Is it ethical?

CLAPTON

mayonnaise wrote: »

Here's for example the letter Airbus sent to its employees.


Nothing wrong here.
Of course an angry radical little england supremacist will have an issue with this, but who cares?

it would seem to me, that if a company saw that a course of events was likely to lead to higher profits, higher dividends for shareholders and higher bonuses for the CEO etc, then it make absolute business sense to take any legal means to achieve that higher profit

so if in that case it means recommend 'remain' or in another it is 'vote Conservative' then who could reasonably object?

greed is good.

CLAPTON

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

I agree. It would be within their rights if a company emailed all their employees advising them to vote Conservative, but rather dubious, and also surely potentially risky for the company. Why risk needlessly angering half your employees?

They might also need to check that their expenditure on direct canvassing during the run-up period might need to be declared to the Electoral Commission.

I agree with you that it may be counter productive but that would be a business judgement for the company: for most conpanies ethics wouldn't loom large.

Spidernick

mayonnaise wrote: »

Here's for example the letter Airbus sent to its employees.

Dear UK Colleagues,
The Prime Minister has called a June referendum on the future of the UK in Europe – BREXIT as it has
become known - do we stay in the European Union or do we leave?
Airbus Group has come out strongly in favour of the UK staying in the EU. As a successful international
company with a strong European heritage we are proud that much of the world flies on British-built wings.
We are proud to be the biggest commercial aerospace company in the UK; Britain’s leading space and
satellite company; the biggest supplier of large aircraft to the RAF; a bastion of our nation’s cyber defence;
Britain’s civil helicopter hub; a massive investor in R&D and a leading employer of highly qualified
technicians, engineers and scientists.
Why do we mention all these achievements? Because Airbus Group’s success in the UK is predicated on a
highly competitive, integrated European business model. Our position, which probably does not come as a
great surprise to you, is we firmly believe that it makes good economic sense to stay inside the EU which has
helped make the company the global success story it is today. Apart from anything else, we simply don’t
know what ‘out’ looks like.
As has been stressed publicly by our top management, this is an entirely UK issue – it is up to the British
people to debate and make up their own minds as to whether or not they wish to stay in the EU. However it
is also reasonable for us as a responsible UK leadership team to explain to you why we think it is important
for us to stay.
Should the British electorate have a different view then clearly we wouldn’t cease our activities in the UK,
which are highly important and very prominent. However, our business model is entirely based on our
ability to move products, people and ideas around Europe without any restriction and we do not believe
leaving will increase the competitiveness of our British based operations. We all need to keep in the back of
our minds that future investments depend very much on the economic environment in which the company
operates.
In fact we believe that the UK remaining active in reforming the EU can improve our position, and as a
commercial business that operates in a globally competitive environment we need to maintain every
competitive advantage in the UK we have.
Whilst we hope the UK will choose to retain its EU membership, the final important point to make is that
Airbus Group remains fully committed to its operations in the UK and to its employees here.

Nothing wrong here.
Of course an angry radical little england supremacist will have an issue with this, but who cares?

Were they trying to write a poem? Looks like one!

chewmylegoff

Agree there is nothing wrong with highlighting risks and consequences to employees. After all the whole point of this referendum is that we are supposed to be deciding whether it is better for us to be in Europe or out of it - if the consequences of voting one way or another are, ultimately, that you get made redundant because e.g. your multinational employer scales back it's UK operations then I would say that would be a pretty significant factor in determining how to vote.

Obviously you may prefer to be unemployed but have a government structure which you find more palatable, but at least you are able to make an informed choice.

mwpt

On this particular topic of employers, I mentioned a while ago that I was in negotiations with a large bank to return to working for an employer rather than sticking with the venture I set out on last year. After a lot of grueling interviews I was offered the job verbally. After many weeks of waiting for the contract to appear I am now told that due to the referendum and other uncertainty all permanent hiring has been frozen so the contract, at least for the moment, won't be forthcoming.

So in one sense, potential brexit has already directly impacted me. Maybe it'll turn out for the good as I am now back focusing on my business, but we'll see.

wotsthat

We've put a number of projects on hold until the result is known. Mainly due to exchange rate concerns.

Generali

wotsthat wrote: »

We've put a number of projects on hold until the result is known. Mainly due to exchange rate concerns.

We see it as the biggest investment risk out there and a huge negative for UK stocks and the pound. As a result we are underweight both.

CLAPTON

Generali wrote: »

We see it as the biggest investment risk out there and a huge negative for UK stocks and the pound. As a result we are underweight both.

group think

clearly no rational person could really think that a friendly exit of the UK from the EU is the biggest risk facing the world.

however, one has to act irrational in the light of known unknown as they are visible.

Generali

CLAPTON wrote: »

group think

clearly no rational person could really think that a friendly exit of the UK from the EU is the biggest risk facing the world.

however, one has to act irrational in the light of known unknown as they are visible.

Given the choice between following the most experienced and respected economists in the world and someone with an immigration fixation I'm choosing the economists.

CLAPTON

Generali wrote: »

Given the choice between following the most experienced and respected economists in the world and someone with an immigration fixation I'm choosing the economists.

by definition group think will exclude independent thinkers.

even so I am surprised you truely think the biggest risk to the world economy is brexit : I would say unfinished banking business is a much larger risk.

I'm very content that I followed my own advice and sold 95% of my portfolio last year.