Michelangelo Pieta

Evan O'Meara September 18, 2012 Humanities Seminar WF 11:30 Prof. Lomanno The Beauty of Pieta Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the most critically acclaimed artists in human history. His artwork was created during the time of the Renaissance (15th century-17th century Europe). The Renaissance was a period of prosperity for literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, as well as other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Michelangelo’s works have stood the test of time and are still available to the public eye today. Of all Michelangelo’s masterpieces the Pieta stands out from the rest.This famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus in the arms of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. It is an important work as it balances the Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism. The statue is one of, if not the most beautiful works of art by Michelangelo Michelangelo’s Pieta is his most beautiful piece of art in my eyes. I have never seen a sculpture with such intricate detail in my entire life. Michelangelo is famous for sculpting every muscle, tendon, and vein on the human body with unfathomable exactitude, as he does with the Pieta.The detail makes this sculpture beautiful because I have never seen anything like it. The sculpture almost looks too perfect. I cannot marvel how the hand of Michelangelo in such a short period of time produced such divine work. I cannot understand how one can just take a block of marble and have the Pieta as a finished product. It almost seems impossible, but that is what makes it beautiful. Another element of this sculpture that I find beautiful is the way Michelangelo sculpted the Virgin Mary’s robe. It almost seems as if her clothes are not made of marble.Every crease in her robe is sculpted with such precision and detail. I do not know where Michelangelo found the patience to complete this piece. What most people could not achieve in a lifetime Michelangelo achieved in a year. He created a sculpture that defines divine beauty. Michelangelo did not want his version of the Pieta to represent death, but rather to show the religious vision of abandonment and a serene face of Jesus. The Virgin Mary’s face is youthful, yet beyond time; her head leans only slightly over the lifeless body of her son lying in her lap unlike other versions of the Pieta.Michelangelo wanted to express divine beauty in his version. This version is more peaceful than the others. The crucifixion wounds on Jesus’ hands and feet are small and non-violent. The fact that Michelangelo wanted to sculpt a new version of the Pieta in which nobody had ever seen is beautiful to me. The Pieta truly is Michelangelo’s most remarkable work of art. It was the first piece he personally signed. It was his first masterpiece in his eyes. Just days after it was placed in Saint Peter's, Rome, Michelangelo overheard a pilgrim remark that the work was done by Christoforo Solari, a rival sculptor.Michelangelo knew his sculpture of divine beauty was going to be one of the best the world has ever seen. That night, in a fit of rage, Michelangelo took hammer and chisel and scrawled: â€Å"Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this† across Mary's breast. This is the only work that Michelangelo ever signed. He later regretted his passionate outburst of pride and determined to never again sign a piece of his work. Signed by the artist or not, Michelangelo’s Pieta will forever be a work of divine beauty that is often imitated, but never duplicated. Word Count: 580

Roberson

Tracy Morgan Intro- Public Administration (PA301) Instructor Travis Forbes Sept, 12 2011 There were a few elements I noticed, and reflected upon while reading William Robertson: Exemplar of Politics and Public Management Rightly Understood, that I felt he drew upon, to help him successfully run the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services. Roberson utilized; people, place, physical technology, and personality, which were the specific elements that Gaus had mentioned. Let’s discuss how each event in Mr. Robertson’s life was important in reaching his goal, amongst the short term goals that were achieved because of his ability to lead.While reading Mr. Robertson’s story you could already grasp that he was a strong, yet influential leader, who believed through his military training, that you should lead from the front. Therefore be on the same level as your subordinates, so you can understand their needs, in order to meet and exceed them, for maximum mission effectivene ss could be achieved with few discrepancies. He also furthered his knowledge, not for the sake of promotion, but to have a better perspective of what was going to be needed in the future, to perform better in his job on all levels.So in case a situation arose, he would not be thrown off guard, but have the ability to correctly assess, identify, implement, and evaluate the situation, on behalf of the public, and city. Being in a large city, such as Los Angeles, afforded Mr. Robertson the prime opportunity to shine, because he was always surrounded by all the elements, which included him walking into public council meetings that were normally full of disgruntled people, but with his ability to converse (or manipulate as some would say), thus leaving many of them thanking him.It could even be coined as a slight form of social technology. He was able to accomplish all this by informing and educating, the people, and council of his duties, so when barriers were put in place, he and his t eam could work together on empowering the public to make better decisions, or be better prepared for the political battles that would surely arise, for the need for funding was on the table. Roberson’s judgment alone ancelled out Arnstein’s ladder of participation by, inadvertently giving more power to the people with knowledge, and abilities. And as a result the council members showed a little more insight, and support to Robertson, than what they did to his counterparts, thus leading to him to develop physical technologies in paving neighborhoods with limited funding, and still not overcrowding the streets with workers.

Thesongs of Fatherhood by William Wallis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Thesongs of Fatherhood by William Wallis - Essay Example The child’s community celebrates its birth. The child takes the first breath as soon as its head shows up to confirm it is alive. The child notices the difference of the external environment with that inside the womb and, consequently writhes (Wallis 1). The second poem So, Little Rabbit symbolizes the childhood stage in the father’s life. The poet compares childhood playful stage to that of a rabbit’s. The child is unaware of the life events that await him in adulthood (Wallis 1). His curiosity, naivety, and playfulness will vanish because soon he will be too old for that. The third poem Awaken symbolizes the adolescence stage. The adolescents develop feelings of intense love for members of opposite sex. The childhood innocence vanishes at this point and the childhood stories lose sense. The adolescents also seek attention from peers. The fourth poem Fly Free By Day, Swim Deep By Night indicates the busy and involving adulthood life. The adult revisits the stages missed during development. He is always moving to work at distant places leaving behind a sorrowful family sad because of his departure. The fifth poem Eternal Laughter ironically symbolizes the agonizing death that terminates life. His son’s love for him turns to sorrow (Wallis 1). However, his son learns to live without him. The fact that he also shall one day die consoles him. His father’s picture remains the only source of remembrance for his father. Wallis, William. The Songs of Fatherhood. 1st Premiere ed. Seattle, Washington: University of Presbyterian Church, 2012. Accessed on 16th, May 2015

Working in groups Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Working in groups - Assignment Example Working in groups can be powerful because the group can provide more experiences, insight and ideas than most individuals can create on their own. Multiple points of view and a variety of talents make working in groups a very productive experience. Instead of spending time tracking down information about the task, it is very possible that an individual on the team already has knowledge about it. Cooperative learning also allows a sharing of the work load that can be divided among the members according to their talent or preference. There are some real drawbacks about group work. One possibility is the danger of having group members that are lazy or unreliable. Having a team member that refuses to take on a fair share of the work or never produces their work on time or can derail the project for everyone. What usually happens is everyone else picks up the slack for this person. This rewards the individual for being slothful because they receive the same grade as everyone else. Another problem with cooperative learning is a strong personality can come to dominate the group. Some people have a strong desire to control others. Working with people like this in a group can be very discouraging. This was my experience in high school. By the end of the project, we all felt bullied by the assigned team leader. Our work was of poor quality and we nearly failed the assignment because we were all

Wall-Mart Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wall-Mart - Case Study Example Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart are the top retailers in the present American market. Each of them is having more than 1000 stores. Wal-Mart is the king of the ring. It's the number one retailer in United States of America. Target is slowly moving closer to Wal-Mart and has become a tough competitor to Wal-Mart. Kmart has a long history; recently it is trying to emerge from bankruptcy reorganization. Kmart is slowly losing its customers to Wal-Mart. Their strategies include low price and highly qualified customer care service. This factor played an important role in the long-term development of the Hotel. The cheaper prices with high quality service and further free goodies attracted many. Another factor is the customer service. Customer plays an important role in the development of the company because it is the customer who uses the product that was developed by the companies was good at it. Before being bankrupted Kmart was the second best retailer after Wal-Mart. Both companies used different strategies to outsmart each other. They tried different strategies to woo the customers. After coming out from bankruptcy Kmart found that it has lost most of the customers to Wal-Mart and other retailers like Target. Its total net profit also declined considerably. Target took this opportunity to its full advantage and started aggressive campaigning. Though the think tank of Target knew that most of Kmart's customers would go to Wal-Mart rather than coming to Target's stores, they started slashing the prices of the products and announced heavy discounts on them. They used innovative ideas to woo the customers. To maintain its top position Wal-Mart used to slash the rates so that when customers come to purchase the items would buy other products also. These items were termed as loss leaders. Most of the middle class families are Wal-Mart's customers. Target aimed at upper middle class. Because of this stiff competition between Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, Costco, etc., customer has wide range of choices to choose. Customer can buy products at discount rates. The companies are employing every possible method to woo the customers to their stores. Due to the bankruptcy Kmart lost its most of the investors to other retailing companies. The company that largely profited by this was Wal-Mart that was so much preoccupied of defeating Kmart. Most of the investors purchase bonds. A bond is nothing but a promissory note that the company would repay the sum over a certain period at a certain interest rate. Bonds are also called as debentures. If the company is in trouble and has to be dissolved, bondholders must be paid in full before paying the stockholders.Experts advise the investors to buy both Wal-Mart and Target stock. Both the companies had seen upswing of their net profit in the recent past. In the present market everything sells by brand names, the marketers are expected to put up good brand name products for sale. The purchaser desires to have or own a good brand name product and material with good quality at reasonable and cheaper rate. If the marketers were able to meet this demand of people of the society, definitely there would be a souring business for their product. Wal-Mart from its good service,

Language and Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Language and Literacy - Essay Example Mellix, on the other hand, explains how it felt uncomfortable writing in Standard English arguing that she could not express her true self. She claims that after â€Å"reading, practicing, writing, rewriting, and experimenting,† she learned that â€Å"one can, through writing, bring out new lives, each with new complexities, possibilities, and difficulties. Remarkably, I continually write and give birth to myself† (Mellix 111). Mellix found out that she was able to reinvent herself through writing. Coincidentally, Malcolm X also had a similar experience while in prison. Through reading and enhancing his knowledge of Standard English, he saw his situation and himself differently. â€Å" I had increasingly become frustrated because of being unable to express my thoughts in the letters I wrote to a public figure† (Malcolm 99). While Malcolm learned and became comfortable using Standard English through copying out of the dictionary and reading, Barbara Mellix learned and became comfortable with Standard English through revising and writing. It is certain that all these authors, Malcolm, Mellix, and Gloria, viewed themselves differently and got an identity as a result of language. Learning to use Standard language enabled Mellix and Malcolm discover new possibilities. Both Douglass and Baca were illiterate; they were not able to read or write. They both learn how to read and write by employing certain unconventional strategies and without the help of a regular teacher. â€Å"In learning how to read and write, I employed various stratagems. I had no regular teacher† (Douglass 5). The authors felt less empowered and humiliated simply because of they not able to read or write and as such could not express themselves. â€Å"There was nothing more humiliating than not being able to express one’s self†¦I felt so intimidated, vulnerable, scorned and ridiculed† (Baca 4).

Promoting Public Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Promoting Public Health - Essay Example tion from unwanted diseases and improve their well-being; (3) develop quality and risk management within certain culture or environment that is vulnerable to diseases; (4) work collaboratively with other health care workers or health care professionals; (5) develop health programs to reduce inequalities; (6) develop, formulate and implement health policy and strategy; (7) work with and help the communities; (8) develop strategic leadership in terms of health care; (9) conduct research and development in health associates; and (10) perform self management and be able to manage people and resources. In fact, health care has been one of the most controversial issues in any country and dear to many because it involves human life. Indeed healthcare database has been made available for technology assessment and health policy research (Roos, Roos, Fisher & Bubolz, 1990). In the insurance field, healthcare databases help the insurance company to identify patients, the type of service rendered by the physicians, the date when the service was rendered, and who was the physician who gave the service. For the physician, the databases help him to identify patient’s characteristics, give out proper diagnoses and treatment. According to Roos, Roos, Fisher & Bubloz (1990), database has the characteristics of system wide coverage of entire population, it has unique identifying number because it records the history of services the patient receives, and easy to enroll new patient and it has comprehensive information about the patient. The benefits of having morbidity and mortality data, as mentioned by Roos, Roos, fisher & Bubloz (1990) are: (1) it serves as a monitoring mechanism for effective treatments. For example, the mortality data in the hospital helps the hospital administrative management to compare the number of patient, patient’s length of stay, changes, treatment, and or service analysis, quality of services, patient’s cases or type of treatment needed,

New 3 Questions on Politics and Administration Essay

New 3 Questions on Politics and Administration - Essay Example It has however been showcasing itself as one that checks over separation of powers. An issue that seemed to bring some controversy to this issue was the court’s rejection of Bush’s administration to detail prisoners of war. This led to the argument that the court would have been arguing in such a case due to lack of competency in the issues apprehended. According to Harriger (2011) and the concept of separation of powers, the court has acted in a manner to indicate that it is really enforcing for the power separation. Looking at these trends, in accordance to Harriger (2011), this separation of powers and the push by the Supreme Court trends to some judicial activism in the cases of power separation. He as well contended to the fact that he court seemed more oriented towards separation of powers than judicial supremacy. There is a bit of ignorance on the fact that judicial supremacy and defending its supremacy would be a better explanation of the activism of the court H arriger (2011). According to this author, the power war is between the congress and the federal government as well as the state governments. Harriger (2011) terms the behaviour of the courts in this case as a model of judicial activism in the sense that they do so against some constitutional values. Separation of powers is then argued to be more centralised towards public affairs in the recent past than it was thirty years ago. The issue of federalism and separation of powers comes in if the party controlling the houses differ from the President’s party. Divided governments have historically been used to show the various historical attributes that determine the struggle between the executive branches of the government. In the argument of the federalism about this struggle, there is an argument that all the government arms should be in such a manner that they can defend their own rights against invasion from the other arms. In this regard, they argue of the issues within the c onstitution that should better be served politically than in the courts Harriger (2011). Arguing on a federalist view, the constructions found in the constitution are not permanent and can be constitutionally solved. Looking at these arguments, it is evident that issues of separation of powers are directly connected to political battles in various arenas. Such issues are what led to the executive power showcased Bush as the Congress backed him up for the war on terror, considering that the houses were both controlled by republicans Harriger (2011). 2. Presidential powers According to Neustadt (1960) presidential powers are about the influence of the president to the country. The current American Presidency is a vital organ in the country’s progress and elections are taken very seriously. The current modern US President faces aid and service demands from quite some sources; the executive, congress, partisans, citizens and other countries. All these five organs are distinguishe d by what hey require of the president making this a role of the president Neustadt (1960). The obligations of the president are cut out for him alone. The President has such an importance status in the government such that there is always being demanded of his services. In his article, Neustadt (1960) states that these powers are in most cases behind the knowledge of the common man and thus will always remain at the mercy of the President. If compared to historical Presidents, the modern Presidency cannot much as the erstwhile

Impact of New Media on Modern elections - Literature Review Essay

Impact of New Media on Modern elections - Literature Review - Essay Example Online democracy is not limited to polls and elections online. ICT does invite new opportunities. There are three categories broadly in which Internet voting may be classified – poll websites, kiosks and remote voting system. External influence is very common in case of remote voting compared to the well-monitored election booths. The problem of access cannot be ignored and the ‘digital divide’ exists across race, ethnicity and gender. The authors have also stated through thorough research that casting votes over the Internet might hamper the secrecy of a voter. The case presented here is that of TruE-Vote which uses smart card techniques and cryptography to design and formulate user accommodative system of voting through the Internet. Care has been taken such that the system is secret and secured. Field experiments were conducted through focus groups at five different locations. Tools used apart from the e-voting system designed include questionnaires. Results sh ow that the participants and pollsters did not expect that turnout rate would be influenced by this method of voting. Therefore the argument usually given in favor of e-voting (regarding increased turnouts) is proven wrong and the real cause could be cost curtail and time saving. The researchers concluded that traditional voting should not be substituted as his might leave out a large section of the population and internet voting might be used alongside the traditional ballot system. Also, despite expectations that e voting might enhance the democratic element there has been no definite plan about how this might be done in reality. (Besselaar and Oostveen 2004) With the advent of Facebook, Orkut and YouTube, a wide range of polling activities are already taking place on these sites. These websites obviously have great potential to assist the political elections as well but regulations will be essential. Already huge number of polls is taking place through Facebook. (Facebook: Polls, 2010) It is

Customer service in Halifax Essay Example for Free

Customer service in Halifax Essay Customer service Customer service is any part of the service that customers receive from the staff of the business. It is also a way in which the organisation deals with its customers. Businesses need their customers to buy their products or use their services in order to survive and make a profit. The way that they treat their customers is therefore very important. Many businesses have a policy of customer service, which involves putting the customer first in all situations. Customer service involves: * Making sure the product range is available to the customer * Making sure the product is safe and reliable * Providing information about products and being able to give advice * Making sure the product range can be delivered if necessary * Providing credit facilities where appropriate * Providing after sales service guarantees It should be the aim of every business to provide the highest level of customer service. There are laws, which provide protection to customers buying products. Businesses should know what their obligations are under these laws.it will help them maintain a high level of customer service. Why customer service is important in Halifax Customer service is important to Halifax because it brings in profit (the more customers the more the profit). The customers provide income to Halifax. Halifax does so much advertising and looses money but because it provides good customer service, the money lost is replaced. Customers are also a source of market research information Customers ensure the survival of the business Because of good customer service, Halifax spends less effort dealing with customer complaints. Customers are relined and refrained in Halifax because they are treated well and are made to feel good and safe with their money and properties. Halifaxs image is improved This is because everyone knows that it provides good customer service. My friend told me how good Halifax is and I was attracted to go and open up an account with them the next day. I also told my boyfriend about it that also went and opened up an account with them. To build customer loyalty All Halifaxs customers are loyal to it and they keep on using more of its services. They enjoy them. Increase competition It is only natural that where there is an attractive market, competitors will seek to obtain profitable businesses. The newcomer may sometimes even have an advantage due to the fact that he may have benefited from the experience of the long established supplier. As the newcomers start from scratch, they can use the latest equipment, techniques and systems and can select staff to fit the image they wish to create. Good customer service also gives Halifax a competitive advantage over other banks or building societies. Better informed customers Customers know a great deal more about Halifaxs services than they used to, partly because of the competition and partly due to the extensive studies conducted by consumer groups, and Halifax staff. A great deal of information is also available over the Internet. The emphasis put into competitive advertisements also makes customers more aware of the aspects they should examine. Halifax is a very good example where public pressure has forced regulations ensuring fuller disclosure of costs and more realistic estimates of benefits. Product similarity From the customers point of view, who I interviewed, it is difficult to distinguish many of Halifaxs services from those of their competitors. They often use the same services perform the same tasks in a very similar way. As an example, I could look at the personal computer industry, where a large number of computers can utilise the same software programs. One of the few ways Halifax can differentiate thereselfs from there competitors is by means the image for customer care that they build up and the reputation for customer support that they have earned over time. Rinsing demand for improved support With the choice of supply sources now available to Halifax customers they know that they are in a buyers market and they are therefore demanding improved support from the Halifax they have selected. In general it has been shown that with a higher living standard, customers are willing to pay for improved support. For instance customers in the past may have been willing to wait for a week or two for a telephone to be installed whereas now they expect it to be done in as many days. Life cycle costs As many products are technically more soficicated, customers have become more dependent on the continuing support from Halifax to keep their services in operation. They are increasingly looking at the life time costs and Halifaxs ability to support their services efficiently throughout the life of that service. When a customer buys a car for instance, he will want to know how good the maintenance service is what the costs are likely to be the fuel consumption and the resale value after a certain number of years. Training the frontline This is important because it means good customer service in Halifax in a way that when all staff are trained, there will be good communication between the staff hence providing good customer service. Training helps Halifax maintain good service in different departments. For example technology, promotional, health and safety, money wise. Managers in Halifax identify training needs for internal customers and provide suitable training events. Halifax is aware that well trained internal customer service provides good external customer service. Identification of the situations that require staff to have contact with customers A customer is a person who requires a product in exchange for money or who uses a service. Staff can have contact with customers through so many ways these are: By phone This is normally used when one of them (customer/staff) needs to ask a question and get a quick response.because both the staff and customers cannot see each other, it is unable to observe the other persons body language. Though this happens, customers are not left waiting. The member of staff says what he is doing and how long he will be. The customer is always being informed of the actions taken. Music is often played to customers kept waiting in order to give them something to do, i.e. listen to music. The staff make sure they do everything they can to make the customer feel valued. Through letters This is used when a permanent record is needed. Eg.where a letter head showing the Halifax logo adds credibility to the company. Sentences are always kept short in the letters. The subject is always introduced at the beginning of the letter so that the customers know what the letter is about. Through Internet This is used when you can not get someone on the phone. The email is given an effective tittle, which makes the reader want to open it. They are not typed in capitals because the reader may think that the member of staff is shouting. Face to face This is done when the customer is on the premises. Usually when delivering bad or good news. Also when a permanent record is not required. Or when documents have to be handed in for opening new accounts. Through fax This is used when speed is required and the information is not confidential. This applies to letters. Staff always contact customers about: * Details about the new extra services introduced * Their bank accounts * Their mortgages * Their complaints * Opening bank accounts * Overdrafts * Foreign exchange purchase transfer * Withdrawal or payment * New service products etc Ways in which Halifax meets the needs of its customers Halifax is a successful firm because it identifies who its customers are and what their needs are quickly. Needs of internal customers Needs of external customers Sick pay To make a purchase Holidays Need to obtain information about a product Pension Company cars To make a complaint Staffs discount To maintain ethical standards Working conditions e.g. Safe environment Specials needs like the deaf, blind, old, physically handicapped, or with children. Job security Food Decent wages or salary. Christmas presents and bonus/ end year party Staff facilities e.g. room, gyms, toilets. Training. Training of internal customers in all aspects of their jobs ensures that external customer needs are catered for, whereas good staff relations or industrial relations, effective communication and good company policies ensures the satisfaction of internal customer needs. Internal customers These are members of staff who rely on other members of staff to help them do their jobs properly. In Halifax, internal customers feedback is included in performance reviews. Halifax is now making input a formal part of a 360-degree feedback process, in which employees, peers and the manager all evaluate the performance of managers. In addition. Halifax talks to its internal customers during meetings and asks them about their needs and finds out how it can serve them better. Always giving you extra as long as the employees do it for their customers, theyll do it for the employees. Theyre looking to develop the best motivated and best rewarded team in the business, so the employees should expect plenty. Training, sales support, personal development, opportunity, great incentives you name it, Halifax goes that extra mile to make sure the employees have everything they need for a rewarding career. And that, of course, includes a benefits package they find hard to beat by anyone, anywhere. It covers everything theyd expect (good salary, generous holidays) and plenty that they wouldnt, such as bonuses and incentives, share schemes, discounted mortgages and plenty more all adding up to a total rewards package to match their total commitment. The following are part of Halifaxs human resource policies: Pay (plus bonuses) Generous Holiday Entitlement Shares Colleague Products Money Purchase Pension Life Assurance Flexible Working Flexible Benefits Recognition Our commitment Support when it counts Academy Pay (plus bonuses) Halifax starts by giving employees a highly attractive basic salary. They have bands, but theres a lot of flexibility. So theyll take into account the nature of the role, as well as the employees skills and experience. On top of this, everyone has the chance to earn more by putting in extra. So employees can earn a bonus for individual, team and company performance. Reach or exceed the employees targets for example, and the employees can expect to receive between 10% and 30% of salary extra! Nice. Generous Holiday Entitlement The employees receive between 22 and 30 days paid holiday a year, depending on their role and length of service. Shares Halifax group wants employees to share in their success (they like smiling people). They wont go into detail here, but there are various schemes where employees receive either shares or share options. Its hugely popular. Largely because it can be hugely profitable for Halifaxs colleagues. Colleague Products Halifax is the UKs number one for savings and mortgages, and have plenty of other products too, such as insurance and healthcare. All of which are available to employees at attractive, discounted rates. External customers These are individuals and business customers who buy or use the goods and services provided by an organisation. With staff who can speak a wider range of languages, Halifax and customer service has improved. They monitor holiday costs constantly to give customers a better deal. Plus, they can give customers a guaranteed minimum 5% discount on a wide range of brochure-priced holidays and charter flights! Halifax also meets its customers needs by giving eye contact, explaining transferred telephone calls to customers and colleagues, being genuine and sincere, knowing about their products or services, knowing about its policies, treating customers as individuals, and minimising queuing times. Home delivery For home delivery, orders placed in a branch or over the phone before 2.30pm Monday to Friday are usually delivered to the customers home address by 12 noon the next bank working day (excluding Saturdays). Orders placed on Saturday or Sunday are usually delivered by 12 noon the following Tuesday. All home deliveries are by Royal Mail Special Delivery. There is a charge of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 for all home deliveries. Home delivery is not available for orders placed online. Always giving extra to customers with particular needs Halifax group is committed to providing all their customers with excellent service, whatever type of relationship they have with them. They do their outmost to help all customers with special needs. Their cash machines are generally installed at a lower level to make them easier to reach, and the newer machines have been adapted for the visually impaired to use. Halifax has around 800 branches in the UK, most, of which are open plan to make it easier for customers to find their way around. The majority have a reception desk, with seating provided. And their staff are always on hand to discuss specific needs or answer queries. Wheelchair users Getting in and out of Halifaxs branches is usually easy, with level or ramped access from pavements. And, wherever possible, doors are automatic. Call Assistance At some branches steps are unavoidable, so a Call Assistance bell system was installed, so that a member of staff can be called. Servicecall Some branches are fitted with the Servicecall system, so that customers with a Servicecall transmitter can alert staff of their arrival. Lifts Where branches have split-level banking halls, Halifax provides internal ramps or wheelchair lifts. Low-level counters and counter queuing rails Lower level writing surfaces are increasingly being provided at the counter. All branches have counter queuing rails, often with lower level writing surfaces. Other banking options To help make it easier for all their customers to manage their finances at their convenience, they offer a number ways to access Halifax as well as via other large network of branches across the country: Online Customers can apply for a Halifax Current Account online. Then once it is registered for telephone banking they can do their banking online via Halifaxs website 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Click www.halifax.co.uk for more details. They also offer a Share Dealing service online, and applications for other products such as Personal Loans, Credit Cards and Travel Insurance can be made via the web site. Telephone Halifax Direct is a 24-hour telephone Current Account service. Customers can use it for everything from checking their balance and ordering a statement to arranging an overdraft. Arrangements can also be made for customers to pay bills and transfer money to other Halifax accounts. All Halifax customers can telephone Halifax direct for other services, for example a Personal Loan or travel money. Customers who are hearing impaired, can contact Halifax Direct using textphone on 0845 732 3436 Contact Halifax They have undertaken an extensive disability awareness programme to help staff overcome the barriers which people who have a disability face. To help them continually improve their services, if you would like to make any comments about their site or the services they offer customers with disabilities, they request the customers to use this form. Philomena Gray, Disability Manager by e-mail: JayneO[emailprotected] or at:Halifax plc Trinity Road HALIFAX West Yorkshire HX1 2RG How Halifax deals with customers complaints Once Halifax is prepared for any potential problem a customer may have brought to them, their next step is to use the companys complaint system the company has in place for dealing with complaints. Halifax deals with complaints in many different ways. This can be done through: 1. The telephone 2. Face to face 3. In writing: typical written communications involve providing information on the services provided, prices of mortgages, statements of accounts and safety procedures. Because Halifax actively seeks and encourages complaints, they are able to understand and meet the needs of their customers. If a customer is dissatisfied and is unable to express that dissatisfaction, Halifax will never see that customer return. What is worse, the customer may also persuade potential customers not to stop within Halifax too. Customers with bad experiences were twice as likely to tell others about it as those with a positive story to recount. Customer complaints are viewed as opportunities to improve a service offered rather than problems ignored. The causes of the complaints are dealt with the and lessons learnt. Customers making complaints are seen as contributors to the process of improving customer services rather than awkward individuals who enjoy making life difficult for staff. By respecting customers and treating them accordingly Halifax is able to monitor and improve the quality of service offered. Many products arise because the law has been broken. There is a large number of laws that try to protect the customers. Halifax tries not to break the laws. The major consumers laws include; The descriptions Act 1978, which makes it illegal for Halifax as a business to give misleading descriptions of their services and products. The consumer safety Act 1978, which make sit illegal to sell goods, which may be harmful to customers. The consumer protection Act 1987, which makes it illegal, amongst other things, for a business to claim that its prices have been reduced when they have not. It also makes suppliers responsible for any injury that results from defective goods. The consumer credit Act 1974, which requires Halifax to have a specific licence because it offers credit otherwise they will be committing an offence. If the law has been broken, customers can take Halifax to court. This may cause the business money and give it a bad reputation. That is why they make sure that they do not break the law. Halifax also makes it certain that customers are happy with the services they provide. Details of all customers complaints are recorded. This is done so that there is a record of what action was taken in case the customer wishes to take the complaint further. Recording the data also allows staff and management to use it for capturing customer details. The nature of complaint and the service involved is recorded and quite often the name and address of the person complaining is recorded. Halifax has a special service desk for dealing with customer complaints, and also specially trained staff. When customers approach with a complaint Halifax staff make sure they: * Listen to them carefully * Reassure them that their complaint is being taken seriously * Decide on an appropriate action * Apologise if the business is responsible * Record the details of the complaint * Record the action taken Checking that customers complaint is valid Halifax wont take customers complaint seriously if its something, which is not their fault. For example, if your current account has no overdraft facility but you regularly overdraw the account, you cant really complain if Halifax charges you for doing so. If, however, charges on your account push the balance into the red, it should not charge you for being overdrawn. Halifax deals with complaints about something in relation to: * Customer expectations not met * Late delivery * Incorrect information * Waiting/queuing times * Attitude of staff * Faulty service products * Statement errors What happens next? If a customer complaint is something Halifax has the power to deal with, they will usually start by seeing if they can help the customer to resolve matters in an informal way. One of their staff (usually called a caseworker) will take a fresh look at the facts and let the customer know how they think the customer could reach the agreement. This approach is often called mediation. If a customer has a problem, Halifax can always help They aim to offer customers the best possible service, but there may be occasions when customers feel they have cause for complaint. If so, Halifax will always try to resolve the problem quickly and to your satisfaction. If the customer is unhappy with their response, he/she can take his complaint further through their complaints procedure outlined below. Following Halifaxs complaints procedure does not affect a customers legal rights. 1. Where the customer first makes his complaint Halifax aims to resolve customers concerns within 24 hours. Sometimes it may take longer to look into the matter fully. If this happens, they will let the customer know within five working days who will reply. The people a customer first raise the matter with are often able to help, but there may be occasions when a specialist area needs to be involved. If the customer doesnt know who to contact, they can: * Call Customer Relations on 08457 25 35 19 * Textphone Customer Relations on 08456 00 17 50 (if you have a hearing impairment) * Write to them at: Halifax plc Halifax Customer Relations Trinity Road Halifax HX1 2RG They will then arrange for the right person to look into and respond to the customers concerns. 2. Customer Relations In the unlikely event that the customer remains unhappy, he /she can ask for his complaint to be referred to a Customer Relations manager for further review. If the customer is still not satisfied he can, at this stage, ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to help, or for service-related complaints about Halifax Estate Agencies Limited, the Ombudsman for Estate Agents The Halifax supports fully and is a member of both the Ombudsmen Schemes. These are impartial and conduct independent investigations. Ombudsmen addresses For most complaints about Halifax products and services customers can contact: The Financial Ombudsman Service South Quay Plaza 183 Marsh Wall London E14 9SR Phone: 08450 80 18 00 email: [emailprotected] Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk For complaints about Halifax Estate Agencies Limited: The Ombudsman for Estate Agents Beckett House 4 Bridge Street SALISBURY SP1 2LX Phone: 01722 33 33 06 email: [emailprotected] Website: www.oea.co.uk Types of customer records Halifax uses Market research The final method of monitoring customer service satisfaction is through market research. Market research is a formalised method of obtained feedback and information from customers or potential customers about services that are available or soon to be made available. In Halifax, obtaining feedback from customers is essential in learning how to improve the service offered. The process helps Halifax to understand: * The nature of the service from the point of view of the customer. * What the customers are wanting. * What the customer thinks of the organisation. * What will make the customer feel valued? * What sort of initiatives the customers would appreciate. Halifax is able to show that business decisions are supported by information and evidence gained through research. Therefore through market research, Halifax is able to identify customers opinions about: * Interest rates charged. * New and existing services. * After sales service. * The quality of customer care provided by Halifax. Business decisions about these issues can then be made based upon the results of the research. Halifax sends out customer service questioners to 200,000 customers every six months, asking for their opinions on their branch. In addition, mystery shoppers posing as potential customers visit and phone the branches to ask for advice. Each quarter, every branch in Halifax network receives two visits and two phone calls from the mystery shopper, who then fills in the research form and marks the branch on factors such as courtesy, speed, and phone handling techniques. All the results are included into a customer service index for each Branch. The findings are also published internally or all to see, with awards for those branches with the best achievements. The market research I undertook about Halifax provided some interesting results. I decided to measure how much customer satisfaction dictated future buying intentions. The research divided the customers into one of three groups: * Those with problem that had been resolved * Those with a problem that had been recently dealt with * Those whose experience of the bank had only been positive As was predictable, the customers who remained dissatisfied were the ones least likely to buy any more of the building societys services. However, surprisingly, those customers whose problem had been dealt with quickly and efficiently were more likely to use Halifaxs services again in the future than customers who had never experienced a problem. 80% of the customers were happy and 20% were not happy. Among the unhappy customers some of them did not visit the branches often nor use Halifaxs machines. Customers responded positively to open, polite and helpful advice provided by Halifax, even if the outcome was not what the customer was seeking, e.g. applying bank charges. Findings similar to Halifax have emerged from other customer attitude surveys undertaken across a range of businesses. The results of my surveys indicate that by keeping the customers happy, the organisations will retain existing business and will increase future revenue from existing customers. It is essential that a manager act upon any feedback gained through market research. Customers who provide feedback through market research are usually given recognition by Halifax. I also found out that when Halifax do their market research through the surveys, they thank their customers for their time and effort. This is in the form of a card, letter, or telephone call. A number of methods are used by Halifax to find out what the customer thinks of and wants from the service. These include: * Postal questioners. * Personal interviews. * Telephone interviews. * Consumer panels. * Customer feedback forms. Complaints records In Halifax, recording customer complaints and implementing changes to ensure that the customer is not dissatisfied for the same reason again are ways to monitor customer satisfaction. Customers are provided with a system where they feel comfortable about recording a complaint. Only by doing so can Halifax ensure that they are fully meeting the needs of all their customers. When Halifax is dealing with customer complaints, they normally take the customers details. This normally helps them to be able to contact the customer when necessary and to know who they are dealing with. Customer Surveys Customer surveys are used to get inside the customers mind and learn what they are thinking about Halifax. Surveys can determine customer satisfaction, complaints, compliments and questions. Halifax likes to know what their customers are thinking because it helps them improve or tailor their services. Feedback can be a great source of information. Customer surveys can sometimes be a core competency of Halifax. Surveys can be administered online, in person or even via phone. Surveys should be constructed to pull the most valuable data from employees so that Halifax can later use that data for the betterment of the company. Savings and Debit cards When opening up savings or bank accounts, the staff records your personal details and keep them for further reference. At times this is used to contact customers to participate in surveys, to take advantage of new offers, etc. Internal Complaints When the employees make a complaint, Halifax also takes down their comments and again their details. Personnel records The personnel department keeps records of all employees on the payroll. This includes personal information (name, date of birth, address) as well as details of rates of pay, tax, and national insurance number. The records are confidential and should not be accessible to unauthorised personnel. These records are taken during recruitment. Recruiting When recruiting, managers take employees details for further reference. This helps them to know how much they deserve to be paid to know their retirement age, etc, which can be utilised by the firm to provide good internal customer service. The customer service provided in Halifax and improvements In Halifax, The desire to improve and be the best helps motivate staff by providing them with a challenge. It gives employees the opportunity to suggest ideas, use their initiative and participate in the development of the organisation. Excellent customer service provides a focus for all staff to work towards and results in increased job satisfaction for the employees, as well as increased customer satisfaction. Excellent standards in Halifaxs customer service can only be achieved by having a system that enables them to constantly review and improve the service offered. What is an acceptable standard for a customer today will not necessarily be an acceptable standard tomorrow. Constant improvement is essential. Because Halifax is an organisation seeking to improve the quality of customer service offered, it set quality service standards, which are: * Clearly explained * Realistic for employees * Easily measured Having clearly defined standards and a process to monitor those standards gives employees a goal to work towards. 1. Providing information Staff in Halifax provides customers with information, by letting them know what the business has to offer. The information provided is mostly through leaflets and focuses on: *Lost or stolen cards. * Mortgages * Bank Accounts *Loans * Savings and investments *Insurance * Share dealing. The problem to some members of staff is that they provide wrong information to customers. This happens when they are not sure of the answers to the questions being asked by the customers. Halifax improves this by re-training the staff who have the duty of dealing with customer enquiries. They also provide leaflets containing information of the services they offer. 2. Giving advice Customers often expect advice about the services they know little about Halifax. This is likely to happen with mortgages. When people want to open up accounts from Halifax they expect to receive clear instructions and advice on how to use and maintain them. When a business or an individual goes to the bank, they expect that the staff will know a great deal about banking and that sound advice will be given. But in some cases it does not happen. This is because the member of staff gives wrong advice about the service provided and sometimes it leads to the customer changing him/her mind about opening up an account with Halifax. For example when I wanted to open up an account with Halifax, I was told to bring both my parents passports back with me. I was really shocked by that and was wondering why every Bank does not ask for that. Anyway I suddenly gave up because the passports where with the home office. After three months, I called Halifaxs head office to ask them why I needed my parents passports to open up an account yet I had my own passport. The lady on the phone said that it is not right and I should go back to them and tell them that. I spoke to the manager and she said that it is all right for me to use my own passport since I am seventeen. This is why Halifax should train the members of staff going to give customers advice and ensure that they have good knowledge of the service product and procedures. Halifax gives advice on What is the suitable account, loan or action? What is the best mortgage? What is the cheapest way to pay for mortgage? How to use the accounts and cards. How to store and look after the cards. 3. Tailoring the service to what the customer wants Halifaxs staff ensure that customers get what they really want and are satisfied with the services. They know that is what will make them come back again. So staff work out very carefully what customers want and need. They know that customers want to be served quickly and efficiently but sometimes the queue is too long because some tills are not utilised. This really annoys the customers and makes them to leave and maybe pay the money to another account they have in a different bank. Halifax should improve this by letting another member of staff cover for the other if they have gone for their breaks and by making sure that any member of staff who is off sick is covered by using staff who do shift work. 4. Providing credit facilities Halifax accepts payment in a variety of ways for example cheques, cash, account transfers. This makes payment more convenient for customers. In the 1990s, Halifax has been facing a great deal of competition and one way of attracting customers is to offer better credit packages than competitors. Actual details of credit terms have therefore become highly variable and now Halifax is trying so hard to provide the best deal. Halifax is required by law to publish the APR and this does allow some basis for comparison. APR (Annual percentage rate of interest). This shows the actual rate of interest that borrowers must pay on average over the full period of the loan. But in some cases, some customers do not receive their interests which cause complaints and this results to the business loosing customers if the others hear about ones complaint. This is normally caused by errors on the computers, which they use to automatically offer interest to an account according to its type. So to improve this problem, Halifax management and staff should make sure that the machines are checked regularly to prevent unnecessary errors like that. 5. Credit They also offer credit cards to allow customers to buy goods and services and pay for them when they receive their statements from them, usually at the end of the month. When a customer uses a credit card to pay for an item the shop demands its claim for payment back to the Halifax that then pays the shop. Because Halifax must wait for payment from the customer, they usually charge the shop for the right to let customers use the credit card. This explains why the major supermarkets and a growing number of major stores are now offering their own credit cards. For some credit cards, a high rate is charged which makes Halifax lose its customers. They have improved this by putting the rates at a lower charge in order to attract more customers. 6. Administration This is the management of services that help to support the smooth running of department. Every department in Halifax carries it out. These general administration functions might include; 7. Reception This includes greeting people visiting a specific branch, dealing with their enquiries, and taking outside phone calls and connecting customers to right departments. It is also known as the customer service department. When customers come in the branch to make enquiries, in most circumstances there is a long queue. This really annoys customers in that they will complain and give pressure to the member of staff attending to them which will lead to her making mistakes and giving wrong or incomplete information to the customer she is serving. This can be improved by letting the members of staff who are available (not doing any work at that moment) to help out on the reception. This helps Halifax to deal with customers courteously and promptly. 8. Security Ensuring the security of the building property and staff. If there is no security in Halifax, peoples money will not be safe hence loosing customers because all they want is security and trust from the building society. To improve this, CCTVs are installed in the building to keep track of all that is going on in the premises. Most people who come into the Halifax and find it untidy and dirty get the wrong impression and neglect opening up accounts with them. This has been improved by arranging for outside contractors to clean the building, and cater for staff. The clerical work of making records managing records, filling, photocopying. Organising meetings, keeping minutes. Ensuring that internal communications (within the department) operate smoothing. Ensuring the department staffs arrive on time, have the facilities they need and have been paid. Each department will operate in a slightly different way, so it is highly that different departments will have some administrative tasks that are unique to that department, e.g. The human resources department will have to ensure that it has a complete and accurate database of all employees, with contact addresses and telephone numbers. 9. Providing an efficient service This is done when keeping appointments, Replying to enquiries within the shortest time possible, Fast, efficient and friendly service, helping and assisting the customer, answering all telephone calls within five seconds and following the basic principles when communicating with customers on the telephone. Sometimes all this is not done by the employees. They become rude to the customers and act like they have been forced to do their work. They do this by being very slow when serving on the checkouts and not speaking loudly and clearly on the phone. 10. Ensuring that replies to requests for information are with the customer within a reasonable period of time e.g. three days. Documentation is always up to date and accurate. Letters are addressed personally, well typed and without spelling errors. 11. Dealing with customer complaints Sometimes customers complaints are ignored or forgotten about because the member of staff has too much work to do which makes the customers loose interest in Halifax. This can be improved by setting up a Procedure for dealing with customer complaints and problems and since sometimes the procedure is not followed, they should improve this more by establishing a customer service department in each store, appointing a member of staff to be in charge of customer services, Communicating effectively with customers and ensuring that customer complaints are dealt with to the satisfaction of the customer. 12. Reliable systems, facilities and procedures Sometimes when customers come into a Halifax branch to open up an account, they find that the phone or computer does not work. This annoys them and either walk out or complain to the staff, which will disorganise the other services. That is if the customer makes a scene. This is improved up setting up quick and efficient technology with good backup, making sure that customer facilities are kept in good working order, by understanding of procedures by all employees The financial sector is a fast moving and rapidly changing environment. Many of these organisations rely on call centres to handle the huge numbers of enquiries received. Unfortunately high staff turnover is a major problem within many branches, so recruitment of the right candidates as quickly as possible is essential. Recognising the need to make quick recruitment decisions, that are valid, objective and more cost effective, Halifax Plc developed a new recruitment process, which met their criteria. Some years ago the Halifax implemented a competency-based application form, using job relevant competencies that are scored through a standardised procedure, and found they could make initial selection decisions quickly, confidently and objectively. For this project the Halifax saw the need to review their competencies in the light of organisational changes. They reviewed their initial selection process, to ensure that the competencies to be used were still appropriate given organisational changes, and the increased organisational emphasis was on business related competencies. The first stage involved reviewing a number of job roles to identify the key job tasks. The results from this early stage were used to develop a telephone checklist. The checklist is used as an initial sifting mechanism, aimed at ensuring that applicants are aware of job demands before they are sent the application form, thus reducing the administrative burden. Before the final structured application form was written a concurrent validation was conducted on a trial group of current job incumbents to identify the key competencies. It was found that specific competencies from the application form correlated highly with managers ratings of performance, additionally these competencies also correlated highly with the Customer Contact ability test scores of job incumbents. This suggested that people with higher scores on the competency based questionnaire and the ability tests are far more likely to perform better in the job than those applicants who perform poorly on the competency based application form. The Halifax is just one example of where Structured Application Forms have been used successfully. 12. Employee feedback system An employee feedback system is a structured approach to recording employees views and suggestions about the service provided and ways in which to improve that service. In Halifax, employees deal with the customers daily and therefore are able to provide useful advice and information to the employer about the views of customers and whether the service provided meets the needs of the customers. Very often, the employees can make valuable suggestions about how to improve the quality of service offered. 14. Quality review system This is a structured system in Halifax that enables an employer to determine the quality of service being offered to customers and the response of customers to that service. A check sheet or rating form can be used to identify the key areas to be audited. The manager will use the form to review at regular intervals the standard of service provided and customers responses against the criteria. An employer quality review system involves the manager being out where the customers are and seeing the activities taking place. The system involves the manager observing, examining and evaluating the quality of service offered by different employees in different sections or departments. The manager also listens carefully to customers questions, because the issues raised forms part of the evaluation of customer service. A description of any legal constraints affecting the customer service situation There are five main Acts of parliament Halifax knows and they understand the rights they should give to buyers. Most of these Acts are joined towards firms that sell products rather than service products. The sale of goods Act 1979 and 1995 One of the most important Acts today is the sale of goods Act 1979. It covers the fundamental requirements of purchasers, i.e. that goods must be: * As described which means that they should conform their description for example water proof must mean that the items do not leak. * Of satisfactory quality in relation to the price paid, the description, age of the item. * Fit for the purpose for which they are intended which means that goods must carry out the purpose they are made for, i.e. a pen must make a clear legible mark. * The goods must be for a specific purpose the buyer has made clear to the seller at the time of the sale. The supply of goods and services Act 1982 The service standards are affected by this Act. It states that all services should be carried out: * For a reasonable charge * Within a reasonable time * With reasonable care and skill * Using satisfactory materials The consumer protection Act 1987 This Act relates to price and safety. The consumer protection Act is enforced by Trading Standards Officers. It is also an offence not to cooperate with Trading Standards Officers during any investigation. Under the Act it is an offence: * To mislead consumers as to the price of goods, services, accommodation or facilities (e.g. by missing out the VAT when quoting the price) * To mislead consumers over sale prices and claim exaggerated price reductions * To supply goods which are not reasonably safe. The trade description Act 1968 This Act is designed to prevent the false or misleading description of goods, e.g.: * Selling goods, which are wrongly described by the manufacturer. * Implied descriptions, e.g. a picture on a box, which gives a false impression. * Other aspects of the goods, including quantity, size, composition, method of manufacture etc. Usually the spoken word of the seller overrides the written description of the goods as the buyer can rely on the expertise of the salesperson. However, this is obviously harder to prove if there is dispute. The consumer credit Act 1974 This is more applicable to Halifax and requires all businesses, which offer credit to have a specific licence otherwise they will be committing an offence. The Act provides for: * Customers who sign credit agreement in their own home to be allowed a cooling off period of five days. During this period the customer can change her mind or cancel the agreement without any penalties. * Customers to demand within 28 days that retailers provide details of the name and address of any credit reference agencies, which have been used to ascertain their credit worthiness. It is an offence for a retailer not to do this. * The credit reference agency to provide full details to the customer if the request is made in writing, and small administration fee is paid. Any incorrect information must be corrected if further information is provided by the customer. * Advertisements offering credit must include the title charge for credit and the APR (annual percentage rate of charge). The Act also restricts the way in which advertisements are worded and the prominence of financial information relating to charges. * Sellers must provide written details of credit terms if requested by the customer in writing or orally, either in person or on the telephone, unless such a quotation has already been provided. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1978 Not only do employees have a right to expect employers to provide a safe, working environment, they also have a responsibility to ensure the Health and Safety for existing and potential customers. The Health and Safety at Work Act requires employees to: * Take reasonable care for the Health and Safety of themselves and others who may be affected by what they do and what they fail to do. * Cooperate with employers in fulfilling their duties for Health and Safety. Employees who fail to comply with health and safety regulations may be prosecuted. The requirements basically mean that employees must not act recklessly at work. They must follow safety procedures. They must take reasonable care in carrying out their duties and employers should fulfil their obligation as prescribed in the Health and Safety at Work Act. The sex discrimination Act 1975 This Act makes it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against on grounds of gender either directly or indirectly. Even if this is done unintentionally, the organisation is still guilty. So Halifax has to comply with the provisions of this Act. Race relations Act The race relation Act is very similar to the sex discrimination Act. It makes it illegal to discriminate in the work place on the grounds of race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin. Disability discrimination Act Under this Act it is illegal to discriminate against a disabled person in the recruitment and selection process, the contract of employment and the conditions of pay, provisions of training and promotion opportunities, treatment with the workplace. Halifax is expected by law to comply with the provisions of the various Acts. The Health and safety Act 1978 affects both the internal and external customers. Implications of not complying with the provisions of the consumer laws or legal requirement are: * Costs: legal costs of going to court and compensation. * Bad reputation: Negative / Bad publicity hence loss of customers leading to the company collapsing. The roles of the employees in providing good customer service Internal customers Halifax has so many different branches throughout the UK. All of these are internal customers to the regional or head office. Staff working for Halifax are the internal customers. Managers in Halifax want to get the most out of your employees. Generally, the better their employees perform the better their department or company will do. Recruiting the right people Recruiting the right staff is a crucial component of creating the workforce profile Halifax needs to achieve its organisational objectives and they take careful planning and consideration to recruit successfully. While Halifax wants staff who can do the job theyre offering and who are interested in it, the crucial factor in choosing the right team is personality. The managers can teach them the job, but they cant teach them how to be the right person! Because managers are responsible for recruitment and selection decisions in Halifax, they are aware that hiring or losing staff can be costly, especially if they get it wrong. Smart appearance of all staff Customers will often assess the quality of Halifax by the appearance of the staff. This has been improved by providing them with uniforms which all of them have to wear and this helps the customers to recognise the members of staff easily. Politeness When employees understand and feel a part of the larger picture they provide better customer service because they feel better about their roles and understand the critical nature of their jobs to the overall success of Halifax. A positive and helpful attitude goes a long way toward having satisfied customers, and is important for a positive environment with co-workers. Employees in Halifax know that they should always be polite to customers and be very helpful. Arriving at work on time Employees make sure that they arrive at work on time because they know that if this is not done, they will lose customers hence loosing profits for they company. When they arrive on time, the branch is also opened on time. Teamwork Teamwork is an important part of building a quality Halifax. Having Halifax work like a team involves getting all of the team members to work together towards one common goal. Teamwork through employee training programs can help Halifax team achieve that goal. Teamwork helps the staff first identify the goal it is working towards, whether thats increasing sales or improving customer service. Once the goals are identified, then they can work on whatever issues may be currently preventing them from achieving those goals. After those issues are addressed, the employees can more effectively work together as a team. Team works can build communication skills and employee motivation. Both of these items contribute to a more successful team and organisation. A successful organisation means more profits, happier employees, and fewer turnovers. The results from a team building exercise can actually help Halifax perform better as a whole. Halifax can benefit by taking time and resources to help their employees achieve their goals by putting them in training program and giving them skills they didnt know they needed. Teamwork is part of an employee development program that can really benefit Halifax. Health and Safety Health and Safety policies are integral in Halifax business operation. They ensure that the law making employers responsible for the health, safety and welfare of all employees at work is followed. They also help employees to understand and accept their responsibility for their personal behaviour at work as it affects their own, and others health and safety. Good Health and Safety procedures ultimately save money and prevent lost time through injury and illness. Because Halifax has more than five employees, they have a written Health and Safety Policy and bring a published Statement to all employees attention. Employees are informed that behaviour against the Health and Safety policy is a disciplinary offence. Part of the Health and Safety procedure is to notify the appropriate enforcing authority for registration, at least one month before servicing starts. Authorities are: * Health and Safety Executive This body, besides providing information for businesses, ensure that Halifax meets the regulated standards for: * Escape routes * Storage of materials * Ventilation * Lighting * Hygiene Carrying out their duties All employees make sure that they carry out their specific duties. Managers should be able to carry out their duties by making sure that employees are happy. They can do this by: Motivation Halifax cannot succeed if their employees are motivated to do a good job. You can motivate employees in any type of work environment. Employee motivation is one of the many keys to Halifaxs success. Employee motivation can be achieved through a variety of ways. Employee training programs can be administered on a regular basis. Making an employee feel like they are an important part of Halifax also increases motivation. Appraisals In Halifax, members of staff are interviewed on a regular basis by their line manager and assessed on their performance. It is also an opportunity to discuss any problems and to determine any training and/ or training needs. Performance may be related to pay or bonuses. Care should be taken not present staff appraisal as a hostile or intimidating ordeal. Praise Managers make sure that they praise their staff when they have done well. This makes them happy and also do their job better because they know that their bosses appreciate. Training Managers in Halifax want to get the most out of your employees. Generally, the better their employees perform the better their department or company will do. In Halifax, it is not always possible to find someone who is perfectly suited to a job, with all the necessary skills and experience. They are likely to need some training. This is made even more likely by the fact that as working conditions change, due to new technology, reorganisation, expansion and so on, staff will need training to be able to meet the new challenges. Managers may also provide staff development to enable them to broaden their existing abilities and experiences and to help them achieve their potential for Halifax building society. Finally, motivated staff, teamwork, etc, ensures that employees are committed to their work. Commitment from and carrying out duties and responsibilities by all employees are the prerequisite for good customer service. Good customer service requires input from all employees, and not to be the duty of frontline staff alone.

Ethics in the Tobacco Industry, Pakistan

Ethics in the Tobacco Industry, Pakistan Abstract Quite a lot has been said and done about Business Ethics. Several studies have been conducted emphasizing on the importance of what and How in business environment. However there has been put quite little effort in describing in a unified term of what business ethics exactly asks. Nevertheless existing giant businesses have not been scrutinized of their ethical practices. This study is an attempt to investigate what ethics does Tobacco Industry practice. The case of Pakistan is taken to complete this research so as to check in absence of strict government regulations how responsible does the industry behaves. Cost Benefit analysis procedure for clarifying this ethical dilemma shows that in the absence of strong health hazard data the industrys overall functioning can be considered ethical under utilitarian school of thought. This is because the number of beneficiaries of the industry in a developing country like Pakistan is immense and the recognized harms are comparatively less. This thesis gives the real coaster effect when these results are revealed. However this is a deductive study that leads to further research questions and discovers new undiscovered ventures to explore. Introduction Ethics is mostly known as the study of decision making that while doing this considers the widely accepted moral standards. One of the ethical questions however is the ethical dilemma, in which an issue has two conflicting bur arguably valid sides. A classical ethical dilemma example can be of the debate on allowing the tobacco companies to advertise. If allowed to do so then that means encouragement of an unhealthy practice but on the other hand if they are not allowed to advertise then it is clear discrimination between rights. Similarly Employees have the right to privacy, but employers also have right to expect safe, competent behavior from employees. Now who is to decide the winner between employees choice of taking drugs or employers liberty to let undergo their employees through drug tests? Many such ethical questions are faced by managers every day. The common theme in all ethical dilemmas is a clash between the privileges of two or more stakeholders over one another. Traditionally, the place of ethics in business practices has been to supply a decision procedure or some formal normative orientation. The place of ethical theory in the making of business decisions is problematic, and the symptoms are numerous. This can be seen, for example, in the difficulties authors of business ethics texts often have in employing ethical theories to resolve or clarify issues of ethical or social concern. In my opinion the theories for resolving the ethical dilemmas themselves create an ethical dilemma. For instance some of the employees in the organization feel that there shouldnt be fixed working hours. As long as they are productive there should not be any restrictions on them regarding the time schedules. If we analyze this case under the two schools of thought i.e. Utilitarian and the deontological we will see that if the employees are productive without imposing the limit of fixed working hours on them i.e. the consequence of the proposition is positive then according to the utilitarian theory the act is ethical. While Deontological concept will take it as unethical for it will see it as breaking the laws and conventions of the organization It can be observed that presently accepted and practiced ethical theories posit strong foundations. In my opinion however these theories are of limited use in solving ethical problems. Their reliability and ability to be generalized can be challenged because they ignore certain aspects of morality and prefer others according to different situations that arise in different contexts. This study is devoted to resolve the conflict of deciding between what is and what is not ethical in the Tobacco industry. The theory chosen for the study is utilitarian theory which has two advantages over other alternative ethical theories as how to be applied in various business endeavors. Firstly as we know that business works for the motive of benefiting self and so does utilitarian theory defines morality i.e. morality is to prefer self interest as prime. Secondly utilitarian theory is analyzed by comparing the benefits and harms of a given option and this is how it again finds similarity with profit and loss in accounting and business. Since utilitarian theory is quantified with the help of cost-benefit analysis so the data is analyzed by using cost-benefit analysis model. The strive was to be able to resolve the ethical dilemma regarding the existence and functioning of Tobacco industry without creating an ethical dilemma through the process of resolving it. Business Ethics. Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that identify and solve the ethical and moral issues in the business environment. In the increasingly conscience focused marketplaces of the 21st century, the demand for more ethical business processes and actions (known as ethicism) is increasing (wikipedia, 2007). Historically, interest in business ethics accelerated dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s, both within major corporations and within academia. For example, today most major corporations use alternate words such as social responsibility charters, corporate social responsibility etc to highlight the importance of social values and norms. Business ethics has to decide on ethical issues by looking through the lens of the employee, the enterprise or the society as a whole. Ethical dilemma It is the situation in which an issue has two conflicting but arguably valid sides. Ethical dilemmas continue to receive a great deal of attention from philosophers and management experts, who have developed a number of tools to guide managers through sometimes confusing and always difficult decisions regarding ethical dilemmas. However it is important to note that like the problem the methods for resolving this problem are also not absolute and agreed upon. Even the best models rarely lead to a single answer that is absolutely right, just or fair, but they do point the way to answers that seem more right, more just, or more fair than others Hosmer(1988 a). Principles of ethical analysis have their roots in normative philosophy, the study of proper thoughts and conduct, or how people should behave Hosmer(1988 b). Five commonly applied normative approaches are described as under. Deontology. Deontology depends on the intentions of a person making the decision or performing the act. A deontologist would disagree with the emphasis on outcome as the determinant of moral actions because consequences are generally indefinite and uncertain at the time the decision is made. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) provided much of the base for understanding this concept in all eras. Theories of Justice. Theories of justice explain ethical decisions on the basis of fairness and impartiality (Stead et al, 1990). This philosophy stresses social justice. Critics point out that this theory assumes that social cooperation provides the basis for all economic and social benefits, which may or may not be true (Stead et al, 1990). Theories of Rights. Theories of rights as from the name indicate that the most ethical decision will be based on protecting peoples right that might potentially be affected by the decision (Courtland et al, 1992). Theories of rights, unlike theories of justice, depend upon on equal opportunities for choice and exchange, not on equal allocations of wealth and income. As discussed earlier sometimes the conflicting rights become the shortcoming of the application of this theory (Courtland et al, 1992). Social Contract Theories. Social contract theories hold that when individuals become a part of a bigger community such as an organization of a local community then they agree to share the values of that group and also agrees to the means of reaching the agreed upon goals (Thomas, 1991). Critics argue that social contract theories do not give liberty to the individual thinkers who might have a contradicting opinion from their fellow community members (Thomas, 1991). Utilitarian theories. Utilitarian theories support the idea that ethical behavior results in the greatest good for the greatest number. So, according to utilitarian theories, the most ethical decision creates the greatest degree of benefits for the greater number of people while having a potential of inducing comparatively lesser amount of damages or harm (Hitt Columbus, Ohio 1990). Consequentialist moral theories are teleological which means that they aim at some goal state and evaluate the morality of actions in terms of progress toward that state. Tobacco Industry and Business Ethics. This section will outline some historical facts related to tobacco industry and will also highlight how this industry grew from the scratch. This section also includes the description of the functioning of the tobacco industry in terms of business ethics since from the beginning of its origin right up till now. Finally the chapter concludes by briefly stating how it became a part of Muslim and Asian culture. Tobacco Plant. Tobacco is a natively fostered plant of America. Tobacco plant has very small seed such as one ounce approximately contains over three hundred thousand seeds. This plant started being cultivated according to an estimate thousand years B.C. As early as one B.C., Tobacco started being used in various religious activities. Not only religious but also was thought to be of quite a medicinal importance by American Indians. It was basically thought of as pain killer and was also used by quite a number of people as a cure all solution. Discovery of the New World. Christopher Columbus was gifted dried tobacco leaves by the American Indians. As it was brought to Europe it started to be grown all over the Europe. Europeans grew it against a misinformation that tobacco has a healing tendency and that it can cure all the diseases no matter how big or small. According to a book written by a Spanish doctor in 1571 tobacco could cure at least thirty six health problems. Thomas Harriet a Virginian in 1588 invented smoking as he wanted to discover a way that could help take a daily dose of tobacco. Later he died of nose cancer because it was through the nose then that they use to breathe tobacco. In 1610 Sir Francis Bacon realized that trying to quit smoking was really difficult. In 1632 for the first time for moral reasons smoking got prohibited in Massachusetts. Tobacco: A Growth Industry For the first time when tobacco industry got significant industry value was in 1776. In the American Revolutionary War It acted as a security against the loans America borrowed from France. However scientists continued to understand the chemicals in tobacco, as well as the dangers they had. In 1836 tobacco was recognized as a lethal commodity.In 1847, the famous Phillip Morris was established, selling hand rolled Turkish cigarettes. Until 1900 chewing tobacco was the most famous tobacco product however cigarette started becoming famous in 1990s. As the cigarette was gaining popularity so was anti smoking campaigns with the notion of some states in America asking for total ban on tobacco. The demand for cigarettes however kept growing. The Recent trends. In 1980s was the time when legal actions gained their pace against the working of tobacco industry as in 1982 from the Surgeon General reports it was evident that tobacco is injurious to health and by no means its use or sale can be termed legal. It was also known that passive smoking may cause lung cancer. It was in 1990 that smoking got banned in all the flights except for the flight to Alaska and Hawaii. In 1990, Ben Jerrys initiated anti smoking campaigns and terminated business with tobacco industry allies. This lead Tobacco industry to change their strategy in the 80s and 90s and they started marketing their products heavily in developing countries of Asia. The strategy was to acquire market share from the markets with more flexible rules for tobacco business. It has been revealed that tobacco industry has realized all long and is aware of the harmfulness of their products. Knowing this did not stop them from doing and expanding business and they have been justifying this by stating that people make informed choice. This draws our attention on the fact that those who are being blamed need to take measures against this blame. The arrival of Tobacco in the Muslim World. Quite similar to the situation in Europe Tobacco use started by physicians and started to gain popularity through medical manuals and journals in the Middle East by the last years of the sixteenth century (Grehan, 2006). Those responsible for carrying the same message were mostly non Muslims that had contacts with Europe and could easily understand, interpret and translate the work of Europeans for the locals (Gokhale, 2009). There were not any segments of Middle Eastern society that did not contribute to this constantly increasing demand. While investigating tobaccos prevalence in his era, the Damascene jurist Abd al Ghani al Nabulsi confidently declared in 1682, Tobacco has now become extremely famous in all the countries of Islam People of all kinds have used it and devoted themselves to it I have even seen young children of about five years applying themselves to it (Ghauri, Atcha, Shiekh, 2006, p.34). Among these early users were quite a lot of women (Grehan, 2006). As Grehan (2006, p.413) states from the time of its first entry, tobacco would have to rebuff strenuous challenges from political and religious authorities, who in the most critical tests of its appeal would join forces in sporadic anti-smoking campaigns. One widely accepted methodology was to win a debate for proving tobacco as an intoxicant and that it has the same affect on the body as wine therefore strictly forbidden by Islamic law as resourced in Quran and Hadith (Grehan, 2006). Tobacco manufacture in subcontinent started in Akbars reign. But by 1617 its use had become so widespread that Akbars successor Jahangir (1605-1627) issued a verdict forbidding the smoking of tobacco Gokhale (2009). Tobacco Industry of Pakistan. Smoking can be proved as dangerous for peoples health but for the economies such as of Pakistan and other such nations, it is the good news that they will always want to hear. This section intends to highlight the important role tobacco plays in the economics of the country. Tobacco industry contributed 4.4 per cent or over Rs 27.5 billion to the total GDP of Pakistan including Rs 15.17 billion, including Rs 14.54 billion in excise duty and sales tax, in 1997. According to data provided through the internet resources it can be seen that tobacco industry pays six times more taxes than is earned from the cotton industry. This makes the tobacco industry to pay over five percent of all the taxes that are collected by the country. Furthermore over a million people are working as tobacco industry employees. Cultivation area has also increased in the last decade that means increase in business. The figure indicates the increase of thirty percent which is even less than the percentage increase of production i.e. hundred and forty five percent. The only crop of Pakistan whose yield exceeds the world average is also tobacco i.e. its per hectare yield equals that of the US and several other developed countries that makes approximately nineteen hundred kilograms. Tobacco Industry and Ethics. Tobacco Companies cannot be treated like rest of the companies as all their practices and products are not like other companies. Tobacco industry produces the products that are not only legal but at the same time they are also deadly for their consumers. How wondrous is that a product can kill more than half of its regular users? As such, in terms of CSR activities, they cannot simply figure among the ranks of other consumer goods companies. Despite the tobacco industrys thinly-veiled attempts to gain corporate respectability and companies claims to have changed their practices, they keep on adopting unethical strategies to promote their products, expand markets and increase profits (WHO, 2003). Objective of study The research will focus on the Tobacco Industry of Pakistan as the case of Ethical dilemma situation.The research will investigate what ethics do the tobacco industry practice. And can they be termed ethical under Utilitarian school of thought. Utilitarian theory is the world renowned theory to solve various ethical dilemmas in terms of the consequences an activity has. In short the study will be conducted to justify the role of Tobacco Industry in terms of business ethics. Literature review This chapter serves as a backbone of the whole study. This study is deductive in approach so a complete review of the existing literature and schools of thoughts was mandatory to recommend future issues for research. The section starts with defining the core concepts and terminologies followed by how and where these concepts have been used. This section also states why one theory and method has been selected over the others. As the chapter grows there are arguments far and against of the practices of tobacco industry and how they varied in two time zones i.e. from 1980-1999 and from 2000-2007. Business ethics Dilemma: Business ethics adapts its functioning from the methods prescribed by normative believes to resolve the moral issues in businesses. Business ethics studies both profit and non-profit corporations. Existing practices are judged on the basis of what ought to be done in the given situation. One specific feature is vital to the business ethics. Business ethics has to account for strategic concerns. In the business sphere, ethical reflection has to allow for the interest at stake, in order to avoid being so high principled that one disregards all consequences for the corporations future (Peter Pratley 1997). The common opinion seems to be that the term business ethics is not found anywhere in its true spirit. This is thought because ethics and business in soul are different. Where ethics preaches being nice and charitable there business finds its way to satisfy self interests and nasty objectives. Organizations spend a lot of time and effort in implementing new initiatives for profit making and cost cutting however not even half of this commitment of resources can be seen for the implementation of ethical programs. The impression is given that adherence to the ethical code of practice is adequate rather than embracing its true spirit. Ethical considerations have no more value than the choice of plants in the office. The view of Friedman (1976) that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Other literature has suggested that specialized ethical theories should be applied to business to better understand behavior in the context of the business organization. RobertAllanCooke (2004, p.2-5) evaluates in his study some fundamental fallacies about business ethics and finds that the good ethics is good business should still be termed as true. On the one hand we have the common good for society arising spontaneously from a largely unregulated market of companies pursuing their self interest and on the other hand looking for the benefit for the company that it is standing for. In both cases the benefits are supposedly efficiency and fair distribution. Taken from the level of the corporation this appears to be a real time situation offering a minimum of restriction on market behavior and maximum control over internal affairs (Andrew Bartlett David Preston 2000). We encounter various situations in our life where we have to resolve any dilemma. And Businesses are no exceptions. Businesses and managers have to maximize their profits and optimize their costs in terms of resources and while planning for this all they come across many situations where they have to choose among two choices i.e. termed by economists as opportunity cost. The choices sometimes create an ethical dilemma and the decision in such cases become more complex. With regard to consumers, the example of tobacco is particularly typical to understand. When seen in the through the lens of time it can be observed that in the short term, a need is satisfied on the expense of the long term loss of health of the customers. This has always been the strategy of the tobacco industry to not let their business slow down. While the advertising campaign in the United States was getting pace to encourage adolescents not to smoke, the tobacco companies were making new customers of the same age or teenagers in Asia an Africa by distributing free cigarettes (Levin 1991). Ethical dilemma Theory: Such dilemmas are dealt with ethical theories. One considered under the study is Utilitarian Theory. Utilitarianism is a Western adopted theory that has a history starting from the late 1700s (Harris, 2002; Shanahan Wang, 2003). Harris stated that utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive traditions of moral thought in our culture (p. 119). Rachels (1998) described utilitarian theory as based in social transformation in human nature and behaviour, and it is that alternative to natural law that encompasses it as well. Along with the applause the utilitarian theory is also criticized by many. As Peter Pratley (1997, p.140) states that it may happen that an option seems to be most profitable for the large majority, while at the same time we feel that it is morally totally improper from the point of view of distributive justice. Whereas most receive a relatively minor benefit, a small number have to cope with outrageous costs. Applying Utilitarian guidelines continually is impossible, even for private corporations with noble humanitarian intentions. Utility asks too much from individual private businesses. If each time decisions were made corporations adopted only the utilitarian most perfect solution, many would have to close down especially if they had to pay for the environmental damage they do. Utilitarian thinking favors bringing about the greatest total amount of good that we can (Harris et al 2000 p. 77). According to a utilitarian, we have, as our most basic obligation, to: produce the greatest good for the greatest number, or Maximize aggregate happiness (these are assumed to be equivalent). Problems for the general utilitarian approach are (Harris et al 2000 pp. 77-78): Utilitarianism is an information-intensive view, since there can be an enormous number of relevant factual issues. Another problem is determining the audience for a decision, which the textbook defines as the population over which the good is to be [ought to be] maximized (p. 78); that is, audience refers to all those whose happiness would be affected by the agents decision. This is problematic because decisions can sometimes affect an enormous number of people (not to mention non-human animals), into the indefinite future. Finally, the utilitarian approach is claimed to neglect considerations of justice, because it ignores the distribution of benefits and harms. Cost Benefit Analysis: How do we decide whether a given action is morally right or wrong? The answer given by cost-benefit analysis that maximizing benefits should be the priority is very similar to the answer sorted out by utilitarian. Economists who do cost-benefit analysis claim that certain non market things are hard to quantify in terms of money value but yet it is exciting and challenging (Steven 1981). Benthams ideal of a precise quantitative method for decision making is most fully realized in cost-benefit analysis. This method differs from Benthams hedonistic calculus primarily in the use of monetary units to express the benefits and drawbacks of various alternatives (Mishan, 1976). Primarily hedons and dolors i.e. positive and negative values were used to calculate utilitarian results. Any project the dollar amount of the benefits exceeds the dollar amount of the damages is worth pursuing, according to cost benefit analysis, and from among different projects. A distinction is mostly made, moreover, between cost-benefit analysis and cost-effective analysis. Cost-effective analysis assumes that there is already some agreed upon end and what is the most efficient means for achieving this end. Cost-benefit analysis, by contrast, is used to select both the means to ends and ends themselves (Baram, 1980). Experts in cost-benefit analysis attempt to overcome the problem of assigning dollar figure to non economic goods with a technique known as shadow pricing. This consists of determining the value reflected by peoples market and non market behavior. According to Macintyre (1977) cost benefit analysis is offered as a method that is itself value-free and applies only the values that people express in the market. Critics charge, however, that the method is heavily value-laden since the values of the analyst cannot be excluded entirely. Cost benefit analysis requires the analyst to determine what constitutes a cost and a benefit. However the defenders of cost-benefit analysis reply that any theory is value laden, and an advantage of cost-benefit analysis that it makes its value commitments explicit, so that they can be flagged and properly taken into account. This view has been supported in the work of Boatright (1997, p.46). A virtue of cost/benefit is that it seeks to lift a murky and endless policy debate out of the realm of ideology or moral preference into a more objective realm of testable factual propositions. The object is to gather the best available evidence of social impacts or costs and then, within a social accounting or utilitarian framework, to compare social prescriptions in terms of their prospects for reducing those costs. Yet, as Alasdair Macintyre has cogently argued, utilitarianism has unavoidable limitations that the cost/benefit specifists seldom take into account. Pragmatists who present cost/benefit analysis as a value-neutral tool, Macintyre argues, often lose sight of the fact that utilitarian tests always presuppose the application of some prior non utilitarian principle which sets limits upon the range of alternatives to be considered.(Macintyre 1977)These inputs into the putatively objective cost/benefit analysis are inherently value-laden. When they are not made explicit and are not subjected to the same rigorous tests applied within the circumscribed framework of the cost/benefit analysis itself, they can compromise the objectivity of the entire enterprise. Criticism has been immense but the allegation to assign monetary value to the non market entities is not only the challenge faced by utilitarian theory but also all other political and ethical theories (Shepley, 2006). Cost-benefit analysis can be thought of as an attempt to operationalize utilitarianism using economic analysis. The textbooks template for applying cost-benefit analysis (Harris et al 2000 p. 79): Assess the available options. Assess the costs and benefits (each measured in monetary terms) of each option for the entire audience of the action, or all of those affected by the decision. Make the decision that is likely to result in the greatest benefit relative to cost; that is, the course of action must not be one in which the cost of implementing the option could produce greater benefit if spent on another option. Problems for cost-benefit analysis are (Harris et al, 2000, pp. 80-81): Considerations of justice in the distribution of benefits and costs are ignored. Can all of the relevant costs and benefits really be adequately represented in monetary terms? What about public (non-market) goods? Can a monetary value be placed on human lives? It has been used in the past to justify morally unacceptable practices like slavery and child labor. McMaken (2001) in his article shows how trustworthy the method is to come up with such sensitive decisions such as government regulations etc. In his article he states, Its the return of cost-benefit analysis. Coast (2004) argues that money represents a passage to consumption so loss of money can represent the worth of things lost and vice versa. The advantage of using money in analysis is that money is very familiar to people and its worth is highly recognized. CBA addresses allocative efficiency which is achieved by minimizing the waste of resources and then to make one person better off without making another loose (Rushby John Cairns, 2006). Tobacco Industry Ethics: 1980-1999: The study is conducted for observing the tobacco Industrys ethical practices for that reason some literature has been explored regarding the desired objective. Tobacco is a major health hazard and an important economic commodity. It is very rational to say that if it would have been useful to use tobacco products then anti tobacco campaigns must not have been accepted so widely. On the other hand, the market for tobacco is so big that these anti tobacco regulations are hard to implement. The management of every joint-stock company is commissioned by the shareholders to achieve the maximum profit on the capital invested and to increase its market share. Consequently, a decrease in tobacco consumption or the number of consumers is not in the interests of the tobacco companies. Their goal is to increase production and consumption. The tobacco companies do not, as a rule, make statements implying that the use of their products can lead to illness or death. They may say that tobacco has been considered to be associated with increased risks. As ethical considerations now are accepted by the tobacco industry itself, an analysis of their practice of autonomy, doing good, justice and doing no harm could be done and analysed (Fagerberg et al, 1990). Now when people make informed choice that is claimed by tobacco industry to be autonomy. When people enjoy the tobacco products and consider them as their need, tobacco industry terms it as doing well to people. Allowing people to make the choices under no authority is doing justice and there is no final medical report for health consequences so that means doing no harm in the eyes of tobacco industry (Tobaks, 1990) All these arguments can be refuted asserting non-profitable motives in the service of humanity, and with the guiding principle of ethical responsibility formulated by the philosopher Hans Jonas in (1984). Thus the tobacco companies can be accused of misusing the word autonomy as they overlook the fact of chemical dependency on tobacco. Also, the long-term effects are so immense that it is difficult to defend short-term motives of both consumers and the industry. The arguments for justice and doing no harm are counteracted by the knowledge that use of tobacco leads to lesions, sometimes direct mortal lesions, and by the circumstances that general knowledge based on facts can hardly be achieved to a sufficient degree in a whole population. To sum up, it is insane for the tobacco companies to find moral defenses for their misconduct. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence against cigarettes, the tobacco industry continues to debate over the controversial results of different scientists for proving or disproving smoking as an important cause of deaths by various diseases (R Ethics in the Tobacco Industry, Pakistan Ethics in the Tobacco Industry, Pakistan Abstract Quite a lot has been said and done about Business Ethics. Several studies have been conducted emphasizing on the importance of what and How in business environment. However there has been put quite little effort in describing in a unified term of what business ethics exactly asks. Nevertheless existing giant businesses have not been scrutinized of their ethical practices. This study is an attempt to investigate what ethics does Tobacco Industry practice. The case of Pakistan is taken to complete this research so as to check in absence of strict government regulations how responsible does the industry behaves. Cost Benefit analysis procedure for clarifying this ethical dilemma shows that in the absence of strong health hazard data the industrys overall functioning can be considered ethical under utilitarian school of thought. This is because the number of beneficiaries of the industry in a developing country like Pakistan is immense and the recognized harms are comparatively less. This thesis gives the real coaster effect when these results are revealed. However this is a deductive study that leads to further research questions and discovers new undiscovered ventures to explore. Introduction Ethics is mostly known as the study of decision making that while doing this considers the widely accepted moral standards. One of the ethical questions however is the ethical dilemma, in which an issue has two conflicting bur arguably valid sides. A classical ethical dilemma example can be of the debate on allowing the tobacco companies to advertise. If allowed to do so then that means encouragement of an unhealthy practice but on the other hand if they are not allowed to advertise then it is clear discrimination between rights. Similarly Employees have the right to privacy, but employers also have right to expect safe, competent behavior from employees. Now who is to decide the winner between employees choice of taking drugs or employers liberty to let undergo their employees through drug tests? Many such ethical questions are faced by managers every day. The common theme in all ethical dilemmas is a clash between the privileges of two or more stakeholders over one another. Traditionally, the place of ethics in business practices has been to supply a decision procedure or some formal normative orientation. The place of ethical theory in the making of business decisions is problematic, and the symptoms are numerous. This can be seen, for example, in the difficulties authors of business ethics texts often have in employing ethical theories to resolve or clarify issues of ethical or social concern. In my opinion the theories for resolving the ethical dilemmas themselves create an ethical dilemma. For instance some of the employees in the organization feel that there shouldnt be fixed working hours. As long as they are productive there should not be any restrictions on them regarding the time schedules. If we analyze this case under the two schools of thought i.e. Utilitarian and the deontological we will see that if the employees are productive without imposing the limit of fixed working hours on them i.e. the consequence of the proposition is positive then according to the utilitarian theory the act is ethical. While Deontological concept will take it as unethical for it will see it as breaking the laws and conventions of the organization It can be observed that presently accepted and practiced ethical theories posit strong foundations. In my opinion however these theories are of limited use in solving ethical problems. Their reliability and ability to be generalized can be challenged because they ignore certain aspects of morality and prefer others according to different situations that arise in different contexts. This study is devoted to resolve the conflict of deciding between what is and what is not ethical in the Tobacco industry. The theory chosen for the study is utilitarian theory which has two advantages over other alternative ethical theories as how to be applied in various business endeavors. Firstly as we know that business works for the motive of benefiting self and so does utilitarian theory defines morality i.e. morality is to prefer self interest as prime. Secondly utilitarian theory is analyzed by comparing the benefits and harms of a given option and this is how it again finds similarity with profit and loss in accounting and business. Since utilitarian theory is quantified with the help of cost-benefit analysis so the data is analyzed by using cost-benefit analysis model. The strive was to be able to resolve the ethical dilemma regarding the existence and functioning of Tobacco industry without creating an ethical dilemma through the process of resolving it. Business Ethics. Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that identify and solve the ethical and moral issues in the business environment. In the increasingly conscience focused marketplaces of the 21st century, the demand for more ethical business processes and actions (known as ethicism) is increasing (wikipedia, 2007). Historically, interest in business ethics accelerated dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s, both within major corporations and within academia. For example, today most major corporations use alternate words such as social responsibility charters, corporate social responsibility etc to highlight the importance of social values and norms. Business ethics has to decide on ethical issues by looking through the lens of the employee, the enterprise or the society as a whole. Ethical dilemma It is the situation in which an issue has two conflicting but arguably valid sides. Ethical dilemmas continue to receive a great deal of attention from philosophers and management experts, who have developed a number of tools to guide managers through sometimes confusing and always difficult decisions regarding ethical dilemmas. However it is important to note that like the problem the methods for resolving this problem are also not absolute and agreed upon. Even the best models rarely lead to a single answer that is absolutely right, just or fair, but they do point the way to answers that seem more right, more just, or more fair than others Hosmer(1988 a). Principles of ethical analysis have their roots in normative philosophy, the study of proper thoughts and conduct, or how people should behave Hosmer(1988 b). Five commonly applied normative approaches are described as under. Deontology. Deontology depends on the intentions of a person making the decision or performing the act. A deontologist would disagree with the emphasis on outcome as the determinant of moral actions because consequences are generally indefinite and uncertain at the time the decision is made. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) provided much of the base for understanding this concept in all eras. Theories of Justice. Theories of justice explain ethical decisions on the basis of fairness and impartiality (Stead et al, 1990). This philosophy stresses social justice. Critics point out that this theory assumes that social cooperation provides the basis for all economic and social benefits, which may or may not be true (Stead et al, 1990). Theories of Rights. Theories of rights as from the name indicate that the most ethical decision will be based on protecting peoples right that might potentially be affected by the decision (Courtland et al, 1992). Theories of rights, unlike theories of justice, depend upon on equal opportunities for choice and exchange, not on equal allocations of wealth and income. As discussed earlier sometimes the conflicting rights become the shortcoming of the application of this theory (Courtland et al, 1992). Social Contract Theories. Social contract theories hold that when individuals become a part of a bigger community such as an organization of a local community then they agree to share the values of that group and also agrees to the means of reaching the agreed upon goals (Thomas, 1991). Critics argue that social contract theories do not give liberty to the individual thinkers who might have a contradicting opinion from their fellow community members (Thomas, 1991). Utilitarian theories. Utilitarian theories support the idea that ethical behavior results in the greatest good for the greatest number. So, according to utilitarian theories, the most ethical decision creates the greatest degree of benefits for the greater number of people while having a potential of inducing comparatively lesser amount of damages or harm (Hitt Columbus, Ohio 1990). Consequentialist moral theories are teleological which means that they aim at some goal state and evaluate the morality of actions in terms of progress toward that state. Tobacco Industry and Business Ethics. This section will outline some historical facts related to tobacco industry and will also highlight how this industry grew from the scratch. This section also includes the description of the functioning of the tobacco industry in terms of business ethics since from the beginning of its origin right up till now. Finally the chapter concludes by briefly stating how it became a part of Muslim and Asian culture. Tobacco Plant. Tobacco is a natively fostered plant of America. Tobacco plant has very small seed such as one ounce approximately contains over three hundred thousand seeds. This plant started being cultivated according to an estimate thousand years B.C. As early as one B.C., Tobacco started being used in various religious activities. Not only religious but also was thought to be of quite a medicinal importance by American Indians. It was basically thought of as pain killer and was also used by quite a number of people as a cure all solution. Discovery of the New World. Christopher Columbus was gifted dried tobacco leaves by the American Indians. As it was brought to Europe it started to be grown all over the Europe. Europeans grew it against a misinformation that tobacco has a healing tendency and that it can cure all the diseases no matter how big or small. According to a book written by a Spanish doctor in 1571 tobacco could cure at least thirty six health problems. Thomas Harriet a Virginian in 1588 invented smoking as he wanted to discover a way that could help take a daily dose of tobacco. Later he died of nose cancer because it was through the nose then that they use to breathe tobacco. In 1610 Sir Francis Bacon realized that trying to quit smoking was really difficult. In 1632 for the first time for moral reasons smoking got prohibited in Massachusetts. Tobacco: A Growth Industry For the first time when tobacco industry got significant industry value was in 1776. In the American Revolutionary War It acted as a security against the loans America borrowed from France. However scientists continued to understand the chemicals in tobacco, as well as the dangers they had. In 1836 tobacco was recognized as a lethal commodity.In 1847, the famous Phillip Morris was established, selling hand rolled Turkish cigarettes. Until 1900 chewing tobacco was the most famous tobacco product however cigarette started becoming famous in 1990s. As the cigarette was gaining popularity so was anti smoking campaigns with the notion of some states in America asking for total ban on tobacco. The demand for cigarettes however kept growing. The Recent trends. In 1980s was the time when legal actions gained their pace against the working of tobacco industry as in 1982 from the Surgeon General reports it was evident that tobacco is injurious to health and by no means its use or sale can be termed legal. It was also known that passive smoking may cause lung cancer. It was in 1990 that smoking got banned in all the flights except for the flight to Alaska and Hawaii. In 1990, Ben Jerrys initiated anti smoking campaigns and terminated business with tobacco industry allies. This lead Tobacco industry to change their strategy in the 80s and 90s and they started marketing their products heavily in developing countries of Asia. The strategy was to acquire market share from the markets with more flexible rules for tobacco business. It has been revealed that tobacco industry has realized all long and is aware of the harmfulness of their products. Knowing this did not stop them from doing and expanding business and they have been justifying this by stating that people make informed choice. This draws our attention on the fact that those who are being blamed need to take measures against this blame. The arrival of Tobacco in the Muslim World. Quite similar to the situation in Europe Tobacco use started by physicians and started to gain popularity through medical manuals and journals in the Middle East by the last years of the sixteenth century (Grehan, 2006). Those responsible for carrying the same message were mostly non Muslims that had contacts with Europe and could easily understand, interpret and translate the work of Europeans for the locals (Gokhale, 2009). There were not any segments of Middle Eastern society that did not contribute to this constantly increasing demand. While investigating tobaccos prevalence in his era, the Damascene jurist Abd al Ghani al Nabulsi confidently declared in 1682, Tobacco has now become extremely famous in all the countries of Islam People of all kinds have used it and devoted themselves to it I have even seen young children of about five years applying themselves to it (Ghauri, Atcha, Shiekh, 2006, p.34). Among these early users were quite a lot of women (Grehan, 2006). As Grehan (2006, p.413) states from the time of its first entry, tobacco would have to rebuff strenuous challenges from political and religious authorities, who in the most critical tests of its appeal would join forces in sporadic anti-smoking campaigns. One widely accepted methodology was to win a debate for proving tobacco as an intoxicant and that it has the same affect on the body as wine therefore strictly forbidden by Islamic law as resourced in Quran and Hadith (Grehan, 2006). Tobacco manufacture in subcontinent started in Akbars reign. But by 1617 its use had become so widespread that Akbars successor Jahangir (1605-1627) issued a verdict forbidding the smoking of tobacco Gokhale (2009). Tobacco Industry of Pakistan. Smoking can be proved as dangerous for peoples health but for the economies such as of Pakistan and other such nations, it is the good news that they will always want to hear. This section intends to highlight the important role tobacco plays in the economics of the country. Tobacco industry contributed 4.4 per cent or over Rs 27.5 billion to the total GDP of Pakistan including Rs 15.17 billion, including Rs 14.54 billion in excise duty and sales tax, in 1997. According to data provided through the internet resources it can be seen that tobacco industry pays six times more taxes than is earned from the cotton industry. This makes the tobacco industry to pay over five percent of all the taxes that are collected by the country. Furthermore over a million people are working as tobacco industry employees. Cultivation area has also increased in the last decade that means increase in business. The figure indicates the increase of thirty percent which is even less than the percentage increase of production i.e. hundred and forty five percent. The only crop of Pakistan whose yield exceeds the world average is also tobacco i.e. its per hectare yield equals that of the US and several other developed countries that makes approximately nineteen hundred kilograms. Tobacco Industry and Ethics. Tobacco Companies cannot be treated like rest of the companies as all their practices and products are not like other companies. Tobacco industry produces the products that are not only legal but at the same time they are also deadly for their consumers. How wondrous is that a product can kill more than half of its regular users? As such, in terms of CSR activities, they cannot simply figure among the ranks of other consumer goods companies. Despite the tobacco industrys thinly-veiled attempts to gain corporate respectability and companies claims to have changed their practices, they keep on adopting unethical strategies to promote their products, expand markets and increase profits (WHO, 2003). Objective of study The research will focus on the Tobacco Industry of Pakistan as the case of Ethical dilemma situation.The research will investigate what ethics do the tobacco industry practice. And can they be termed ethical under Utilitarian school of thought. Utilitarian theory is the world renowned theory to solve various ethical dilemmas in terms of the consequences an activity has. In short the study will be conducted to justify the role of Tobacco Industry in terms of business ethics. Literature review This chapter serves as a backbone of the whole study. This study is deductive in approach so a complete review of the existing literature and schools of thoughts was mandatory to recommend future issues for research. The section starts with defining the core concepts and terminologies followed by how and where these concepts have been used. This section also states why one theory and method has been selected over the others. As the chapter grows there are arguments far and against of the practices of tobacco industry and how they varied in two time zones i.e. from 1980-1999 and from 2000-2007. Business ethics Dilemma: Business ethics adapts its functioning from the methods prescribed by normative believes to resolve the moral issues in businesses. Business ethics studies both profit and non-profit corporations. Existing practices are judged on the basis of what ought to be done in the given situation. One specific feature is vital to the business ethics. Business ethics has to account for strategic concerns. In the business sphere, ethical reflection has to allow for the interest at stake, in order to avoid being so high principled that one disregards all consequences for the corporations future (Peter Pratley 1997). The common opinion seems to be that the term business ethics is not found anywhere in its true spirit. This is thought because ethics and business in soul are different. Where ethics preaches being nice and charitable there business finds its way to satisfy self interests and nasty objectives. Organizations spend a lot of time and effort in implementing new initiatives for profit making and cost cutting however not even half of this commitment of resources can be seen for the implementation of ethical programs. The impression is given that adherence to the ethical code of practice is adequate rather than embracing its true spirit. Ethical considerations have no more value than the choice of plants in the office. The view of Friedman (1976) that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Other literature has suggested that specialized ethical theories should be applied to business to better understand behavior in the context of the business organization. RobertAllanCooke (2004, p.2-5) evaluates in his study some fundamental fallacies about business ethics and finds that the good ethics is good business should still be termed as true. On the one hand we have the common good for society arising spontaneously from a largely unregulated market of companies pursuing their self interest and on the other hand looking for the benefit for the company that it is standing for. In both cases the benefits are supposedly efficiency and fair distribution. Taken from the level of the corporation this appears to be a real time situation offering a minimum of restriction on market behavior and maximum control over internal affairs (Andrew Bartlett David Preston 2000). We encounter various situations in our life where we have to resolve any dilemma. And Businesses are no exceptions. Businesses and managers have to maximize their profits and optimize their costs in terms of resources and while planning for this all they come across many situations where they have to choose among two choices i.e. termed by economists as opportunity cost. The choices sometimes create an ethical dilemma and the decision in such cases become more complex. With regard to consumers, the example of tobacco is particularly typical to understand. When seen in the through the lens of time it can be observed that in the short term, a need is satisfied on the expense of the long term loss of health of the customers. This has always been the strategy of the tobacco industry to not let their business slow down. While the advertising campaign in the United States was getting pace to encourage adolescents not to smoke, the tobacco companies were making new customers of the same age or teenagers in Asia an Africa by distributing free cigarettes (Levin 1991). Ethical dilemma Theory: Such dilemmas are dealt with ethical theories. One considered under the study is Utilitarian Theory. Utilitarianism is a Western adopted theory that has a history starting from the late 1700s (Harris, 2002; Shanahan Wang, 2003). Harris stated that utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive traditions of moral thought in our culture (p. 119). Rachels (1998) described utilitarian theory as based in social transformation in human nature and behaviour, and it is that alternative to natural law that encompasses it as well. Along with the applause the utilitarian theory is also criticized by many. As Peter Pratley (1997, p.140) states that it may happen that an option seems to be most profitable for the large majority, while at the same time we feel that it is morally totally improper from the point of view of distributive justice. Whereas most receive a relatively minor benefit, a small number have to cope with outrageous costs. Applying Utilitarian guidelines continually is impossible, even for private corporations with noble humanitarian intentions. Utility asks too much from individual private businesses. If each time decisions were made corporations adopted only the utilitarian most perfect solution, many would have to close down especially if they had to pay for the environmental damage they do. Utilitarian thinking favors bringing about the greatest total amount of good that we can (Harris et al 2000 p. 77). According to a utilitarian, we have, as our most basic obligation, to: produce the greatest good for the greatest number, or Maximize aggregate happiness (these are assumed to be equivalent). Problems for the general utilitarian approach are (Harris et al 2000 pp. 77-78): Utilitarianism is an information-intensive view, since there can be an enormous number of relevant factual issues. Another problem is determining the audience for a decision, which the textbook defines as the population over which the good is to be [ought to be] maximized (p. 78); that is, audience refers to all those whose happiness would be affected by the agents decision. This is problematic because decisions can sometimes affect an enormous number of people (not to mention non-human animals), into the indefinite future. Finally, the utilitarian approach is claimed to neglect considerations of justice, because it ignores the distribution of benefits and harms. Cost Benefit Analysis: How do we decide whether a given action is morally right or wrong? The answer given by cost-benefit analysis that maximizing benefits should be the priority is very similar to the answer sorted out by utilitarian. Economists who do cost-benefit analysis claim that certain non market things are hard to quantify in terms of money value but yet it is exciting and challenging (Steven 1981). Benthams ideal of a precise quantitative method for decision making is most fully realized in cost-benefit analysis. This method differs from Benthams hedonistic calculus primarily in the use of monetary units to express the benefits and drawbacks of various alternatives (Mishan, 1976). Primarily hedons and dolors i.e. positive and negative values were used to calculate utilitarian results. Any project the dollar amount of the benefits exceeds the dollar amount of the damages is worth pursuing, according to cost benefit analysis, and from among different projects. A distinction is mostly made, moreover, between cost-benefit analysis and cost-effective analysis. Cost-effective analysis assumes that there is already some agreed upon end and what is the most efficient means for achieving this end. Cost-benefit analysis, by contrast, is used to select both the means to ends and ends themselves (Baram, 1980). Experts in cost-benefit analysis attempt to overcome the problem of assigning dollar figure to non economic goods with a technique known as shadow pricing. This consists of determining the value reflected by peoples market and non market behavior. According to Macintyre (1977) cost benefit analysis is offered as a method that is itself value-free and applies only the values that people express in the market. Critics charge, however, that the method is heavily value-laden since the values of the analyst cannot be excluded entirely. Cost benefit analysis requires the analyst to determine what constitutes a cost and a benefit. However the defenders of cost-benefit analysis reply that any theory is value laden, and an advantage of cost-benefit analysis that it makes its value commitments explicit, so that they can be flagged and properly taken into account. This view has been supported in the work of Boatright (1997, p.46). A virtue of cost/benefit is that it seeks to lift a murky and endless policy debate out of the realm of ideology or moral preference into a more objective realm of testable factual propositions. The object is to gather the best available evidence of social impacts or costs and then, within a social accounting or utilitarian framework, to compare social prescriptions in terms of their prospects for reducing those costs. Yet, as Alasdair Macintyre has cogently argued, utilitarianism has unavoidable limitations that the cost/benefit specifists seldom take into account. Pragmatists who present cost/benefit analysis as a value-neutral tool, Macintyre argues, often lose sight of the fact that utilitarian tests always presuppose the application of some prior non utilitarian principle which sets limits upon the range of alternatives to be considered.(Macintyre 1977)These inputs into the putatively objective cost/benefit analysis are inherently value-laden. When they are not made explicit and are not subjected to the same rigorous tests applied within the circumscribed framework of the cost/benefit analysis itself, they can compromise the objectivity of the entire enterprise. Criticism has been immense but the allegation to assign monetary value to the non market entities is not only the challenge faced by utilitarian theory but also all other political and ethical theories (Shepley, 2006). Cost-benefit analysis can be thought of as an attempt to operationalize utilitarianism using economic analysis. The textbooks template for applying cost-benefit analysis (Harris et al 2000 p. 79): Assess the available options. Assess the costs and benefits (each measured in monetary terms) of each option for the entire audience of the action, or all of those affected by the decision. Make the decision that is likely to result in the greatest benefit relative to cost; that is, the course of action must not be one in which the cost of implementing the option could produce greater benefit if spent on another option. Problems for cost-benefit analysis are (Harris et al, 2000, pp. 80-81): Considerations of justice in the distribution of benefits and costs are ignored. Can all of the relevant costs and benefits really be adequately represented in monetary terms? What about public (non-market) goods? Can a monetary value be placed on human lives? It has been used in the past to justify morally unacceptable practices like slavery and child labor. McMaken (2001) in his article shows how trustworthy the method is to come up with such sensitive decisions such as government regulations etc. In his article he states, Its the return of cost-benefit analysis. Coast (2004) argues that money represents a passage to consumption so loss of money can represent the worth of things lost and vice versa. The advantage of using money in analysis is that money is very familiar to people and its worth is highly recognized. CBA addresses allocative efficiency which is achieved by minimizing the waste of resources and then to make one person better off without making another loose (Rushby John Cairns, 2006). Tobacco Industry Ethics: 1980-1999: The study is conducted for observing the tobacco Industrys ethical practices for that reason some literature has been explored regarding the desired objective. Tobacco is a major health hazard and an important economic commodity. It is very rational to say that if it would have been useful to use tobacco products then anti tobacco campaigns must not have been accepted so widely. On the other hand, the market for tobacco is so big that these anti tobacco regulations are hard to implement. The management of every joint-stock company is commissioned by the shareholders to achieve the maximum profit on the capital invested and to increase its market share. Consequently, a decrease in tobacco consumption or the number of consumers is not in the interests of the tobacco companies. Their goal is to increase production and consumption. The tobacco companies do not, as a rule, make statements implying that the use of their products can lead to illness or death. They may say that tobacco has been considered to be associated with increased risks. As ethical considerations now are accepted by the tobacco industry itself, an analysis of their practice of autonomy, doing good, justice and doing no harm could be done and analysed (Fagerberg et al, 1990). Now when people make informed choice that is claimed by tobacco industry to be autonomy. When people enjoy the tobacco products and consider them as their need, tobacco industry terms it as doing well to people. Allowing people to make the choices under no authority is doing justice and there is no final medical report for health consequences so that means doing no harm in the eyes of tobacco industry (Tobaks, 1990) All these arguments can be refuted asserting non-profitable motives in the service of humanity, and with the guiding principle of ethical responsibility formulated by the philosopher Hans Jonas in (1984). Thus the tobacco companies can be accused of misusing the word autonomy as they overlook the fact of chemical dependency on tobacco. Also, the long-term effects are so immense that it is difficult to defend short-term motives of both consumers and the industry. The arguments for justice and doing no harm are counteracted by the knowledge that use of tobacco leads to lesions, sometimes direct mortal lesions, and by the circumstances that general knowledge based on facts can hardly be achieved to a sufficient degree in a whole population. To sum up, it is insane for the tobacco companies to find moral defenses for their misconduct. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence against cigarettes, the tobacco industry continues to debate over the controversial results of different scientists for proving or disproving smoking as an important cause of deaths by various diseases (R