Week 1 - Nicotine in Beverages

Smoking and nicotine are bad for your health -- that's a fact. So why would an American company create a lemon-flavoured drink laced with nicotine? This 8 oz soda contains the same amount of nicotine as two cigarettes. The company is marketing this drink to smokers who find themselves in places where smoking is prohibited. But nicotine is a highly addictive drug. Those who oppose this product claim that it is the equivalent to putting a drug in a soda can. Meanwhile, supporters say that the lack of second-hand smoke from these drinks will make nicotine use safer for others. Moreover, because the drink is legally classified as a dietary substance rather than as a drug or cigarette, it is not currently subject to the rules that regulate the sale of drugs and cigarettes. The introduction of this product appears to be serving consumer want.

Read the following articles to further your knowledge:

• Canadians may soon be able to drink their nicotine : http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=e7d26bae-b5cf-4fac-99de-a9a2940a5c30&k=15452%20
• FDA Urged to Stop Marketing of “Nic Lite” Bottled Water Containing Nicotine http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press_releases/post/id_0928
• New Nicotine Drink Takes Off At Los Angeles International Airport http://www.bevnet.com/news/2006/06-22-2006-NicLite.asp
• Nicotine Drink Touts Alternative to Smoking: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Health/story?id=2114263&page=1

So... what do you think?

What are the ethical questions that this product raises? Should it be legal to sell this drink in a corner store? Why, or Why not? Explain your position using information you have learned from the course so far as well as your own person opinions.

Week 2 - Tar Sands

Canada's Tar Sands

In 2005, Canada was second only to Saudi Arabia in crude oil reserves, but almost 97% of Canada's reserve is in tar sands. The Athabasca Oil Sands development in northern Alberta currently produces 1.2 million barrels of oil a day and it is expected that increased production capabilities will add 2.4 million barrels per day by the year 2016. But removing that oil from the tar sands requires a lot of energy. Currently the tar sands project burns natural gas to heat the steam that removes the oil. The tar sands project is the largest single producer of greenhouse gases in North America.

What are some of the harmful effects of the tar sands, and the greenhouse gases they produce?

Should businesses and consumers be concerned about the effects?

Useful Links:

http://oilsands.alberta.ca/

http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/OurBusiness/oilsands.asp

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/60minutes/main1225184.shtml

Week 3 - Chicken Farms

 

Chicken is a very popular meat, but many feel the chicken production industry can be cruel to the birds. Broiler chickens are the most popular chicken on the market and fast-food menus. These chickens are raised in large, windowless buildings in flocks between 20 000 and 50 000 birds. Feeding, watering, temperature and ventilation are all automatically controlled. Most broiler chicken are slaughtered after just six or seven weeks (a chicken's natural lifespan is around seven years). The farm carefully controls the artificial lighting within the broiler sheds. When the chickens first arrive, the lighting is bright so the chicks can find the food and water. This encourages eating and rapid growth. After a time, the lighting is dimmed in order to prevent fighting between the chickens. The birds have little space in which to move. The space diminishes even further as the chickens grow.

Free-range chickens are raised in open pastures where they forage during the day for natural foods. They return to their nesting sheds at night. As a result of their daily exercise, the chickens develop good muscle tone and are much more meaty than the farmed chickens (it is the muscle tissue of the chicken that we eat). The chickens are treated better, and the meat is tastier, but these birds are more expensive for the consumer. If we impose free-range standards on all chicken production, the price of chicken will skyrocket.

Another issue to consider is the environmental impact of these chicken farms.

How important is it to you how chickens are raised?

Do you care more about the availability of inexpensive chicken from the supermarket or your favourite fast-food restaurant?

What is your standard for ethical treatment of chickens?

　

Some resources:

http://www.peta.org/

http://www.upc-online.org/fouling.html

http://sustainablepoultry.ncat.org/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/epa-plays-chicken-regulations-poultry-farm-emissions--steel-mills-oil-refineries.php

Practise Blog

If you could mee tone person, dead or alive, who would it be?

WEEK 4: MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING

Managers now have the technical means to monitor employees.  Managers can listen to their staff's telephone calls, read their email, and search their internet activity.  Many managers believe they should monitor employees because they need to measure productivity, gather information for performance reviews, and prevent legal problems for the company.  They also feel justified in keeping track of their employees' actions because technology is owned by the company.  The majority of employers using electronic-monitoring technology notify the employees that they will be monitored. 

What do you think of this management practice? 

Is it ethical, moral and legal?

WEEK 5: PENINSULA FARMS

Peninsula Farms was a small business in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, that began with one cow.  The Joneses owned the cow and kept her around to maintain their lawn.  The cow produced milk, of course, but the Joneses didn't know how to milk her.  So they learned proper milking techniques.  The cow was producing more milk than they could use, and the surplus was going to waste.  The Joneses researched the local market to find out what kind of milk product they would sell.  They discovered that whole-milk yogurt was in demand.  They then found out how to make yogurt in large batches.  They also studied the health and safety regulations to make sure they were meeting government standards.  The Joneses were so successful that they exceeded the government criteria.  The Joneses then bought more cows -- enough to make Peninsula Farms a profitable business.

Government inspectors had always given Peninsula Farms a high rating on their regular inspections.  It was a surprise to the Joneses, then, when six federal inspectors from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) visited the farm and, with just a cursory examination of the plant and its procedures, impounded more than $50 000 worth of yogurt.  This halted the production and left Peninsular Farms customers without product they wanted to buy.  The Joneses faced a total loss of more than $100 000 as they were now behind $50 000 worth of new production in addition to the yogurt that had been impounded.  (Their cooler was full of the impounded yogurt and there was nowhere to put any new yogurt.)  They were losing sales and customers as well.  The space that Peninsula Farms' product took on grocery shelves was soon filled with competing brands.  Faced with such a loss, Peninsula Farms was forced out of business.  It was discovered after the fact that their plant was above standard and their yogurt tested totally clean, with no trace of offending bacteria.

No one wants to be poisoned by the foods we eat.  The Canadian Inspection Agency does a wonderful job of protecting us from dirty factories, unsafe packaging, and dangerous storage practices.  As a result, we eat foods that do not, as a rule, make us sick.  Canadians are grateful that the CIFA is diligent in their efforts on our behalf.  However, in this case, do you believe the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was too diligent in this case?
Should there be special rules for small ventures that cannot afford such an interruption in their businesses?
If you were the Joneses, would you start over?  Explain your decision.

WEEK 6: BUSINESS AND REPUTATION

ETHICAL DILEMMA: REPUTATION

Read this article:

http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/marketer-news/staples-tops-corporate-reputation-survey-2-15757

 

he 2008 Corporate Reputation Study, completed by Leger Marketing in association with Marketing magazine, surveyed 1500 Canadians and found the following companies have the best corporate reputations:

 

1. Staples

2. Sony

3. Tim Horton's

4. Canadian Tire

5. Panasonic

6. Shopper's Drug Mart

7. Subway

8. Kraft

9. Honda

10. Toyota

 

Whereas, two years previously, in 2006 Canadians voted the following as the companies with the 10 best reputations:

 

1. Canadian Tire

2. Tim Horton's

3. Sony

4. Sears

5. Kraft

6. Nestle

7. Panasonic

8. Subway

9. McCain Foods

10. Home Depot

 

What do you think gives a company a good reputation?  What are the criteria for a good business?  What businesses do you think have a good reputation (name three not on this list)?  What businesses do you think have a poor reputation (name three)?