and early 20th century which have stood the test of time. For example, the apron in the 1950s symbolized housewifery the flapper dress in the 20s symbolized innocent sexuality and girlishness the WAK uniform of the 40s symbolized authority the tie-dyed clothing of the 70s symbolized political freedom. There is a multiplicity of examples from across the world, and many are contradictory, which further show how fashion is not necessarily about the clothes themselves, but about their symbolism in society. An example of this is the color worn by those in mourning in different cultures. In America, that color is black in China, that color is white. In China, red is considered a lucky color, and Chinese women often wed in a dress inspired by the reds in the color spectrum--no Chinese would ever consider getting married in a white dress.

Chanel paid attention to her cultures focus on woman as a subservient being, a being for whom the state did not owe as much as it owed the men of its dominion. With her streamlined style and refusal to give her business over to the control of a man, she personified her clothing. Her efficiency and straightforwardness made her unique in her era of fashion. While other fashion houses were catering to the male ideal of femininity, Chanel was redefining   femininity along with the other members of the womens liberation movement. Chanel was one of the first designers to create a menswear line for women, employing trousers and straight-cut jackets where there used to be ruffled dresses and fitted cardigans. It was not that Chanel did not believe in showing off the female form--rather, she saw the female form as embodying the changing political, psychological and social ethos of the times. Chanels designer aesthetic reinforced her role in the womens liberation movement by allowing women freedom of movement in their clothes, which was a metaphor for freedom of movement in their lives.

Gender-neutral is a term which is mistakenly applied to Chanels designs. They are clearly designed for a woman, with their slim silhouettes and clean lines. Chanel herself was adamant that she was a feminine designer with a feminist agenda. Her agenda came second to her aesthetic, however, which was one of power and self-confidence. She rose from relative obscurity to open her own shop and have creative authority over much of the French and American society in the early 20th century. The brand Chanel signifies grace and professionalism and power.

While designing clothes for all women, it was specifically with slim, flat-chested women in mind that Chanel created her couture. Today, Chanels suit is worn mainly by slim women, since the circular necklines do not fit a woman whose bosom requires more support. Instead of a corseted approach to a womans waist, Chanel reinforced her belief that a woman need not be restrained by her clothes, and able to exercise her physical will, in addition to her psychological and political will. The elimination of the corset from her fashion lines was a big step in womens liberation of style. Women were not-so-subtly informed that their shape need not be hemmed in, that they could breathe while attending parties, while walking down the street, while eating. Chanel also brought back the idea of costume jewelry, which she used to accessorize her simple designs with. The costume jewelry added a tone of whimsy and femininity to what could be interpreted as the severity of her suits and clothes.

Chanel did not intend to become a leader of the womens liberation movement, but her art spoke for itself. Later on in her life she became a champion of womens right to own property, speaking at public gatherings and in public forums with national reaches of the necessity of a womans having a home to literally call her own. This point of view harks back again to Virginia Woolf when she wrote her masterpiece, A Room of Ones Own. A woman was no longer treated like a child who is passed from father to husband, with an accompanying dowry. Chanel spoke for the emancipation of women from the bondage of marriage. Prior to the 1960s, women were not allowed to own property, and divorce settlements were practically moot because a woman could not leave the household without being forced to move back with her parents.

As Chanel herself said, Fashion is not something that exists only in dresses. Fashion is in the sky, in the street fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. Through her words it is clear that Chanel was conscious of how fashion led women to feel a certain way about themselves in a social context. Chanel used everyday, common fabrics such as tweed and jersey cloth. She introduced pea jackets and bell bottom pants for women.

More than a brand name, Chanel came to objectify a way of life, and she laid the foundation for the coming womens liberation movement. Through her clothes, Chanel celebrated the freedom and equality of women. Chanel used unconventional models, appealed to fashion magazines, thus forcing the fashion industry to accept her brand. The manliness of Chanels designs did more than inspire women to act with an air of greater authority, as men have been doing for centuries, but to change womens conception of their own femininity. Chanel created a way of life, and her fashion was, in effect a workable, wearable, garment tailored specifically for the coming womens movement.

Chanel chose her designs from her heart, and was inspired by what she herself wanted to wear. This attitude inspired more than thoughts of fashion in other women, but conspired to foster a stronger sense of self and individuation and power that women didnt necessarily feel entitled to express before wearing her clothes. By wearing what was once a traditional male style, women were forced to examine their ideas of their role in the world in terms of male power and influence, and questions what it was about their lives that they found unsatisfactory. Just as a person is more likely to feel sad if they purposely wear a frown, women who dress in a more stereotypically manly fashion are more likely to question the role of their gender in society.  Chanel herself said I did not go into society because I had to design clothes I designed clothes precisely because I did go into society. Because I was the first to live the life of this century.

In addition to being streamlined in her designs, Chanel embodied that streamlined principle in all areas of her life. She pared down her living to simple, albeit expensive style she pared down her acquaintances to very few, but trusted friends she pared down her speaking engagements to few, and limited the time she spent away from designing. At heart, Chanel was a designer and a societal innovator rolled into one. She did not stay away from her purpose, and in so doing, inspired others to be true to themselves no matter the distractions at hand and pressures from society--both our internalized society which tries to give others a good impression of us, as well as the society in which one engages on a daily basis.

One of the ways women were limited in society was through the limitation of skirts and dresses imposed on them by generations of men. Chanel started the revolution which consisted of women wearing pants, the better to have mobility--again, mobility being a metaphor for psychological and political mobility. Skirts and dresses were cumbersome, and a reminder of the stringent rules imposed upon women over the centuries. Through fashion, Chanel gave women a perspective into what was possible when they gave up male dominion and started to think about what would be personally and politically comfortable for them.

Another way in which Chanel was one of the godmothers of the feminist liberation movement was through the introduction of her revered perfume, Chanel No.5. It resembled the alternative style of dress she had made famous in that it was a marked change from its competitors in the fragrance market. Chanel No. 5 was simplistic, and the shape of the bottle was sleek and angular with a cut stopper. The fashion of the times was for perfumes to be dressed ornately in tiny bottles which were geared to be romantic in nature and catering to the notion of women as sexual and sensual beings. As with Chanels clothing line, her perfume line gave women the freedom to think of themselves in more masculine, powerful terms, and to internalize some of the characteristics they attributed to masculinity, such as self-confidence, professionalism, and independence.

It was during Chanels tenure as a designer that American society struggled with viewing women as independent beings who kept their qualities of humor, sex appeal and self-respect, while adding to that a sense of dignity and professionalism. The ethical nature of Chanels designs and vision for the womens liberation movement is indisputable. Chanel herself was conscious of what she was doing, however it is important to note that she was doing what she inherently felt was correct. Her inner sense of aesthetics led her to create designs which inspired the women of her time to think differently about themselves and their place in society. Due to her influential status as a fashion icon, helped by the promotion of her line and brand by fashion magazines which celebrated Paris couture, Chanel was able to bring her message to the world and inspire other women who may not have been moved to change their self-concept and join the liberation movement. And there is nothing more ethical than inspiring others to fight for their equality and discover who they are--especially if one is motivated from a personal sense of duty to be true to herself, and feels the duty to bring that truth to others.

At the end of her life, Coco Chanel was revered by other designers, business women around the globe, and young girls hoping to break into a profession, or even into fashion. She showed what was possible when one stopped living by the status quo and designed from the heart, not just from the head. Chanel was famous in social circles for spurning marriage, and deciding to live as an independent woman with lovers instead of settling down with a man. Chanel was an example of a woman who does not need to align herself with a man in order to be powerful. She was a self-made woman, and she never shirked from a challenge, be it to showcase her designs in a time when they could be ridiculed or rejected, or to come out of retirement to re-define what she believed female fashion should be about when she saw that fashion was reverting back to a style which encroached on a womans figure and comfort level.

Coco Chanels legacy will be felt for years to come. Her revolutionary designs brought ethics into the fashion world, where previously fashion had been about catering to the male point of view and aesthetics. Chanels aesthetics were dictated by her firm belief that a woman should be comfortable in her clothing, and that that comfort extend to her personal and political life. She was an advocate of the personal being political, which was one of the mantras of the feminist liberation movement. Chanel brought a context to her clothing, and she defied mans conception of femininity. Women could now wear pants, abandon corsets, and let their natural figure be unencumbered by the restrictive style of the late 19th century.

While some women marched in the streets and others watched from the sidelines, rebelling in their own personal way in their households, Chanel was a public figure who demonstrated her allegiance to womens liberation through her art. Her talent saw her through many difficult times, and she was encouraged by the gratitude she received from womens associations and the negative attention she received by reactionary men. The simplicity of her art made it difficult to argue with the ethical necessity of equal rights for women. It was difficult to point to her designs as foolish or outlandish when, in fact, they were practical, elegant and, in a word, lovely. Chanel will always be known for her class, but her greatest contribution may be her fight for gender equality through an elegant message infused with staunch ethical beliefs.