“Ethics is the science that deals with conduct, in so far as this is considered as right and wrong, good or bad” (Dewey, 2998, p.1). Ethics is important in all spheres of human life as morality is the decisive factor that makes us human beings, that differs us from animals. Since human beings have to live together, “moral restraints on what they do to each other” are needed, “otherwise they will not live at all” (Newton, 1989, p.16). However, there are certain situations where it is extremely difficult to preserve moral aspect. One of such complicated and ambiguous spheres is the field of war. War is by definition immoral since it presupposes sufferings of human beings and it is an uphill task to meet ethical demands when there is the possibility of losing one’s life. Austin and Bruch (2000) state that “the whole area of ethics and warfare … is riddled with conundrums” and the metaphor seems to convey the whole complexity of the sphere of wartime ethics (p.19). To form personal opinion about the essence of wartime ethics, it is necessary to resort to different and maybe opposing points of view of people, who belong to military sphere, such as the participants of the discussion of ethical issues from “Ethics in America”.
Fred W. Friendly defines the main focus of the first part of “Under Orders, Under Fire” as “loyalty” and its conformity with ethical principles. Loyalty is “the willing and practical and thoroughgoing devotion of a person to a cause” (Royce, 2004, p.16-17). Army requires complete and entire devotion of a soldier, and “sometimes loyalty means sacrificing your life for others” (Under Orders, Under Fire I 1989). However, it is necessary to decide the issue of “absolute loyalty” and to pass judgment concerning the unstable border between absolute loyalty in its heroic sense and absolute loyalty as the thing that “corrupts the soldiers’ sense of moral duty” (Under Orders, Under Fire I 1989).
On the one hand, absolute loyalty is cultivated during military training and it is the basis of discipline that is fundamental to success. Absolute loyalty can be justified and demanded as even if it presupposes aggressive action, they are provoked by the desire to protect the nation, the country, the state, and the people. If the country is attacked, it needs defense, it is evident and natural, it is as clear as a day. Besides, if the soldier is ordered to take aggressive action, it should be borne in mind that he is not “a killing machine” as Charles Ogletree states, a soldier’s primary motivation is not to kill for the sake of killing, to kill because he is given a weapon. A soldier kills to protect, he kills for the sake of life. There is always this purpose behind all orders of the commanders and these orders demand absolute loyalty that is ethical if motivated by the intention to save lives.
Besides, absolute loyalty to orders should be considered natural response to the trust of the whole nation granted to a soldier. The trust of nation should maintain a soldier’s sense of duty, Newton (1989) states that “an ideal soldier does everything from a sense of duty, and nothing for any other reason” (p.155). As it is stated by Timothy Tantrum, who is, by the way, a chaplain, that a soldier acts on behalf of his government and his loyalty is the loyalty to the nation (). It is not a separate person, who has declared a war, it is the whole nation, and the soldier, who is a citizen of his state, should prove his loyalty (Under Orders, Under Fire I 1989). Such ideas sound even more convincing when uttered by a clergyman; the interrelation of loyalty, a soldier, and the whole nation prove ethical nature of absolute loyalty.
On the other hand, there are cases when absolute loyalty cannot be justified and can turn to be unethical. Sometimes, soldiers have a right to disobey the order when their moral principles convince them of the rightness of such action. It can happen if a soldier gets an order to kill the enemy who has surrendered and is unarmed. In this case, the enemy stops being the enemy as he has no opportunity to harm a soldier and the killing, even under orders, is the murder in this case. Murder cannot be justified, it is unethical unless it is motivated by protection of the soldier’s own life or the lives of his fellow soldiers but an unarmed enemy can hardy harm a group of armed soldiers. In case, if there is the opportunity to take prisoners, they should be taken, not to take prisoners and to kill them instead is, evidently, unethical.
One more situation in “Under Orders, Under Fire I” provokes ethical concern, it is the right of a commander to kill a soldier who disobeys the order. On the one hand, the soldier is betraying his country and is risking the lives of his fellow soldiers that is, evidently, unethical on his part. However, the lieutenant is going to kill an American citizen and his subordinate. Such a killing cannot be justified, especially if there is an opportunity to take the soldier under custody. The military, but not a separate commander, court should take a legal and ethical decision.
One more issue that should be tackled is the right to deprive soldiers and citizens of information during war. Wallace says that he would air the film about a lieutenant killing his soldier as the Americans have a right to know all the truth about the state of affairs on the battlefield (Under Orders, Under Fire I 1989). It is so, the nation is entitled to see it and the decision to air the film is ethical even in relation to the lieutenant because he should be responsible for his deeds as well. As for depriving the soldiers of information, it can be ethical only in case if this ignorance can save their life, if it creates additional risk, it is unlawful and unethical.
It is also necessary to analyze the issue of confidentiality and decide if “it is still ethical to keep unethical secret” as Fred Friendly questions (Under orders, Under Fire II 1989). Here, the question is if a chaplain has a right to reveal unethical information if a soldier confides it to him. It is unethical on the part of a clergyman to reveal any information that he gets from a soldier. Military men should have a person whom they can entrust with information, no matter what is the content of this information. If a clergyman reveals the truth, it is unprofessional, and, consequently, unethical.
Unfortunately, torturing is the common thing at war. If to make any living organism suffer is unethical in the state of peace, the same issue should be considered during a state of war. Torture is “a matter of ends justifying means” and “when means are immoral, you can’t use them” (Newton, 1989, p. 181). However, it should be taken into account that tortures can be used by the enemy in relation to your fellow soldiers. Thus, if tortures can save the lives of one’s fellow soldiers, they can be justified. What is more, the participants of the discussion agree on it (Under Orders, Under Fire II 1989).
Finally, the last issue that deals with wartime ethics are the issue of nuclear weapon also discussed in the program. Since nuclear weapon is the weapon of mass destruction and it is sure to damage the regions and nations unrelated to this particular war, one person should not make the decision. The usage of nuclear weapon is the global problem and it requires universal consent. If the head of a state makes such a decision on his own, it is, obviously, immoral.
Concluding, it is possible to state that the issue of wartime ethics is a very ticklish one. Different situations occur during war and it is impossible to determine if the action is ethical or not and be sure. Every person involved into war, should possess common sense and should follow his moral principles. However, soldiers should always remember that their primary duty is to protect the nation that demands soldiers’ absolute loyalty.
Reference List
Austin, J., & Bruch C.E. (2000). The Environmental Consequences of War: Legal, Economic, and Scientific Perspectives. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Dewey, J. (2008). Ethics. USA: READ BOOKS.
Newton, L.H. (1989). Ethics in America: Study Guide. USA: Pretence Hall.
Royce, J. (2004). The Philosophy of Loyalty. USA: Kessinger Publishing.
Under Order, Under Fire (Part I). (1989). Ethics in America. Columbia University Seminars on Media and Society. Web.
Under Order, Under Fire (Part II). (1989). Ethics in America. Columbia University Seminars on Media and Society. Web.
Media And Crime: Shaping Of Public Opinion
Critics admit a false and negative portrayal of victims of crime popularized by mass media. Crime, particularly violent and predatory crime, is not as common as often portrayed by journalists. Crime is uniquely debilitating because it destroys feelings of security and the sense of interpersonal trust that binds a community together. The term media involves all channels of communication and interaction used by mass media (radio, TV, press, the Internet, TV news, etc.). The media exaggerates and portrays false images of a victim and the consequences of crime for a common citizen.
In recent years three factors have played major roles in shaping public opinion about crime. The first, the distortion of information by the mass media and the law enforcement establishment, was discussed earlier, but their role in this should not be interpreted as conspiratorial. The editors do not get together and decide to overrepresent violent crime. Instead, the marketing and sales analysts from one newspaper discovered that sensationalized violence increased sales, so it became editorial policy to concentrate on reporting the more sensational crimes. To remain competitive, other papers were forced to do the same (Leishman and Mason 2003).
This sort of collusion does not exist. What happens is that a police department receives a large federal grant to reduce crime and finds it politically advantageous to show a reduction to convince the public that their tax dollars are well spent. The reduction in official statistics is accomplished by simply changing the techniques for recording complaints. When the same departments are faced with budget cuts and fierce competition for scarce resources with the fire department, sanitation workers, and other local agencies, indications that crime is increasing and law enforcement are imperative becomes politically advantageous.
The media pick up on fluctuations, particularly when they are upward, and often sensationalize the figures by presenting them in doomsday trappings. Even though no conspiratorial effort among the elite of the national media and the law enforcement establishment may have taken place, the aggregate effect of their independent actions does much to shape an inaccurate public image of crime (McCulloch, 1997).
The main problem is that the media distorts its presentation of crime and victimization patterns by selecting particular incidents to report. Unusual, bizarre, violent, and macabre incidents and injured victims receive more media attention. Violent individual crimes are more often portrayed by mass media than common crimes. Mass media portrays victims as suffers who have not been protected by state and police.
Clear but perhaps unexpected differences have been discovered among different sex, race, education, occupation, and income groups. As might be expected, women are more afraid to become victims than men; women feel less safe in their homes and walk alone at night (McCulloch, 1997). This is interesting since men are twice as likely to be victims of violent crime. The crime of rape may play an important role in this relationship. Though rape is a low-probability incident, its effect can be so devastating that it may be worthy of the fear women appear to have of it.
In sum, media creates vivid and bright images of crime victims to impress a viewer and attract the attention of a wide target audience. The main categories of victims popularized by media are women and elderly, racial minorities, and poor. One might argue that variations in fear depend on the sense of vulnerability, real or imagined, that people have. False images of victims force women to perceive themselves to be physically more vulnerable to criminal victimization, and even though their rate of victimization is not as high as that of men, they are more afraid than men.
References
Leishman, F. Mason, P. (2003). Policing and the Media: Facts, Fictions, and Factions (Policing and Society Series). Willan Publishing (UK).
McCulloch, Jude. (1997). “Behind the headlines: How does the media portray fatal shootings by police?’ Alternative Law Journal, 22 (3), pp. 133-137.
Macy’s Company’s Online Competition
Introduction
Macy’s is one of the largest American store chains focused on fashion retailing. The area of its activity is quite extensive, and it implies the existence of numerous competitors. To maintain its position on the market, the company needs to implement specific strategies to increase its attractiveness from the point of view of customers. In the present-day world, with the development of modern technologies, such actions should be orientated on online sales as one of the most promising areas of activity.
The improvements in Macy’s management of online sales are possible only with the consideration of the company’s strengths and weaknesses as well as other factors influencing the outcome of business expansion. The best tools for such an assessment are SWOT analysis and Porter’s five forces. Their implementation would allow demonstrating the existing malfunctions in Macy’s activities and distinguishing the factors, which would have a negative impact on its online sales. With the help of the analyses’ results, it would be possible to propose an action plan for the company that will cover the areas which should be improved.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis is the principal tool, which is beneficial in terms of defining a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Therefore, it would suit the situation of Macy’s and allow making a plan in accordance with the revealed specificities (Grant, 2020). The table containing the complete information on the analysis’ results can be seen in Appendix A of the given report. According to it, the main strengths of Macy’s relate to the positive attitude of the customers towards the company’s goods and services (Simmons & Kang, 2018). Consequently, it results in higher customer satisfaction with the products and a better image of Macy’s.
Moreover, the quality of its goods is higher than the quality of products of its main competitor, Amazon. According to the research, the brands that Amazon retails are less known to the customers than the ones of Macy’s (Simmons & Kang, 2018). Hence, it is another strength of Macy’s, and the company’s indicators reflect its more privileged position on the market in comparison with Amazon.
The presence of such strengths as the positive attitude of customers, brand awareness, and high quality contribute to the emergence of specific opportunities for further company development. Thus, such opportunities include the chance to improve the company’s online presence. This task is essential in the conditions of online competitiveness, with numerous retailers providing similar services. Macy’s also can use its strengths to enter the international retailing market and thereby improve its image or open more stores across the country.
It is important to note that there is always a possibility of the emergence of specific issues interrupting the plans of Macy’s. Its weaknesses, such as limited opportunities for business expansion, insufficient use of technologies, and the consequent reduction in market share, might worsen the situation. The problems connected to changing economic circumstances or customer behavior are entirely unforeseeable. The only way out of similar situations is the ability of the company’s managers to find a flexible solution for business operations. Hence, Macy’s efforts should be directed at taking measures to remain competitive in the presence of other large retailing companies.
Porter’s Five Forces
For a more thorough analysis of Macy’s situation, the Porter’s Five Forces model will be useful. It includes the consideration of such components as supplier power, the threat of new entrants, buyer power, the threat of substitutes, and the degree of rivalry (Chappelow, 2020). The high supplier power is evidenced by the latest 10K report published on the company’s website (Latest Quarterly or Annual Filing, 2020). However, the threat of new entrants for Macy’s can be critical as it already has problems with the increase in online competition among the largest retailers in the country.
Buyer power is strong due to the high quality of the delivered goods and brand awareness revealed in SWOT analysis. The principal threat relates to the possibility of increasing similar indicators of Macy’s competitors, such as Amazon. It would also increase the degree of the rivalry of retailing companies in the United States. This situation might lead to the necessity to take urgent measures in order to stay competitive and ensure the company’s profits in the future.
Recommendations for Improvements
The results of SWOT analysis and Porter’s Five Forces contribute to the understanding of possible reasons why Macy’s is experiencing difficulties related to the increase in online competition. As it is demonstrated in the latest 10K report of the company, the risks for physical stores are becoming higher due to the economic situation in the world resulting from the current Covid-19 crisis (Latest Quarterly or Annual Filing, 2020). This situation worsens the company’s already low indicators of online sales, and it implies the application of urgent measures for maintaining Macy’s stability and receiving a share of the market.
Hence, the main areas of improvement include the necessity to increase the presence of Macy’s in online sales and search for ways to expand the business. Due to the international economic situation, such expansion should primarily relate to online retailing as global expansion and physical stores will not provide much profit (Latest Quarterly or Annual Filing, 2020). Therefore, Macy’s should orientate online expansion and the adoption of new technologies facilitating the process.
Action Plan for Macy’s and Data Sources
The inability of Macy’s to keep up with the online competition is conditional on numerous factors contained in SWOT and Porter’s Five Forces analyses given above. They are complemented by the neglect of the company’s managers towards such methods as the use of social media and advertisements for target customers (Simmons & Kang, 2018). This fact explains the failure of the company to compete with successful online retailers, and the measures aimed at the improvements mentioned above should be the ground for the action plan.
The application of theories allowing to analyze the company’s situation is critical. However, it would be necessary to integrate the data of Macy’s and other retailers with better business indicators to develop the strategy. The primary sources suitable for the purpose of an action plan creation would be the official reports of Macy’s, Amazons, and The TJX Companies available on their websites. They would be complemented by their online management models that can serve as examples of successful online business operations.
Conclusion
The creation of an action plan for Macy’s is the only possible way of overcoming the current challenges related to its inability to keep up with the online competition. Further analysis of successful online retailers would allow it to develop a strategy of business re-orientation. This task is critical in the current economic situation, and the way out of the crisis for Macy’s implies the expansion of its online activities.
References
- Grant, M. (2020). Strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis. Investopedia. Web.
- Chappelow, J. (2020). Porter’s 5 Forces. Investopedia. Web.
- Latest Quarterly or Annual Filing. (2020). Macy’s Inc.
- Simmons, A., & Kang, J. H. (2018). The strengths and weaknesses of Amazon.com and Macy’s as fashion retailers. International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) Annual Conference Proceedings. Iowa State University Digital Repository.
Appendix A
SWOT Analysis
| Strengths
The positive attitude of customers Brand awareness High quality |
Weaknesses
Reduction in market share Issues relating to business expansion Technologies |
| Opportunities
Development of online presence International market entry Opening new stores across the country |
Threats
Competitors in online retailing Changes in customer behavior Economic situation |