Donald Kunkel ePortfolio
Legal & Ethics
Outcome III: Assess the value and importance of legal and ethical implications of conducting business in a global environment.
My Reflection on Meeting this Outcome:
My first artifact, MBA 505, highlights my understanding and provides insight into the legal, regulatory, and ethical decisions-making considerations that private defense companies must make during their day-do-day operations. Furthermore, I learned that defense corporations must adhere to the legal, regulatory, and ethical requirements laid out by the U.S. government, and they need to incorporate those regulations into their decision-making to maintain compliance. Failure to comply could result in being fined, loss of contract, blacklisted from bidding on future contracts with the government, and even imprisonment. Moreover, I provided real-world examples of how defense contractors abide by the State Department and the Arms Export Control Act that governs International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) compliance. Next, I learned how the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) applies to companies that work for the Department of Defense. Furthermore, companies working for the government need to pay close attention to the FAR, which outlines government contracts to include the “purpose, authority, applicability, issuance, arrangement, numbering, dissemination, implementation, supplementation, maintenance, administration, and deviation” (Federal, 2017, pg. 21). Lastly, I examined some ethical dilemmas and provided resources that government contractors should be aware of like bribing and company kickbacks. (See Artifact I)
My second artifact, MBA 505, exhibits my grasp of corporate governance and how important it is to facilitate legal, regulatory, and ethical compliance. I learned that companies need to incorporate legal compliance like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Civil Rights Act as part of their corporate governance policy because it protects their employees from being discriminated against and fosters a positive work environment, while also protecting the organization’s reputation and financials. Next, I evaluated regulatory compliance and the legal ramifications of not following them; consequently, I discussed why organizations need to be aware of and abide by Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations and implement them into their work centers. In addition, I provided some management principles that organizations can use to avoid unnecessary accidents, loss of employees due to injury, and costly lawsuits. Lastly, I discussed various ethical issues that organization’s need to be aware of such as bribery, antirust, international trade compliance, and conflicts of interest. In addition, I provided some examples of unethical business practices. For example, I examined how predators took advantage of under-qualified homebuyers by using loopholes in the mortgage lending market as a precursor to the 2008 economic collapse. (See Artifact II)
My third artifact, MBA 505, showcases my in-depth knowledge of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Sherman Act of 1890, and the Clayton Act of 1914. Furthermore, I learned how these U.S. government antitrust laws positively and negatively impact business. Antitrust laws are important because it improves competition that benefits consumers; consequently, the FTC states, “aggressive competition among sellers in an open marketplace gives consumers, both individuals and businesses, the benefits of lower prices, higher quality products and services, more choices, and greater innovation” (FTC, 2017). The Sherman Act has been an instrumental law that protects businesses from harmful practices like bribery, price-fixing, and bid-rigging, which ensures there isn’t an unfair competitive advantage; consequently, I provided a real-world example of the Sherman Act was used when U.S. Department of Justice suing the Microsoft Corporation in 1999. Next, I researched the Clayton Act, which was a supplement of the Sherman Act that addressed certain anti-competitive practices that were not covered. The Clayton Act provided governance on mergers, acquisitions, discriminating between purchases, and tying agreements; furthermore, this law’s main purpose was to prevent monopolies. Lastly, I discussed how the Clayton Act affects larger mergers and acquisitions like the United Technology Corporation and its conglomerates when they acquired Rowell Collins Aerospace in 2017. (See Artifact III)
My Future Learning Goals Related to this Outcome:
My reflections and artifacts demonstrate my knowledge and application of legal and ethical implications of conducting business in a global environment. The information I learned from these laws, regulations, and ethical considerations can be applied to my military and civilian career where I plan on incorporating these into our current operations. In addition, I plan on staying abreast of changing legal and ethical implications by working with my human resources staff, legal team, ITAR program manager, and our Chief of Ethical and Compliance Officer.