Question A – Is doing what is legal the right question? Often companies are concerned most with whether an action is legal. Do you believe this is a wise practice for a company? Why or why not?
An example: I believe legality is an important aspect, but it should not be the cultural mindset. What I mean by that is if companies only focus on the legality of their actions and forget the ethical morality of their choices, they lose their company’s authenticity and impact on society. The company’s culture influences the moral judgment of employees and stakeholders, which encourages everyone to act within the compounds of honesty and integrity. I believe that a business organization needs to possess a legal advisor or a team based on the size and position of the organization who needs to guide the organization in such cases. Equally, I believe companies should invest in a moral ethics team that possesses ethical knowledge that considers the societal impact and captures the company’s moral code.
Question E. US and Ewaste: After watching the video clips about e-waste, what role should US companies have in addressing the issue? Support your answer.
An example: Dell has a take-back program called Dell Reconnect. It banned the export of non-working electronics to developing countries. They did this by partnering with non-profits like Goodwill Industries, which collects computers to refurbish or recycle. However, like the article by Katie Campbell published in 2016, many of Goodwill’s computers were tracked to underdeveloped countries abroad. Dell was trying to take an ethical responsibility in the recycling crisis but fell short due to their partner’s oversight. US companies have to have a series of checks and balances between all trading hands of e-waste if there is a real impact on other countries’ recycling crisis caused by the US. There’s a great example of a company that takes an aggressive approach to e-waste, “Neu is the CEO of Hugo Neu, a New York-based e-waste recycler and e-Steward, that just months ago decided to shift its business model away from recycling. Now it only refurbishes electronics for resale…. Neu’s company hired workers and paid for the latest advanced recycling technology” (Campbell, 2016