HOMEWORK No 2

28th October 2009

Group 7:

1. Phung Thi Than 06124045

2. Trinh Thi Dung 06124009

3. Tran Dinh Lanh 06124028

4. Nguyen Nguyen Phi 06124113

5. Tran Anh Vu 06124126

6. Le Thi Thuy Tram 06124051

7. Nguyen Bao Tri(New member) 06124135

1. Bribing corrupt foreign officials in order to win foreign orders, on the

grounds that where bribery is away of life, you have no alternative if you want to win
a contract.(by Phi)

We do not agree with the comments above, because we think to win a contract
there must be a real capacity. If you do not have this, the capacity to win by bribing the
implementation of the contract will be very difficult. Moreover, we think bribery is a
ridiculous ethical standard. Bribery makes the competition unfair. Evils of bribery
make people moral decadence and decrease social equity.

Because we briber a person who is capable not really recognized and those do
not have the capacity to achieve the purpose without the value for money. As a result,
people only interested in the interests of individuals, regardless of the common
interests of society, regardless of quality.

Nowadays almost all countries in the world are laborring evil interception is
subornned for its possession has been affecting economy.
 2. Industrial espionage spying on competitors’ R&D departments with
concealed camera and microphones, bribing their employees, etc… rather than
doing your own expensive research and development. (by Hong)

This is illegal and breaked principles of society. Industrial espionage spying on

competitor s to become great threats to intellectual property assets of all enterprises.
Bribering employee of the company is unethical competition. Industrial espionage
spying on a competitor to obtain trade secrets is dishonest. The information sought
often refers to the development of new products, innovative manufacturing techniques,
commissioned market surveys, forthcoming advertising campaigns, research plans, etc.
These things can help your company enter the market segment better than your
compettiors. In contrast, we think they will affect your reputation if the society
investigates your behaviors.

3. Selling supposely durable goods with “built-in obsolescence”, i.e. which

you know will not last more than a few years.(by Vu)

Before selling this kind of goods, we think that the producer has to know that
the consumer is at least the can buy a replacement from them. In these cases, there is
an information asymmetry between the producer, who knows how long the product to
last, and the consumer, who does not. When a market becomes more competitive,
product lifespans tend to increase. Lets inmage what would happen when the consumer
will be harmed because of your products. Therefore, although we do not break law we
should consider to consumer.

4. Spening money on lobbying, i.e. trying to persuade politicants to pass laws

favourable to your particular industry.(by Dung)

In my pinion, spending money on lobbying is illegal, it do not follow the

principles of society. Because this form is not official, it only brings benefits to a few
individuals but adverse impact to the interests of society. You try to persuade politicans
to pass laws favourable to your particular industrial. In contrast, this brings to public.
Image of your company in public view is very bad. Nobody wants it happen, so we
should not do it.

5. Telling only a half the truth in advertisements, or exaggerating a great

deal, or keeping quiet about the bad aspects of a product.
 Advertising must be truthful and nondeceptive, and advertisers must have
evidence to back up their claims. It is said that every maketer is a lier. Nevertheless, we
want to clarify that an ad is a way the company announce about their product but not an
exaggeration. This is illegal. Equally important, the consumer might buy your products
because of your exaggerating information but they will not buy your products again.
As a result, your company image will be affected or even bankrupt when there are
some people have to go to hospital because of your products.

6. Undertaking “profit smoothing”, i.e. using all the techniques of “creative

acounting” to hide big variations in profit figures from year to year, and threatening
to replace the auditors if they object.(by Lanh)

We want to explain clearly about profit smoothing. When the end of the year
comes, accountants will be busy to make reports about your company’s finacial
situation. You want to present a good image to shareholders so that you, a director,
would expect your accoutants use profit smoothing to achive your purpose.

Using profit smoothing means move current income to the future. For example,
suppose the company is a video game company, and they get massive revenue when a
game released, but relatively low sales the rest of the time. The company will spread
the money from the massive revenue out over the year, so that their revenue shows a
steady increase from year to year. Using profit smoothing is legal but it is
abused.Therefore, you must use it in limit.

7. “Whistle blowing”, i.e. revealing confidential information to the police or

to a newspaper, e.g. that a company is breaking health and safety regulations and
therefore putting people’s lives in danger, or illegally selling arms to foreign
dictators.(by Than)

Whistle blowing occurs when a worker raises a concern about danger or

illegality that affects the public. This is legal and protected by law. Consequently, it is
also important for workers to understand that there will be no adverse repercussions for
raising cases with their employer. We think that these actions will help to reduce the
risk that serious concerns are mishandled, whether by the employee or by the
organisation. Everybody should do this because of not only responsibility but also
morality. In addtition, workers should ensure that concerns raised are taken seriously
and investigate properly and make an objective assessment of the concern.