Essay about Martha Stewart Ethics

At stake here are several conflicting values, the concern for a fellow human being, self-preservation, success of the company and the pressure to perform. As VP of the division, I am under scrutiny to deliver substantial results to my president, John Edmonds, to be seen as sensitive to my product managers needs. Lisa Walters, Kathryn’s supervisor, has pressed me for a resource action for boosting staff morale and replacing her with someone who can be more productive. I also feel that Kathryn McNeil is a hard worker who is stuck in a tricky personal situation.

Martha Stewart and the Lehman Brothers are both well recognized, but both tend to get involved in situations that range from the unethical to the illegal. Martha Stewart is one of the more popular favorites when it comes of decorating; her reputation as an authority on cooking and entertaining makes her famous and successful. Martha Stewart created Stewart Living magazine in 1990, in partnership with AOL Time Warner’s publishing division. Thus, by 1998, she bought some stakes in the magazine, which at that time had annual earnings of $180 million. In that same year Omni, media sold its shares to the public. Martha Stewart was then indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of Securities Fraud, Perjury and Obstruction of Justice. Furthermore,

After reviewing the federal statue under 15 U.S.C. 78U-1 – civil penalties for insider trading, it provides clarity on why Martha Stewart was not charged with insider trading. On December 27, 20, 2004 Martha Stewart sold ImClone stock based on information she received from her stock broker who stated that the CEO of the company Sam Waksal was dumping his $5 million stake in the company. Stewart owed 4000 shares of ImClone, which was worth $45,673. Even though Stewart’s actions were somewhat suspicious, there was no proof that she knew that the FDA did not grant the approval for the drug Erbitux. She may have been friends with the CEO, but there was no proof of him contacting her or vice versa regarding the FDA decision; In order to charge Stewart

During the investigation, Stewart lied to the SEC and FBI, saying that she had no knowledge of Waksal’s trade and that she had sold on a standing agreement with her broker to sell if shares traded below $60. Bacanovic corroborated the story, but his assistant Faneuil eventually came forward and revealed the truth (Leite, 2012). Later, Stewart’s own assistant, Annie Armstrong, testified that Stewart had tried to change a record of Bacanovic’s phone message to her about ImClone (Leite, 2012). The charge for illegal insider trading against Martha Stewart was ultimately dropped because she had no knowledge of the FDA’s decision on the drug, but she was sentenced to five months of prison time and forced to pay a fine of $195,000 for obstruction of justice and conspiracy. Stewart’s reputation was further tarnished as she was forced to step down as CEO of her company for five years, and resign her board member status at the New York Stock Exchange (Moffatt, 2015). The conviction damaged Stewart’s career and her company as the Martha Stewart Organization’s stock fell 22.6 percent after the crisis (Torossian,

From being a very successful businesswoman to calling a prison cell home, Martha Stewart has definitely had an interesting past couple of years. She started her career about 30 years ago with a catering business and has since built from that becoming the CEO and Chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. Her success also includes the publication of her magazine Everyday Living, being the commercial spokeswoman for K-Mart, and having her own popular television show, From Martha’s Kitchen. She had built the reputation of being a public figure with how-to advice on creations in the kitchen to gardening. Despite these accomplishments, Stewart managed to become entangled in some insider trading scheme that damaged not only parts of

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is primarily comprised of a magazine publication and a television show created by home décor aficionado, Martha Stewart. Both sources of media primarily feature home renovating and decorating products. Also, having an emphasis on do it yourself (DIY) projects for a more stylish and satisfying home. Stewart herself, described Martha Stewart Living as, “the most trusted guide to stylish living.” While MSLO brings in revenues from those looking to decorate their homes and a significant portion of revenues comes from air time and in-show brand/product mentions, the majority of revenues for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia comes from their publishing branch.

Ethics plays a very important role in one social system and basically on how the people will make their actions or decide on a particular thing on whether it is the right or the wrong thing. Ethical consideration is very important. It helps a person or a group of person understands whether the actions are right or wrong. Ethics is a very critical factor most especially when considering where the ethical standards are to applied. Aside from it, weighing results of actions or decision is also another major concern because of the fact that a person has critically analyze whose side is needed to satisfied. There are instances that moral obligations are also considered, in which moral is defined as a universal accepted personal

     Martha Stewart, the countries top icon for homemaking has been in the eye of the public since June 2002, but not for her craftiness or culinary abilities. Stewart instead has the spotlight on her for crimes of insider trading. A tip from her former broker Peter E. Bacanovic, persuaded her into selling her IMClone stock after sharing information about a close friend of Stewart’s getting rid of his shares. Stewart’s companion, Sam Waksal, was also the chief executive of IMClone Systems Inc. IMClone Systems is a well-known company specializing in the research and development of therapies treatments of cancer. The stock selling was provoked due to a leak of information about The Food & Drug

With so many varying views on morals and ethics, trying to use reason in ethics without resorting to emotional judgments is difficult. The first stop to overcoming this obstacle is to begin by studying ethical theories. Once a good grasp of the theories has been established, the next task is to create an extreme hypothetical situation and apply the theories to it. Once this can be achieved correctly, it will become easier to make ethical decisions in day-to-day life. Following this process the situation is thus:

The moral dilemma

On January 20, 2004, jury selection launched the trial of Martha Stewart, Chief Creative Officer and former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO). Nine charges filed by the Federal Grand Jury in New York and the SEC relate to Stewart’s personal sale of $228,000 in ImClone Systems, Inc. stock on December 27, 2001, one day before regulators rejected the biotech company’s cancer drug (Erbitux) and sent its stock tumbling. Communications records show that Stewart placed an 11-minute cellphone call to her assistant at 1:31 P.M. EST on December 27 to check her messages. The call was registered moments after Stewart’s chartered private jet

Moral decisions grounded in an individual’s sense of ethics, which may be defined using approaches such as utilitarian approach, the rights approach, the justice approach or the virtue approach. Because of different ways ethics are defined by different people, some decisions are likely to be considered moral by some and immoral by others. These type of decisions typically have extreme narrative significance – for example, saving or destroying the world, or killing of main characters. However, on a conceptual level, there no reason these choices could not be more subtle. When it comes to making decisions it can horribly tense. Sometimes what seems like morally right choice may actually turn out to be bad

In any type of business, ethical decision-making is usually at the forefront of company operations. It shapes the foundation of a company and gives employees a moral compass as to what is expected of them ethically. Ethical-decision making prevents individuals from profiting from their own personal methods, while representing the company as a whole. There has been several cases where an individual of an establishment has gone against the company’s moral scale for their own benefit and ended up costing the company tons of money, or even worst circumstances, has caused a company to go bankrupt. After reading about Bill Daniels and his groundbreaking insurance story in Chapter 5 of Gonzalez-Padron (2015), it was obvious that Daniels displayed a great example of an ethical decision-making, as moral reasoning was his company’s entire foundation. This paper will describe the ethical tradition Bill used to save his own business, the approach he used to do so, factors that could motivate someone to develop higher stages of moral reasoning, and others who demonstrate dissimilar ethic styles.

     There are several decision-making models to choose from in any given situation. Some of these models available on the Internet are the Responsible Decision-Making Model, the Ethical Decision-Making Model, the Ethics Toolkit PLUS Model, the Vigilant Decision-Maker Process, and some basic ones as well. In general, all decision-making models are the processes we use to make well-thought out decisions. There are three major elements of all decision-making models. These three elements are: how are criteria determined, how are alternatives generated, and how are alternatives evaluated against criteria (Scholl, p. 1). In this paper, we will use the Responsible Decision-Making Model to explain how the process works

Companies place a high amount of importance on the ethics and behavior in the workplace. Most companies specify behavior requirements when hiring employees and provide guidelines of appropriate conduct pertaining to internal policies. When it comes to moral behavior in the workplace there is always a chance of making a decision for personal gain over ethical integrity. A key component to workplace ethics is integrity, honesty and doing the right thing at all times. In this case study, April is faced with a moral dilemma. She must decide if she will be honest with the owners of the firm she works for and her coworker or be dishonest for financial gain, which she is in dire need of. The following paragraphs will discuss April’s dilemma in more detail, employee’s roles and responsibilities in ethical situations and organization’s role and responsibility in ensuring ethical practices in the workplace.