1.

What did you find to be the most helpful and least helpful part of this week’s reading and
activities?
The most helpful part of week fives assignments as always, were the videos and the
presentations. Specifically, the video on DISC leadership styles, I learned I have a
combination of these traits. I could also imagine my coworkers and managers and where
they . The presentations are always helpful for supplementing the reading. I miss
lectures and being in a classroom, having these PowerPoints to take notes from and it
gives me a sense of normalcy. I did not find anything least helpful for this week’s
assignments.

2. How can companies strive for successful relationships with consumers, including meeting their
economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic expectations?

Companies strive for successful ethical, economic, legal, and philanthropic relationships
with consumers for not only consumers expectations, but the company’s overall
success. There have been many ethical issues raised for consumers and ways companies
and the government has addressed them. For instance, ambient advertising or
unconventional and unconventional messages in a target market’s social environment,
has made consumers question their invasive marketing tactics (Ferrell. Thorne. Ferrell
p.g. 262. 2019). Some consumers like having subliminal advertising everywhere, in the
bathroom stall, or even the large number of sponsored ads seen on their smartphones,
however others view this as an invasion of privacy. Advertising ethically seems to be
overlooked by many companies and finding the balance is what contributes to success.
Successful economic relationships occur by the company being profitable, listening and
acting on stakeholders’ interests providing a good return on their investment to
investors and owners, contributing goods and services to the economy, developing the
best talent, and offering jobs to the community. For example, a firm’s ability to link
consumer interest with philanthropic needs, leads to stronger economic relationships
like when large pharmaceutical and health insurance firms provided financial support to
the FACCT (Ferrell. Thorne. Ferrell p.g. 268. 2019). The online system allowed for
patients to evaluate their precision on several quality indicators, and new systems
continue to address critical public health needs. The result of this created a successful
philanthropic effort and relationship created because the cause was a good fit with their
product category, industry, customer concerns, and location, leading to better economic
relations. Legal issues with consumers are addressed through the Federal Trade
Commission, along with other federal and state agencies that regulate goods, services,
or business practices like the FDA and Consumer Product Safety Commission. For
instance, the FTC offers protections against anti-trust agencies and develops consumer
protection laws, health and safety, credit and ownership, marketing and advertising,
sales and warranties, technology issues, and product liabilities (Ferrell. Thorne. Ferrell.
p.g. 270. 2019). The United States has many consumer protection laws to protect
consumers from an imbalance of power on the business side and fulfil ethical and legal
needs. Corporate social responsibility goes beyond doing the minimum legal
requirements and is practiced by companies who take responsibility of their business
and contribute to making a better society.
3. List and describe the basic consumer rights that have become social expectations of business.
(Refer to Table 9.5 on page 263 and pages 263-265) Why have some of these rights been
formalized through legislation? Should these rights be considered ethical standards?

There were four basic consumer rights that President Kennedy made, right to safety, the
right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard, but since then other
presidents have added more. The table lists consumers right to choose, to safety, to be
informed, to be heard, to redress, and to privacy. The consumers right to choose describes their
rights to select from a variety of products at competitive prices. For example, this is a huge part
of capitalism and there are antitrust activities that reduce competition and has been called into
question consumer safety in some parts of the United States (Ferrell. Thorne. Ferrell. P.g 263.
2019). Having the right to choose products and operate within a free market, is a big part of
freedom that not all consumers in the world have access to. Consumers are also granted the
right to safety. For example, all products should be safe for their intended use, include
instructions, been tested for reliability, and display clear and relevant warnings. (Ferrell. Thorne.
Ferrell. p.g. 263. 2019). The Consumer Product Safety Commission has jurisdiction over
thousands of commercial products and powers allowing it to establish safety standards and
enforce recalls. The right to be informed next is based on the idea that consumers should have
information communicated in written or verbal format that is accurate, and free of deception,
so that they can make the right choice in purchases. For instance, the FCC fined AT&T $100
million because they did not inform customers with unlimited plans that after using 5 gigabytes
of data per month the carrier would reduce transmission speeds and the FCC believed this lack
of disclosure violated customer rights (Ferrell. Thorne. Ferrell. p.g. 264. 2019). Having all the
information about a product or contracts with a company seems like a basic ethical want and
need for consumers, however not all business practice this, which is why legislation exists to
protect our rights. The consumer's right to be heard relates to opportunities for consumers to
communicate or voice their concerns in the public policy process. For example, one mechanism
for fulfilling this responsibility is through the Federal Trade Commission and state consumer
affairs or through congressional hearings (Ferrell. Thorne. Ferrell. p.g. 264. 2019). Many
consumers want the opportunity to express their voice and there is legislation that allows this.
Consumers also have the right to seek redress. This means they can express dissatisfaction and
seek restitution from a business when that good or service does not exceed or meet their
expectations. For example, a third party the consumers can consult is the Better Business
Bureau the promotes the self-regulation of business and are less costly in terms of money time
and stress (Ferrell. Thorne. Ferrell. p.g. 265. 2019). Consumers are often dissatisfied with
products and could have even been deceived by that product so the right to redress allows them
reparations. The right to privacy also relates to consumer protection. For example, information
technology and the use of the Internet raised concerns about consumer privacy, where the FTC
had to step in with Explorer talent because they were collecting personal information from
children without gaining parental consent violating the provisions of COPPA (Ferrell. Thorne.
Ferrell. p.g. 265. 2019). Children have more access to the Internet these days and it is important
that there is legislation to protect not only children but all consumers privacy. The four basic
consumer rights that Kennedy put in place had been established to increase rights and legal
protection against malicious business practices and were necessary. The rights in a way are basic
ethical rights that most consumers would expect in a free market, capitalistic economic system.

Part 2
 1. Describe the ways that Zappos considers the needs, wants, and characteristics of
employees.
Based on the video, Zappos considers the needs, wants, and characteristics of
employees through many aspects. They hire based from cultural aspects and personality traits,
instead of just education. They encourage weirdness, diversity, and crazy company moral.
Zappos makes employees come out of their box and rewards them for it. Zappos reaches their
employees from the minute they step into the building. For example, the elevators encourage
employees to play games, interact with the person next to them, and hopefully they will get off
on the wrong floor. Their severance packages and employee benefits are also great motivators
for employees, but the self-management program is what really sticks out. The no boss concept
and holocracy has worked for Zappos and encourages a communicative environment.

2. How does Zappos foster strong community engagement?

3. Describe the psychological contract between Zappos and its employees.

The employees work hard and work to better society because the company rewards
them so generously. If employees are happy, free to express themselves, and or met
with positive return, they work harder knowing there is something better and in their
case cooler waiting for them. The office alone is a perfect example of the freedom the
employees have of expression and ideas for the company. Zappos has created a long-
term relationship or psychological contract with their employees and has encouraged
hard work without having to be strict. They had tried the one loud voice model and it
did not work, but Zappos has figured out their shared ideas work better. If more
business developed their own variations and freedoms like this model, there would be
happy long term committed workers and successful businesses. By enabling their
employees through social media they encourage community and build honest
relationships and open communication with the world.

Resources

Aseymour. (2018, December 10). Zappos employee ENGAGEMENT culture makes a difference for online
retailer. Retrieved May 01, 2021, from https://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2015/10/zappos-employee-
engagement-culture-makes-a-difference-for-online-retailer/#:~:text=By%20enabling%20their
%20employees%20through,three%20of%20their%20core%20values.

Ferrell, O. C., Thorne, D. M., & Ferrell, L. (2017). Business and society: A strategic approach to social
responsibility & ethics. In Business and society: A strategic approach to social responsibility &
ethics. Boston: Chicago Business Press.