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What is the cause of corporations acting/being perceived as "evil"?

B

BigToque

Lifer
In a business world that (at least on the surface) preaches "ethical business practices", why are so many companies run in such a way that the majority of the public hates the "big faceless corporation"?

Corporations do everything in their legal ability to charge fees, get out of paying insurance claims, make people run through hoops to get service in the hopes that they just give up. Sometimes their behavior crosses that legal boundary in the hopes that the profit gained from the illegal practice outweighs the penalty for the action.

Is it simply because the people at the top are not held to legal liability? Outside of a few examples that I know of, there really isn't much in the way of accountability or personal repercussions for enacting unethical or illegal practices.

I don't like the saying "don't get mad at a corporation for being corporationy". A company does nothing on its own. A company is run by people. Are people just inherently unethical? Unethical only when they gain some kind of power?
 
Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Because the unsuccessful people are jealous of the ridiculously successful.
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True, but some companies run on the principle of "whatever makes us the MOST MONEY POSSIBLE" whereas some are more along the lines of "We want to make money, but we want people to like us at the same time."
 
Originally posted by: her209
Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Because the unsuccessful people are jealous of the ridiculously successful.
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Is that why everyone hates Bill Gates?
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I don't hate Gates. The guy's filthy rich, but he's one hell of a philanthropist.
 
I'll tell ya whose evil, Big Alarm Clock. They're building their alarm clocks to fail every few months making us buy new ones. I end up missing part of my work day so those fat cats can stuff their pockets a bit more.
 
Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Because the unsuccessful people are jealous of the ridiculously successful.
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That's quite the statement. How would you back that up?

Do you think the CEO of a big corporation (that attempted to run the company in an unethical way) wouldn't be upset if he had an insurance claim on his yacht denied because of some "fine print"?

You are also assuming that everyone wants to be the head of a corporation, and that being in charge of the corporation (or at least some aspect of it) is the definition of success.
 
Originally posted by: Barack Obama
Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Originally posted by: her209
Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Because the unsuccessful people are jealous of the ridiculously successful.
Click to expand...
Is that why everyone hates Bill Gates?
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It's trendy to hate Gates.
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and suck steve jobs ****
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Good thing that ATOT is being counterculture and loving Gates (for his philanthropy) and hating Jobs (for Apple marketing).😀
 
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: Barack Obama
Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Originally posted by: her209
Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Because the unsuccessful people are jealous of the ridiculously successful.
Click to expand...
Is that why everyone hates Bill Gates?
Click to expand...

It's trendy to hate Gates.
Click to expand...

and suck steve jobs ****
Click to expand...

Good thing that ATOT is being counterculture and loving Gates (for his philanthropy) and hating Jobs (for Apple marketing).😀
Click to expand...

I don't hate jobs and I don't hate Gates, but I do hate YOU! :|
 
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Because the unsuccessful people are jealous of the ridiculously successful.
Click to expand...

True, but some companies run on the principle of "whatever makes us the MOST MONEY POSSIBLE" whereas some are more along the lines of "We want to make money, but we want people to like us at the same time."
Click to expand...

Well most companies have to please the stock holders which is what it ultimately comes down to.
 
Because Corporations are rewarded for behaving in a sociopathic manner, or in their own best intersts to the exclusion of all others. If a person acted selfishly to the exclusion of any other, we would call that person a sociopath and monitor closely their actions when they can hurt others.

Furthermore, Corporations are portrayed as actually being a "person" in that they have the same HUMAN Rights as an actual human type person, yet due to the ever popular "Corporate Veil" there is no one to hold responsible in the manner that a real human person might be subjected to.

All of you corpo-apologists can just stuff it because if people acted in a manner responsible to each other, as Adam Smith believed, we wouldn't need as many regulations and laws.
Adam Smith was an optimist, when it comes to human nature. He was wrong t6 believe a Corporation wouldn't act in a manner against society.

Finally, since Corporations are that form of "super person", they can effect public policy in a far greater manner than a real person by virtue of their PAC's and lobbyists contributions to politicos on both sides of the aisle.

Thus insuring that no matter who is in "power", the Corporate's interests are always being served. Knowing that the Corporation is only concerned with furthuring it's own interests at the expense of it's workers and the rest of the community, people are right to be skeptical when a large Corporation says it wants to help the community. It only does so when whatever it receives is greater than what it what it gives.

That effect of the dollar has neutralized any power the ballot may have had, since no one deny's it's all out there as described.
When people know they are beyond personal accountability, their subsequent actions accurately describe their character.

Finally, the "culture" of any business or organization is a reflection of the character of the principals.
 
Its a hell of a lot easier to write a story about something bad then something good or neutral. So that's what we hear about.
 
corporations ensure that there are enough resources to pull off large projects like pipelines across countries. of course corporations act in their self interests, its up to the government to define legality. its up to the corporation to maximize share holder return. you do not do bs social work with your company because thats effectively donating your share holders money for them against their will. you are donating other peoples money.
 
Originally posted by: TallBill
Its a hell of a lot easier to write a story about something bad then something good or neutral. So that's what we hear about.
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No that's not true. They spend BILLIONS insuring they trumpet their "good deeds".Simply look to Bill Gates as proof. Dude's is going to war against mosquitos and may win.

 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Well most CEO's have to please the Board of Directors which is what it ultimately comes down to.
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Fixed for accuracy. Shareholders get the shaft.
 
Because some of them do things that no decent, ethical person would do personally. Executives in charge are usually so far removed and have the legal status of the corporation as a cover, so they never feel personal responsibility or guilt.
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
corporations ensure that there are enough resources to pull off large projects like pipelines across countries. of course corporations act in their self interests, its up to the government to define legality. its up to the corporation to maximize share holder return. you do not do bs social work with your company because thats effectively donating your share holders money for them against their will. you are donating other peoples money.
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Never confuse "bs social work :disgust: with social responsibility or the law. I believe the saying "it's only illegal if you get caught" was first uttered in a corporate board room

 
Just to clear one thing up. Calling a corporation "evil" is like calling a hurricane evil. There is no intent to harm others, just an intent to maximize profit. There is also no such thing as a "good" corporation. Any corporation that does "good things" like charity work, becoming more environmentally friendly, appealing to that anti-corporation counter culture vibe is simply doing it for marketing and/or public relations reasons, not because the corporation is "good". If the return for the Apple was better by dumping toxic sludge into lakes, you better bet they would do it.

There is nothing "evil" or "wrong" about this, it's just the purpose of their existence.

Individual people are good, ie they donate their time and money to charity. But institutions like major corporations cannot be either good or evil.
 
Originally posted by: venkman
Just to clear one thing up. Calling a corporation "evil" is like calling a hurricane evil. There is no intent to harm others, just an intent to maximize profit. There is also no such thing as a "good" corporation. Any corporation that does "good things" like charity work, becoming more environmentally friendly, appealing to that anti-corporation counter culture vibe is simply doing it for marketing and public relations reasons, not because the corporation is made entirely of good Samaritans. If the return for the Apple was better by dumping toxic sludge into lakes, you better bet they would do it.

There is nothing "evil" or "wrong" about this, it's just the purpose of their existence.

Individual people are good, ie they donate their time and money to charity. But institutions like major corporations cannot be either good or evil.
Click to expand...
Of course, that's like saying guns are "evil" because the acts of humans are what kill people. It's the actions that the people do, under the auspices of the Corporation that may be "evil".
Individual people are not evil if they do not donate to charity for that reason, it takes evil deeds to be evil.



 
Originally posted by: AlienCraft
Originally posted by: venkman
Just to clear one thing up. Calling a corporation "evil" is like calling a hurricane evil. There is no intent to harm others, just an intent to maximize profit. There is also no such thing as a "good" corporation. Any corporation that does "good things" like charity work, becoming more environmentally friendly, appealing to that anti-corporation counter culture vibe is simply doing it for marketing and public relations reasons, not because the corporation is made entirely of good Samaritans. If the return for the Apple was better by dumping toxic sludge into lakes, you better bet they would do it.

There is nothing "evil" or "wrong" about this, it's just the purpose of their existence.

Individual people are good, ie they donate their time and money to charity. But institutions like major corporations cannot be either good or evil.
Click to expand...
Of course, that's like saying guns are "evil" because the acts of humans are what kill people. It's the actions that the people do, under the auspices of the Corporation that may be "evil".
Individual people are not evil if they do not donate to charity for that reason, it takes evil deeds to be evil.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I'm trying to question. There is nothing unethical about corporations in and of themselves. Managers make unethical decisions and the corporation takes the blame.

What I want to know is why has this kind of unethical behaviour thrived in the boardroom? How is it that once personal accountability goes out the window that people begin to act unethically?
 
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