User:Stevenarntson/group spaces/2009summeranalytical/group 3

Group members


 * Flynn Joffray
 * Amanda Vanpoucke
 * Josh Maldonado
 * Elena Toteva
 * Harry Caldwell

sign in here with ":Stevenarntson" (a colon and three tildes).

Overview

 * Reflective assessment


 * 1.successes

Our group was very successful due to several factors. Our early and aggressive research efforts benefited us greatly throughout the process. Our group started with a clear goal of personally researching topics of interest to peak individual interests. During weeks two and three we collectively compared notes and developed a theme that we could all agree to. Writing was greatly assisted by the wiki format, while the fervor of utilizing it to its full potential. We steadfastly stayed after class week after week discussing our groups collective goals.


 * 2.failures

Apart from suffering form multiple sick members missing class our greatest failure was the loss of a very energetic member of the group. Our dear friend and partner Flynn was researching so aggressively that we think he was kidnapped and tortured by the corporate juggernaut Comcast. His research was fulled by a personal interest in privacy issues and informational greed. We believe this was his undoing, he has not reported back to us for several weeks and we fear the worst. He will be missed, however, the remaining members of the group have stepped up to this challenge and made the best out of the situation.


 * 3.future strategies

Upon reflecting, we feel that additional meetings out of class to achieve mid-week updates and strategies could have proved useful. Refining our format into diverse categories rather than individual case studies also could have benefited our paper. We feel that there were several untouched aspects of this topic in addition to what we covered. Several members expressed an interest in speculative writing on the future of corporations.

=Morals of the Artificial person =

My name is Elena Toteva and I was born and raised in Kazanlak, a small town located in central Bulgaria. Historically the region had three major industries: Gun manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing and Rose oil distillation. Their contrast in product was big, but what all those industries have in common is that they were bought by big foreign corporations.

My mother worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 10 years, before it was bought by an international corporation. Her work day started at 8am as was completed at 5pm not unlike many jobs in the united states. The eight hour work shift was exhausting for my mother but since she was a marketing manager with a lot of responsibilities, however it wasn't as draining as the line worker's shift. When the company was bought out she and dozens of workers lost their jobs as a result of "corporate restructuring". No compensation was given and the result was a huge influx of out of work skilled labor.

I remember our neighbor worked in Arsenal, the maker of Kalishnikovs (AK-47's), as a general line worker. He amassed a gun collection that he formed by stealing individual pieces from the plant and assembling them together at home to build whole gun. Stealing was necessary for the employees to compensate for the inadequate wages. All employees were searched every time they entered and exited buildings and smaller pieces were harder to detect than whole weapons. Probably 75% of the people who worked there got guns the same way, of course stealing one gun can't pay for 8 hours of exposure to toxic gases combined with unsafe working conditions, but it was a start.

My hometown has always been known as the Rose Valley, not as the Gun Valley. The rose oil business is very important to the region because the particular rose used for oil, grows only in select number of places on Earth. The town still smells like roses in May, when the roses are in full bloom and are ready for harvest. Due to the labor-intensive production process and the low content of oil in the individual rose blooms, rose oil commands a very high price. Harvesting of flowers is done by hand in the morning before sunrise and is distilled the same day.

My grandfather use to be an independent rose oil distiller. He produced small quantities of the essential oils but like most farmers the roses would often get sick and die before harvest. His operation failed not because of the hardships faced as a farmer, but because of an international corporation purchasing the land he rented from the government.

When international corporations bought the only three industries keeping the town alive, a drastic drop in the economy resulted throughout the town. This situation happening not only in Bulgaria but all around the world. Foreign corporations are buying our business and our land for a fraction of the real value. In a way, we, the people, are being slaved by the lust for corporate greed. People are being enslaved by profits, and that's just sad. Big corporations are exploiting small countries just like Bulgaria and most of the profit and natural resources get removed from the country. I think of corporations as blood sucking leeches. Leeches attach to their hosts and remain there until they become full without any thought to the well being of the host. Whenever a corporation has exploited all the resources of the country, it moves to another country, I consider corporations the lowest of the lowest profit seeking organizations.

Introduction
Human nature is composed of tendencies, drives, essential powers, and instincts all of which act together to satisfy our individual basic human needs. We tool around this planet fulfilling ourselves with whatever we see fit, in essence, to sustain life however possible. Conceivably, levels of human life vary given specific resources rewarded at birth. In certain areas of the world, human nature and behavior is apropos the basic of human needs, such as eating, drinking, and procreating, providing a cycle of essentials in order to reach maximum longevity. The levels move up from here integrating depth and meaning adding behaviors evoking self-preservation, fulfillment, comfort, and prosperity.

Free will is innate to all humans, though social aspects may persuade and tug and push at what we are to become as a singular being. These social aspects can drive our motivations or provide parameters, and fundamentally shape our human experience. Morality in behavior play greatly in the daily lives of human beings, to know simply what is right and what is wrong exists prevalently in our daily lives. In our research we must question feelings of guilt and regret, if they cause an effect of behavior should an individual cross the socially unacceptable norm. The French novelist Albert Camus quotes "A man without ethics is a wild beast loose upon this world." It is uncertain whether society has integrated these morals through ancestral history, or whether ethical judgment is a part of the human condition. As far as living an honest moral abiding life, one must know what an honest life is. Most cultures and societies can generally agree on just a few common immoral behaviors, like inflicting harm on others, and theft. The problems lies herein, causing the moral guidelines to fade and form privy to said individual, social group, company, or governing system.

As individuals, we make our own choices on how we behave based on how we predict our personal sense of repercussion, will we be positively enforced or negatively enforced by our actions? Feelings of guilt, shame, regret, pride or satisfaction, all of which are part of the human condition, become behavior reinforcers. For any reason an individual expresses no sense of ill consequence for his/her action based on a common moral value, a last stitch effort; the common law, established to prevent such ill behavior and keep the public from doing 'wrong,' in retribution labeling the individual as a criminal.

According to Marx's theory of human nature,"It is true that eating, drinking, and procreating, etc., are ... genuine human functions. However, when abstracted from other aspects of human activity, and turned into final and exclusive ends, they are animal."

So if by law, the 'Corporation' has the same rights of a person albeit 'artificial person-hood', then shouldn't they behave as a singular person and suffer from the same 'real' person repercussions? If a person can be put in jail for  burglary, isn't that the same as a corporation withholding accurate profit gain, in essence, robbing from peoples and the government? IBM, Exxon, Kodak, Enron, Bechtel, Tyco International, WorldCom, Mitsubishi, Halliburton, Sears, Odwalla, Tyson and Pfizer are just a few of the thousands of corporations that have criminal files against them. How has criminal corporate offence become so commonly tolerated? There seems to be no legal implementation of regulations that were put in place to keep these corporations from breaking these laws, for them it is a simple business decision. These multi-million dollar corporations view law breaking activity as cost effective and is more often worth the financial risk to partake in any such criminal activity.

History - Corporate Social Responsibility Definition
Peter Thayer Robbins, author of “Greening the Corporation: Management Strategy and the Environmental Challenge” describes the corporation as a “social invention of the state” (Robbins: p.98) When, a state grants a corporate license, permitting private financial resources being used for public purposes. The advantage of having a corporation over being an individual investing in trade journey is that an individual’s debts could be present at birth by descendants.

The debate over corporate person hood started as a result of a statement issued by the Supreme Court in 1886, that a private corporation is a natural person under the U.S. Constitution, and consequently has the same rights and protection extended to persons by the Bill of Rights, including the right to free speech. Furthermore, corporations were given the same “rights” to influence the government in their own interests as to individual citizens, and to use their wealth to dominate public opinions. Whenever questioned this view has been considered common precedent by the courts, however its origins are written only as a brief in opening arguments to a case rather than part of the ruling. This is odd because typically it is the result or ruling of a case that sets a precedent.(Tom Stites)

In the book, Capitalism and Freedom, the author argues that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits” even if that contradict with the social good. This theory is appealing for many companies; larger ones in particular are often involved in exploitative practices of some sort, sometimes through sub-contractors. With companies increasing financial influence, come increasing financial powers in the political arena and influence politicians in their favor. Corporate bodies can “donate” millions of dollars to political candidates and parties, in the form of sponsorship. In some countries is called corruption, in The United States it's considered business as usual. Corporations, in the form of "Artificial persons,” are free to lobby legislatures, and use the mass media to exercise their right of free speech. The average citizen or "natural person" on the other hand cannot muster anywhere near the cash resources necessary to buy the same access and media coverage.

A common analysis is that advanced economies have often moved their “more dirty industries” to other parts of the world where there are less severe environmental and social standards. As a result, other countries may be polluting on their behalf. Now more and more corporations are turning “green”, which means are more environmentally cautions. Microsoft Corporation for example, are developing new software to reduce the energy consumption and reducing the need of business travel with the help of virtual meetings and safe document transfer.All these factors are part of the so-called Corporate Social Responsibility.

The Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative is an organization to Harvard Kennedy School, which seeks to study and enhance the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility. That organization defines the Corporate Social Responsibility strategically. “Corporate social responsibility encompasses not only what companies do with their profits, but also how they make them. It goes beyond philanthropy and compliance and addresses how companies manage their economic, social, and environmental impacts, as well as their relationships in all key spheres of influence: the workplace, the marketplace, the supply chain, the community, and the public policy realm”.(Jonathan Borck,Jennifer Nash, Cary Coglianze)

Failures
In this brainwashed society we know not what we can't see or hear, looking the other way as these modern day vikings pillage and plunder. So what makes it OK for these Corporations to carry out some of the most horrific human rights abuses of modern time if they see a decline in profits on the horizon? Not to mention the global extraction, trickery, level of waste, extreme pollution, exploitation seen in current models of the industry today. Our research shows the criminal acts within the behavior of corporations today, and the level of negligence in corporate social responsibility. We have listed a few cases that illustrate the moral disregard in corporate behavior.

Case one - Pollution, extraction, harm to human health and well-being for profit
Red flags are rising in many nations around the globe, whistles are blowing and people are angry. Turmoil seems running rampant in poverty-stricken nations as their resources are becoming privatized and exploited by corporate global superpowers. In Goa India, Iron mining companies are now digging below the water table extracting Iron-ore, a valuable mineral used in steel manufacturing, most of which is getting exported. The level of waste has been reported at three tons for every ton of ore produced. Since the mining began, the farmers haven't been able to cultivate their land due to the destruction of the irrigation system, in fact Goa's entire eco-system is being destroyed. "The situation will definitely get worse over the next five years, particularly as far as water supply is concerned," warns Ramesh Gaune, a teacher from Bicholim in North Goa. The people who live nearby are suffering from tuberculosis that has been linked to the spike in air-pollution since the mining began. It has been reported that these companies are given the opportunity to "self-claim" their production levels, which adds profit for the companies and prevents added revenue for the state. Sesa Goa and Dempo Mining are the two largest mining companies of the many exploiting the mineral, together they report a post-tax profit of $530 million each year.

Case two - Exploitation and environmental recklessness for profit
Another Case that illustrates corporate lack of values can be seen when looking to the multinational mining group known as Barrick Gold. This Canadian firm has vast open pit mines on five continents with a long history of pollution and corruption associated with each site. The most current site we wish to highlight is know as the Pascua Lama Project located on the border of Chile and Argentina. This is a cross-border operation located high in the Andean mountain range. the project represents one the largest foreign investments in Chile in recent years, totaling $1.5 billion. However, some 70,000 downstream farmers backed by international environmental organizations and activists around the world waged a campaign against the proposed mine. Protests outside the local headquarters of Santiago dumped crushed ice and passed out nuggets of fools gold with the words ”oro sucio” or “dirty gold” printed on the surface.

The protests are in opposition to the planned melting of three prominent glaciers at the site of the mine, all to extract the ore located beneath them via open pit mining. According to Barrick, the water from the glaciers would have been held for refreezing in the following winters, if you can imagine. This plan is in serious doubt as the process of gold extraction uses vast amounts of water laden with arsenic to dissolve the gold bearing deposits. In a region that is already prone to drought, natural sources of water for crop irrigation and human consumption are at a minimum. As seen in the past, this mining process would leave high concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic in the water used by the locals due to waste release in their rivers and streams.

“The mine will cause severe damage to the local ecosystem because it will pollute the Huasco River as well as underground water sources,” said Antonia Fortt, an environmental engineer with the Oceana Ecological Organization. Barrick Gold has been accused of burying fifty miners in Tanzania and blatantly disregarding environmental concerns all over the world. This corporation is focused only on the bottom line no matter the destruction caused to its employees or the environment surrounding their mines. Considering the $2.3 billion dollars in profit the company made from gold sales in 2005, there is no doubt that they can afford legal fights and fines arising from their poor environmental and human rights record.

"In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Case three - Predatorial righteousness over property of others, and murder for profit
Economist John Perkins has told his story to millions in the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit man." His argument is that of which corporations are becoming empires, he calls them "Corporatocracy's." Perkin's worked for Chas. T. Main (who has since changed their name to Parsons Main, Inc,) a global engineering company that provided world-wide utility and engineering services. John Perkins explains what his job entailed, "we would search out valuable resources in third world countries that the company coveted." Perkins and his company would then formulate a plan and he would fly abroad to meet with these nation's leaders. Perkins would wine and dine them, finally pitching the idea to the government officials. He offered financial security and a life of green and gold for them and their families. Such natural resources like minerals, water, oil, even the Panama canal were bargained over. Perkins was personally responsible for convincing the countries leaders to go along with the plan, with the ultimate goal of having ownership over whatever the sought-after resource was. The plan involved taking out a loan in order to develop certain villages in order to improve the lives of the people, but the outcome was on the contrary.

After a loan was taken out from the world bank, Chas. T. Main would go into these areas and build an industrial infrastructure. His company would build power plants, roads, ports; only commodities that would benefit the rich, completely unnecessary to that of the general impoverished population. The majority of the people don't have cars or live on a power grid, how could highways and electricity be beneficial? In the end, the country would be left with an unimaginable debt owed to said corporation. These nations were bought into the mercy of the corporation, hence hailing to the empire, as Perkins, the Chas.T.Main Corporation, and the involved government officials walked away with millions.

When Perkin's traveled to other countries to carry out these missions, he would entice the officials with women and power. He would "give them a taste of big money in hopes that there would be no problems bringing them aboard," the money did the talking. At this point corporate morale was nonexistent, whether it ever existed is impossible to know. Over the years Perkins began to realize the vast financial advantages he and his company were taking from entire villages and cities and countries.

He spoke of his greatest fear as an economic hit man. If Perkin's was not able to convince the countries leaders of taking a loan out, if they weren't as selfish as they needed to be, Chas. T. Main would send in CIA sponsored "Jackal's" to assassin leaders that wouldn't participate. One example Perkins spoke of was Omar Torrijos, the commander of the Panamanian National Guard from the year 1968 to 1981. Three decades ago there was a plan to nationalize the Panama canal, this was against the wishes of General Torrijos. He could see financial gain and opportunity for himself and the people close to him, but more importantly understood that taking out a loan could have dire consequences for the people of the nation, causing a decline in living quality due to basic living costs. General Torrijos died in a plane crash just before Panama gained sovereignty of the canal. Three months prior, the President of Ecuador also died in a plane crash, it was publicly known that he also opposed US companies and government tactics. John Perkins quotes in his book, "Their deaths were not accidental, they were assassinated because they opposed that fraternity of corporate, government and banking heads whose goal is global empire."

Case four - Lying and cunning in advertising for profit
Corporations, or any sort of business for that matter, need to advertise in order to create acquisition. It is obvious that certain companies plan their advertising in a negative fashion, by taking advantage of the consumer or such tactics, in order to gain profit. In many cases, unfortunately, it’s out of control. However, to qualify this argument against negative advertising tactics, it’s important to note the benefits of advertising in general.

Back in the early 1980’s (which we are going to call “the old days” and by that we mean pre-internet advertising,) an experiment was conducted to test the effects of public price in advertising on beer sales. A few areas in the lower Michigan were considered and the month the advertising took place the companies units grew, and sold close to one hundred thousand gallons in each area. (Lee, 522) There are many situations in which companies will advertise positive messages; like lower prices, reliability and hidden needs, that which target benefits for the company and the consumer. Our nation has spent about $412 billion on advertising annually, according to an article by Outsell Inc. And now with the internet, advertisers have much more access to the nation. To push things even further, the mobile revolution has hit the streets and $1.4 billion dollars have been spent on display and message advertising on cell phones. It can be overwhelming, but in a cutthroat, super competitive society it is the only way that many companies are staying afloat. But where does the social responsibility come in for Corporate America? We know that corporations need advertising to survive, but at what cost to the nation?

In the United States, the APA (American Psychological Association,) created a task force to focus on young children and how advertising affects them. They discovered that children around the age of 8 and under are not able to comprehend the fact that advertisements are not always “truthful, accurate and unbiased” (apa.org). Furthermore, the average kid watches more than 40,000 TV commercials a year. Steven Manning, a writer who focuses on schoolhouse commercialism, states that "by the time your kid is between fourteen and eighteen months they will be nagging you for toys or snack foods every four hours." Large corporations have always targeted youth as a huge source for profitable gain. How can you say no to those beautiful little eyes? “He alone who owns the youth, gains the future,” Adolf Hitler. Greenpeace, Truth and other organizations have always targeted college and high school students for their passion and energy. But at what age does their comprehension begin to decide whether or not to support a certain organization or buy a certain product. “40% of sales of jeans, burgers and other products occur because a child asks for the product.”(Willis, 27)

Women are another prime target for negative advertising. The most common way that advertisers use to target women is their sex appeal. There is a growing demand for women to be super sexy and super thin. In order to achieve these high demands they must buy the most expensive makeup and get on the latest diet trends. The dietary industry brings over $33 million annually. Women are exposed to about 400-600 ads every day. What’s worse is the fact that most people in marketing do not directly insult the female image. These messages are designed to slip under the normal limits of our minds perception and land directly into our subconscious. Unfortunately, this form of advertising is much more obvious and effective than a direct message. Young women and even adolescents are frequently targeted the most. (Suite101.com)

One of the worst marketing tactics is that of Planned Obsolescence. Planned Obsolescence is “A manufacturing decision by a company to make consumer products in such a way that they become out-of-date or useless within a known time period. The main goal of this type of production is to ensure that consumers will have to buy the product multiple times, rather than only once. This naturally stimulates demand for an industry's products because consumers have to keep coming back again and again.” Two huge industries that focus on this type of marketing and design are the electronics and fashion industry, and sadly enough the electronic industry has become a fashion industry. (Investopedia.com)

Sony is one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of digital cameras. They will update a particular camera in a series normally once a year. Some of their more popular models are the T-Series cameras which are Sony’s touch screen, point and shoot models. Last year’s low-end touch screen model was the Sony T77 which was a 10 megapixel camera with a 4X optical zoom. It was a super “hi-tech” model with a clean smooth interface which is controlled by a touch screen, and because it's Carl-Zeiss lens, it shoots pretty nice pictures for a consumer grade, point and shoot model. This year’s model is the Sony T90 which only significant upgrades include a 12 megapixel sensor and the ability to shoot high definition-720 movies. Sony portrays hype in their advertising claiming hi-definition and more mega-pixels is better, while consumers prove ignorant to the fact that only 3 things control the quality of the camera, the lens, the processor and the size of the sensor. As a result, most people will upgrade to a “better” model to keep up with the hi-tech trends and not realize that there will be no noticeable difference of the quality of the pictures between their current model and the one they are about to spend $300 on. (dpReview.com)

Case five - Exploiting customer rights for profit
"We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals." - The Mentor, 1986

It has long been know that large corporations view their customers as money. When you buy a service from a company, it is common business practice to make sure that money isn't being lost from the service/product that is being sold.

This practice is usually a legitimate one when it is in the spectrum of small business. However, line is crossed when the consumer and his/her experience becomes less important that making a profit.

Many large companies use a method of evaluating their customers present and long term cash potential with customer life cycle management techniques. One of the most popular customer life cycle management systems in place right now is called the LTV (lifetime value) rating system. In this example, we will use a large cellphone company (AT&T) as the example to how the LTV system works:

From the day you sign up for service, you are under observation by T-Mobile to see how much money they will make off of you. LTV is calculated by a number of different factors. The normal system is rated on a scale between 0 and 5. 0 being a brand new customer with no contract, and 5 being a customer that has been with the company for 15 years and never missed a bill. AT&T uses a lot of different ways calculate this number. Here are some of the basic ways they do this:


 * 1) Churn rate The percentage of customers who end their relationship with a company in a given period. One minus the churn rate is the retention rate. Most models can be written using either churn rate or retention rate. If the model uses only one churn rate, the assumption is that the churn rate is constant across the life of the customer relationship.
 * 2) Discount rate The cost of capital used to discount future revenue from a customer. Discounting is an advanced topic that is frequently ignored in customer lifetime value calculations. The current interest rate is sometimes used as a simple (but incorrect) proxy for discount rate.
 * 3) Retention cost The amount of money a company has to spend in a given period to retain an existing customer. Retention costs include customer support, billing, promotional incentives, etc.
 * 4) Period The unit of time into which a customer relationship is divided for analysis. A year is the most commonly used period. Customer lifetime value is a multi-period calculation, usually stretching 3-7 years into the future. In practice, analysis beyond this point is viewed as too speculative to be reliable. The number of periods used in the calculation is sometimes referred to as the model horizon.
 * 5) Periodic Revenue The amount of revenue collected from a customer in the period.
 * 6) Profit Margin Profit as a percentage of revenue. Depending on circumstances this may be reflected as a percentage of gross or net profit. For incremental marketing that does not incur any incremental overhead that would be allocated against profit, gross profit margins are acceptable.

These might seem like standard things that any legitimate corporation would use to give their shareholders a percentage number and tell the CEO how much XXX or ZZZ is costing them, but these are not the factors that go into rating a customer. Corporations are designed to make money, and to do so, ANYTHING that costs them money is cut, even consumer rights. There is no arguing it, this is priority number one for them.

We can take hints from this |leaked AT&T customer service manual back in 2007.

Situations:


 * "I want to stop my service" If you have just signed up for service at AT&T, you are an LTV1. It doesn't matter if you signed a 50 year contract. The customer service manual dictates that if you are an LTV1 or lower, AT&T will basically tell you, "Fuck you, pay us a huge ETF (early termination fee)". Of course this is because you aren't making them any money yet anyway, so why would they want to keep you? However, if you are of a higher LTV, AT&T will bend over backwards to get you to stay with the company.


 * "My service area is crappy" Again, if you are an LTV1 or lower, the service manual dictates that you are worthless to them, they are forced to give you the boilerplate rphone eason that they can't help you. However, if you call multiple times as a LTV4 or higher, they will immediately take steps to help you troubleshoot your area or send a technician out to service your area.


 * "Let me talk to your supervisor" Well this is interesting. There is a little known fact about supervisor calls. If you call a supervisor (as a customer rep), you are costing the company money for every minute you talk to that customer. Well what if the customer doesn't earn you any money? AT&T is notorious for lying and hanging up on their newly acquired customers.

The real kicker is, every single employee of AT&T is instructed NEVER to talk to the customer about their LTV rating, no matter what the situation.

So where is the line drawn. Many companies make the mistake of cutting their losses on customer service, but they forget that EVERY customer is paying for the same service. Any employee at a coffee shop would never tell a customer to fuck off if they had never stepped foot inside the establishment.

Solutions - Corporate Reform vs. Corporate Abolishment
Corporate responsibility is somewhat of an oxymoron to the ears and eyes of a significant portion of the population of Seattle. Corporate interests in most minds reside solely in profit for shareholders. The Ford vs. Dodge case in 1919 established a clear precedent to bolster this viewpoint. In this case the Dodge brothers argued that the company could not take any action that would harm the investors return from the company. Ford was prohibited from lowering prices on its product and reducing the profit margin, even though the effort was to bolster sales of the cars and drum up more business. Profit was the most important factor and needed to be fought for. This view that profit rules all decisions needs to change if our democracy is to flourish and lead by example in the rest of the world.

Corporate person-hood has perpetuated the mass accumulation of wealth of very few allowing less than 1% of the worlds people control most of the worlds resources. This power used improperly allows for the exploitation of communities and whole regions of the planet. But not all corporations use their powers to fuel immoral actions and some are quite the contrary.

The question is; would it be better to abolish corporate person-hood altogether or is is possible to reform the bad apples?

Reform could take many paths. One option is 'Corporate Punishment' of the corporate body as a criminal or psychological needs patient. Could the governing body send Exxon staff members to the site of the next major oil spill and make them participate in a hands on cleanup effort, perhaps as a community service punishment? What about sending the mercenary group involved in Blackwater to anger management counseling? Perhaps making a new precedent for a feasible corporate goal, legislating the 'triple bottom line' for instance. The triple bottom line is broken into three sections people, planet, profit. It captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational and societal success: economic, ecological and social. Implementation on a widespread basis, including increased transparency that would give consumers a way to see how a company performs on social and environmental levels.

Reform of the corporate person cannot occur without new consequences and punishments that parallel the consequences faced by real people. Corporate serial criminals such as Phizer, who bribed doctors to recommend drugs even after they were knowingly under investigation should face consequences greater than a $2.3 billion fine. The fine equates to a mere 3 weeks of sales and is easily written off as a business expense. The proper consequence should have been the corporate death penalty: revocation of the charter and a sell off of all assets. Rebuilding a corporation after revocation of the charter is possible, however, new rules could assist in refining the business model of such reemerging businesses. Perhaps requiring the use of the triple bottom line as a reference to track and record how the company interacts with it's environment and the people working for them. If faced with the real risk of their business being dissolved, corporate persons might think twice before acting out of line.

Our second suggested solution is to abolish corporate person-hood altogether. So how would that change our lives? Corporations are with us indefinitely. They're on our plates, in our bedroom closets, and teaching our children. A life void of commodities untouched by a corporate hand is unfathomable, who would sign your paycheck?

The abolishment of corporate person-hood would result in increased supervision within highly detailed corporate charters that could provide explicit regulations about what a corporation can do, how they conduct business, for how long, with whom, where, and when. Corporations would be prohibited to buy and own stock in other corporations, and would be prohibited from any affiliation with any political process. Individual stockholders could be held personally liable for any harms done in the name of the corporation, therefor suffering from real person consequences. But most importantly, in order to receive the profit-making privileges sought by shareholders, their corporations would have to represent a clear benefit for the public good, such as building a road, canal, or bridge. If any of these terms are violated by a corporation, their charters could be revoked by the state legislatures.

Would it be possible to live the American dream without corporate affiliation? Isn't that what our country stands for? Freedom and opportunity to live our lives under the means of which we choose.

While we ponder the options, let us take a look at the good moral corporate individuals that currently lead the way by focusing on a triple bottom line.

Case Study 1 - Business as a moral issue
Still there are examples of corporations that are leading the way with high moral and social values. Companies where environmental protection and sustainability trump the pursuit revenue. One such corporation is Herman Miller furniture in Zeeland Michigan. Herman miller has been a household name for the family of one of our writers since its founding in 1923. As residents of Zeeland, Harry's family members went to work on the assembly line and played a role in the companies very beginnings. Working for Herman Miller they would witness a clear vision of business that was decades ahead of its time.

Herman Miller was founded by D.J. De Pree, who bought the Michigan Star Furniture Company in 1923 with his father-in-law, Herman Miller. The company was located in Zeeland, a town in western Michigan near the city of Grand Rapids. In 1931, Herman Miller was primarily producing traditional home furnishings and was struggling to avoid bankruptcy. That year, Mr. De Pree was approached by the industrial designer Gilbert Rohde. De Pree, a profoundly religious man, began to regard furniture design as a moral issue, and he admired the simplicity, high quality, and utilitarianism of Rohde's modern designs. This sense of moral responsibility also pervaded De Pree's management style. In an often-repeated anecdote regarding the origins of the company's commitment to its employees, De Pree visited the home of a millwright who had died on the job at Herman Miller in 1927. At the request of the widow, De Pree remained to hear some poetry that she read aloud. Profoundly moved by the poems, he inquired as to the author's identity and was told that the millwright had written them. De Pree became intrigued by the question of whether he had employed a millwright who happened to write poetry, or a poet who worked as a millwright, after that he sought to realize and encourage the hidden strengths and talents of all of his employees. He treated them as family, and fostered that growth of potential and backed it up with a supportive and healthy environment.

He drew upon the talents of George nelson, Charles and Rae Eames, Isamu Nagouchi, Alexander Girard and many others who benefited from an environment that encouraged them to work to their highest potential.

Herman Miller's environmental awareness can be traced back to D.J. De Pree. In the early 1950's he penned a statement of corporate values that declared Herman Miller "will be a good corporate neighbor by being a good steward of the environment."

Mr. De Pree introduced several corporate practices that are regarded as environmentally sensible today. They include the mandate that windows be included in all Herman Miller buildings, including manufacturing sites, so that employees can benefit from natural light. He also declared that 50 percent of any Herman Miller corporate site be set aside as "green space."

In 1993, Herman Miller helped fund the start-up of the United States Green Building Council-USGBC. This non-profit organization is dedicated to understanding and promoting sound environmental building practices.

During the launch of USGBC, Herman Miller hired renowned environmental architect William McDonough to design their next manufacturing facility. It was to be located next to an existing HMI warehouse on more than 45 acres of rolling prairie. In 1995, the USGBC selected the building, which was named the "Greenhouse," as a pilot for the development of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-LEED certification process. The USGBC cited the Greenhouse as a model of what was possible, and awarded it "Pioneer" status. The building today stands as proof that using green design not only can be aesthetically pleasing but also environmentally sound and financially beneficial to a company. Further confirmation came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which funded a study that validated the Greenhouse's financial and environmental performance.

LEED Certification is the current standard that new “green Buildings” are judged by. Herman Miller took it upon themselves to research and develop innovations and in this way the corporation was self aware and responsible for its impacts and made all of the findings public in an attempt to lead by example. Instead of lobbying for less rules and fighting regulation this corporation decided to help establish the precedents and provide a working example of how innovating to exceed expectations can be profitable.

Herman Miller’s corporate plan to be environmental stewards and above all honest with the products that they produce, created a vision of the corporation that Harry's family and many others hold on to. Unfortunately, this corporate model is not widespread and yet Harry's family finds it difficult to believe that other companies would behave contrary to this model. They see big business as a beneficial entity that need not be regulated because the company they relate to most regulates itself very well. My grandmother asks “Why add regulations or increase taxes on a business for doing the right thing?”. Her view is that one should be rewarded with less taxes if the company is strong and doing its part by helping others in becoming self-aware. In a perfect world everyone would do the right thing for the benefit of the many. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world.

Case Study 2 - Rise up good people!
As we delve deeper in our searches to expose dirty corporate behavior, we must remember to equally suss out the good apples, and forget not to look for hope and inspiration. We search for environmentally and morally responsible leaders, 'real' people working within the 'artificial' archetype that have the innate moral sense to do what is right, not what fattens their pocketbook. We search for honest people who can't bear the thought of being ring-leader to a mass criminal aggregation that damages the planet, sickens its peoples, and brushes it under a rug. We're on the hunt for individuals and organizations that comprehend the damage big business' are fathom that they could very well be the end of our future.

Enter, Ray Anderson. Time Magazine has named him a "Hero of the Environment," he has also been called "America's Greenest Executive." His story begins much like many others we have mentioned, the story of a corporate execs dream-come-true. He founded a flooring and carpet manufacturing company in 1981 that grew rapidly, finally going global. His company has since become a billion-dollar corporation, now called Interface Global. In the mid 80's, Anderson pulled off a first-of-its-kind 180 degree turn in business practice strategies, a 'mid-course correction,' he calls it. Now here is a man with a good conscience and the guts to resist his very powerful colleagues for the sake of the planet and people, his goal to design a business model that can lead the way in the next industrial revolution.

His epiphany came to him via book that one day appeared on his desk, called 'The Ecology of Commerce,' by Paul Hawken's. Customers simply wanted to know what Interface Global was doing for the environment, and the answer at that time was absolutely nothing. Ray Anderson quotes in the documentary 'The Corporation,' "It dawned on me that the way I have been running Interface is the way of the plunderer, plundering something that is not mine, something that belongs to every creature on Earth...The day must come when this is illegal...Someday people like me will end up in jail." It was as if someone turned on a light; he vowed to change the way things were getting extracted and manufactured, the 'take-make-and waste system' that would eventually leave us with nothing. He vowed to attain sustainability without jeopardizing business profit, to protect the planet however possible and stop environmental decline.

Anderson has since re-strategized Interface's triple bottom line introducing two more business considerations making it; people, process, product, place and profits. 'Process' would add emphasis on green manufacturing, integrating renewable energy and use of non-toxic materials, things that don't "compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” With 'Place' considered, there is added security and protection of areas around the planet that are currently being destroyed by industrial practices like mining and clear cutting.

The questionable aspect of Anderson's business agenda lies in the certainty of the shareholders, "The status quo is an opiate." After diligent research on sustainable business practices, Interface has reaped several benefits since the up-grade. Business has grown by two-thirds and the company is saving over $300 million dollars each year. Anderson is excited to say costs are down due to renewable energy systems, and on the green side, waste and pollution levels have declined. He's convinced that Interface is producing the best products they have ever produced using recyclable and renewable raw materials. There is goodwill in the marketplace, and people are happier in the workplace. "For a business such as Interface, sustainability is a process, a journey we have often likened to climbing a mountain higher than Mount Everest. Our climb up “Mount Sustainability” is a way that we guide our business decisions on a daily basis..." In 10 years Interface has achieved half of their ultimate goal, they are halfway up 'Mt. Sustainability' and hope to have zero carbon footprint by the year 2020.

People, are indeed, uniting and forming companies, like 'Saze Research' and 'BSR' that consult member companies and assist in developing socially and environmentally responsible business strategies. There is also the 'Business and Human Rights Resource Center,' designed to track and publicize the positive and negative occurrences involving companies around the globe. We have found several websites providing information on news and current events regarding corporations, check out csrwire.com or corpwatch.com where people unite with cause promoting corporate social responsibility. MissionZero.org, organized by Ray Anderson himself designed to share information and resources with the goal of "enlisting the support and energy of millions of people who can help correct the world's environmental course."

Case Study 3 - A refreshing advertising solution
Among the plethora of advertising that have negative influence and messages are some of the good guys. One agency that really stands out as far as a company that hasn't sold out is Urban Influence. Peter Wright the principal of the company started UI after 6 cups of coffee at 2 in the morning. One of our group members got the chance to talk to Peter about his Seattle based Branding firm. Peter grew weary of all of the nonsense in the corporate world. After working most of his young life as a leader in huge companies all over the West Coast he decided to take a stand. His somewhat new company has landed respectable clients nationwide. However, Peter talked about how he would never let the company get so huge that it became “corporate” and lost its values. UI has had offers to work on big clients such as Microsoft but they have turned them down because of the huge corporate ladder chain they would have to adhere to. This would cause for the company to limit themselves creatively and that is exactly what they are against. Their clients include: Queen City Grill, The Arctic Club Hotel, Cloud Rock, EcoHaus and many more both locally and nationally. (urbaninfluence.com)

The problem with many ad agencies is the fact that when they get so big they lose control over which clients they want to pitch or what ideas and messages they are sending out to the masses. For example: a hypothetical Chicago copywriter and a creative director go into a meeting with a new client. The client is a company who has a reputation for bad business practices and the use of unfair child labor. This meeting was set up by their boss, who's boss is the district boss who's boss is the national boss who's boss is the CEO who heard about this new client. This client was leftovers from their rival agency when they went out of business. To save their own skin in a cutthroat industry he decides to add this client for huge profitable gain. Despite how the copywriter and creative director of the small branch in Chicago feel, they are pitching this client and their future in the agency depends on it.

When Peter goes into a meeting with a client, he brings his favorite UI coffee cup and his 6 company values with him. In the back of his mind he can choose to not work with a client and would still have plenty of work to do when he got back to the office.

If you went to Urban Influence’s website you would expect huge budgets from their clients and a great deal of professionalism. Although they mainly focus on branding strategy they also work in the advertising side of things. UI is very design oriented and they also have a powerful interactive team to work with their branding and advertising strategies. For such a successful company you would expect they may be tempted to sell out and be caught up in the “Beefy, Cheesy Glory” of these huge corporate controlled ad firms but Urban Influence is a refreshing counterpart to this situation. (Interview)

Conclusion - Comparison in punishment of natural and artificial persons
Most natural persons obey the law because the majority of the populous has been raised to know right from wrong. Reasonable and sometimes severe punishments are in place to deter and inflict consequences for those who act contrary to basic human moral code. Murder, rape, incest, theft, battery, and invasion of privacy all have consequences for "natural" people. But for "artificial" people, the rules are far less strict. The super-wealthy have the power to hire the best assistance available to make their dreams a reality or to erase mistakes. Corporations do the same, however, the havoc they cause in search of greater profits is far greater then any individual could hope to achieve.

Murder for instance, jail sentence, and possible death row for the natural person. If the interests of a corporation requires such that have seen, "economic hit men" can be hired and if they fail Jackals and mercenaries can be called in to "solve the problem." If ever tracked back to a business entity, the company can fight in court for years if not decades until a settlement can be reached or until jurisdiction issues fail to resolve. Hiring mercenaries to do the dirty work is what the CIA has done with Blackwater. Outsourcing war crimes to a private corporation whose continued operations are claimed to be outside of the rules of war. In a severe corporate case one "natural" individual may take a fall and serve prison time but the "Artificial" person, AKA the corporation, is still in business and is relatively unaffected.

Health insurance agencies are a prime example of a business that saved millions of dollars by denying a life saving operation to a paying client of health insurance. The individual adjuster who made the choice to deny the claim was promoted and received a sizable bonus for her work. Years later racked with guilt, she faced congress and admitted to murder. She faced no consequences aside from a tarnished corporate image for one nights news broadcast and a dark spot on her conscience.

Rape sends a natural person to jail, rape of the environment gets 'artificial' persons fined in amounts that, in some cases, are literal 'drops in the bucket' of profit the company makes. Barrick Gold is a great example of simply being able to afford to pillage and pollute every exploitable acre no matter of its location in the world. Environmental rape or resource exploitation is hardly frowned upon in the corporate world, it is seen as a viable way to increase the bottom line profits. Corporate leaders of oil, coal and gas industries have repeatedly raped our earth and rarely ever suffered consequences to take note of.

Exxon is a prime example of destroying an environment and getting off with a pittance of a fine that they, to this day, are still fighting to have to pay at all. A jury decided Exxon should pay $5 billion in punitive damages for the residents of Prince William sound, site of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. Several years later, a federal appeals court cut that verdict in half, to $250 billion, and even more recently, The Supreme Court cut that $250 billion down to $500 million. Exxon claimed it had already spent $3.4 billion on court fees and that the remainder would be excessive. At a glance this sum of money may seem exuberant, but in context, $5 billion in fines was hardly a slap on the wrist considering Exxon posted a $45.2 billion profit in 2008.

Incest (abuse of children) results in especially rough treatment if a natural person should go to prison. But Corporations can't have kids you say? You are wrong. Corporations run schools like the one you are enrolled in right now. The student body represents the children, and the corporate employee are the teachers and effectively "the parent" for several hours every week. While individual instructors may agree or disagree with the situation, the truth is the bureaucratic policy makers ultimate goal is to swoon as many students into the doors as possible. It is obvious they are not interested in the capabilities and preparedness of students and the tasks ahead. A decent credit check is all that is needed. Got the money? You get an acceptance letter, Congratulations!

Many former students and graduates of the Art Institute feel they have been taken advantage of repeatedly. Students are subjected to very high tuition's and encouraged to rush though the system at a breakneck speed. If they stumble there is very little help in getting back up. With very little support the student body is ground down to a quivering heap of nerves and tears. That cannot be considered moral treatment of a dependent. The admissions counselors polish the image of the school and sell the institution as a quick ticket to success. This may be possible for a select few who have the resources to fund themselves without incredible amounts of debt looming on the horizon. If only the counseling staff was as well funded as the recruiting staff. Physical abuse and Battery is a trifle to corporations like Shell oil and Coca Cola, both have been accused of abusing organisers of trade unions and workers within their ranks. Beating the life out of a worker is the basic rule when you are a slave driver, so shy should it change because the slave driver was replaced by a corporate corny. Strong-arm tactics go way back and business is booming. The prison industrial complex is an example of an entire industry beating individuals down to nothing. Originally, prisons were meant to be a place of rehabilitation and conscious reflection on the acts committed in the past. Now it is an industry that no longer rehabilitates, but instead, creates its own culture of fear and retribution.

If a natural person gives a large sum of money to an individual or perhaps a politician it is called bribery. Corporations sponsor events and political parties by sending tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to charm an individual and have their ear for a small amount of time. Better yet, corporations send their own officials to Washington to work as the heads of the regulatory boards overseeing their adherence to the law. Don't worry about breaking laws if those enforcing them are on your payroll or have stock options.

Paying the police to look the other way is illegal and results in jail time for the "naturals." Artificial persons, on the other hand, pay off officials all the time. So who pays the consequences? The individual within the "artificial" person that committed the act will most likely be charged, but not without the help of corporate lawyers and funding to pay bails and fight for appeal. It must be nice to be able to pay your way out of almost any situation.

Corporate person-hood is a status that cannot be left unchecked. These global empires are undermining the democracy that this country stands for. The insurmountable resources at their disposal outweighs the GNP of smaller nations; and this huge resource of money equals power. Power to pay off officials, as they look aside while entire ecosystems are devastated. Power to hire mercenaries to fight illegal wars and overthrow uncooperative government leaders. The power to put officials in office by funding campaigns, all the while threatening to remove them just as easily by denying repeat funds during the next election cycle.

Personal support of only companies with a better business view, it's important to spend your money effectively. Boycott producers that pollute and pillage, and frequent local business' that meet your approval on how they conduct business. Think before you shop and don't buy into the advertising and constant debasement for your own good. Break out of that zombie-like mentality, question things and educate yourself. Get corporations out of schools, support unions, put people before profit, 3 strikes law for corporations and most of all take care of yourself and your family, and if it doesn't sit well in your gut, it's probably bad for you. You are worthy of better.