Perceptions and Ethical Decisions in Today's Business World
Running head: Perceptions & Ethical Decisions in Today’s Business World
Perceptions and Ethical Decisions in Today’s Business World
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
James R. Perrin
National American University
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Abstract
No matter how great the products or services are, customers will not beat down the door in numbers needed to stay in business if their view of the business is not positive. Sometimes, it only takes unsubstantiated negative publicity, or poor ethical choices to make a business start to flounder. Therefore, CEO’s, CFO’s, COO’s and Small Business Owners need to establish sound goals, make ethical choices and keep a positive perception, of their business among most audiences. Poor perceptions are next to impossible to overcome and years may not necessarily cause the public to forget or change the poor perceptions. While a Fortune 500 company may have the resources to survive erroneous perceptions, a smaller corporation, or a “Mom & Pop” store may not. Even a great public relations firm cannot always spin the bad into a good light.
Public perception, brand loyalty and the ethical choices made by the controlling management of a corporation will determine whether a company will be successful or fail from the onset. Bailouts, recession, inflation, bank failures, poor choices, a vigilant press, greed and a new President, all are signs of the times; times that have the public on edge. Take recent stories on the American International Group, Inc. (AIG), a world leader in insurance and financial services. Their executives purportedly received over 165 million dollars in bonuses while the company was failing and asking for a bailout from the government. These actions just about sent the public over the edge. To the public $165,000,000 is such a large number that most people cannot fathom the amount, even though the bonuses were part of prior existing, legally executed hiring contracts. Americans were outraged. First AIG fails, and
Perceptions and Ethical Decisions in Today’s Business World
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
James R. Perrin
National American University
.
Abstract
No matter how great the products or services are, customers will not beat down the door in numbers needed to stay in business if their view of the business is not positive. Sometimes, it only takes unsubstantiated negative publicity, or poor ethical choices to make a business start to flounder. Therefore, CEO’s, CFO’s, COO’s and Small Business Owners need to establish sound goals, make ethical choices and keep a positive perception, of their business among most audiences. Poor perceptions are next to impossible to overcome and years may not necessarily cause the public to forget or change the poor perceptions. While a Fortune 500 company may have the resources to survive erroneous perceptions, a smaller corporation, or a “Mom & Pop” store may not. Even a great public relations firm cannot always spin the bad into a good light.
Public perception, brand loyalty and the ethical choices made by the controlling management of a corporation will determine whether a company will be successful or fail from the onset. Bailouts, recession, inflation, bank failures, poor choices, a vigilant press, greed and a new President, all are signs of the times; times that have the public on edge. Take recent stories on the American International Group, Inc. (AIG), a world leader in insurance and financial services. Their executives purportedly received over 165 million dollars in bonuses while the company was failing and asking for a bailout from the government. These actions just about sent the public over the edge. To the public $165,000,000 is such a large number that most people cannot fathom the amount, even though the bonuses were part of prior existing, legally executed hiring contracts. Americans were outraged. First AIG fails, and