Helpful Advice

Hey guys! As the semester comes to an end and summer gets closer and closer I've been thinking about the classes I have taken this past semester. Even though this business writing class has been one of my easier classes this semester, that does not have anything to do with the fact that it was one of my favorites as well. Being a business major I could relate to a lot of things we had to learn and accomplish in the class. Some advice I would give to future students would be while this class is easier I wouldn't wait to the last minute to get things done. My partner and I both had very hectic schedules and many of the time we would have to wait till Sunday to finish our work. Another piece of advice would be to read the chapters and use the outlines for memos or documents needed. The book can be very helpful and informative while not boring like most. I did not like the Second Life application only because it didn't work a lot of the time. I believe using a Instant Messenger would have been more efficient and reliable. If you have any questions about the course, Angie is very helpful and she is more than willing to go out of her way for you. Good Luck!

A Failure in Ethics

As I wrote last week, there are many times when an ethical issue will come up in your business life. In class this week we further discussed moments in time when ethical issues were acknowledged and not handled ethically. After discussing this, I decided to look further into it and find a time in recent years when someones life might have been put in danger because of someones unethical decision. It just so happened that while I was studying for a Law 322 test, I found a case in which Guidant Corporation didn't recall a heart defibrillator and put thousands of lives at risk. The malfunction in the device was discovered in 2002 but was not recalled until nearly 3 years later. The company's excuse for not recalling sooner was that the risk of removing the device was greater than the risk of malfunction. Not only did they wait 3 years to inform individuals of the malfunction, Guidant admitted to not believing the "modified" version from 2002 actually fixed the problem. This simply blew my mind, I do not understand how a company can knowingly harm innocent people because they think some risks outweigh other risks. The least they could have done was offer the knowledge to doctors and patients that it affected and allow them to make their own decision. The malfunctioning device resulted in at least 7 deaths. This may not seem important to many people, however I do believe the families that lost someone would greatly disagree.

The Truth in Business Ethics

The article in which we were asks to read and reflect on was very informative and held statistics that I never would have thought of before. Ethical lapses in the workplace can cause many problems on many levels. When a employer hires someone they do so on the basis that they believe the applicant is honest and trustworthy. Therefore, the employer believes that if their employee is faced with an issue they will do not only do what is right for the company but what is right in the eyes of society.

As I have been working since the age of 16 I have been faced with many ethical situations, whether it be myself in the situation or others. I definitely agree with the fact that it can cause "dissonance and distraction" in the workplace. There have been times where I have been put in situations that looking in retrospect I believe I could and should have handled differently. However, having said that I also try to keep in mind that you can only learn and mature from your mistakes and that is what I am going to continue to do.

Web, Paper, Scissors

The difference between writing on the Web and writing on paper today has changed dramatically compared to that of 20 years ago. The primary difference I feel like in writing on the Web is the fact that we have gotten in such a hurry that Web writing is not quite as formal. As our technology has advanced over the years we have gotten to the point that sending a letter through the mail is almost nonexistent. We rely almost solely on the speed of our internet and I don't think I could comprehend spending a week to send a letter back and forth compared to e-mailing a letter where it takes mere seconds. Now comparing this to 20 years ago writing on the internet was not nearly as popular. Not many people had computers, much less the internet so writing on paper was more efficient so that it complied with everyone, not just the few people that were fortunate enough to have the internet.

Now even though paper and internet writing seem dramatically different I also believe they have a lot of things in common. They both reach out to a specific audience and require research to back up ideas. Another similarity is the fact that writing on both paper and the Web is they both require the critical thinking involved in any type of writing.

As I stated earlier, we have gotten in such a hurry in today's society that we tent to shorten things and have certain abbreviations for certain words. One of the most important things I believe when transferring from paper to the Web is to understand and acknowledge that not everyone is aware of these short cuts in writing.