Welcome to the show notes! Thanks for stopping by. Do you like to talk about guns? Because 1/4 of the Adventures in Businessing podcast does! James, Rob, and Kevin attempt to steer the conversation about business ethics away from the second amendment, while Jeremy keeps trying to give the wheel a hard spin toward the craggy shores of political division. We briefly discuss Wal-mart and Dick's Sporting Goods' decision to not sell rifles to people under the age of 21. The crew successfully maneuvers the ship through those choppy waters and into the harbour of business ethics, where they run aground on the jagged rocks of reality. Ok. I think I've tortured that metaphor enough. Should businesses get involved in social issues? If they should, what responsibilities do they have? Is corporate activism the future of change? Do people care what their favourite soda brand does with their profits? Should they? Remember when that bakery wouldn't bake a cake for a same-sex couple? We're nothing if not topical and timely. If you don't remember, don't worry, Rob has a story about it. Rob is a libertarian. He thinks that the free market could solve all the world's problems. That's not hyperbole; I promise! Most of the hosts agree that the government shouldn't be involved in deciding which customers a business has to do business with, but obviously there are abusive cases that do need to be legislated. Can the free market solve the problem of the jerk baker? Out of nowhere, James brings the podcast back to how businesses, specifically Kabbage, are responding to the Florida shooting, and Jeremy suggests a Remington sponsorship. Rob suggests that businesses should be concerned with making the world a better place because it's better for business. He uses Facebook's recent content changes as an example of how the market normalises. Initially businesses, and the market, dipped after the strategy announcement. They recovered as businesses dug into the new Facebook content focus. At the end of the day, you're tied to the business decisions you make, and you have to sleep at night. Jeremy discusses Bonlife coffee and its focus on sustainable practices. They've backed off it a bit because most people don't want to be reminded that there are poor people in the world while getting their morning caffeine fix. Kevin pretends to be a dirty consumerist pig who just wants to drink his sugar water. James, Kevin, and Jeremy recommend books, while Libertarian Rob recommends an Orwellian wrist device that sends all your data to the government. Bonus: If you want to hear the funniest thing ever, listen to this podcast at slow-speed. I promise you won't be disappointed. :)
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