#h&h roman company texts

[acknowledge-reigns]

Somebody truly had the nerve to say Roman has never had to deal with or wrestle with injuries/set backs in his career and that he "could never power through like C*dy did with his torn pec". First of all, comparing how these two athletes deal with injuries is big fucking weird but since we're going there and I take my role of #1 Joe Anoa'i defender to heart what I'm not about to do is let y'all set up here on this internet and make it seem as if my Tribal Chief ain't ever fought through shit because this man is a WARRIOR, do you hear me???

(HE'S A TWO TIME LEUKEMIA SURVIVOR SINCE Y'ALL MOTHERFUCKERS LIKE TO FORGET HE KICKED CANCER'S ASS TOO.) Generally speaking, not just that situation but in many others in Joe's life, some of your faves would have folded. (especially those two yt men that run from company to company when they don't get their way) . Really this ain't shade to C*dy, I give him his props for powering through injuries and shit too. Most of these superstars have. And saying some of them would probably fold (hell, I would. Most of us would.) Isn't saying they're weak. I'm saying Roman is a badass on a different level and you can argue with your momma or with the wall on that one, not me.

List of injuries/illnesses known to us throughout Roman's career -

Back + Hip injury 2023 (Sumerslam, v Jey Uso.)

Ruptured Ear Drum 2022 (Survivor Series, v Kevin Owens who surprised him with a spot that was not planned and resulted in the injury. There however is no bad blood between the two.)

Had COVID 2022 (https://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/32974962/roman-reigns-wwe-biggest-star-tests-positive-covid-19-scratched-atlanta-event)

Lingering affects from COVID 2022 (due to being immunocompromised https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/roman-reigns-discusses-his-covid-experience-says-he-still-feels-chest-tightness)

Shoulder/Arm injury 2022 (Wrestlemania 38, v Brock Lesnar)

Reveals Leukemia treatment side effects (including Nausea and arthritis in arms and legs, mentioned in 2019 and 2020 interviews. Ex. https://www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/support-and-information/latest-from-leukaemia-care/inspirational-stories/roman-reigns-wwe-cml-and-me/#:~:text=Previously%2C%20Reigns%20revealed%20to%20the,in%20terms%20of%20being%20sick.)

Knee Injury 2019 (Hell in a cell tornado tag with Daniel Bryan, v Erick Rowan and Luke Harper.)

Second battle with Leukemia 2018

Eye injury, required stitches 2018 (after 6 man tag match on RAW https://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/wwe/roman-reigns-gets-stitches-raw)

Shoulder injury + Cracked ribs 2017 ( RAW, v Braun Strowman)

Shattered nose + Surgery 2016 ( v Triple H. See attached article https://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2016-02-22/article/reigns-surgery)

Needed stitches May 2016 (live show, see photos https://www.wwe.com/worldwide/gallery/roman-reigns-receives-stitches-in-melbourne-australia-photos#fid-40042095)

Head Injury that required staples 2014 (https://youtu.be/OYMce1GDiDc?si=KtbVybtoQVr7FKDL)

Emergency surgery for Hernia 2014 (which he wrestled for some time while dealing with, see WWE.com article herehttps://www.wwe.com/shows/nightofchampions/2014/roman-reigns-breaking-news)

This list does not include FCW injuries, football injuries or his 2007 leukemia diagnosis durring which he was unhoused with a child on the way. And these are just the instances we know of!

Say what you will about Roman in kayfabe but do not minimize the struggles Joe has been through or his resilience. And if you're a Roman "fan" buying into the the rhetoric that he hasn't faced any adversity then as my dear friend @love-islike-abomb says, Please "Go whistle in the woods". IYKYK.

Oh and while we all here...

Acknowledge him, Bitches ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾.

[cakebatteronabrickwall]

Roman and Gerri are a dynamic that is hard to handle and I'm not saying there is a definitive answer but I am saying that one can't just conveniantly leave out important dots that were made to be connected. Not denying that there is fondness between them, their humor and general assholery seems to be on the same wave length, which is why they enjoy the company they keep, but this is a deeply exploitative dynamic on both ends for different reasons. I wrote way too much about this, but here it goes-

Gerri's perspective:

Before their brief phone conference era, Gerri fixes the rocket launch disaster for him and notices that he takes to her because of it; think of him calling her about Vaulter. After the Hunting insanity he asks her advice which is when she realy knows there is something to be had here and then the phone call happens, which... look. Is there ever an indication Gerri enjoys this on the sexual gratification (not attraction, but I'll get there) level that Roman does? Not really, she can't quite believe it, finds it funny/ interesting but it is simply also such a perfect bonus to know this Roy sibling is with her while Kendall is out and god knows what Shiv might be up to. On the yacht he is also the one to defend her right away about cruises which on one hand, sure, is because they are fond of each other but you can't deny how conveniant that is as well. Throwing her weight behind Roman also seems to be paying off during season 3, he literally causes her to be interim CEO by nuking his own chances. It all blows up though with the dick pic, something that is implied Gerri isn't comfortable with (rightfully so, obviously) but seems to have maybe accepted for a time because of their "alliance". But when it all blows up, especially towards the end, she turns her back because it isn't worth it. "How does it serve my interests" is a fun callback but it is also quite literally the entire summary of Gerri's approach to the relationship. She might feel sorry in a way, but season 4 clearly shows how she does not talk to Roman after this, does not interact if she doesn't have to. Like, why would she comfort Roman on the boat, he just tried to fucking fire her and then he actually fires her because he is spiraling. The last real interaction between them has to be at the election party, because at that point it isn't just 90% business for Gerri, it's 101%. She will get something out of this and, honestly, good for her that she gets re-hired in the end; if anything she was made for this type of environment. It actually speaks to her character that she isn't into the funeral recording, a very human moment but it's important that that is the only thing we get from her on screen. What about the script? Sorry, didn't really happen, did it and it is for the best. (I would have found it insane if Gerri was the one to get through to Roman when Shiv can't, like, no)

Roman's perspective:

Not exactly news that he can't seperate business and family; getting the top spot is literally earning daddy's love and the only motivation for Roman in the first place. So, in comes Gerri, a person he has known for a long time (I want to let the implication "since childhood" slide, because that sounds unnecessarily creepy, but just know I have considered it), and she fixes his mess and holds out a helping hand. She provides guidance that he wants from his father but can't have, because it makes him weak and therefore less in Logan's eyes. He keeps reaching for Gerri in the way that, in an ideal world, he would for his father. But, and this is the most important thing, Roman goes to Gerri whenever he fails to perform masculinity (= heteronormativity=business). Dad calls him a moron? Gerri. Failed phone sex with Tabitha? Gerri. Failed sex with Tabitha? Gerri. Tabitha didn't want his proposal (it's not how you get someone to stay), maybe Gerri does. This is so interesting, because that is the text pretty directly pointing out that whatever Roman and Gerri have is neither romantic nor sexual attraction; because this is in many ways what he had with Grace and Tabitha- only this time it is someone who can actually fill out the paternal role (not mommy, never mommy) because of the business side of things that parallel Logan. Gerri playing into the humiliation kink on the phone is paralleled by Roman listening to dead Logan's fake voice message. And when he sent that dick pic to Gerri but it ended up with Logan... do you really need me to go on?

On a side note; isn't it interesting that any form of "sexual" interaction between Roman and Gerri needs this layer of seperation- phone call, screen, or bathroom door, a home video on the TV (okay that one isn't sexual anyways but still), you get to pick. And then in season 4 he can't even look at her... well. Season 4 also generally cashes in on the Logan and Gerri parallel; when she tells him "i could have gotten you there" and walks out on him a few days after his father, who had just made a business related promise, died..huh. And when she walks into Waystar at the very end, unaware of him, it might as well be Logan's ghost which is why Roman reacts the way he does after.

tl;dr: This ain't romantic or sexual, and it is a shame to not afford it the complexities of being fucked up; it's also not some doomed romance like... no. Gerri kinda got what she wanted in the end, Roman didn't. Shouldn't. At least he's out.

Picture of me after typing all that:

[phantomtutor]

SOLUTION AT Academic Writers Bay Unformatted Preview College of Administrative and Financial Sciences Department of Business Administration Assignment for MGT401 Strategic Management 1st Semester-2020-2021 Assignment 2 Deadline: 14/11/2020 @ 23:59 Course Name: Strategic Management Student’s Name: Course Code: MGT 401 Student’s ID Number: Semester: I CRN: Academic Year: 1441/1442 H For Instructor’s Use only Instructor’s Name: Students’ Grade: Marks Obtained/Out of 5 Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY ● The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated folder. ● Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted. ● Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page. ● Students must mention question number clearly in their answer. ● Late submission will NOT be accepted. ● Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions. ● All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism). ● Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted. Assignment No: 2: Case study ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Submission Date by students: End of Week- 11th Weight: 5 Marks Place of Submission: Students Grade Centre Learning Outcomes: 1. Identify appropriate strategies for different situations (Lo 3.1). 2. Understand issues related to strategic competitive advantage in diversified organizations (Lo 2.2) 3. Understand the contribution of various functional areas e.g. production, marketing, purchasing and supply management to the overall well-being of the organization (Lo 1.2.) Read carefully the Mini case N. 33 from your textbook (entitled: Whole Foods Market (2010): How to grow in an increasingly competitive market?) and answer the following questions: 1. Explain the contribution of the different functional areas to the overall well-being of Whole foods. (1Mark) 2. Describe the growth strategy used by Whole Foods. Is it successful? Justify. (1.5Mark) 3. Explain the issues related to strategic competitive advantage of the company. (1.5Mark) 4. Suggest some alternatives (at least 3) to Whole Foods in order to reinforce its competitive advantage. (1Mark) Note: ✓ Copy/paste the phrases from the text is not acceptable. You MUST use your own expressions. ✓ Using the terminology developed in the course of Strategic Management will be highly valued. Good Luck Answers Question 1. ……………….. CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS CLICK THE BUTTON TO MAKE YOUR ORDER

[syll-simpsss]

Ginger: *mutters under his breath* Future boyfriend say what?

Rum: What?

Ginger: *mentally screams*

[finelinevogue]

blurb idea!!! husband Harry doing an interview where the interviewee (maybe a friend of his, so he’s comfortable?) asks about the missus and H gets all blushy💌 talks about her like she’s the world and everyone knows it

yesssssss okay i love this so much😭😭

Whilst Harry was setting himself up for his next interview, you poured yourself a glass of lemonade to refresh yourself from the heat of the day.

You had both just got back to Los Angeles and you had forgotten just how hot and stuffy it was here. Luckily, Harry’s home had air-con so you weren’t completely melting like an ice-cream on a hot pavement.

“Who’s this interview with again?” You asked, noticing Jeff was adding his own earphones to his phone so he could listen to the radio himself for management purposes.

“Roman for Capital.” Harry huffed, “But only if I can get this bloody thing to work.”

Harry had always been hopeless with technology and it wasn’t like his new era was going to have instantly changed that. You chuckled, walking over to him with the glass of lemonade.

He was so in-tune with you that he knew to scoot his chair back slightly so you could slip easily onto his lap. One of his hands took its home around your stomach, whilst the other pointed to what the problem was on the screen. Even after all these quarantined years of having to use Zoom, he still didn’t know how to use the most basic features. 

“It won’t let me connect here.” 

“It’s because you haven’t connected to the audio or video.” You explained, not that it meant anything to him. 

You pressed a few buttons and just as you thought the screen came on and a large live image of you and Harry appeared on the screen. 

“Oh God, why didn’t you tell me m’hair looked like that.” He complained, using a hand to brush his hair back whilst the other remained happy around your waist. 

“’Cause I thought you looked fine.”

“Fine?” 

“Well I��d say something hotter, but we are in company.” You whispered to his ear by leaning back against his soft chest. Jeff was all set up and ready for the interview to take place, texting Roman to join the call now everyone was ready if he was. 

Before you could lean in to give him a kiss a notification sounded on the laptop and you both looked to see that Roman had joined the call, along with Sian and Sonny. 

“Morning!” Roman shouted, making Harry jump from the sound. He had his earphones in, so you couldn’t hear what was being said but it was no doubt just friendly introductions.

“Hi!” Harry spoke, loosening his hand from around your waist so you could slip away.

You went and sat in another room, with your lemonade, connecting to the radio station itself so you could listen in on the conversation. It was always fun hearing Harry’s interviews, because it was interesting to see how he would answer questions. You and Harry had known each other long enough to know everything about each other, both of you becoming entirely predictable, so sometimes when Harry answered questions you knew he was putting on a fake answer - only you knowing the real answer. 

The Capital Breakfast theme started playing and you sat crossed legged on the sofa as you anticipated listening to your beloved boyfriend for his first interview of the HS3 era.

“When I was told that this person was going to be on the show today, I honestly thought it was an April fools joke.” Roman officially announced, hopefully having cut out the moment before where you were in shot from the show. “It’s Harry Styles!”

“Ayyee!” Harry shouted and you could hear him start chanting from the other room. It made you laugh over how excited and happy he was for the beginning of this new era. He was definitely happy to be back. 

“Aw man. No purple robe today?” Roman questioned after settling back down.

“No, no. It wasn’t even mine.” Harry answered, hinting that it was yours without actually saying.

“Mate it’s been ages, how are you?” Roman asked.

“I’m very well, thanks yeah, I’m very well.” You could just tell he was smiling, “And thanks very much for the dressing gown reference.” 

“Well I was upset that you didn’t turn up in a dressing gown on my screen, but I am sure that everyone in the world would be upset if you didn’t turn up with a dressing gown on their screen.” 

It was true. The best FaceTimes you’ve had with Harry have been when you are both snuggled in each others dressing gowns, because you love to be absorbed in each others warmth and home-smell. Your purple robe was now infamous, yet Harry had claimed it entirely his and you had no idea where it was now. You had a baby blue one that belonged to Harry, with little red hearts all over it. 

“Well I can run and get one.”

“Just do it.” You laughed at how Roman was really trying to tempt him for the sanity of the rest of the population.

“I don’t have the purple one with me.” He admitted, which would be true as you only packed a few light bits in the suitcases seeing as you had a full wardrobe in his house here. 

“Where is it? Can we track it down for you?”

“I think it’s at home.” It made your heart smile that he referred to your house back in your home country home, because it was true that neither of you ever felt at home when he was away working.

They then got into talking about the album, which made your heart swoon when he talked about his goddaughter. Ruby was always calling him throughout quarantine and it was always so funny to think about how angry she was the one night Harry didn’t call. He had been on a date with you and had gotten back later than expected, which is why he now calls before going out with you. 

Next, they began talking about the album and the artwork for that.

“Do you have anything weird and wonderful in your house?” Sian asked. 

That was a great question that you knew Harry wouldn’t answer honestly. He had some absolute rubbish in your house, some stuff that was gifted to him and he was too kind to give it away - even if he really didn’t like it. For example, someone gifted him a 20k gold statue of himself, but it was the ugliest and most scariest thing. 

“At the moment it’s just piles of things. I’m sorting through stuff.”

He answered more honestly than you thought, seeing as he was trying to keep the fact he was moving houses on the down low. Ever since he had been broken into by his stalker, neither of you have felt very safe and therefore it was his decision to move someplace new. 

“What have you just moved?” Sian asked.

“No I haven’t, it’s just like that for now.” He lied. “I’m just trying to clear out the space I am living in at the moment.”

“Does Y/N approve of the piles?” Sonny asked, trying to tactically get him talking about you. He rarely did in interviews unless the interviewer was a really close mate, because he often didn’t like the way they commented on you.

“I haven’t actually checked yet. Oops.” He laughed.

“Y/Ns the most understanding person I know, mate, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Roman added, making Harry blush. He was never used to people to complementing you and believing that they were complementing you for you, not because you were Harry Styles girlfriend. 

“Are you a messy person? Is this the problem?” Sian asked.

Yes, you thought to yourself.

“No.” Harry answered, lying to the nation and also himself.

The interview continued for another five minutes, before it wrapped up. You moved your way back in to the other room Harry was in and walked up to him. Standing behind him, you were able to massage your fingers through his hair. He was busy setting himself up for the next interview, trying to remember how you did it before.

“Not a messy person?” You questioned.

“Oh piss off.” He swatted your hands away, making you laugh.

Man, did he make you a very happy person. 

[moxleys-darlin]

The Tribal Chief's Respite

Pairing: Roman/Yuta, implied Shield/BCC/Renee

Summary: Roman is burnt out from the "Tribal Chief" persona, the twins call in reinforcements.

Disclaimer: I don't claim anything but the idea; characters (unfortunately) and gifs aren't mine

(Gifs aren't mine)

Respite: a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant.

Roman stalks into his hotel room and throws his duffle bag on his bed, his cousins walking close behind him. He sighs angrily when they act like they're not going to leave despite there only being one bed.

"You two don't have to stay, you can go."

"Aw, come on Uce, we can hang out for a bit, it's been a long night." Jey shrugs, heading to the chair in the corner, but stopping when he notices the heated look on Roman's face.

"Exactly, sorry but I've had enough of people tonight, I'd like to be alone." Roman sits heavily on the bed, scrubbing his face. His phone buzzes, so he checks it, and his frown deepens.

Tesoro 💙: I'm sorry Chief, I can't get away. I will try to call you tonight if I have a chance. H is trying to kill me 🙄

He sends back a quick message letting him know that it's okay, that he understands and can't wait for his call later. He gets back the kiss emoji and he decides to silence his phone and put it on the charger.

"Uce, you sure you want to be alone?"

Roman startles, forgetting about Jimmy and Jey being in the room, he flops back on the bed, hand over his eyes.

"Yeah, I really would, I'm tired and I'm done with today. Let Heyman know that I don't want to hear anything about work until Monday at the earliest." With his eyes covered Roman never notices the look that passes between the twins or Jimmy checking his phone and smiling.

"Sure Uce, whatever you say, we'll head out, just text us if you need anything."

Roman waves his other hand in goodbye and hears the door close. He sighs heavily when he hears the twins speaking lowly, probably to each other about his moodiness. He feels bad about how he dismissed his cousins, but he is just so exhausted tonight, this persona of his is making him tired and irritable. He really liked it in the beginning, relished in it really, because after Mox left, he wanted away from the Shield “Big Dog” persona that everyone booed.

As time went on though, with the abuse he had to put Jey through, it started to weigh on him. Now some fans find him boring, call him a part-time wrestler due to his new schedule and contract, and want him to drop the championship. Seth told him to stay off social media because those fans didn’t know what they were talking about and there were way more fans that love him and this championship reign. Roman scrubs his face again and swings his legs around, sitting up, to check his phone again. His hand is on the phone when he hears a knock on the door.

“I told you I’m not in the mood for company guys, go on and have a good night.” Roman calls out and is frustrated as the person knocks on the door again.

“I swear guys if y’all don’t-“ He yanks the door open to yell at his cousins when he is stunned into silence.

"You gonna make me go away too, alofa (love)? I did make sure I got all of your favorites, so I hope that gives me enough brownie points to be allowed to stay."

"Yuta? What are you doing here, baby? How-you're supposed to be at Rampage wrestling tonight, it's a live show." Yuta shrugs.

"I got done with everything early, then I got a message from the twins saying that you were being. a grouchy menace, so I told Regal and Mox I was going to come and keep you company. So," Yuta drawls out. "Can I come in? Or do I have to take all these treats and share them with the twins?"

Yuta giggles as Roman takes the drink holder out of his hand and grabs his wrist, dragging him into the room, with his other hand. Roman sets the drinks down on the dresser, then takes the bags from Yuta's hand, sitting them on the bed, and pulls Yuta into his chest, hugging him tightly. Yuta relishes in the heat of Roman's body, nuzzling into his chest until Roman pulls him back slightly. He puts his hands on Yuta's cheeks, tilts his face up, and kisses him deeply.

"Hey, I'm here. I don't know what's wrong, but I want to make you feel better, okay?" Yuta pulls back from the kiss and brushes his nose across Roman's jaw. "I didn't know how I could help so after I got the text, I went to the people that know you the best and asked for ideas to cheer you up." Yuta pulls back from Roman's arms and heads toward the bed to the bags.

"You did? Baby, you could have shown up empty-handed and I would've been happy." Roman skims his fingertips down Yuta's back, relishing in his baby's shivers. "Just what goodies did you bring to make me less grouchy, baby boy?" Roman whispers, leaning down across the younger man's back so that his lips touch Yuta's ear.

"I," Yuta clears his throat. "Mox told me about the Shield tradition, how after a bad match, you guys would make hot chocolate and relax together. I couldn't make it, but Starbucks was still open, so I decided to order us some. While I was there I saw these chocolate croissants and I remembered how much you love chocolate when you're stressed."

You're the sweetest, baby-"

"I'm not done, Ro! So, then Seth told me about this traditional Hawaiian dish that you love but can't find sometimes, so I did some digging and found a place on the way here that has really good reviews, now we have Musubi for dinner!" Roman's sour mood almost disappears at Yuta’s excitement about his accomplishments. “Finally, Renee told me the ultimate secret. She said that Seth kinda hates Monsters and how they taste so you don’t drink them around him because he won’t kiss you. Then I thought, if I can kiss Mox after he chain smokes, I can absolutely kiss you with your Monster breath as long, of course, as it’s my favorite kind.” Yuta winks, laughing when Roman rolls his eyes and kisses Yuta.

“So, they just told you all my secrets, huh?” Roman jokes as he goes for their hot chocolates, sitting on the bed with his back against the headboard.

He hands Yuta his drink when he settles in next to Roman, taking the croissant his baby is offering him. Taking a drink of the hot chocolate, he sighs as he remembers the nights he and his Hounds would sit around, cuddled up, and relaxing.

“Wanna tell me what’s wrong? What’s making you so upset?”

Roman takes a minute to get his thoughts collected, then decides to just lay it all out and be brutally honest. Yuta just listens, only interrupting to get clarification or give some advice. When the drinks and croissants are gone, Roman is feeling much lighter, Yuta had finished his snack a bit earlier than him and had been drawing patterns on Roman’s thigh, keeping him calm.

“I’m just frustrated, and I hate how I have to treat my family, I hate how I have to cheat to win almost every match, and I hate that people seem bored with me. I wish I could work with Seth or Mox again; I miss how easy and flawless it was, I just miss them.” Roman sighs and Yuta rolls himself over on his chest, propping himself up by his elbow.

“Why don’t you and I go take a shower and relax, we’ll get clean, come back and eat, and maybe I’ll give you a back massage. It may not cure you completely, but hopefully, it helps a little bit.” Roman swears he falls a little more in love with Yuta.

“Yeah baby, that sounds amazing.” Yuta's smile brightens and he rolls out of the bed.

“Perfect! Stay right there, I’ll go turn on the shower and get it ready.” He runs off before Roman can answer.

Roman smiles when he hears the shower start running and reaches over to grab his phone, shooting off a text to one of his group chats.

OGs ❤️ (Roman’s Phone)

Me: Y’all just giving away all my secrets to Baby Boy huh?

Tesoro 💙: Awww he made it? That’s great!

Canada ❤️: You needed some tender, loving care and Yuta is magical at that

Cucciolo 🐺: Let the Pup take care of you, Big Dog. You’re grumpy and angry, J&J said so… we love you, go relax and text us tomorrow

“Roman! The water’s ready! Come here.” Roman’s glad that Yuta isn’t in the room to see him almost fall off the bed with how fast he moves to get to his boyfriend.

He walks into the bathroom to see Yuta surrounded by the steam, smiling when Yuta beckons him over with the crook of his finger. He puts himself in his lover’s hands, shivering as Yuta skims his fingers up Roman’s sides as he pulls his shirt off, and throws it on the floor near the door. Yuta places his hands on the waistband of his sweatpants and looks into Roman’s eyes shyly.

“May I? Or do you want to do this part?”

Roman puts his hands on top of Yuta’s and pushes his pants down an inch or so, moving his hands to his baby’s face, stroking. He groans as Yuta kneels, taking his pants down to the floor and hears his lover gasp as he realizes Roman isn’t wearing underwear. Yuta keeps eye contact as he helps Roman step out of the pants, a small blush coloring his cheeks. Roman puts his hand down to help Yuta up, then takes his time stripping Yuta of his clothes and steps into the shower with him.

His lover refuses to let Roman do anything except tell him what product to use.

“Mox uses 2-in-1, and everyone else’s things are different. Seth and Mox told me you’re particular about your products, so I want to make sure I know what to use for you.”

Roman is speechless and can’t think of a response that doesn’t make him sound like he’s ready to sell his soul to Yuta. He chooses to kiss the life out of his baby instead while Yuta scrubs his body with a rag and his body wash only pulling away so Yuta can scrub his legs and thighs quickly.

“I love the smell of your body wash,” Yuta groans as he buries his face in Roman’s neck for a moment. “I can’t reach your hair though.” Yuta pouts as he backs away and looks up into Roman’s face.

His baby’s eyes grow wide, and his mouth drops as Roman turns around and gently kneels in front of Yuta.

“Does this work Baby Boy?” Roman looks back, smirking when he sees Yuta’s slack face and chuckles when his lover shakes his head to clear the cobwebs.

“Ye-Yeah that’s perfect, Big Dog.”

Roman growls lowly as Yuta buries his fingers in his long hair. He usually only lets Renee or Seth do this, sometimes even Regal, but Yuta is being so sweet and gentle trying not to hurt Roman. His baby listens attentively as he explains how he takes care of his hair in the shower, groaning deeply when he feels Yuta run the comb through his hair.

“I’m sorry, did that hurt? I was trying-“

“Shh, you’re okay baby, that definitely wasn’t a sound of pain. You’re doing perfect sweet boy.” Roman tips his head back to look up at Yuta and reaches his hand back to grab Yuta’s and gets him to continue.

Yuta finishes Roman’s hair and helps him stand back up. His lover tries to protest when Roman goes to give him the same treatment but lets him do as he pleases when Roman persists.

“Come on alofa (love), let’s get out, dry off, and eat something, if I know you, you haven’t had much today.”

Roman lets Yuta dry him off and after he does the same, they put on sweatpants but leave their chests bare. Yuta leaves him to finish his hair care to set up the food. Roman comes out to the food on the dresser and Yuta sitting on the edge of the bed with a comb and a hair tie.

“Come here and sit in front of me, Mox taught me to braid using Bryan, he said you like your hair braided and played with. Just tell me if I pull too hard or hurt you.” Yuta gets quiet for a second but continues. “I don’t want to make your night worse.” Roman walks over and grabs Yuta’s face, bending over and kissing him deeply, and he smiles when his baby whimpers as he pulls away.

“The only way you would make my night worse is if you left right now, not that I would let you, of course.” He chuckles and pecks a kiss on Yuta’s lips again. “If Mox taught you, it’ll be perfect, and I absolutely love your fingers and how they feel, especially in my hair.” Roman lifts Yuta’s hands and kisses his fingertips.

Yuta reaches back to grab a pillow and puts it on the floor so Roman is comfortable then helps Roman sit on the floor in front of him. Yuta makes quick work of the braid, face reddening each time Roman growls or moans when he tugs on the strands a certain way. Yuta finally reaches the end of the braid and wraps the hair tie around it, tugging gently so that Roman’s head is tipped back and kisses him on the forehead.

“All done, Chief, now let’s get some food and watch a movie, then maybe I’ll give you a massage if you’re lucky.”

Roman gets off the floor, going to grab the food from the dresser and a few drinks from the hotel’s refrigerator. He turns around and his heart stutters when he sees Yuta leaning against the headboard of the bed. He sets the food down by Yuta and grabs his phone from the side table.

“Don’t move baby, stay just like that.” Roman snaps a couple of photos while Yuta laughs and covers his face when he realizes what’s happening.

“Roman!” Yuta groans as his phone goes off with a text message to the Polycule group chat. “No more pictures, come sit with me and eat, Harry Potter is on and it’s almost over so that’s perfect.” Yuta pats the bed, urging Roman to come sit with him.

Roman laughs as Yuta tries the Musubi for the first time, having to tell him it’s okay if he doesn’t like it, kissing Yuta’s pout off his face.

“But it’s one of your favorites, Ro. I, at least, want to like it!”

“Seth hates it too, I don’t even think Claudio or Mox likes it either, maybe only Renee or Regal can eat it, they don’t love it but they like it.” Roman chuckles.

Dinner and Harry Potter pass without incident after Roman gets Yuta some leftovers from the fridge that he’s sure was one of the twins’ food, but they’ll get over it. Yuta ends up curled against Roman’s chest as they finish the movie, subconsciously drawing patterns on Roman’s chest and stomach. His fingers draw up his bigger lover’s chest to his neck, and he lets them bury themselves into Roman’s beard. Roman growls as Yuta scratches at his jaw and pets through his beard.

“Baby Boy, you are definitely not watching the movie.” Roman rumbles out.

“Hmm… no I’m not Chief, have I ever told you how much I love these greys in your beard?” Yuta asks as he nuzzles his nose along Roman’s jaw. “Why don’t you turn over and lay flat, alofa (love), I think you’ve earned that massage now.” Yuta whispers as he leans close to Roman’s ear, nipping at his earlobe sweetly.

“I think you were secretly sent to kill us all slowly, angelo (angel).” Roman groans out as he lies on his stomach.

“Kill you? No, more like torture, but none of the others would ever believe you, I’m too sweet to be found out.” Roman’s chuckle is cut off as Yuta seats himself on Roman’s lower back, grinding down slightly to tease him. “Oops, sorry about that, Big Dog.”

“The Devil, I swear.” Roman growls out, feeling a shiver roll down his back as Yuta runs his fingers down his back, leaning down to kiss the back of Roman’s neck.

“You’re so tense, Chief.”

Roman has no chance to answer as Yuta starts massaging his back in earnest, all playfulness put aside as his lover focuses on the knots in his back. Roman is sure he dozes off after a few minutes, waking back up when Yuta resettles on his back and puts lotion on him to help him relax further. He tries to move, but Yuta refuses to let him and lays down next to Roman on his back. He pulls Roman closer to him, leading him to lie on Yuta’s chest, scratching his back to get him back asleep.

“Shh rest alofa (love), get some sleep and I’ll be right here when you wake up tomorrow.” Roman does as he’s told without a fight, exhaustion suddenly overwhelming him.

Yuta grabs Roman’s phone from where it was thrown on the bed earlier, finding the group chat he needs.

OGs ❤️ (Roman’s Phone)

Me: It’s Yuta, got him relaxed and resting, I’ll call tomorrow

Tesoro 💙: Damn, you were definitely the right choice for calming him down, so proud of you baby

Cucciolo 🐺: Well shit Pup, you blow him?

Canada ❤️: Jon! Great work babe! Knew you could help him settle and relax! Let us know how you are tomorrow! We love you!

Cucciolo 🐺: What?! That’s what I would’ve done. Love ya Pup, get some rest too.

Tesoro 💙: Love you baby!

Me: Love y’all too, good night

Yuta sends off a quick text to the twins telling them the same thing and locks the phone, placing it on the table next to him. He looks at Roman, who is sleeping peacefully, and smiles, knowing that he is the reason that Roman is happy and content, at least for tonight. He can’t help but feel so in love with this man. He makes sure that Roman is comfortable on him, then lays back, relaxes, and closes his eyes, joining his lover in sleep.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy! Much love!! My brain wouldn't work for Chapter 3 of Do You Still Love Me? (but it is coming soon!) so I wrote this!

A HUGE thank you to @sinderellanightwolf, who I'm surprised hasn't gone crazy from getting 3AM messages from me, you have been such a huge help! And to IperOuranos who has been reading snippets of this for me as well! Also, @sarahcakes613, here's another Roman/Yuta for you!

[darktammy]

It’s My Decision (part 2)

don’t own this gif

Part 2 if you wanna be tag let me know don’t be shy. enjoy.

@sassymox​​​ @beenlovingromansincedayoneish​​​ @bss-babygirl​​​ @angiem91​​​ @acon1120​​​ @living-the-life-1996​ @moxslilangel2020​​​ @moxleybabe​​​ @adriennegabriella​​​ @jonmoxleygivesmelife​​​ @sausagefest1996​

You and Roman sat on the sofa in your place together, you were still trying to figure out what just happened. “I saw Ro, I just only met her yesterday the ring…” You look at your finger then back at him. “Y/n listen....I’m just like you lost for words, but you do know what’s going to happen right?” Roman looked with concern. You nodded your head at him.  “Right now I just need to find her and just finger this whole thing out now.” You explained to Roman. He nodded his head as you both looked back at the tv.

Seth was furious when he watched the news. “This bitch thinks she can one up me uh.” Becky sat next to him. “Seth babe let it go ok. If you keep this up then she’s going to win.” Seth looked at Becky with clam eyes. “Babe she bashed you, you think i’m going to sit here and take that?” Seth explained. She sighed as she looked down. “You know how much I hate Y/n. I think she might be doing this just to get back at us, but why have someone as big as Amy to do her dirty work?” Seth looked at Becky with a smile. “You know what baby you might be right. I should look into this whole thing and see who’s really using who.” Seth smiled as he gave Becky a kiss.

Amy was watching the news with a smile on her face. She looks at her phone to see her friends leaving her text messages saying congrats. She heard a knock at her door as one of the maids opened to see who it was. “Amy it’s me Tony.”  he said walking in. SHe smiled as she gave him a hug. “So what’s the pain of getting your fiance out of WWE?” She sighs as she looks at him. “Right now my lawyers are looking into it. She signed that contract knowly, but they said they found a loophole in it.” He nodded his head.  “Well my workers can’t wait to see her in there.” Tony said with a smile. “Hey Tony, claim down already.” Amy told him. “I can’t I mean look at it, my only cousin is going to finally get married? How could I. Oh and plus she’s going to be working with my brand, that just makes things even better.” Tony said with excitement. Amy shook her head.

Meanwhile you and Roman were both out having lunch together. “Hey baby girl slow down on the drinks.” He laughed a bit. You just had two glasses of jacks just to ease what was going on. “Yeah your right I should eat my burger and then the fries I guess.” As you start to eat your lunch you look up to see an old co-worker of yours. “Oh shit Ro.” He looked back to see Taker sitting by the bar. “Yeah I knew this was going to happen.” Roman said.  “Now you know why I’m here then?” Taker said as he turned to look at the both of you. You mumble as you take another shot of jacks.  

Tony and Amy were with the lawyers in court waiting for Vince to show with his lawyers. “I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen when they come.” Amy said. He looked at her with a smile. “He’ll come, I know because you called him out.” They both laughed as Cody walked in. “Hey Tony.” He smiled at Cody while Amy nodded. “I’m not going to miss this for the world.” Cody said with excitement. “Well rest assured my finance will be out of this hell hole that they put her in. I know she’ll be better off with you guys.” Amy assured both Tony and Cody. After an hour that has passed Vince with his son in law triple H both walk in with their attorneys. “Let the battle begin.” Amy said as they all walked into a small courtroom. 

Seth was sitting in his car waiting for you to show up to your home. He was parked no more than a block away from your building. “Alright, Y/n where are you.” As he was watching and waiting for you to show. You were walking down the block until you saw Seth’s car. “Oh you have got to be kidding me.” You said to yourself. Thank goodness there was a back door for you to enter. So you walk the back block just so Seth doesn't see you. As you entered the back of the building you made to the elevator and up to your floor. You walk to your door taking your keys out just so you can get in. Once inside you walk to your window to see Seth’s car still park up a block from your building. “Get a life loser.” You said as you closed your curtains. 

After a few hours of long deliberation Vince finally made an agreement with Amy. “Alright then I’ll let her go, but if she ever talks about my company I’ll sue her ass into the ground.” Vince told her. “Are you threatening my woman Vince?” Amy said with a claim voice. “Your damn right.” He said Triple H look at Vince then look down shaking his head. “Looks like we have another court date to meet with.” She said with a smile on her face. “She’s telling the truth you just threatened Y/n, and in the agreement that you just signed Mr.McMahon.” The judge showed Vince, “You can’t not have any one of your guys going after her speaking to her or even threatening her. Unless their family and in this case we know Roman is her foster brother so he's ok.” Vince looked back at Amy who had a smile on her face. “Well see you in court Mr.McMahon.”  Amy, Tony and Cody all got up with their attorney and walked out the room leaving both Vince and Triple H in shock.

You were eating some chinese food when your phone rang you looked to see it was Amy, you answered. “Hey babe, you have a lot of explaining to do with me.” you said in a low tone. “You sound sexy when you're mad. Listen I have good news you're free.” Amy said happily. You got up and started to look around your room. “What do you mean free?” you ask. Amy smiled, “You are free to join Tony in AEW now, now you can sign and join them.” You smiled as you started to up and down with joy. “Thank you Amy I’m so happy thank you so much I can’t wait to sign.” Tony was smiling, “Hey tomorrow morning will meet up have lunch and you can sign.” He said. You nodded as you looked down. “Yes, that would be great, thank you once again. Oh Amy?” You ask, “Yes darling?” Amy asks. “Uh you know what never mind. I’ll…” A loud knock was heard from your door. “Hey Amy how fast can you get here?” Your voice was enough for her to tell Tony to step on it to your home. “I’m on my way.” Amy yelled.

You start to walk to the door as you take a look through the peephole you saw Seth standing outside of your door. “Hey Y/n come on I know your home. You're the only one who would scream like if something good happens.” You were in shock as you started to add the other locks on your door. “Hey dollface, come one now let’s talk for a minute ok just me and you.” Seth tried to make his voice sound smooth. You move away from the door as you walk to the window hoping to see Amy’s car. You whisper to yourself “Seth go away please.” The knock on the door gets louder. “Hey Y/n open the fucking door already! I know that whole show your so called finance did online was fake, for what to get back at me for what did with Becky? Open the fuck door so we can talk.” He said 

You tried to black out the noise that was from the other side of your door. “Go away Seth!” You begged, but it was no good because Seth kept on bagging on your door. You close your eyes trying to block out the noise. You feel into your own little world because you couldn’t hear anything. You started crying from the noise reminding you from your past with your father when he used to beat your mother. The yelling, the shouting, hands beating on the door made you yell out. Then without you knowing  someone had already come in. You look up still dizzy with tears. “Hey Y/n are you alright?” You look at him for a minute then it hits you. “Tony?” You looked around and you saw a few more. “Roman is that you?” You ask. “I got her bro?” You look to see a man with blue eyes and short brown hair picking you up. You yelp little as you look at him. “Hey Y/n are you alright?” He asked. You just nodded as you closed your eyes. The last person you heard was Amy.” Y/n hey!”

Everyone was in the hospital due to the fact that you fainted. “This is not the first time this happened to her.” Roman spoke. Everyone in the room looked at him. “ She came from an abusive home. Her father beat her mother all the time.” Amy sat on the hospital bed where you were laying on. “My poor girl.” She said while holding your hand. Roman looks at Amy then at you. Her father was a friend of my dad’s so yeah you can say we're family. I mean after what happened with her mother.” Everyone look at Roman. “What happened with her mother?” Amy asks. Roman sigh. “When Y/n was just a teen, we walked home together. She asked me to come over to her house so we can do our history project together. Once when she opened the door we both saw something we thought we would only see in horror movies. I remember she let out blood curdling screams, when we saw her mother hanging upside down. Her inside body organs were cut, her eyes were rolled into the back of her head. Teeth, tongue lips were all gone.” 

Everyone in the room was quiet after roman described what happened with Y/n mother. “They were looking for her father after what happened. Turns out Y/n, father was selling organs on the black market. Fast cash, and the woman well his a shocker, that was never Y/n’s mother in the first place.” Everyone in the room looked at him. “Yeah they ran a DNA on the woman with her and it turns out all those years poor Y/n thought the woman she called mommy was never her mother.” Amy held you hand tight as she tried not to cry. “Hey Ro you sure you want to conute the rest?” Jon who was standing next to Roman the whole time pat Romans back. “Yeah I do if Amy wants to know about her.” Roman looked at her. Amy nodded.  

Her father was found three days later, he was looking for Y/n to take her away, but my family took her. She was sharing  a room with my sister at that time. Everyone was asleep except my dad, that man never sleeps like that. My sister got up because she thought she heard a noise so she walked out the room to go find our dad. The sound of glass breaking woke us up. My dad got up and ran up the stairs and all we heard was Y/n crying out for help. My dad thought fast grabbing him in a choke hold while he saw her trying to kill Y/n.” Amy looked at you while you were still asleep. “What did your father do to her dad?” Amy asks already knowing how it ends. “My father killed him by breaking his neck.” Roman said. Everyone in the room was dead silent. 

Roman walk right up to you. “After what happened we all moved out of the house we lived in, and right to Florida was our new home. Yes Y/n was adopted into the family and yes her last name is Anoa’i it’s not her father’s anymore.” He said with a smile. Cody had a smile on his face as he looked at you in the bed. “Damn I mean I have all but respect for your dad roman I really do.” Tony said. He nodded his head. “How did you guys know she was in trouble in the first place?” Roman looks at Tony. “I called Jon because I knew he was with you at the time me, Tony, and Amy were at court.” Jon nodded, “Yeah the way you sounded it was scary, but thank god we were having a few beers together.” Roman smirks a little. “I’m going to stay with her until she wakes up.” Amy said. 

“Sure just call me when she wakes up so that way we can find out what happened.” Roman said. Amy smiled at him while everyone walked out of the room leaving just you and Amy. “Now then my love, your mother was not your real mom.” She nodded her head as she started to think. “I think it’s time for me to dig into your past to find out who your real mother is.” She said as she looked at you.

[itsreigns]

Lost You - Part 2

Part 1

Seth Rollins x Reader

Seth and (Y/N) have been dating for awhile, even moved in together. But Seth has been growing apart from her… failing her. This time, (Y/N) reached her breaking point.

Requested by @tryingtofindaplaceinthisworld

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PART 2 

It’s been two weeks since you left. You’ve been living with your friend, Alyssa. She has been the absolute best. Even when you weren’t the best of companies, not even close. You still were moody… you still cried yourself to sleep, sometimes out of sadness, sometimes out of anger, other times out of both. 

You hated yourself for giving him that much importance, for allowing him to break you. You were never that type of girl. But with him… he worked his way through all your walls, carefully. So you just opened up your heart and let your guard down completely. You let him in 100%. 

Never again. 

Seth called you four or five times every day during the first week. You never picked up. He left voicemails. You never even heard them. He texted you. Those… you read, but never replied. Eventually, he stopped trying. 

‘Please, pick up the phone. I’m worried about you.’

‘Just hear me out. Please. That’s all I ask. Hear me.’

‘I can’t live in a world where you hate me. I just can’t.’

‘Just got home… You really came pick up your stuff when I wasn’t here. Even left your key. This isn’t home anymore. Not when you’re not here with me.’

‘I wanted to tell you this in person, but I can see now that I won’t ever have the chance. I’m sorry that I failed you. I wish I hadn’t ruined what he had, like I always do with anything that actually is important to me. I love you more than words can say. I just wanted you to know that. Goodbye, (Y/N).’

That was the last time he tried to contact you. That text broke you even more. This was the Seth you fell in love with, not the shell of Seth that had been living with you for the past couple of months. 

Alyssa’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts. “Are you even listening to me, girl?” The look on your face tells her that you weren’t. “(Y/N), you have to make a decision. You either listen to what he has to say, or you let him go. But you have to decide. Living like this is no option, and definitely not good or healthy for you.”

“I know.” You mumble, looking down at your hands. Alyssa keeps caressing your hair in understanding. “I just… I am so confused. So hurt. I honestly don’t know what to do.”

“Just… don’t overthink it. Things will be clear rather sooner than later.”

You nod in agreement, but the tightening, the weight in your chest, that uneasy feeling is still there. It never left since that day.

Alyssa went to work, but you had a day off today, so you just decided on staying home and get some rest. Maybe watch some cheesy movie or something. And you were exactly doing that when your phone started ringing. 

Unknown Number

Odd. Who could it be? 

Your mind wandered to Seth. But it couldn’t be him. He’d call you from his number. You take a deep breath before picking up.

“(Y/N)?” The voice on the other end of the line said. 

You feel your heart in throat, a lump forming, you’re not quite sure why. “Who is this?”

“It’s Becky.” She says, as if testing waters, but you can’t bring yourself to say anything. “I know you probably don’t want to talk to me too, but Seth is my best friend so… I’m worried sick about him.” First, you’re angry that she’s calling you, but now hearing her, your chest is tightening, anxiety setting in. “Have you heard from him lately? By lately, I mean today or yesterday?” 

You clear your throat, trying to find your voice. “Hm. I- No. I haven’t heard from him.” And then, you find the strength to say the word that ringing in your brain. “W-why?”

“Fuck!” She lets out. “I was hoping he had trying to contact you.” She really did sound desperate, and it was really making you nervous. “I- We had some time off this week. He went home two days ago and I didn’t hear from him ever since. I figured he’s just been resting, you know… because he hasn’t been so good… but it’s been two days and he never picked up his phone or replied to my messages. Mine or anyone’s for that matter. And that’s just not him.”

Your breath gets caught in your throat. And it was not pain, it was not anger. It was fear. You’re terrified that something happened to him. 

“(Y/N)? Are you there?” Becky calls, after a couple of seconds with no response.

“I- I am. I just… Fuck…” You’re so scared, your mind is racing, you can’t even organize your thoughts. “H- he didn’t really reach out? I mean, t- to any of you?”

“No… he didn’t text me or return my calls. Nor Roman’s.” She reaffirms. “I’m just worried that something happened. He- Well… He has been very down. Very sad. I’ve never seen him like that.”

Once again, you can’t manage to say anything. The silence deafening. Until Becky clears her throat and speaks again. “I just want you to know that nothing ever happened between me and him. He’s like a big brother to me. He’s family. That’s all. Plus, I would never do that to you. He would never do that to you. And I know for a fact that he loves you.” She explains, slowly and gently, as if waiting for it to reason you.

You take a deep breath, emotions taking over you. “You know that he… Seth, he really loves you. He’s just… complicated. But he loves you with all his heart.”

“I- I love him too. So fucking much.” You say in between a shaky breath, as a tear rolls down your face.

“I know you do.” She says simply.

Suddenly it hits you. You need to do something.  

“Look, I- I’ll call him. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to call him and he will be fine.” You say rapidly, trying to convince yourself more than her. “I’ll call you when I know something.”

Your hands are trembling, you can barely scroll down your contacts’ list. You finally reach his name. Without no hesitation, you press “call”. 

It beeped once.

Twice.

It keeps on beeping and nothing.

You’re starting to panic. Tears streaming down your face. “No, no, no, no. Pick up, pick up, pick up.” You keep repeating to yourself. 

It goes to voicemail so you give up and call Becky again. 

“He’s not picking up. He’s not picking up, Becky.” You tell her, your voice shaken by emotion and fear. You’re met with silence from the other end. Becky is at a loss for words. “That’s it. I’m going there. I’m going home.”

“Ok, but tell me as soon as you know anything. Please.” She pleads, you could tell she was worried sick too.

“Of course.” You assure her. “And Becky… thank you for calling me. Bye.”

With that, you grab you car keys and head fast to your home. Wherever Seth is, that’s home to you.

You finally get there. You walk all the way towards the front door, taking a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. 

It’s been a minute and no one opened the door. So you ring it again. And again. You’re growing agitated. 

You finally hear some movement inside. Some shuffling around, until the door finally fluttered open. 

He opens the door without even asking who it is, and walks back inside the house without doing it again. You walk quickly behind him, closing the door behind you.

“Seth.” You say gently as you reach and take ahold of his hand.

That was enough to make him pay attention. He turns to face you, looking like a deer in headlights. The look on his face is just… breaking your heart even more. He looks like himself, but there’s something about his eyes… they used to be so vivid, so happy, now they hold so much sadness. 

You keep your hand locked with his, and move your other hand to caress his bearded cheek gently. Once you do that, he tightens the hold on your locked hands. You had missed this so much. His touch. His skin on yours. His beard under your fingers. 

He looks so vulnerable… about to break down. You have never seen in like this. 

“You’ve been crying.” He mumbles softly, repeating the words he said on that same day. Even at his worst, he’s worried about you.

“Oh Seth…” You choke out, tears filling your eyes as you pull him into a tight hug. 

He takes a second to wrap his arms around you, but when he does, he holds you real tight. It’s only a few seconds until he starts sobbing uncontrollably. His whole body was tense and shaking. You’ve never seen him in this state.

“Let it all out, baby. I’m here. I’m here with you. You’re good. I’ve got you.” You say in a choked voice, trying to maintain your strength and be there for him.

“I’m so, so sorry.” He sobs, giving you a squeeze. “I’m a mess, I always ruin everything. I always ruin everything I touch. And God knows I didn’t want to ruin you.”

You pull back so you could face him, cradling his face in your hands. His eyes were red and puffy.  “You didn’t ruin me. I’m still standing.”

“But I hurt you. I hurt you so bad. You’re still standing, but you’re wounded.” He averts his gaze away from your, almost ashamed, as some more tears run down his cheeks. “I avoided you. I didn’t pay attention to you. I pushed you away… I fucking failed you, (Y/N). Roman and Becky… they warned me. They tried to set me straight. But...” He sighs deeply. “I always sabotage myself. I can’t do anything right. I was planning on marrying you, having kids with you. I had it all figured out, and I ruined it.” He lets out a sad chuckle. “And now I lost you.”

He breaks free from your hold and goes sit on the couch. Propping his elbows on his legs and resting his face on his hands, he takes a couple of deep breaths. You go and sit on the small table in front of him, caressing his knee gently. You didn’t say anything though, you feel like he had things he wanted to get off his system, so you just decided to give him time. 

After a couple of minutes in silence, he finally speaks again.

“You know… everyone expects so much of me. All the fucking time. I have so much pressure on me. To be perfect. Unflawed. And I’m none of those things. I’m fucking damaged.” He sighs once more, before continuing. “I just want to be me for a change. I don’t want to think about what people will say. I just want to live… to feel.”

“I love you with all your flaws, all your damage and all your scars. I love that you’re not perfect. You’re perfect in all your imperfection. You’re perfect to me.” You pause a bit to gain courage. “Those things you said, I wanted them too. All of them. With you. Marry the love of my life. Have a small baby running around the house calling you ‘daddy’.” His smile lit up with that last part. “And I’m sure you’d be the best daddy ever.”

Suddenly, his face grows serious. “C-Can I kiss you? Please, let me kiss you. Even if it’s the last t-”

In one motion, you kneel in front of him and press your lips to his. Hard and confidently.

When you pull away, you smile at each other. Then, you get up on your feet and pull him up right after. “Now, you and I are going to bed and sleep a bit, get some rest, because I am exhausted and I know you are too.” He smiles sweetly, and leaned in to press a kiss to your forehead before heading to your bedroom, hand in hand with you.

He goes to the bathroom first, so you use that time to message Becky, telling her that Seth’s ok and you’re with him, so she could stop worrying. You thanked her, yet again, for being a good friend and for reaching out.

Once Seth comes out, you set the phone on the nightstand and laid back on the bed, quickly being joined by Seth, who immediately pulled you closer to him.

“I missed you so much. I don’t ever want to be without you. Ever again. Ok?” He says, in a pleading manner, with his forehead pressed against yours. You nod affirmatively, reaching up and pecking him on the lips.

“Only if you never push me away again. I’m here for you, no matter what. Whatever bothers you, you come to me. No judgements.” You let him know your terms.

“Never again. I promise you.”

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Also follow up?

[nicolewoo]

Vacation

Pairing: Joe Anaoi X Reader (Roman Reigns X Reader)

It’s vacation time, but you and Joe are not alone.

Joe plopped down on an AV box, legs spread and clasped his hands between them. “So, how would you feel about getting out of town for a few days? I was thinking some beaches, palm trees and sun.”

I giggled as I said, “Joe, you just described your house.”

“Hmmm. Good point.” He laughed. “But I was thinking somewhere a bit more exotic. What do you say?”

“Bora Bora?” He knew it was a dream of mine to visit one of the resorts with the cabanas over the water.

He started shaking his head no. “Not this time, but I promise you, we will go there on our next vacation.” 

“Joe, I'm not sure I can get away. I've only been here a few months.” I said, but he stopped me by holding up his hand. 

“I'm not talking about missing any TV. We could leave right after Smackdown and come back on the next Thursday, so we won't miss any tapings; just house shows.” I started to say I wasn't sure the company would let me when he interrupted, “I've already cleared it with Paul.”

I just looked at him in shock. “You.... what? You asked Paul before me?”

He reached out and took my hands, pulling me between his legs until he was so close I could feel the heat coming off his body. “Baby, normally I would have talked to you first, but there were special circumstances that I'm not going to tell you about. I want to surprise you.”

A look into his eyes showed that he was sincere and really excited. I decided to let it drop. “So, you want to go on vacation with me, but I'm not allowed to know when or where?” I cocked an eyebrow up at him.

He just laughed. “Three weeks from now. April 30th to May 5th .  I'd just like to keep the destination a surprise. What do you say?” He gave me his puppy dog eye look.

I just giggled. “I guess if it's ok with Paul....”

His bright smile made me so happy. “Great!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 After Smackdown, we flew to Miami, and then took a car to a small airport, and by ���small” I mean small! There were only 3 private jets in view from the parking lot. The driver gathered our bags and followed us into the airport, stopping at a little lounge with two people and a bartender.

Joe walked up to the table, standing behind the man and said, “Don't believe a word he's saying.” to the woman seated across from him.

The man in question stood up and hugged Joe. It. Was. The. Rock. I freaked out internally, and tried to compose myself externally. I'd met him once backstage briefly, but hadn't had more than a brief greeting.

Joe went to hug Lauren while Dwayne came to me. “Y/N.” We exchanged handshakes. “This is my wife Lauren.” He really was as charming as he looks on TV. I shook hands with Lauren

“So, we're ready to go when you guys are.” Dwayne told us.

“Then let's hit the road, so to speak.” Joe said.

While signaling for the check, Dwayne texted the pilot. And with that we were off on a private jet. We settled down on plush seats as the plane's engine began, and 15 minutes later we took off. “Good evening everyone.” The Pilot's voice rang out of a speaker. “I understand that one of our guests doesn't know where we are going, and I'd like to assure her that she won't hear it from me.” The pilot chuckled as well as Joe, Lauren and Dwayne.  I had to pretend to be frustrated, and shook my head as the pilot continued. “The weather is looking very good tonight, and we're expecting an easy flight. You're attendants tonight are Becka and Jennifer. We'll reach our cruising altitude in about 10 minutes. After that, feel free to walk about the plane. Our flight time is expected to be 14 hours and 38 minutes. After we've reached cruising altitude, Becka and Jennifer will serve a light dinner before preparing the plane for you to sleep on the journey.” The speaker clicked off.

“Really? When do you plan on telling me where we are going?” I put my hand on Joe's.

“I believe I have the answer to that,” Dwayne teased. “You'll find out at the last possible minute.” He grinned big. I rolled my eyes, but smiled when Joe turned his hand over and interlaced our fingers.

Lauren asked, “So, I understand you two were friends for a while. I want to hear all about it. I'm a sucker for a good romantic story.” She leaned forward a bit in interest.

“Tell the truth,” Dwayne smirked. “You had to make the first move, right?” He laughed.

“No.” I chuckled. I turned to Joe, “Tell him.” I listened as Joe recounted the past few months from his point of view. He'd remembered details I didn't, like what I was wearing when we met. It was so sweet to hear his perspective on everything.

As meals were served, Dwayne recounted his relationship with Lauren. I was impressed with just how romantic The Rock was, and I was overwhelmed with joy for them.

After dinner, Dwayne and Lauren went to a bedroom at the back of the plane while the attendants prepared the cabin. It turned out our chairs laid all the way down, and with a little insert between our seats, it became a little twin bed. We'd be very cozy, but I didn't mind that one bit. Once the bedding was finished, the attendants left us to sleep.

We both crashed. 13 hours of uninterrupted sleep time. We were looking forward to that as much as the vacation. Joe laid down and I curled up in his arms.

I became aware that the lights were getting brighter, and I pulled a blanket up to shield my eyes.

“Up and at em!” A big booming voice said after a minute. It was Dwayne. “Are you two going to sleep the day away? Come on! It's breakfast time.”

Good grief, he was too damn cheery in the morning. “Ok. Ok.” Joe said to Dwayne.“You kids can use the bathroom off our bedroom to clean up.” Dwayne said as we started to stir.

“Baby girl?” Joe said as he offered me his hand to get up.

I reluctantly trudged my way to the back of the plane with my carry-on. After brushing our teeth, fixing my makeup and Joe putting in his contacts, we were ready.

“It felt amazing to sleep that long. I can't remember the last time I did that.” I admitted to Joe as we entered the main cabin.

He agreed right as we took our seats, that the attendants had turned back into seats.

“Did you guys sleep well? Was the bed big enough?” Lauren asked, obviously concerned about the tight accommodations.

I smiled warmly at her, “Are you kidding? That's the longest we've slept since before we met. It was wonderful!” I reassured her, and Joe agreed.

“Attention passengers, this is your captain. We hope you all slept well on our flight. We will be arriving at our destination in about an hour.”

[tsukking]

For the first time I decided I’d be greedy The next day, and the next year You’ll be with me forever. Wanna live together? 

- Rum, H&H Roman Company, side story 4 

/It was nice knowing you all *ugly sobbing*/

[oddlyunadventurous]

BOOK REPORT 2020

I’ve always been a sparse reader but 2018 and 19 had me accelerate my reading habits to the point that I think I’ve read the most books this year that I ever had. I suppose I’ll count them all here, just to make sure!! I said something or other about the Moomin books at the end of last year’s Inkt*b*r so, this being the month of traditions, let’s make a new one by tallying up my literary “yays” and “nays” at the end of the season.

Video game text boxes don’t count, online publication articles don’t count, psych/aesthetic papers and 1000 page biosemiotic textbooks don’t count, but they have sure pursued me in my sleep during the year as well. This list is really mostly for my benefit (and no I won’t get a Goodreads account tyvm), so under the cut you’ll find a list of titles in roughly the order I read them, along with short notes. I’ve done longer reviews of these books elsewhere and I need not bore you with them here. 

K. Stanislavski - An Actor Prepares (1936) I started reading this book in 2012, then dropped it because I couldn’t understand it at the time. Kostya attends acting school and gets lessons from The Director. He learns to sleep like his cat.

K. Stanislavski - Building a Character (1949) Supposed to have been published along the first one in a single volume. Kostya continues his lessons. A lot of thoughts on walking, gaits, eloquent speech, phrasing, etc. Both these books are wonderful looks into the author’s artistic life. It’s very heartfelt and down to earth, considering it’s quasi-fiction made to edutain. Very inspiring.

M. Polanyi - The Tacit Dimension (1966)  A book on the origin of knowledge, the integrated performance of skills, the emergence of life and other phenomena in the universe, marginal control between levels of reality, the moral death of the communist regime caused by the unbridled lucidity of the Enlightenment, the responsibilities of science, and thoughts about open societies of the future. This is one of the two shortest books I’ve read in the list, it covers all of this under 130 pages and manages to do it well.

B. Rainov - Eros and Thanatos (1971) A communist propaganda book attacking western mass media and escapist culture. It gets no points for being correct, as the author mostly swiped the truths from french philosophers. Very variable in its intellectual prowess, almost as if it picks its arguments in order to push an agenda. Informative but also infuriating. Also expectedly homophobic.

J. Hoffmeyer - Signs of Meaning in the Universe (1997) A somewhat pop-sciency book about biosemiotics. Forgettable but also humbly written and explicative.

A. Noë - Varieties of Presence (2012) An unimpressive book about sensory perception. Noë’s theory on sensorimotor action is worth considering but the book is poorly edited and mostly spent arguing with peers.

E. Fudge - Quick Cattle & Dying Wishes (2018) A look into a registry of last wills and testaments from the period 1630 - 1650 in Essex. The book is about early modern people’s relationship to their animals and what they meant to them in life, as well as in death. Fudge’s argumentation is sharp and her style is modern. Being a scholarly book it is really overwhelming with the footnotes sometimes, but otherwise satisfying. One gets beautiful glimpses of family relationships, thoughts and feelings that people now dead for 400 years once held.

G. Márquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) The Buendia family get all their sons killed. The Banana Company sucks. People love each other. A lot happens, generally. It is a hundred years, after all. The upper class sucks.

K. Polanyi - The Great Transformation (1944) The Industrial Revolution sucked. England sucks. It reduced all its workers to subhuman wretches. Every single decision made after the empiricists made labour and land fictional commodities has been a band-aid to the essential contradiction that the market economy wants to annihilate its human host. Laissez-faire sucks. It caused WW1. Fuck everything. Fun book.

R. Coyne - Peirce of Architects (2019) Talks about architecture and the ideas of logician/father of pragmatism Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914). Informative about both. Brisk and not very in-depth, but to its benefit rather than its detriment.

R. Williams - Culture and Society (1958) A survey of the 18th and 19th century England, and the emergence of the concept of “culture” as defence against the horrors that the Industrial Revolution inflicted upon society. Consists of some two dozen outlines of contributors to the romanticist tradition, from Adam Smith, through Ruskin, to Orwell, their beliefs, contributions and literary works. Very eloquent and interesting.

E. Fudge -  Brutal Reasoning (2006) A fantastic book about much: early modern views of the difference between a human and an animal, the Christian discourse of reason, the logical fallacies that lead to its implosion, the advantageous use of dehumanisation by imperialists in other to genocide natives, Montague and Shakespeare, and the ethical hell of animal murder that led Descartes to deem animals as machines so as to allow his buddies to perform live vivisections on dogs without feeling guilty about it (this is the real reason, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise). There is even space for an entire chapter about an intelligent horse who could tell a virgin from a whore and learned Latin at Oxford. This is my favorite book I read this year, so it gets an extra long review.

R. Williams - The Long Revolution (1961) A sequel to Culture and Society that’s worse. The start and end are brilliant but the middle sags. It contains some historical reviews of English cultural elements, like the newspaper industry, the Standard English vernacular and the realist novel of the 19th century, but honestly if the book was just about about the creative state (intro) and Marxism (outro) it would’ve been fine, if not better.

P. Klee - The Thinking Eye (1956 & 1964) Bauhaus boy in 1920s Germany! Love you Klee, xoxo. You really have to read his thoughts to understand his work imho. You can appreciate it just fine on the surface level, but his completely eccentric (though very self-consistently logical and sharp) views on art creation open a new outlook into his primitive approach.

F D.K. Ching - Architecture: Form, Space & Order (1979)  A staple book for architecture students. Or so I hear. Steeped in gestalt psychology. Very good, though not necessarily stuff I don’t know already. Very nice looking pencil illustrations, Ching looks to be an accomplished technical draughtsman.

H. Wölfflin - Principles of Art History (1915) A strong contender for second place in the tier list. The book examines the transition between Classical to Baroque in Italy and Germany (and all the Germany clones, like the Netherlands). It is a systematic, precise aesthetic treatise that reveals much by conceptualizing and grouping characteristic art features in which the two styles differ, then explaining their bearing on their decorative content as well as the outlook on life that they embody. Lovely.

M. Porter -  Windows of the Soul: The Art of Physiognomy in European Culture 1470-1780 (2005) A historiographical treatise about early modern views on physiognomy. The book deals mainly with the extant literature on the subject and tries to gleam what it could mean for the customs at the time - palmistry reading, occultism, persecution of the “gypsies” and the Christian scientific project of attaining meaning. Macro- and microcosms, as above so below, hermeticism, that sort of stuff. It’s an interesting read but it’s too long, the quality of writing varies greatly from chapter to chapter, and it is far too expensive. Wouldn’t recommend it.

S. C.Figueiredo -  Inventing Comics: A New Translation of Rodolphe Töpffer's Reflections on Graphic Storytelling, Media Rhetorics, & Aesthetic Practice (2017) This is the shortest book I read, mainly translating Töpffer’s 1845 "Essay on Physiognomy" along with giving his biography and some other paraphernalia. It’s not worth the price for the content contained within, but  Töpffer is the father of the modern comic book, so I thought I’d learn what his philosophy was. On that front, at least, very interesting! If only I knew French I’d save myself the trouble and read the original, which is now public domain.

D. Bayles - Art & Fear (1985) A useless self-help book. Not entirely bullshit but completely banal from all angles. Shouldn’t even be on this list but I did read it, so...

I. Allende - The House of the Spirits (1982) A child rapist gets a redemption arc. Well, kind of. All women are queens. Men are awful. The poor are wretches and it’s their fault. Oh no, the communists are going to take our land! Pinochet’s concentration camps sucked. Overall a better magical realism book than 100 Years of Solitude, to be honest. Very well written characters.

R. Arnheim -To the Rescue of Art: Twenty-Six Essays (1992) What it says on the tin. Wide range of subjects, from art appreciation, to schizophrenic and autistic child art, to gestalt psychology, to philosophy of science, to Picasso’s Guernica and the fate of abstract art, to reflections on the 20th century and the writer’s life in pre-nazi Germany and America. I love Arnheim, I’ve read many of his books and I’m glad I picked this one up.

R. Arnheim - Film as Art (1957) A book about cinematography, one of his earliest, actually, mostly a personal translation from an original German book he published in 1933. Somewhat outdated, but foundational. Not as informative to me but I don’t regret reading it.

G. E. Lessing - Laocoon; or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry (1766) A book by a greekaboo about a fucking dumb poem and a statue of a naked dad and his two sons getting fucked by snakes. It’s misogynistic and authoritarian in several places, and altogether awfully full of itself. 100 pages of interesting observations stretched over 400 pages of boring Greco-Roman literary discourse.

L. Tolstoy - Childhood, Boyhood, Youth (1852, 1854, 1856) One story serialized in a magazine then later collated in three separate books. Aristocrat boy grows up in pre-revolution Russia. A very, very relatable coming-of-age story. Tolstoy is a lovely writer.

F. Dostoevsky - Poor Folk (1846) An epistolary novel consisting of letters between literally Dobby from Harry Potter and his maybe-niece, whom he wants to fuck. Starts bad, gets better by the end. A bit rough and tumble for Dostoevsky’s first, so I forgive him for wasting my time a little bit. A decent character study of the middle/lower classes, at least.

L. Tolstoy - Family Happiness (1859) An amazing romance novel for the skill employed in writing it. It is very short yet delivers so much emotion. Rather simple narrative at its core, but executed with such bravado one cannot help but be impressed.

F. Dostoevsky - The Double (1846) In which the Author starts swinging. A pathetic, neurodivergent old man gets used and abused by the people around him and nobody cares. Satirical and biting, better than his first.

A. Lindgren - Pippi Longstocking (1945) I last read this when I was 6 years old so I thought I’d refresh my memory. I remember disliking the book then and I can see why. Pippi’s kind of an asshole. Still very enjoyable to read. I know it’s meant for a younger audience’s reading level yet I cannot help comparing it with Tove Jansson’s books and how much better the prose in there is. Sorry.

***

I think that about rounds them up! That’s about 30 books, give or take. For next year I’m hoping to:

Finish Tolstoy’s and Dostoevsky’s bibliographies

Read more econ and marxist writing (low personal priority but i have to, in THIS economy *rolls eyes*)

Finish the Tintin and Moomin comics, as well as Jhonen Vasquez’s collection of edgy humor

Read more about botany and biology in general

Get started on Faulkner’s and William Golding’s bibliographies

Read more children’s books

Search for more Latin American fiction from the Boom

Read more psych/aesthetics/pedagogy literature, which seems to have become my main area of interest

Thanks for sticking till the end of the list, hope you’ve learned something and maybe you’ll pick one of these up if it took your interest. I don’t have to be a philistine just because I’m drawing video game fanart! Bye now!

[phantomtutor]

SOLUTION AT Academic Writers Bay ‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬ ‫وزارة التعليم‬ ‫الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية‬ Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education Saudi Electronic University College of Administrative and Financial Sciences Assignment-3 MGT422 – Business Ethics and Organizational Social Responsibility Deadline: 04/12/2021 @ 23:59 Course Name: Business Ethics and Organizational Social Student’s Name: Responsibility Course Code: MGT422 Student’s ID Number: Semester: 1 CRN: Academic Year: 1442/1443 H For Instructor’s Use only Instructor’s Name: Dr. Zahra Ghali Students’ Grade: Marks Obtained/Out of Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY • The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated folder. • Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted. • Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page. • Students must mention question number clearly in their answer. • Late submission will NOT be accepted. • Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions. • All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism). • Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted. Course Learning Outcomes-Covered Aligned PLOs Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) MGT.M.3.2 The capacity to write coherent project about a case study or an actual research about ethics General Motors’ Failure to Consider Stakeholders General Motors (GM) has struggled with its brands and its image. Over the years, it has jettisoned some of its once-popular brands, including Oldsmobile and Pontiac, sold many others, and climbed back from a 2009 bankruptcy and reorganization. The automaker was hiding an even bigger problem, however: The ignition switch in many of its cars was prone to malfunction, causing injury and even death. The faulty switches caused 124 deaths and 273 injuries, and GM was finally brought to federal court. In 2014, the company reached a settlement for $900 million and recalled 2.6 million cars. The case exemplifies the tension between the concept that “the only goal of business is to profit, so the only obligation that the businessperson has is to maximize profit for the owner or the stockholders” on one hand, and the ethical obligations a company owes to its other stakeholders on the other. GM’s failure to consider its stakeholders and consumers when choosing not to report the potential for malfunction of the ignition switches led to an ethical breakdown in its operations and cost the company and its customers dearly. In addition, by treating customers as only a means toward an end, the company turned its back on a generation of loyal buyers. Case Questions 1. What virtues and values shared by its long-time customers did General Motors betray by failing to disclose an inherent danger built into its cars? (Not less than 600 words) 2.5Marks 2. How do you think that betrayal affected the company’s brand and the way car buyers felt about the firm? How might it have affected its shareholders’ views of GM? (Not less than 600 words) 2.5-Marks E1FTOC 07/09/2010 Page 4 E1FFIRS 07/09/2010 Page 1 MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS Straight Talk About How To Do It Right Fifth Edition LINDA KLEBE TREVIÑO Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior and Ethics Smeal College of Business The Pennsylvania State University KATHERINE A. NELSON Lecturer Fox School of Business Temple University JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. E1FFIRS 07/09/2010 Page 2 VP & PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT MARKETING MANAGER MEDIA EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER ASSISTANT PRODUCTION EDITOR COVER DESIGNER COVER PHOTO CREDIT George Hoffman Lise Johnson Sarah Vernon Chelsea

Theis Karolina Zarychta Allison Morris Janis Soo Yee Lyn Song RDC Publishing Group Sdn Bhd Photo provided courtesy of Greg Kuhnen This book was set in 10/12 Times Roman by Thomson Digital, and printed and bound by Courier Westford. The cover was printed by Courier Westford. 1 This book is printed on acid free paper. ! Copyright # 2011, 2007, 2004, 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, website www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, (201)748-6011, fax (201)748-6008, website http://www.wiley. com/go/permissions. Evaluation copies are provided to qualified academics and professionals for review purposes only, for use in their courses during the next academic year. These copies are licensed and may not be sold or transferred to a third party. Upon completion of the review period, please return the evaluation copy to Wiley. Return instructions and a free of charge return shipping label are available at www.wiley.com/go/returnlabel. Outside of the United States, please contact your local representative. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Treviño, Linda Klebe. Managing business ethics : straight talk about how to do it right / Linda Klebe Treviño, Katherine A. Nelson. – 5th ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-470-34394-4 (pbk.) 1. Business ethics. 2. Business ethics–Case studies. I. Nelson, Katherine A. II. Title. HF5387.T734 2010 1740 .4–dc22 2010020659 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 E1FTOC 07/09/2010 Page 3 BRIEF CONTENTS SECTION I CHAPTER 1 SECTION II CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS: WHERE WE’RE GOING AND WHY 2 ETHICS AND THE INDIVIDUAL DECIDING WHAT’S RIGHT: A PRESCRIPTIVE APPROACH 38 DECIDING WHAT’S RIGHT: A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH 71 ADDRESSING INDIVIDUALS’ COMMON ETHICAL PROBLEMS 111 SECTION III MANAGING ETHICS IN THE ORGANIZATION CHAPTER 5 ETHICS AS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CHAPTER 6 MANAGING ETHICS AND LEGAL COMPLIANCE CHAPTER 7 MANAGING FOR ETHICAL CONDUCT CHAPTER 8 ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF MANAGERS 150 207 255 292 SECTION IV ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CHAPTER 9 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 322 CHAPTER 10 ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF ORGANIZATIONS 354 CHAPTER 11 MANAGING FOR ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN A GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT INDEX 399 449 iii E1FTOC 07/09/2010 Page 4 E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 Page 5 CONTENTS PREFACE XIII SECTION I INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS: WHERE WE’RE GOING AND WHY Introduction 2 The Financial Disaster of 2008 4 Borrowing Was Cheap 4 Real Estate Became the Investment of Choice 5 Mortgage Originators Peddled ‘‘Liar Loans’’ 5 Banks Securitized the Poison and Spread It Around 6 Those Who Were Supposed to Protect Us Didn’t 7 Moving Beyond Cynicism 9 Can Business Ethics Be Taught 13 Aren’t Bad Apples the Cause of Ethical Problems in Organizations? 13 Shouldn’t Employees Already Know the Difference between Right and Wrong? Aren’t Adults’ Ethics Fully Formed and Unchangeable? 16 This Book is about Managing Ethics in Business 19 Ethics and the Law 20 Why Be Ethical? Why Bother? Who Cares? 21 Individuals Care about Ethics: The Motivation to be Ethical 21 Employees Care about Ethics Employee Attraction and Commitment 23 Managers Care about Ethics 23 Executive Leaders Care about Ethics 24 Industries Care about

Ethics 26 Society Cares about Ethics: Business and Social Responsibility 27 The Importance of Trust 27 The Importance of Values 29 How the Book is Structured 30 Conclusion 32 Discussion Questions 32 2 15 v E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 vi Page 6 CONTENTS Exercise: Your Cynicism Quotient Notes 34 33 SECTION II ETHICS AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHAPTER 2 DECIDING WHAT’S RIGHT: A PRESCRIPTIVE APPROACH 38 Introduction 38 Ethical Dilemmas 38 Prescriptive Approaches to Ethical Decision Making in Business 39 Focus on Consequences (Consequentialist Theories) 40 Focus on Duties, Obligations, and Principles (Deontological Theories) Focus on Integrity (Virtue Ethics) 46 Eight Steps to Sound Ethical Decision Making in Business 52 Step One: Gather the Facts 52 Step Two: Define the Ethical Issues 52 Step Three: Identify the Affected Parties (the Stakeholders) 53 Step Four: Identify the Consequences 54 Step Five: Identify the Obligations 56 Step Six: Consider Your Character and Integrity 56 Step Seven: Think Creatively about Potential Actions 57 Step Eight: Check Your Gut 58 Practical Preventive Medicine 58 Doing Your Homework 58 When You’re Asked to Make a Snap Decision 59 Conclusion 61 Discussion Questions 62 Exercise: Clarifying Your Values 63 Case: Pinto Fires 64 Notes 69 CHAPTER 3 DECIDING WHAT’S RIGHT: A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH 71 Introduction 71 Ethical Awareness and Ethical Judgment 71 Individual Differences, Ethical Judgment, and Ethical Behavior Ethical Decision-Making Style 76 Cognitive Moral Development 77 Locus of Control 84 Machiavellianism 85 75 42 E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 Page 7 CONTENTS Moral Disengagement 86 Facilitators of and Barriers to Good Ethical Judgment 88 Thinking about Fact Gathering 88 Thinking about Consequences 89 Thinking about Integrity 91 Thinking about Your Gut 93 Unconscious Biases 94 Emotions in Ethical Decision Making 95 Toward Ethical Action 97 Revisiting the Pinto Fires Case: Script Processing and Cost-Benefit Analysis Cost-Benefit Analysis 103 Conclusion 105 Exercise: Understanding Cognitive Moral Development 105 Discussion Questions 106 Notes 107 CHAPTER 4 ADDRESSING INDIVIDUALS’ COMMON ETHICAL PROBLEMS 111 Introduction 111 Identifying Your Values—and Voicing Them 112 People Issues 114 Discrimination 115 Harassment, Sexual and Otherwise 119 Conflicts of Interest 122 What Is It? 123 How We Can Think about This Issue 125 Why Is It an Ethical Problem? 126 Costs 126 Customer Confidence Issues 127 What Is It? 127 How We Can Think about This Issue 131 Why Is It an Ethical Problem? 131 Costs 131 Use of Corporate Resources 132 What Is It? 132 How We Can Think about This Issue 136 Why Is It an Ethical Problem? 136 Costs 136 When All Else Fails: Blowing the Whistle 137 When Do You Blow the Whistle? 139 How to Blow the Whistle 140 Conclusion 145 Discussion Questions 145 Notes 147 102 vii E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 viii Page 8 CONTENTS SECTION III MANAGING ETHICS IN THE ORGANIZATION CHAPTER 5 ETHICS AS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 150 Introduction 150 Organizational Ethics as Culture 151 What Is Culture? 151 Strong versus Weak Cultures 151 How Culture Influences Behavior: Socialization and Internalization 152 Ethical Culture: A Multisystem Framework 153 Alignment of Ethical Culture Systems 154 Ethical Leadership 156 Executive Leaders Create Culture 156 Leaders Maintain or Change Organizational Culture 157 Other Formal Cultural Systems 166 Selection Systems 166 Values and Mission Statements 168 Policies and Codes 169 Orientation and Training Programs 171 Performance Management Systems 172 Organizational Authority Structure 175 Decision-Making Processes 178 Informal Cultural Systems 180 Role Models and Heroes 180 Norms: ‘‘The Way We Do Things around Here’’ 182 Rituals 182 Myths and Stories 183 Language 185 Organizational Climates: Fairness, Benevolence, Self-Interest, Principles 187 Developing and Changing the Ethical Culture 188 How an Ethical Culture Can Become an Unethical Culture 189 Becoming a More Ethical Culture 190 A Cultural Approach to Changing

Organizational Ethics 192 Audit of the Ethical Culture 193 A Cultural Systems View 193 A Long-Term View 194 Assumptions about People 194 Diagnosis: The Ethical Culture Audit 194 Ethical Culture Change Intervention 196 The Ethics of Managing Organizational Ethics 198 Conclusion 198 Discussion Questions 198 E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 Page 9 CONTENTS Case: Culture Change at Texaco 199 Case: An Unethical Culture in Need of Change: Tap Pharmaceuticals Notes 203 CHAPTER 6 201 MANAGING ETHICS AND LEGAL COMPLIANCE 207 Introduction 207 Structuring Ethics Management 208 Making Ethics Comprehensive and Holistic 210 Managing Ethics: The Corporate Ethics Office 211 Ethics and Compliance Officers 212 The Ethics Infrastructure 214 The Corporate Ethics Committee 215 Communicating Ethics 215 Basic Communications Principles 216 Evaluating the Current State of Ethics Communications 219 Multiple Communication Channels for Formal Ethics Communication 220 Interactive Approaches to Ethics Communication at USAA 222 Mission or Values Statements 224 Organizational Policy 226 Codes of Conduct 227 Communicating Senior Management Commitment to Ethics 227 Formal and Informal Systems to Resolve Questions and Report Ethical Concerns Using the Reward System to Reinforce the Ethics Message 238 Evaluating the Ethics Program 239 Surveys 240 Values or Compliance Approaches 242 Globalizing An Ethics Program 243 Conclusion 245 Discussion Questions 245 Case: Improving an Ethical Culture at Georgia-Pacific 247 Appendix: How Fines Are Determined under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines 252 Notes 253 CHAPTER 7 MANAGING FOR ETHICAL CONDUCT 255 Introduction 255 In Business, Ethics Is about Behavior 255 Practical Advice for Managers: Ethical Behavior 256 Our Multiple Ethical Selves 256 The Kenneth Lay Example 257 The Dennis Levine Example 259 Practical Advice for Managers: Multiple Ethical Selves 259 Rewards and Discipline 260 People Do What’s Rewarded and Avoid Doing What’s Punished 260 People Will Go the Extra Mile to Achieve Goals Set by Managers 261 235 ix E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 x Page 10 CONTENTS How Goals Combined with Rewards Can Encourage Unethical Behavior Practical Advice for Managers: Goals, Rewards and Discipline 263 Recognize the Power of Indirect Rewards and Punishments 264 Can Managers Really Reward Ethical Behavior? 266 What about the Role of Discipline? 267 Practical Advice for Managers: Discipline 269 ‘‘Everyone’s Doing It’’ 270 People Follow Group Norms 270 Rationalizing Unethical Behavior 270 Pressure to Go Along 271 Practical Advice for Managers: Group Norms 271 People Fulfill Assigned Roles 272 The Zimbardo Prison Experiment 273 Roles at Work 274 Conflicting Roles Can Lead to Unethical Behavior 275 Roles Can Also Support Ethical Behavior 275 Practical Advice for Managers: Roles 276 People Do What They’re Told 276 The Milgram Experiments 277 Obedience to Authority at Work 279 Practical Advice for Managers: Obedience to Authority 279 Responsibility Is Diffused in Organizations 279 ‘‘Don’t Worry—We’re Taking Care of Everything’’ 280 Diffusing Responsibility in Groups 280 Diffusing Responsibility by Dividing Responsibility 281 Diffusing Responsibility by Creating Psychological Distance 282 Practical Advice for Managers: Personal Responsibility 283 Conclusion 284 Discussion Questions 285 Case: Sears, Roebuck, and Co.: The Auto Center Scandal 285 Notes 289 CHAPTER 8 ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF MANAGERS Introduction 292 Managers and Employee Engagement 292 Managing the ‘‘Basics’’ 295 Hiring and Work Assignments 295 Performance Evaluation 296 Discipline 299 Terminations 301 Why Are These Ethical Problems? 303 Costs 303 Managing a Diverse Workforce 304 Diversity 305 292 262 E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 Page 11 CONTENTS Harassment 306 Family and Personal Issues 307 Why Are These Ethical Problems? 309 Costs 309 The Manager as a Lens 310 The Buck Stops with Managers 310 Managers Are Role Models 313 Managing Up and Across 314 Honesty Is Rule One 315 Standards Go Both Ways 315 Conclusion 316 Discussion

Questions 317 Notes 318 SECTION IV ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CHAPTER 9 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 322 Introduction 322 Why Corporate Social Responsibility? 322 Types of Corporate Social Responsibility 329 Economic Responsibilities 329 Legal Responsibilities 330 Ethical Responsibilities 330 Philanthropic Responsibilities 331 Triple Bottom Line and Environmental Sustainability 334 Is Socially Responsible Business Good Business? 337 The Benefit of a Good Reputation 338 Socially Responsible Investors Reward Social Responsibility 338 The Cost of Illegal Conduct 339 The Cost of Government Regulation 340 What the Research Says about Social Responsibility and Firm Performance Being Socially Responsible Because It’s the Right Thing to Do 346 Conclusion 348 Discussion Questions 348 Case: Merck and River Blindness 349 Notes 351 CHAPTER 10 ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF ORGANIZATIONS Introduction 354 Managing Stakeholders 355 354 343 xi E1FTOC1 07/09/2010 xii Page 12 CONTENTS Ethics and Consumers 356 Conflicts of Interest 357 Product Safety 365 Advertising 369 Ethics and Employees 373 Employee Safety 374 Employee Downsizings 378 Ethics and Shareholders 381 Ethics and the Community 386 Why Are These Ethical Issues 388 Costs 388 Conclusion 389 Discussion Questions 389 Notes 394 CHAPTER 11 MANAGING FOR ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT 399 Introduction 399 Focus on the Individual Expatriate Manager 400 The Difficulties of Foreign Business Assignments 400 The Need for Structure, Training, and Guidance 400 Foreign Language Proficiency 401 Learning about the Culture 401 Recognizing the Power of Selective Perception 403 Assumption of Behavioral Consistency 404 Assumption of Cultural Homogeneity 404 Assumption of Similarity 405 Ethics-Related Training and Guidance 405 How Different Are Ethical Standards in Different Cultures—Really? 411 Development of Corporate Guidelines and Policies for Global Business Ethics The Organization in a Global Business Environment 417 Deciding to Do Business in a Foreign Country 417 Development of a Transcultural Corporate Ethic 425 Conclusion 429 Discussion Questions 429 Case: Selling Medical Ultrasound Technology in Asia 431 Case: Google Goes to China 434 Appendix: Caux Round Table Principles for Business 440 Notes 444 INDEX 449 413 E1PREF 07/09/2010 Page 13 PREFACE WHY DOES THE WORLD NEED ANOTHER BUSINESS ETHICS TEXT? The popular business press is replete with feature stories describing ethical meltdowns and how those corporate misdeeds have eroded the public trust of business leaders and their organizations. As most of us learned at our parents’ knees, trust and reputation are built over many years and take but an instant to be destroyed. So here we stand at a crossroads. Is it going to be business as usual for business? Or are businesspeople going to commit to regaining the trust of our peers, our families, and our fellow citizens? In response to this crisis of trust, universities across the country are scrambling to design new courses that incorporate leadership, communication skills, the basics of human resources management, and ethics. That’s why we wrote this book; we want to make the study of ethics relevant to real-life work situations. We want to help businesspeople regain the trust that’s been squandered in the last few years. This book is different from other business ethics texts in several key ways: First, it was written by an unusual team. Linda Trevi~no is Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior and Ethics in the Management and Organization Department of the Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University. Her prolific research on the management of ethical conduct in organizations is published in the field’s best journals and is internationally known and referenced. She has more than 20 years of experience in teaching students and executives in university and nonuniversity settings, and she also has experience as a corporate consultant and speaker on ethics and management issues.

Kate Nelson is a full-time faculty member at the Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she teaches management, business ethics, and human resources to undergraduates. Before joining Temple’s faculty, Kate worked for more than 30 years in strategic organizational communication and human resources at a variety of companies including Citicorp, Merrill Lynch, and Mercer HR Consulting. She also has worked as a consultant specializing in ethics and strategic employee communications and has designed ethics programs for numerous organizations. We think that bringing together this diverse mix of theory and practice makes the book unique. xiii E1PREF 07/09/2010 xiv Page 14 PREFACE Second, the approach of this book is pragmatic, and that approach is a direct response to complaints and suggestions we have heard from students, employees, and corporate executives. ‘‘Make it real,’’ they have said. ‘‘Tell us what we need to know to effectively manage people. Take the mystery out of this subject that seems so murky. Get to the point.’’ This book starts with the assumption that ethics in organizations is about human behavior in those organizations. We believe that behavior results from a number of factors, many of which can be influenced by managers and the organizations themselves. As a result, this book is organized into sections about individuals, managing in organizational context, and organizations in their broader environment, the ethical dilemmas managers face, and how they might solve them. It also features philosophical and psychological factors of decision making, ethical culture, how managers can influence employees’ behavior through ethical leadership, what corporations are doing to encourage ethical behavior and corporate social responsibility, and international business ethics. Third, we have used a different mix of examples than is found in conventional business ethics texts. Most texts focus on high-level, corporate dilemmas: ‘‘Should senior executives be paid at a particular level? Should this industry do business in China? Should American environmental laws apply to American companies operating overseas?’’ Although these are interesting issues, the vast majority of students and employees will never have to face them. However, they will have to hire, manage, assess performance, discipline, fire, and provide incentives for staff, as well as produce quality products and services and deal effectively and fairly with customers, vendors, and other stakeholders. As a result, although we do feature some classic corporate ethics cases, many of the cases in this book center on the kinds of problems that most people will encounter during the course of their careers. All of the ‘‘hypothetical’’ cases in this text are based on actual incidents that have happened somewhere—it’s the real stuff that goes on every day in offices across the country. Fourth, this book was developed with the help of students at a number of universities and with guidance from numerous managers and senior executives from various corporations and organizations. We have incorporated the latest research on ethics and organizational behavior into this text, and much of the material that appears within these pages has been tested in both university and corporate settings. Fifth, we believe this book is easy to use because it is organized to be flexible. It can be used alone to teach an ethics course, or it can be used as a supplement to a more conventional, philosophical text. The sections in this book basically stand alone and can be taught in a different sequence than is presented here, and the book also has many cases and vignettes you can use for class discussion. Wiley will create custom versions of the text with selected chapters if requested to do so. To help teach this course, the instructor’s guide provides resources such as outlines, overheads, discussion questions, and additional cases E1PREF 07/09/2010 Page 15 PREFACE xv for class

discussion; it also supplies references to many other resources that can be used to teach the course. A NOTE TO STUDENTS This book was written for you. We have listened to your complaints and your wish lists and have tried to pare this complicated subject down to a digestible size. The cases that appear in this book all happened to people just like you, who were not as prepared to deal with the dilemmas as you will be after taking this course. Before you get into this book, we have one suggestion: know that regardless of how large an organization you find yourself in, you’re not some little cog in a giant wheel. You have the power to change not only your own behavior and knowledge of ethics but also the behavior and knowledge of the people you work with. Use that power: the job you save may be your own. We also want to suggest that when interviewing for your next job, you try to make sure that you’re joining an organization that values ethics. Are ethics and values described in the firm’s recruiting materials? Do organizational representatives talk about ethics and values during their interviews with you? When you ask about how their organization demonstrates ethics and values, does your interviewer respond enthusiastically, or does he or she look like a deer caught in headlights so you instantly know that he or she has never even considered this question before? It’s much easier to get into an ethical organization in the first place than try to get out of an unethical one later on. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It takes a lot of work by a lot of people to make a project like this come together. We’ll begin with some joint thank-yous. Then, because this process has been so meaningful for each of us, we will separately share our more personal thanks. We both offer our heartfelt appreciation to current and former executives who helped us with this and previous editions, in particular, Larry Axline, Jeffrey Braun, Jacquelyn Brevard, Earnie Broughton, Steve Church, Frank Daly, Srinivas Dixit, Ray Dravesky, Kent Druyvesteyn, Dennis Jorgensen, John O’Byrne, Joe Paterno, Robert Paul, Jo Pease, Shirley Peterson, Vin Sarni, Carl Skooglund, Nan Stout, Phil Tenney, and George Wratney. All shared their valuable time and advice, some of them on multiple occasions. Their wisdom can be found throughout this book, but especially in Chapter 6. They helped bring the subject of managing business ethics to life. We also wish to thank Gary Weaver (University of Delaware) for being our philosophy adviser for the first edition, and Dennis Gioia (Penn State faculty member and dear friend) for sharing his Pinto fire case and especially his reflections. E1PREF 07/09/2010 xvi Page 16 PREFACE John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is a fine publisher with a superb team. These people encouraged, nudged, nudged, and nudged again. We have many Wiley people to thank for helping to make this book a success. The book’s past and present reviewers also contributed significantly to making this a better book, and we thank them as well. We also thank our students and particularly Penn State undergraduate, MBA, and Executive MBA students who provide us with excellent feedback and advice semester after semester. SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS—FROM LINDA K. TREVIIÑO I have always wondered what makes people do especially good and bad things. As the child of Holocaust survivors, I have a unique perspective on and curiosity about such issues. My parents and their families escaped Nazi Germany before Hitler began killing Jews en masse, but not before my maternal grandfather was severely beaten and not before my fraternal grandfather was taken to a concentration camp (euphemistically referred to as a work camp at the time). My father’s family received papers allowing them to emigrate from Germany to the United States shortly before the war began (in spring 1939), allowing my grandfather to be released from the camp where he was being held. Both families landed in New York, where they survived through sheer grit, perseverance, and belief in the American dream.

Although my family never dwelled on their experiences in Germany, I grew up with a special sensitivity and concern for equality and fair treatment. I traveled to Germany with my dad and brother about 30 years ago. We visited the tiny towns where Mom and Dad were born and met some wonderful German people who had helped them or at least tried to. I walked through a German village holding hands with the elderly woman who had been my maternal grandmother’s best friend and who urged the family to leave Germany because she anticipated the worst. I met another elderly woman who had cared for my father and aunt when they were children and who tried to take care of their home when they were forced to leave everything behind. These were special people, and the opportunity to connect with them holds a special place in my heart. So my family and background influenced me in ways I can’t fully grasp with my mind but in ways that I feel in my soul. And I know that my quest to understand what makes people do good and bad things has something to do with that influence. Many special people have helped along the path that brought me to the writing of this book. I’ll begin by thanking my mentors in the doctoral program at Texas A&M University’s management department. Many thanks to Stuart Youngblood (now at Texas Christian University), Don Hellriegel, Richard Woodman, Dick Daft (now at Vanderbilt University), and Mary Zey, who encouraged my early theorizing and research in business ethics. They told me to go with my gut and to do what was important, and they supported my every step. My exceptional colleagues in the E1PREF 07/09/2010 Page 17 PREFACE xvii Management and Organizational Department at Penn State have also been supportive all along the way. They have read my papers and challenged me to think harder and make my work ever better. My thanks also to the colleagues who have worked with me on ethics-related research over the years and who have been partners in learning about the management of business ethics: particularly Gail Ball, Michael Brown, Ken Butterfield, James Detert, David Harrison, Laura Hartman, Jennifer Kish Gephart, Don McCabe, Bart Victor, Gary Weaver, and more. This shared learning has contributed to the book in important ways. Shortly after becoming a faculty member at Penn State, I had the good fortune to meet my friend and coauthor, Kate Nelson. I was intrigued by a brief Wall Street Journal article about Kate’s work at Citibank (you’ll read more about that later). We met and became fast friends, who (believe it or not) loved talking about business ethics. We decided to write an article together, and the rest, as Kate says, is history. Kate brought the real world into this book. She was also willing to tell me when I was getting too academic (not her words exactly). It became clearer and clearer to me that we were supposed to write this book together, and I’m very glad we did. Thanks, Kate! The article became a book proposal that we first shared with publishers at the Academy of Management meeting in 1992 (almost 20 years ago now). Shortly thereafter, Bill Oldsey (formerly publisher at John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) showed up in my office at Penn State. His enthusiasm for the book was immediate and infectious, and he talked us into writing a textbook rather than a trade book. I want to thank Bill for the special part he played. Over the years, Penn State colleagues, administrators, and donors have continued to support my efforts in the area of business ethics. I am grateful to the Cook family, especially the late Ann Cook, for supporting business ethics at Smeal and the Cook Fellowship that I held for a number of years. My thanks also to Mrs. Mercedes Shoemaker (and her late husband, Albert) for supporting the Shoemaker program in Business Ethics that has brought us wonderful speakers on the topic of business ethics year after year. Finally, I am especially grateful to Dean James Thomas for naming me Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior and Ethics.

My association with the Ethics Resource Center Fellows program (see www. ethics.org) has connected me with executives who manage ethics in large business organizations as well as consultants and those in government who are interested in making the business world (and the rest of the world, for that matter) a more ethical place. I appreciate the relationships and the learning that have come from this association as well as the time these executives have shared with me. In particular, I appreciate the funding that this group has provided for research that has found its way into this book, especially research on executive ethical leadership. My heartfelt thanks also go to family members, colleagues, and many dear friends not only for cheering me on (as usual) but also for their many contributions to this book. They have served as readers and interviewees. They have provided clipping services, helped me make contacts, and offered ideas for cases. They were there E1PREF 07/09/2010 xviii Page 18 PREFACE when I was overwhelmed. I can’t thank them enough. Finally, I thank the light of my life, Dan, for the inspiration, love, and support he provides every day of my life and for being one of the most ethical human beings I know. SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS—FROM KATHERINE A. NELSON I began to learn about ethics and integrity as a very young child in a family where ‘‘doing it right’’ was the only option. I was blessed to grow up hearing about how your reputation is priceless and you must always guard it and act in ways that enhance that reputation. As a result, my biggest debt is to my parents, the late Harry R. and Bernadette Prendergast Nelson (formerly of New Hartford, New York), and my brother, James V. Nelson of Pasadena, California. My parents worked tirelessly to set Jim and me on the right path, and Jim’s generosity and enthusiastic support encouraged me not only to teach ethics but also to write this book. (Jim proved to me that one can be an investment banker and have high ethical standards, and I’m very proud of him.) I’m also grateful to Jim’s wife, Susan, for her many encouraging words of support and for giving our family its two most precious additions, Conor Vincent and James Patrick Nelson. Thanks to my dearest friends, for their friendship, love, and support: Rose Ciotta, Elizabeth Dow, Carol Dygert, Ann Frazier Hedberg, and Gail Martin. Thanks also to the educational institutions that provided me with a sound footing in values: Utica Catholic Academy in Utica, New York, and the College of Mount St. Vincent in Riverdale, New York. If I had ever known how much fun it is to teach, I might have made the transition to academia much earlier. Many thanks to the deans at the Fox School of Business at Temple University—including Moshe Porat, Rajan Chandran, and Diana Breslin Knudson, who took a chance on my teaching ability—and thanks to my many students past and present, who have enriched my life in ways I could not have imagined. Sincere thanks also to my many colleagues at Temple, who were so welcoming to this corporate refugee and who made me feel so much a part of this wonderful institution, especially: Norm Baglini, Gary Blau, Debbie Campbell, Kathleen Davis, Arlene Dowd, Deanna Geddes, Terry Halbert, John McClendon, and Don Wargo. Thanks go to the many managers who, each in his or her own way, taught me that business ethics need not be an oxymoron: Christopher York, Don Armiger, Peter Thorp, Judith Fullmer, Jerry Lieberman, and Jane Shannon—all formerly with Citicorp in New York City; and Debra Besch, Charlie Scott, and Lea Peterson, all currently or formerly with Mercer HR Consulting in Philadelphia and Boston. And thank you to Allan Kennedy, the coauthor of the groundbreaking book from the late 1970s, Corporate Cultures. While working at Citicorp as a McKinsey consultant back in 1985, Allan was the very first person who encouraged me to go into ethics by helping me germinate the idea of designing an ethics game for Citicorp.

E1PREF 07/09/2010 Page 19 PREFACE xix The most important thank-you goes to my wonderful husband, Stephen J. Morgan—an honorable man if there ever was one—who inspires and loves me every day. This book and my teaching would not be possible without his support, wisdom, and encouragement. Of course, a final thank-you goes to my coauthor, Linda Trevi~no, for her dear, dear friendship and for working with me to produce this book in what, in comparison to accounts from other writing teams, was an almost painless experience. E1PREF 07/09/2010 Page 20 E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 1 SECTION I INTRODUCTION 1 E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 2 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS: WHERE WE’RE GOING AND WHY INTRODUCTION Back in 1993, when we sat down to write the first edition of this book, people wondered if business ethics was just a fad. At that point, companies were just beginning to introduce ethics into orientations and management training programs. In academia, business ethics was just beginning to gain traction as a subject for serious academic study and some business schools were going so far as to require a business ethics course to graduate. Back then there was still the feeling among many experts that business ethics— like time management, quality circles, and other management buzzwords of the day—would soon become a footnote in texts that described business fads of the late twentieth century. Despite multiple waves of scandal over the years, these have often been portrayed as temporary blips. For example, one prominent business writer for Fortune Magazine wrote an article in 2007 entitled ‘‘Business is Back!’’ Here’s a choice excerpt . . . ‘‘It must be said: The shaming is over. The 51/2 year humiliation of American business following the tech bubble’s burst and the Lay-Skilling-FastowEbbers-Kozlowski-Scrushy perp walks that will forever define an era has run its course. After the pounding and the ridicule, penance has finally been done. No longer despised by the public, increasingly speaking up and taking stands, beloved again by investors, chastened and much changed—business is back.’’1 Could he have been more wrong? Business managed to outdo itself on the shame index yet again just about a year later. We’ve seen these ethical debacles occur regularly for the past 25 years. As a result, we’re convinced that business ethics is far from a fad. It’s an ongoing phenomenon that must be better understood and managed and for which business professionals must be better prepared. We tell our students that serious ethical scandals often result from multiple parties contributing in their own small or large ways to the creation of a catastrophe. As you’ll 2 E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 3 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 3 read later on in this book, Enron’s collapse in 2001 was not just the failure of Enron executives and employees, but also the failure of Enron’s auditors, the bankers who loaned the company money, and the lawyers who never blew the whistle on Enron’s shenanigans. However, no scandal of recent years—not even Enron—matches the financial industry debacle in 2008. The crisis was unparalleled in its scope and has fueled public outrage like no other business disaster in our lifetime. The aftermath has people around the world angry and mistrustful of companies, governments, regulators, rating agencies, and the people who work in them. If there was ever a crisis of trust and confidence, this is it. It is also a textbook-perfect example of how numerous people’s actions (and inactions) can conspire to spawn an almost unimaginable calamity. Recent business history has proven beyond any doubt that divorcing business from ethics and values runs huge risks. Rushworth Kidder,2 the highly regarded ethics writer and thinker, recently wrote about the financial debacle and the resulting public anger. He eloquently described how free marketers cite Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations to justify a breed of

capitalism that abhors regulation and focuses on shortterm profits over long-term stewardship. Kidder wisely noted that 17 years before his more famous book, Smith wrote another one entitled The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith’s first book deserves more attention because he always presumed that the messages from these two books would go hand in hand. Smith’s ‘‘moral sentiments’’ work rests on the assumption that human beings are empathetic; they care about others, and they derive the most joy from human love and friendship. His book opened with the following statement: ‘‘How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others. . . . ’’3 Smith believed that a good life derives from the expression of ‘‘beneficence,’’ not from material wealth. He acknowledged that self-love (which he also acknowledged) can spur the individual to better his own condition by besting competitors. But he argued that this must be done in a just manner and in the spirit of fair play as judged by an informed, ethical, and impartial spectator. We care what others think of us because we are first and foremost social beings. But we also are moral beings who want to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do (not just to win the praise of others). According to Smith, virtuous persons balance prudence (mature self-love), strict justice, and benevolence, and ideal societies are comprised of such persons. Finally, a flourishing and happy society is built upon a foundation of justice and rules of conduct that create social order. Smith was confident that humankind would progress toward this positive ethical state; he called on leaders to avoid the arrogance of power and, instead, to be virtuous statesmen. Kidder’s point was that capitalism will succeed only when firmly tethered to a moral base, and he reminds us that Adam Smith—that hero of free marketers—knew that better than anyone. We completely agree. We began this book almost 20 years ago with the firm belief that business isn’t just ‘‘better’’ when companies and businesspeople are ethical, but rather that good ethics is absolutely essential for effective business practice. This is not just empty rhetoric. Work is essential to life, and most people work for a business of some kind. How we work and the standards we uphold while we are working affect much more than just commerce. Our business behavior also affects E1C01 07/09/2010 4 Page 4 SECTION I INTRODUCTION our personal and company reputations, politics, society at large, and even national reputation. For example, the 2008 financial crisis, while global in scope, had its roots in the United States, and the nation’s reputation has suffered because of the behavior of individuals and companies. Similarly, China’s reputation has suffered because of contaminants found in Chinese exports such as infant formula, drywall (used in construction), and children’s toys. So, corporate misbehavior does not happen in a vacuum, and it’s not just corporate reputations that suffer as a result. These scandals cast long shadows, and they often affect entire industries and countries. In this complex and increasingly transparent world, where reputation influences everything from who wants to hire you or trade with you to who buys your products to who finances your debt—and much more—unethical behavior in business is a very big deal indeed. So, let’s take a closer look at the elephant in the room: the near collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and what it has to do with business ethics. THE FINANCIAL DISASTER OF 2008 The implosion of the financial markets in 2008 was largely not the result of illegal behavior. For the most part, the activities that brought down the U.S. economy and others around the world were not against the law, at least not yet (government regulators and the legal system often play catch-up after ethical debacles in business). Many of those activities, however,

were unethical in that they ultimately produced great harm and were contrary to a number of ethical principles such as responsibility, transparency, and fairness. Let’s start with some of the factors that laid the groundwork for the disaster in the United States. Borrowing Was Cheap First, borrowing money became really cheap. In 2000, stocks in high-technology companies had soared to unsustainable heights and that bubble finally burst. To soften the effects on the U.S. financial markets, Alan Greenspan, who headed the Federal Reserve at that time, lowered the Fed Funds rate (the rate at which banks borrow money from the Federal Reserve) to almost zero. That move, seemingly innocent at the time, injected huge amounts of money into the U.S. financial system. It made the cost of borrowing so low that it fueled a glut of consumer borrowing. Suddenly, it was amazingly cheap to buy a new car, a wide-screen television, a backyard pool, a larger home, a second home, and all sorts of designer goodies. There was even encouragement to indulge. Following the terrorist attacks in September 2001, President George W. Bush told people that if they wanted to help the economy they should go shopping. And people did. Household debt levels rose to $13.9 billion in 2008, almost double what households owed in 2000, and savings dipped into negative territory. (Since the financial crisis, household savings have risen to 6.9 percent.4) Responsible borrowers should have thought about what they could afford rather than what bankers would lend to them. And responsible lenders should have established that borrowers could actually afford to pay back the loans before lending them money. E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 5 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 5 Real Estate Became the Investment of Choice Of course, people also want to invest in something safe, and what could be safer than real estate? There had been relatively few instances of real estate values declining, and when they did the declines were generally shallow and short-lived. A point of pride in the United States was the high percentage of Americans who owned their own homes. Investing in a home traditionally had been a very safe investment and one that was slow to appreciate in value. But suddenly in the early 2000s, real estate investing became a real moneymaker. With a backdrop of historically low interest rates, real estate became such a popular way to invest that demand soon outstripped supply and prices soared. The value of homes skyrocketed—homes that were selling for $300,000 in one year sold for $450,000 the next. Prices rose so fast that speculation grew tremendously. People bought houses with almost no down payment, remodeled them or waited a few months, and then resold the houses for a quick profit. A number of popular television programs showed viewers how to ‘‘flip’’ real estate properties for profit. Since the cost of borrowing was so low and home equity had grown so quickly, many consumers borrowed on the equity in their homes and purchased additional real estate or a new car or financed a luxury vacation. For example, suppose someone purchased a house for $500,000 in 2003. By 2005, the home might have been worth $800,000. The home owner refinanced the mortgage—borrowing as much as the entire current worth of the house (because its value could only go up, right?), which resulted in a $300,000 cash infusion for the home owner. This practice was very popular, and it laid the groundwork for a huge disaster when the housing values fell off a cliff in 2008 and 2009. Imagine the home owner who refinanced the home just described. Imagine that he took the $300,000 and purchased a summer home and a sports car and paid for his children’s college educations. Suddenly, home values plummeted and his house lost 30 percent of its value, which was common in markets such as California, Florida, Nevada, or Arizona, where the real estate bubble was particularly inflated. After the real estate bubble burst, his house was worth $560,000.

Now suppose he loses his job and needs to sell his house because he can’t afford the mortgage payments. He can’t get $800,000 for his home, which is what he owes on his mortgage. His only choice is to work with the mortgage holder (probably a bank) to refinance (unlikely) or declare bankruptcy and walk away from the house. This is what a lot of home owners have done, and it is one of the factors at the heart of the current financial crisis. Lots of folks were in on this bubble mentality, getting what they could in the short term and not thinking very much about the likelihood (or inevitability) that the bubble would burst. Mortgage Originators Peddled ‘‘Liar Loans’’ In the early 2000s, as housing investments increased in popularity, more and more people got involved. Congress urged lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to expand home ownership to lower-income Americans. Mortgage lenders began to rethink the E1C01 07/09/2010 6 Page 6 SECTION I INTRODUCTION old rules of financing home ownership. As recently as the late 1990s, potential home owners not only had to provide solid proof of employment and income to qualify for a mortgage, but they also had to make a cash down payment of between 5 and 20 percent of the estimated value of the home. But real estate was so hot and returns on investment were growing so quickly that mortgage lenders decided to loosen those ‘‘old-fashioned’’ credit restrictions. In the early 2000s, the rules for obtaining a mortgage became way less restrictive. Suddenly, because real estate values were rising so quickly, borrowers didn’t have to put any money down on a house. They could borrow the entire estimated worth of the house; this is known as 100-percent financing. Also, borrowers no longer needed to provide proof of employment or income. These were popularly called ‘‘no doc’’ (no documentation) or ‘‘liar loans’’ because banks weren’t bothering to verify the ‘‘truth’’ of what borrowers were claiming on their mortgage applications. Banks Securitized the Poison and Spread It Around At about the same time liar loans were becoming popular, another new practice was introduced to mortgage markets. Investors in developing countries were looking to the United States and its seemingly ‘‘safe’’ markets for investment opportunities. Cash poured into the country from abroad—especially from countries like China and Russia, which were awash in cash from manufacturing and oil respectively. Wall Street bankers developed new products to provide investment vehicles for this new cash. One new product involved the securitization of mortgages. (Note: structured finance began in 1984, when a large number of GMAC auto receivables were bundled into a single security by First Boston Corporation, now part of Credit Suisse.) Here’s how it worked: Instead of your bank keeping your mortgage until it matured, as had traditionally been the case, your bank would sell your mortgage— usually to a larger bank that would then combine your mortgage with many others (reducing the bank’s incentive to be sure you would pay it back). Then the bankers sold these mortgage-backed securities to investors, which seemed like a great idea at the time. Real estate was traditionally safe, and ‘‘slicing and dicing’’ mortgages divided the risk into small pieces with different credit ratings and spread the risk around. Of course, the reverse was also true, as the bankers learned to their horror. This method of dividing mortgages into little pieces and spreading them around could also spread the contagion of poor risk. However, starting in 2002 and for several years thereafter, people couldn’t imagine housing values falling. So much money poured into the system, and the demand for these mortgage-backed security products was so great, that bankers demanded more and more mortgages from mortgage originators. That situation encouraged the traditional barriers to getting a home mortgage to fall even farther. These investment vehicles were also based upon extremely

complex mathematical formulas (and old numbers) that everyone took on faith and few attempted to understand. It looks like more people should have followed Warren Buffett’s sage advice not to invest in anything you don’t comprehend! Add to that toxic mix the relatively new idea of credit-default swaps E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 7 (CDS). These complex financial instruments were created to mitigate the risk financial firms took when peddling products like securitized mortgages. CDS are insurance contracts that protect the holder against an event of default on the part of a debtor. One need not own the loan or debt instrument to own the protection, and the amount of capital tied up in trading CDS is very small compared to trading other debt instruments. That is a very significant part in the increase in popularity at sell-side and buy-side trading desks. The big insurance company, AIG, was a huge player in this market, and so were the large banks. The firms that were counterparties to CDS never stepped back from the trading frenzy to imagine what would happen if both the structured finance market and the real estate bubble burst (as all bubbles eventually do) at the same time. Both underwriters and investors would be left holding the bag when the music stopped playing—and the U.S. taxpayer has had to bail out most of the financially-stressed firms to save the entire financial system from collapse. Please note that all of this happened in a part of the market that was virtually unregulated. Those Who Were Supposed to Protect Us Didn’t One protection against financial calamity was thought to be the rating agencies such as Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s. They rate the safety or soundness of securities, including those securitized mortgage products. A credit opinion is defined as one which rates the timeliness and ultimate repayment of principal and interest. But, like everyone else, the rating agencies say they didn’t foresee a decline in housing prices; and consequently, they rated the mortgage securities as being AAA—the highest rating possible, which meant that the rating agencies considered these securities to be highly safe. The agencies are the subject of much criticism for their role in the crisis. If they had done a better job analyzing the risk (their responsibility), much of the crisis might have been avoided. But note that these rating agencies are hired and paid by the companies whose products they rate, thus causing a conflict of interest that many believe biased their ratings in a positive direction. So, people who thought they were making responsible investments because they checked the ratings were misled. Another protection that failed was the network of risk managers and boards of directors of the financial community. How is it that one 400-person business that was part of the formerly successful insurance behemoth, AIG, could invest in such a way that it brought the world’s largest insurance company to its knees? The risk was underestimated all around by those professionals charged with anticipating such problems and by the board of directors that didn’t see the problem coming. The U.S. government (actually taxpayers) ended up bailing out AIG to the tune of $170 billion. The risk managers and boards of other financial firms such as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Wachovia were similarly blind. On Wall Street, there were other contributing factors. First, bank CEOs and other executives were paid huge salaries to keep the price of their firms’ stocks at high levels. If their institutions lost money, their personal payouts would shrink. So, bank executives were paid handsomely to bolster short-term profits. The Wall Street E1C01 07/09/2010 8 Page 8 SECTION I INTRODUCTION traders were similarly compensated—they were paid multimillion-dollar bonuses for taking outsized risks in the market. What seemed to matter most were the short-term profits of the firm and the short-term compensation of those making risky decisions.

The traders took risks, the bets were at least temporarily successful, and the bankers walked off with multimillion-dollar bonuses. It didn’t matter that the risk taking was foolish and completely irresponsible in the long run. The bonus had already been paid. Consequently, a short-term mentality took firm root among the nation’s bankers, CEOs, and boards of directors. Finally, we can’t examine the financial crisis without questioning the role of regulatory agencies and legislators. For example, for a decade, investor Harry Markopolos tried on numerous occasions to spur the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Bernard L. Madoff. The SEC never did uncover the largest Ponzi scheme in the history of finance. The $65-billion-dollar swindle unraveled only when Madoff admitted the fraud to his sons, who alerted the SEC and the U.S. attorney’s office in New York in December 2008. Others who are culpable in the financial crisis are members of the U.S. Congress, who deregulated the financial industry, the source of some of their largest campaign contributions. Among other things, they repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, which had been passed after the U.S. stock market crash in 1929 to protect commercial banking customers from the aggression and extreme risk taking of investment bank cultures. The act created separate institutions for commercial and investment banks, and they stayed separate until the merger of Citicorp and Travelers to form Citigroup in 1998. The two companies petitioned Congress to eliminate Glass-Steagall, claiming that it was an old, restrictive law and that today’s markets were too modern and sophisticated to need such protection. And Congress listened. Those 1930s congressmen knew that if two banking cultures tried to exist in the same company—the staid, conservative culture of commercial banking (our savings and checking accounts) and the razzle-dazzle, high-risk culture of investment banking—the ‘‘eat what you kill’’ investment bank culture would win out. Some said that staid old commercial banks turned into ‘‘casinos.’’ But, interestingly, casinos are highly regulated and are required to keep funds on hand to pay winners. In the coming months, we expect to learn more about the behavior that led to this crisis. As we noted earlier, much if not most of it was probably legal because of the lack of regulation in the mortgage and investment banking industries. But look at the outcome! If only ethical antennae had been more sensitive, more people might have questioned products they didn’t understand, or spoken out or refused to participate in practices that were clearly questionable. As just one tiny example, could anyone have thought it was ethical to sell a product they called a liar loan, knowing that the customer surely would be unable to repay (even if it was legal to do so)? You’ll read much more about the crisis and its relationship to ethics in subsequent chapters. Right now, let’s delve into the cynicism this and previous scandals have created and then try to move beyond it so that you can do things differently in the future. E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 9 MOVING BEYOND CYNICISM After multiple waves of business scandal, some cynicism (a general distrust) about business and its role in society is probably healthy. But cynicism about business has truly become an epidemic in the United States. To be fair, we should note that although the financial industry screwed up royally, at the same time most other mainstream American companies were ‘‘running their companies with strong balance sheets and sensible business models.’’5 Most companies were responsible, profitable, and prudent. Because they had serious cash reserves, many of them have actually managed to weather the recent crisis reasonably well. But the attention has not been on these responsible companies. It’s been on the financial sector and its irresponsibility. How bad is the cynicism?

According to the 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer6—a survey of almost 4,500 college-educated people around the world— it’s very bad, especially in the United States. (Edelman is the world’s largest independent public relations firm with 53 offices around the world. Its business is helping companies build and maintain reputation.) Edelman’s study shows that consumer trust in corporations has declined precipitously. More than half of the respondents stated that they trust business less than they did one year ago (in 2008). The decrease is particularly acute in the United States, where citizens have traditionally had higher opinions of business than they do in Europe. The only part of the world where trust levels have not declined is in the developing world—the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China). The study also outlines the business case for trust. Over a one-year period, 91 percent of consumers stated that they purchased a product of service from a company they trust. Conversely, 77 percent of consumers refused to purchase a product or service from a company that they mistrusted. This study suggests that corporate reputation affects consumer buying patterns, and companies risk harming their bottom line when they do not act to protect their good name. But, consistent with our idea that business ethics is not a fad, neither is public cynicism about business ethics new. We have written about it in every edition of our book (since 1995). Surely, the factor that has contributed the most to cynicism in recent years is the highly visible behavior of some of the nation’s leading corporations and executives, whose activities have garnered so much space in the business press and on the evening news. How do you watch hour after hour of such reporting and not walk away jaded? In the last few years, all you had to do was read about or watch the news to feel cynical, and business school students are no exception. We also note that business is not alone in its scandalous behavior. In recent years, we’ve learned about government employees who stole or misused funds, academics who falsified their research results, ministers who stole from their congregations, priests who abused children, and athletes who took bribes or used performance-enhancing drugs. It seems that no societal sector is immune. Many of our readers are business school students, the current or future managers of business enterprises. Surveys suggest that many business students are themselves surprisingly cynical about business (given that they’ve chosen it as their future profession). They believe that they’ll be expected to check their ethics at the corporate E1C01 07/09/2010 10 Page 10 SECTION I INTRODUCTION door or that they will be pressured to compromise their own ethical standards in order to succeed.7 Consider this scenario that took place at a large university: A professor asked his class to name management behaviors that are morally repugnant. His class struggled to name one! In another of his classes, the professor asked if the students would dump carcinogens in a river. This time the class agreed that they would do so because if they didn’t, someone else would. When the professor asked if they really wanted to live in such a cynical environment, the class insisted that they already did. The dismayed professor believed that the attitudes of his students were formed long before they landed in his classroom. He agreed with other observers that the problem goes way beyond business and business schools and that our society, with its emphasis on money and material success, is rearing young people who strive for achievement at any cost. One symptom: cheating is pervasive in many high schools and colleges.8 This scenario is enough to make anyone wonder about today’s business students. But at the same time, we know that students at many colleges and universities, including business schools, are encouraging their own faculty and administrators to establish newly invigorated academic integrity policies and honor codes.

In an honor code community, students take responsibility for implementing the academic integrity policy and for holding each other accountable to it. They manage study-run judiciaries that mete out serious discipline to their fellow students who tarnish the community by cheating. These efforts, which are gaining real traction at many schools, suggest that at least some students have had enough and are willing turn from cynicism toward a proactive approach to change things. A 2008 Aspen Institute study of nearly 2,000 MBA students from 15 leading international business schools provides some insight into MBA students’ attitudes, which appear to be moving in a less cynical direction. Similar to the findings of Aspen’s 2002 survey, the 2008 survey of MBA students indicates that they anticipate facing difficult values conflicts in their jobs and suggests some cynicism about ethics in the workplace. However, about 40 percent of these students believe that their business education is preparing them to manage values conflicts ‘‘a lot,’’ and another 50 percent believe that they’re being prepared somewhat. Also, more than a quarter of the respondents said they are interested in finding a job that gives them the opportunity to contribute to society (compared to only 15 percent in 2002). More than half believe that safe, high-quality products and responsible governance and transparent business practices are very important for a potential employer. In addition, more than half said they would advocate alternative values or approaches in response to values conflicts at work (many more than in 2002).9 The media may be largely responsible for students’ cynical attitudes. Think about the depiction of business and its leaders in movies and on television. The Media Research Center conducted a survey of 863 network TV sitcoms, dramas, and movies in the mid-1990s. Nearly 30 percent of the criminal characters in these programs were business owners or corporate executives. Entrepreneurs were represented as drug dealers, kidnappers, or sellers of defective gear to the military.10Fortune magazine called this ‘‘the rise of corporate villainy in prime time.’’11 Movies have abounded with negative messages about corporate America. Think Wall Street, E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 11 Boiler Room, Civil Action, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Insider, Erin Brockovich, Supersize Me, The Corporation, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Michael Clayton, The International, Quiz Show, The Insider, and Bowling for Columbine. And there are more such movies every year; we’re sure you can add to the list. A much tougher exercise is to generate a list of movies that actually create a positive ethical impression of business. Can you think of any? Consistent negative representation of business in the media has its effects. Academic research suggests that cynicism toward American business increased after study participants viewed the film Roger & Me, which depicted ruthless plant closings and layoffs at General Motors.12 Imagine the cumulative, daunting effect of viewing countless movies and television programs that portray business as corrupt and business leaders as ruthless and unethical. To counter that media-fueled cynicism at least somewhat, we encourage you to think about your own life and the hundreds of reliable products and services you trust and depend on every day as well as the people and businesses that produce them. These good folks are businesspeople too, but it isn’t nearly as exciting or sexy for the media to portray businesspeople who do the right thing every day. We also encourage you to talk with businesspeople you know, perhaps people in your own family who work for businesses. Do they feel pressured to compromise their ethical standards, or do they see their employer in a more positive light? Interestingly, the Ethics Resource Center’s 2009 National Business Ethics Survey found that only 8 percent

of employees of for-profit enterprises report feeling pressured to compromise their ethical standards. That means that more than 90 percent say that they’re not feeling such pressure. Also, nearly two thirds of these employees said that their own company has a strong or strong-leaning ethical culture. What does that mean? To us, it means that most Americans who work in business think that their own company and coworkers are pretty ethical. Still, they read the same media accounts and see the same movies and TV programs as everyone else, and these offerings influence cynicism about American business in general.13 Finally, we won’t leave a discussion of cynicism without talking about the events of September 11, 2001. While the business scandals of 2001–02 left many cynical, the events of September 11, 2001, showed us some of the best in many individuals and businesses. We have read about the care, compassion, and assistance that countless American firms gave to those who were harmed by the terrorist attacks. Few firms were hit as hard as Sandler O’Neill & Partners, a small but profitable Wall Street investment bank that lost 66 of its 171 employees—including two of the firm’s leading partners—on September 11. The firm’s offices had been on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. Despite its dire financial straits, the firm sent every deceased employee’s family a check in the amount of the employee’s salary through the end of the year and extended health-care benefits for five years. Bank of America quickly donated office space for the firm to use. Competitors sent commissions their way and freely gave the company essential information that was lost with the traders who had died. Larger Wall Street firms took it upon themselves to include Sandler in their deals. The goal was simply to help Sandler earn some money and get back on its E1C01 07/09/2010 12 Page 12 SECTION I INTRODUCTION feet.14 This is only one of the many stories that point to the good that exists in the heart of American business. In this book, we offer a number of positive stories to counterbalance the mostly negative stories portrayed in the media. The bottom line is this. We’re as frustrated as you are about the media portrayal of business and the very real, unethical behavior that regularly occurs in the business community. But, we also know that the business landscape is a varied one that is actually dominated by good, solid businesses and people who are even heroic and extraordinarily giving at times. So, for our cynical readers, we want to help by doing two things in this book: (1) empowering managers with the tools they need to address ethical problems and manage for ethical behavior, and (2) providing positive examples of people and organizations who are ‘‘doing things right’’ to offset some of the media-fueled negativity. We agree with Coach Joe Paterno, Penn State’s legendary football coach, whose program has always been known for integrity. He said this in response to our questions about cynicism: ‘‘I don’t care what cynical people say. I don’t really pay attention. These are small people who . . . don’t have the confidence or courage to do it the right way. And when they see someone doing it the right way, deep down they feel guilty. They’d rather say that it can’t be done . . . that everybody cheats. I hear that all the time. ‘Fine,’ I say. ‘You think what you want.’ I know what I do. People around me know. You’ve got to just run your organization. You can’t worry about what these cynical people say.’’ Some business school students seem to agree with Joe. In May 2009, something notable and quite positive happened. A group of 20 second-year students at Harvard Business School created The MBA Oath in an attempt to articulate the values they felt their MBA degree ought to stand for: The MBA Oath As a business leader I recognize my role in society. & & My purpose is to lead people and manage resources to create value that no single individual can create alone.

My decisions affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and tomorrow. Therefore I promise: & I will manage my enterprise with loyalty and care, and will not advance my personal interests at the expense of my enterprise or society. & I will understand and uphold, in letter and spirit, the laws and contracts governing my conduct and that of my enterprise. I will refrain from corruption, unfair competition, or business practices harmful to society. & E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 13 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS & & & & 13 I will protect the human rights and dignity of all people affected by my enterprise, and I will oppose discrimination and exploitation. I will protect the right of future generations to advance their standard of living and enjoy a healthy planet. I will report the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly. I will invest in developing myself and others, helping the management profession continue to advance and create sustainable and inclusive prosperity. In exercising my professional duties according to these principles, I recognize that my behavior must set an example of integrity, eliciting trust and esteem from those I serve. I will remain accountable to my peers and to society for my actions and for upholding these standards. This oath I make freely, and upon my honor. This focus on positive values among business students and business in general received significant publicity and turned into something of a movement. More than 400 graduates of Harvard Business School signed the oath, and they were joined by business students from 119 other colleges and universities globally. For more information, go to www.mbaoath.org. CAN BUSINESS ETHICS BE TAUGHT? Given all that has happened, you may be wondering whether business ethics can be taught. Perhaps all of the bad behavior we outlined earlier results from a relatively few ‘‘bad apples’’ who never learned ethics from their families, clergy, previous schools, or employers.15 If this were so, ethics education would be a waste of time and money, and resources should be devoted to identifying and discarding bad apples, not trying to educate them. We strongly disagree, and the evidence is on our side. Aren’t Bad Apples the Cause of Ethical Problems in Organizations? According to the bad apple theory, people are good or bad and organizations are powerless to change these folks. This bad apple idea16 is appealing in part because unethical behavior can then be blamed on a few individuals with poor character. Although it’s unpleasant to fire people, it’s relatively easier for organizations to search for and discard a few bad apples than to search for some organizational problem that caused the apple to rot. Despite the appeal of the bad apple idea, ‘‘character’’ is a poorly defined concept, and when people talk about it, they rarely define what they mean. They’re probably referring to a complex combination of traits that are thought to guide individual E1C01 07/09/2010 14 Page 14 SECTION I INTRODUCTION behavior in ethical dilemma situations. If character guides ethical conduct, training shouldn’t make much difference because character is thought to be relatively stable: it’s difficult to change, persists over time, and guides behavior across different contexts. Character develops slowly as a result of upbringing and the accumulation of values that are transmitted by schools, families, friends, and religious organizations. Therefore, people come to educational institutions or work organizations with an already defined good or poor character. Good apples will be good and bad apples will be bad. In fact, people do have predispositions to behave ethically or unethically (we talk about this in Chapter 3). And sociopaths can certainly slip into organizations with the sole intent of helping themselves to the organization’s resources, cheating customers, and feathering their own nests at the expense of others.

Famous scoundrels like Bernie Madoff definitely come to mind. Such individuals have little interest in ‘‘doing the right thing,’’ and when this type of individual shows up in your organization, the best thing to do is discard the bad apple and make an example of the incident to those who remain. But discarding bad apples generally won’t solve an organization’s problem with unethical behavior. The organization must scrutinize itself to determine if something rotten inside the organization is spoiling the apples. For example, Enron encouraged a kind of devil-may-care, unethical culture that is captured in the film, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Arthur Andersen’s culture morphed from a focus on the integrity of audits to a consulting culture that focused almost exclusively on feeding the bottom line (you’ll read more about that in Chapter 5). In this book you’ll learn that most people are not guided by a strict internal moral compass. Rather, they look outside themselves—to their environment—for cues about how to think and behave. This was certainly true in the financial crisis when the mantra became ‘‘everyone is doing it’’ (and making a lot of money besides). At work, managers and the organizational culture transmit many cues about how employees should think and act. For example, reward systems play a huge role by rewarding short-term thinking and profits, as they did in the recent financial crisis. In this book, you’ll learn about the importance of these organizational influences and how to harness them to support ethical behavior and avoid unethical behavior. So, apples often turn bad because they’re spoiled by ‘‘bad barrels’’—bad work environments that not only condone, but may even expect unethical behavior. Most employees are not bad folks to begin with. But their behavior can easily turn bad if they believe that their boss or their organization expects them to behave unethically or if everyone else appears to be engaging in a particular practice. In this view, an organization that’s serious about supporting ethical behavior and preventing misconduct must delve deeply into its own management systems and cultural norms and practices to search for systemic causes of unethical behavior. Management must take responsibility for the messages it sends or fails to send about what’s expected. If ethics problems are rooted in the organization’s culture, discarding a few bad apples without changing that culture isn’t going to solve the problem. An effective and lasting solution will rely on management’s systematic attention to all aspects of the E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 15 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 15 organization’s culture and what it is explicitly or implicitly ‘‘teaching’’ organizational members (see Chapter 5). This question about the source of ethical and unethical behavior reflects the broader ‘‘nature/nurture’’ debate in psychology. Are we more the result of our genes (nature) or our environments (nurture)? Most studies find that behavior results from both nature and nurture. So, when it comes to ethical conduct, the answer is not either/or, but and. Individuals do come to work with predispositions that influence their behavior, and they should take responsibility for their own actions. But the work environment can also have a large impact. In this book, you’ll learn a lot about how that work environment can be managed to produce ethical rather than unethical conduct. Shouldn’t Employees Already Know the Difference between Right and Wrong? A belief associated with the good/bad apple idea is that any individual of good character should already know right from wrong and can be ethical without special training—that a lifetime of socialization from parents and religious institutions should prepare people to be ethical at work. You probably think of yourself as an individual of good character, but does your life experience to date prepare you to make a complex business ethics decision?

Did your parents, coaches, and other influential people in your life ever discuss situations like the one that follows? Think about this real dilemma. You’re the VP of a medium-sized organization that uses chemicals in its production processes. In good faith, you’ve hired a highly competent scientist to ensure that your company complies with all environmental laws and safety regulations. This individual informs you that a chemical the company now uses in some quantity is not yet on the approved Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) list. However, it has been found to be safe and is scheduled to be placed on the list in about three months. You can’t produce your product without this chemical, yet regulations say that you’re not supposed to use the chemical until it’s officially approved. Waiting for approval would require shutting down the plant for three months, putting hundreds of people out of work, and threatening the company’s very survival. What should you do? The solution isn’t clear, and good character isn’t enough to guide decision making in this case. As with all ethical dilemmas, values are in conflict here—obeying the letter of the law versus keeping the plant open and saving jobs. The decision is complicated because the chemical has been found to be safe and is expected to be approved in a matter of months. As in many of today’s business decisions, this complex issue requires the development of occupation-specific skills and abilities. For example, some knowledge in the area of chemistry, worker safety, and environmental laws and regulations would be essential. Basic good intentions and a good upbringing aren’t enough. James Rest, a scholar in the areas of professional ethics and ethics education, argued convincingly that ‘‘to assume that any 20-year-old of good general character E1C01 07/09/2010 16 Page 16 SECTION I INTRODUCTION can function ethically in professional situations is no more warranted than assuming that any logical 20-year-old can function as a lawyer without special education.’’17 Good general character (whatever that means) doesn’t prepare an individual to deal with the special ethical problems that are likely to arise in a career. Individuals must be trained to recognize and solve the unique ethical problems of their particular occupation. That’s why many professional schools (business, law, medicine, and others) have added ethics courses to their curricula, and it’s why most large business organizations now conduct ethics training for their employees. So, although individual characteristics are a factor in determining ethical behavior, good character alone simply doesn’t prepare people for the special ethical problems they’re likely to face in their jobs or professions. Special training can prepare them to anticipate these problems, recognize ethical dilemmas when they see them, and provide them with frameworks for thinking about ethical issues in the context of their unique jobs and organizations. Aren’t Adults’ Ethics Fully Formed and Unchangeable? Another false assumption guiding the view that business ethics can’t be taught is the belief that one’s ethics are fully formed and unchangeable by the time one is old enough to enter college or a job. However, this is definitely not the case. Research has found that through a complex process of social interaction with peers, parents, and other significant persons, children and young adults develop in their ability to make ethical judgments. This development continues at least through young adulthood. In fact, young adults in their twenties and thirties who attend moral development educational programs have been found to advance in moral reasoning even more than younger individuals do.18 Given that most people enter professional education programs and corporations as young adults, the opportunity to influence their moral reasoning clearly exists. Business school students may need ethics training more than most because research has shown they have ranked

lower in moral reasoning than students in philosophy, political science, law, medicine, and dentistry.19 Also, undergraduate business students and those aiming for a business career were found to be more likely to engage in academic cheating (test cheating, plagiarism, etc.) than were students in other majors or those headed toward other careers.20 At a minimum, professional ethics education can direct attention to the ambiguities and ethical gray areas that are easily overlooked without it. Consider this comment from a 27-year-old Harvard student after a required nine-session module in decision making and ethical values at the beginning of the Harvard MBA program. Before, [when] I looked at a problem in the business world, I never consciously examined the ethical issues in play. It was always subconscious and I hope that I somewhat got it. But that [ethics] was never even a consideration. But now, when I look at a problem, I have to look at the impact. I’m going to put in this new ten-million-dollar project. What’s E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 17 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 17 going to be the impact on the people that live in the area and the environment. . . . It’s opened my mind up on those things. It’s also made me more aware of situations where I might be walking down the wrong path and getting in deeper and deeper, to where I can’t pull back.21 In 2004, Harvard’s MBA class of 1979 met for its 25-year reunion. The alumni gave the dean a standing ovation when he said that a new required course on values and leadership was his highest priority and then pledged to ‘‘live my life and lead the school in a way that will earn your trust.’’22 It should be clear from the above arguments that ethics can indeed be taught. Ethical behavior relies on more than good character. Although good upbringing may provide a kind of moral compass that can help the individual determine the right direction and then follow through on a decision to do the right thing, it’s certainly not the only factor determining ethical conduct. In today’s highly complex organizations, individuals need additional guidance. They can be trained to recognize the ethical dilemmas that are likely to arise in their jobs; the rules, laws, and norms that apply in that context; reasoning strategies that can be used to arrive at the best ethical decision; and the complexities of organizational life that can conflict with one’s desire to do the right thing. For example, businesses that do defense-related work are expected to comply with a multitude of laws and regulations that go far beyond what the average person can be expected to know. The question of whether ethics should be taught remains. Many still believe that ethics is a personal issue best left to individuals. They believe that much like proselytizing about religion, teaching ethics involves inappropriate efforts to impose certain values and control behavior. But we believe that employers have a real responsibility to teach employees what they need to know to recognize and deal with ethical issues they are likely to face at work. Failing to help employees recognize the risks in their jobs is like failing to teach a machinist how to operate a machine safely. Both situations can result in harm, and that’s just poor management. Similarly, we believe that, as business educators, we have a responsibility to prepare you for the complex ethical issues you’re going to face and to help you think about what you can do to lead others in an ethical direction. DEFINING ETHICS Some of the controversy about whether ethics can or should be taught may stem from disagreement about what we mean by ethics. Ethics can be defined as ‘‘a set of moral principles or values’’—a definition that portrays ethics as highly personal and relative. I have my moral principles, you have yours, and neither of us should try to impose our ethics on the other. But our definition of ethics—‘‘the principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing an individual or group’’—focuses on conduct.

We expect employers to establish guidelines for work-related conduct, including what time to arrive and leave the workplace, whether smoking is allowed on the premises, how customers are to be treated, and how quickly work should be done. Guidelines about ethical conduct aren’t much different. Many employers spend a lot of time and money developing E1C01 07/09/2010 18 Page 18 SECTION I INTRODUCTION policies for employee activities that range from how to fill out expense reports to what kinds of client gifts are acceptable to what constitutes a conflict of interest or bribe. If we focus on conduct, ethics becomes an extension of good management. Leaders identify appropriate and inappropriate conduct, and they communicate their expectations to employees through ethics codes, training programs, and other communication channels. In most cases, individual employees agree with their company’s expectations and policies. For example, who would disagree that it’s wrong to steal company property, lie to customers, dump cancerous chemicals in the local stream, or comply with regulations on defense contracts? At times, however, an employee may find the organization’s standards inconsistent with his or her own moral values or principles. For example, a highly religious employee of a health maintenance organization may object to offering abortion as an alternative when providing genetic counseling to pregnant women. Or a highly devoted environmentalist may believe that his or her organization should go beyond the minimum standards of environmental law when making decisions about how much to spend on new technology or on environmental cleanup efforts. These individuals may be able to influence their employers’ policies. Otherwise, the person’s only recourse may be to leave the organization for one that is a better values match. Whether or not we prefer to admit it, our ethical conduct is influenced (and to a large degree controlled) by our environment. In work settings, leaders, managers, and the entire cultural context are an important source of this influence and guidance. If, as managers, we allow employees to drift along without our guidance, we’re unintentionally allowing them to be ‘‘controlled’’ by others. If this happens, we’re contributing to the creation of ‘‘loose cannons’’ who can put the entire organization at risk. Guidance regarding ethical conduct is an important aspect of controlling employee behavior. It can provide essential information about organizational rules and policies, and it can give guidance about behavior that is considered to be appropriate or inappropriate in a variety of situations. But should organizations be ‘‘controlling’’ their employees in this way? B. F. Skinner,23 the renowned psychologist, argued that it’s all right, even preferable, to intentionally control behavior. He believed that all behavior is controlled, either intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore what was needed was more intentional control, not less. Similarly, ethical and unethical behavior in organizations is already being controlled explicitly or implicitly by the existing organizational culture (see Chapter 5). Thus organizations that neglect to teach their members ‘‘ethical’’ behavior may be tacitly encouraging ‘‘unethical behavior’’ through benign neglect. It’s management’s responsibility to provide explicit guidance through direct management and through the organization’s culture. The supervisor who attempts to influence the ethical behavior of subordinates should be viewed not as a meddler but as a part of the natural management process. To summarize, we believe that educational institutions and work organizations should teach people about ethics and guide them in an ethical direction. Adults are GOOD CONTROL OR BAD CONTROL? E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 19 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 19 open to, and generally welcome, this type of guidance. Ethical problems are not caused entirely by bad apples.

They’re also the product of bad barrels—work environments that either encourage unethical behavior or merely allow it to occur. Making ethical decisions in today’s complex organizations isn’t easy. Good intentions and a good upbringing aren’t enough. The special knowledge and skill required to make good ethical decisions in a particular job and organizational setting may be different from what’s needed to resolve personal ethical dilemmas, and this knowledge and skill must be taught and cultivated. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT MANAGING ETHICS IN BUSINESS This book offers a somewhat unique approach to teaching business ethics. Instead of the traditional philosophical or legalistic approach, we take a managerial approach. Between us, we have many years of experience in management, in consulting, and in management teaching and research. Based on this experience, we begin with the assumption that business ethics is essentially about human behavior. We believe that by understanding human behavior in an organizational context, we can better understand and manage our own and others’ ethical conduct. Kent Druyvesteyn was vice president for ethics at General Dynamics from 1985 to 1993 and one of the first ‘‘ethics officers’’ in an American company. He made a clear distinction between philosophy and management in his many talks with students and executives over the years. As he put it, ‘‘I am not a philosopher and I am not here to talk about philosophy. Ethics is about conduct.’’ We agree with Mr. Druyvesteyn. After years of study and experience, we’re convinced that a management approach to organizational ethics is needed. As with any other management problem, managers need to understand why people behave the way they do so that they can influence this behavior. Most managers want the people they work with to be productive, to produce high-quality products, to treat customers well, and to do all of this in a highly ethical manner. They also want and need help accomplishing these goals. Therefore we rely on a managerial approach to understanding business ethics. We introduce concepts that can be used to guide managers who want to understand their own ethical behavior and the behavior of others in the organization. And we provide practical guidance to those who wish to lead their department or organization in an ethical direction. We define ethical behavior in business as ‘‘behavior that is consistent with the principles, norms, and standards of business practice that have been agreed upon by society.’’ Although some disagreement exists about what these principles, norms, and standards should be, we believe there is more agreement than disagreement. Many of the standards have been codified into law. Others can be found in company and industry codes of conduct and international trade agreements. Importantly, we treat the decisions of people in work organizations as being influenced by characteristics of individuals and organizations. We also recognize E1C01 07/09/2010 20 Page 20 SECTION I INTRODUCTION CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUALS Individual differences Cognitive biases Process of Individual Ethical Decision Making ETHICAL AWARENESS ETHICAL JUDGMENT ETHICAL BEHAVIOR CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONS Group and organizational pressures Organizational culture FIGURE 1.1 The Ethical Decision-Making Process that work organizations operate within a broad and complex global business context. We will cover individual decision making, group and organizational influences, and the social and global environment of business. The first part of this perspective, the influences on individual decision making, is represented in Figure 1.1. ETHICS AND THE LAW It’s important to think about the relationship between the law and business ethics because if one could just follow the law, a business ethics book wouldn’t be necessary. Perhaps the easiest way to visualize the relationship between business ethics and the law is in terms of a Venn diagram (Figure 1.2). If we think

of the law as reflecting society’s minimum norms and standards of business conduct, we can see a great deal of overlap between what’s legal and what’s ethical. Therefore most people believe that law-abiding behavior is also ethical behavior. But many standards of conduct are agreed upon by society and not codified in law. For example, some conflicts of interest may be legal, but they are generally considered unethical in our society and are commonly prohibited in codes of ethics. Having an affair with someone who reports to you may be legal, but it is considered unethical in most corporate contexts. As we said earlier, much of the behavior leading to the 2008 financial crisis was legal, but unethical. So the domain of ethics includes the law but extends well beyond it to include ethical standards and issues that the law does not address. Finally, there are times when you might encounter a law that you believe is unethical. For example, racial discrimination was legal in the United States for a long time. But racial discrimination was and is highly unethical. Similarly, many companies do business in developing countries with few, if any, laws regulating environmental pollution or labor conditions. They can ‘‘legally’’ pollute the air and water in these countries. Such companies have to choose between adhering to ethical standards that are higher than the legal standards in those countries and deciding that it’s okay to E1C01 07/09/2010 Page 21 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS ETHICS 21 Ethics Law FIGURE 1.2 Relationship between Ethics and Law harm the well-being of these people and communities. So the legal and ethical domains certainly overlap, but the overlap is far from complete. WHY BE ETHICAL? WHY BOTHER? WHO CARES? Assuming that you ‘‘buy’’ the notion that business ethics can be taught, and that as current or future managers you have a role to play in creating an environment supportive of ethical conduct, you may still wonder why you should care about being ethical. As workers, we should care about ethics because mos… CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS CLICK THE BUTTON TO MAKE YOUR ORDER

[hexandbalances]

Lupercalia pt 3.

Chthonic, Apotropaic, Purification, and Fertility

Let us continue with Lycaeus. Classical Greek religion, as it was with the Italian Ligurians, was a blend of the cults of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the Aegean Sea (the Pelasgians) and Aryan settlers during the Bronze Age.

The Pelasgians were agrarian, buried their dead, and exhibited a belief in the afterlife. They had an earth mother as a supreme object of worship, similar to the Rhea or Cybele. She personified the life giving qualities of the earth, rain, crops, and fertility, but was also fearsome: she inflicted disease, attacked herds with predatory beasts, or unleashed the buried dead. As the Pelasgians were a settled people Her worship was highly localized. Figures of men in animal skins found on gems or seals are interpreted to be her priests, honoring her by wearing the pelts of sacred animals.

Homage was paid to her in the form of fertility rites to secure the rains and good harvest. If She withheld her boons her devotees would turn to rites of purification to rid themselves of the offending human sin. This would involve human sacrifice, as seen in archaeological evidence and in fables such as the Minotaur. This chthonic religion is uniquely non-Hellenic, bearing no resemblance to primitive Aryan religion.[x]

The Aryans were nomadic in lifestyle, their dead were cremated, their gods were anthropomorphic and traveled with them. This is reflected in the Homeric Poems: indifference to chthonic deities, the use of funeral pyres, no tombs or cults for the worship of heroes, and no dread of ghosts or demons. They worshiped variations of a supreme sky god or All-Father. In time, the integration of the Aryans into the Mediterranean displaced goddess worship, subordinating Her to he who would become Zeus.

The Aryans, finding themselves settling down in a new land among established peoples integrated the gods they found there rather than risk either divine or political wrath (a strategy that persists into the Roman Empire). And so the Pelasgian chthonic deities did not fully disappear but rather changed form to the rites of Brauronian Artemis, the Elysian Mysteries, and (more relevant to us) human sacrifice to Zeus Lycaeus. Those regions with the least Aryan transfusion - Attica, Arcadia, Crete, Boetia, and Lycia - had the strongest presence of chthonic cults. As we have seen the pattern of deity displacement and absorption with Aryan immigration, we might conclude whenever worship is localized to a tree, natural structure, or a place there is a strong probability that the root of the worship is pre-Aryan.

Lycaeus

In Arcadia the most venerated cult belonged to the god Varro and Isidorus named Lycaeus, meaning wolf. The seat of the cult was Mount Lycaeus, its capitol Lycaon (reputedly the oldest city in Greece). Lycaeus was a destructive, chthonic god, a protector of animals, and sender of rain. He was the embodiment of the prowling danger. His shrine was something of a wildlife refuge as no men were allowed to set foot there for fear of death.

Every nine years the festival of Lycaea or Lykaia (the prototype of the Lupercalia) was held. Sacrifices were expiatory;  made to appease Lyceaus and keep him from preying upon the people and their flocks. Pausanias relates the practice of human sacrifice with the sacrificial blood sprinkled on the altar and the entrails given to the priest as sacrament. It was believed those who ate of the sacrificial victim would be transformed into wolves and sent into exile until the following festival.

Frazer (the Golden Bough, iv, 83) suggests that these priests may have disguised themselves in wolf pelts to perform the rites. If so, this echoes the worship of the Pelasgian Goddess and the numerous animal disguises depicted on Cretan seals. Similarly to the tale of Valeria Luperca, the legend of the king Lycaon being transformed into a wolf by Zeus may function as an analogy for the disgust the Hellenes held for human sacrifice, their (somewhat unsuccessful) attempt to stamp out the old ways, and the installation of their own All Father. Thus Lycaeus became an adjective for Zeus Lycaeus.

As we will see in the next post this subhumation did not quite fit Zeus, and fell to another god: Pan.

<< Pt. 1

<< Pt. 2 

>> Pt. 4

Further Reading

Evans, A.(1901). The Mycenaean tree and pillar cult, and its Mediterranean relations (vol. XXI, pp. 99‑204).  New York, NY: London: MacMillan. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/mycenaeantreepil00evanuoft/page/98/mode/2up

Franklin, A. M. (1921) Lupercalia: rites and mysteries of wolf worship. Retrieved from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/FRALUP/home.html

Hawes, C. H. And Hawes, H. B. (1922). Crete, the Forerunner of Greece (pp. 139‑43). New York, NY: Harper & Brothers. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/Crete_the_Forerunner_of_Greece.html?id=AxQOAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

Hogarth, D.E. (1908). Aegean Religion. In Hastings, Selbie, Gray (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics (Vol. 1, pp. 141‑148). Toronto, Canada: Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofr01hastuoft/page/140/mode/2up

Lutfullina, V. Wolf Strider, edited. Retrieved from https://arcusxx.tumblr.com/post/155457634588 via Pinterest

Mackenzie, D. A. (1937) Myths Of Crete And Pre Hellenic Europe (pp. xliv‑xlvii,  59‑60, 159‑62, 293‑312). London, England: Gresham Publishing Co. Ltd. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/Myths_of_Crete_and_Pre_Hellenic_Europe.html?id=7hIaAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

Tsountas, C. and Manatt, J. I. (1897). The Mycenaean Age: A study of the Monuments and Culture of Pre-Homeric Greece (pp. 294‑302). New York, NY: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Mycenaean_Age.html?id=rO3OAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

[vennfiction]

Maybe Birthdays Aren’t So Bad After All

A/N: Just a short, unedited oneshot because I wanted to put something out and my birthday stresses me out so this is how I’m coping. 2 birds with one badly written stone amiright? Also TW for depressive episode, slight very brief mention of s/h, slight angst, happy ending

Summary: It’s Virgil’s birthday...yay. He’s not the biggest fan, plus he wakes up to a depressive episode not easy to tackle alone. Another year older and nothing seems to have changed.

Story Text:

Virgil woke up tangled up in his boyfriends’ embraces. He felt warm in their arms, he felt safe...but something was up. He groaned internally as he realised the aching in his head, the stiffness in limbs and the empty feeling in his chest. He tried to block out the feelings of numbness that rose in him but he couldn’t and that was what really hurt.

“Morning Virgil dearessst,” A voice hissed drowsily from next to him. 

“Gmorning Dee,” He replied, groaning internally as he saw Patton stirring from his position on Roman’s chest. “Good morning DeeDee, ooooh Virgiiiiiiiiie happy birthday!!!!!” the side basically squealed “Oh. My. Gosh! I GOTTA WAKE THE OTHERS!” This got a chuckle from Dee but Virgil was still stuck on those words. He felt the pit in his stomach grow as he played them over in his mind again and again. ‘Suck it up’ he told himself ‘People love birthdays, right?’ and he rubbed his eyes to mask the frustrated tears that wanted to form. Though, even as he was greeted with love, kisses and kind words from his boys, he just couldn’t muster the strength to feel the happiness he should have felt.  

He couldn’t help feeling low but as he saw everyone’s excitement, as he heard Patton, Remus and Roman struggle over the cake in the kitchen, as he saw the stress lines grow on Logan and Deceit’s faces as they bickered over the decorations, he only got worse. He got a chuckle in when he heard Patton scold Remus over trying to set his brother’s apron on fire but he still felt the creeping insecurity eating at him slowly. This was way too much... way too much, even the music being played, though he adored it so, seemed to mock him. Virgil wasn’t about to let himself cry about getting attention on his birthday... so he blamed the tear rolling down his face on the onions Remus kept leaving around. Dee, though, saw him wiping it away and in that moment, the snake felt his heart truly break and walked over to the smaller man.

“Virgil dear?” he asked cautiously “Are you okay?”

Virgil opened his mouth to say ‘yes, of course I am’ but instead he just bit his lip to stop the sob that wanted to escape and shook his head, kicking himself mentally for it all. Deceit clutched him close and turned to address the rest of their boyfriends. “Turn that music down, please, and come here,” Dee said loudly enough the whole household could hear, but as they swarmed in, Virgil shook his head more and clung further to Deceit’s shirt. “Hey shhh, it’s okay love, I know it’s a lot of people but I promise you’re safe. You’ll be okay,” Virgil sighed and brought his head up, nodding. Logan brought the man off the couch and onto the floor, the rest of the sides spreading out with them in a way that made Virgil feel safe and surrounded but not trapped. “Gosh V, when will you learn you need to share with us?” Lo said and they both chuckled bittersweetly. Roman chimed in after that “ Now my beautiful prince, what has you crying on today of all days?” Virgil sighed looked down and scratched his wrist through his hoodie, knowing just what sat there, before he finally spoke. “I’m just so frustrated, I feel so... bad. And I know I shouldn’t! I’m fine! But you’re all putting in all this effort and I just can’t with all the attention and I woke up in this... place. I’m stuck in my head and I just feel numb! I don’t want to ruin this for you guys, you tried so hard and I’m so ungrateful! But... I’m just...low” he looked up to the concerned but comforting eyes of his boyfriends, just staring for a moment before he heard someone speak. Remus smiled at him, not in his usual wild way but subtly and kindly. “ViVi you know nothing you could do could upset any of us. I blew up four homes using only half a match, 3 bottles of water and an elastic band last week and you think those boys are going to have a problem because your depression’s playing up? Of course not!” he grinned.

Patton chimed in “ Virge we all understand how you’re feeling. We’re here for you, especially today of all days. We know we overwhelm you at times, we’re sorry love but just know that we’re trying and we’ll stay with you through it all,”

“You’re company has always been simply enough, we just wish to spend today with you and make it special. Whatever that entails, whether it’s skydiving or just staying in, as long as you’re here, is, as you say, ‘all g’ by us,” Logan stated as he ran his fingers over Virgil’s knuckles softly.

 “Who even needs a party! I say we eat cake and drink cocoa on the couch while cuddling and watching a movie... of course if that’s what you’d be comfortable with dear one,” Roman suggested, dramatic as ever.

“I think I’d like that.”

 And as Nightmare before Christmas started and Virgil curled into his boyfriends side, hot cocoa in hand, he thought to himself ‘Maybe birthdays aren’t so bad after all’.

[intothevoidofnoreturn]

Let’s Talk About Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Poetry Conventions

The main issue when dealing with texts as old as Beowulf is that English has evolved too a point where the average speaker would neither be able to talk to diverse group of English a millennium ago or be able to read any documents presented to them. Nevertheless, alliteration is still present in the translated versions, reminiscent of the story’s oral origins. Heavy letters and sounds, specifically e, h, and g, and to a lesser extent s and d, are present in the majority of the lines, often overlapping with one another. Part of the reason behind this is because may of the names mentioned within the story start with these letters. One of the densest areas that is sound heavy is the decree that Beowulf and company are coming to save Heorot and her inhabitants from Grendel, stating that “Now Holy God/ has, in His goodness, guided him here/ to the West-Danes, to defend us from Grendel,” (Beowulf, lines 381 – 383). When said out loud, the sentence becomes a type of song, all that is missing is an appropriate beat.

As music is a universal trait found across time and cultures, the beat would have had to been simple enough that it could be repeated without complex orchestras, but still catching enough that the audience would be inclined to listen to the full performance. Using the same lines presented before, 382 and 383 can be given a basic template to demonstrate the presence of the four-beat line and a caesura. The first part of the line should be said in a tone that gets higher in pitch, while the ending of the line decreased in pitch. Since each line is roughly eight syllables, there is an extremely minor pause after the fourth syllable, followed by the lower pitch, and finally another break at the end of the sentence or line, depending on how the story is being recited. The rests allow the speaker to breath and the beat allows the audience to join along if desired, tapping their feat or hands to keep the rhythm.

Since the Cotton manuscript is the only surviving copy of Beowulf, it is difficult to determine what portions of the larger myth and performance are missing. The translations that we do have now, however, all lack end rhymes. The primary story, the Volsung Saga, and the Finnsburg Episode, would appear to be a long-winded folk tale to those unfamiliar with Beowulf. A vital thing to note is that it is a folk tale, but chances are that because it was written down when so few were, it must have been a major, and possibly overlapping, myth to a past society. Without end rhymes to assist the speaker in retelling the story, the plot points that appear in Beowulf must have been central to the narrative. The periods between the major events may have been more prone to oral editing. Without end-line rhymes, modern readers face the same problem when trying to recount the story when analyzing said story.

As mentioned previously, Beowulf is a story that has been translated for modern readers. Modern authors have the privilege of instant thesauruses to heighten their creations. Oral traditions have a different set of standards for the use of words, largely because many come from a period before modern language and spelling standards. Beowulf’s audience must constantly be aware of sections and phrases that wouldn’t be found in modern English. The most famous example of these kennings is the whale-road and “swan-road,” both named for bodies of water, as well as ring-giver and a various assortment for the act of dying and death (line 200). Kennings are essential tool and theme of Anglo-Saxon poetry, working as a plot device for both modern readers and old listeners alike.

The most important literary device in Beowulf, and all myths, are the various hyperboles. From classical Greco-Roman myths of demigods to comic book heroes, all are found to contain strength beyond the ordinary limits of man, as well as the honor in battle against supernatural beasts and the importance of genealogy. Beowulf is no different. He is descended from a line of mighty warriors, has fought various eldritch horrors, and basically is a miniature army even in his waning years. Humans like to exaggerate. Few want to hear of a person banging pots and pans to ward off a fat raccoon so that the greedy bugger stops stealing bird food, but make those pans divinely blessed drums and superglue wings on the raccoon, and voila, a story that people will remember being completely horseshit, but a remembered story nonetheless.

To slightly diverge from the original topic, humans have always created monsters, and while one can dismiss Grendel, his mother, and the dragon with other creatures as pre-industrial fiction, our era’s monsters target the same fears of the unknown world outside our bubbles of locality. We may not have a Bigfoot coming into our hometown and destroying the local pub, but we most certainly have government men in black suits with nondescript features coming to whisk us away, our relatives knowing better than to question our disappearance. Our heroes are average people who have the courage to stand up to formidable foes.

[fillogree]

So @ifsomebodyhadsomegarlicbread requested some medical Roman angst, & I wanted to try my hand at it. This fic is simultaneously longer & shorter than I want it to be, I just hope it's okay.

“And that’s a match!”

Roman removed his fencing mask panting softly, sweat slicked his brown curls to his forehead as he flashed a tired smile to his partner. “Nice job, Adrien!”

The blonde grinned and nodded. “Thanks, Roman. You sure you’re okay, though? I’ve never scored against you that many times. Don’t be going easy on me now.”

The brunette laughed and shook his head. “I may be a little sleepy. Practice ran late last night, but I wouldn’t hold back against you, you’re just getting that much better.”

Adrien beamed up at Roman and nodded. “Then you better get plenty of sleep for our next match, I want to face you again in top form!”

Roman laughed and patted his sparring partner on the shoulder. “Consider it done.”

In the locker room however, Roman was a frantic mess. He was scrambling to get his fencing gear put away while firing off a text message to the leader of his theater troupe.

‘omw’ he managed to type, pushing send with his nose as he zipped up his duffle bag.

“Okay, lets see.” Gear packed, phone, wallet, keys—” Roman tugged open his backpack, thumbing through folders and paperclipped sheets. “Script, creative writing assignment, apron.. okay good!” He threw both bags over his shoulder and raced out of the locker room. He darted down the hallway, zigzagging between other students, offering apologies as he ran. He was grateful to have secured a position with a local theater company for work. He had been in two local plays in the past few months and was excited to be rehearsing for another, but between two jobs and university, he was getting a bit tired.

Roman hopped out of his car as he arrived at the studio, ignoring the growling in his stomach. He snatched up his backpack and bolted inside. His current role was that of a watchmaker in the city of Avalon a city filled with gears, cogs and machines. His character Hector was distraught, because his services were required all over town, but he could never sit and work on his cuckoo clocks at home. It was feeling Roman felt all too familiar with.

As Roman ran through his lines with his scene partner, he couldn’t help but notice a pinprick of pressure beginning to form between his eyes. He was probably getting a headache due to not eating all day, and he made a mental note to eat his granola bar he had stashed away on his way to work. He pushed through it even as they pain became a bit more persistent as he ran through his lines with the rest of the troupe. He stumbled over a few lines as the pressure began to build. Thankfully rehearsal was called a bit early and Roman managed to say his goodbyes.

Once in his car Roman couldn’t help but frown at the growing pressure.  He felt a little dizzy but tried hard to push the feeling away as he pulled away from the studio and headed down the road. By the time he pulled up to the café his head was throbbing. The brunette found himself squinting, brow furrowed as he tried to push the pain away. He pulled open his backpack, tied on his work apron and pushed through the door of the café. He instantly regretted it.

The synthpop music that was blaring over the speakers felt entirely too loud, and the overlapping chatter of everyone enjoying their drinks and sweets was near deafening. He shut his eyes tight for a moment but that just pinched the muscles in his face and sharpened the pain. Sighing heavily Roman made his way back behind the counter anyway.  He carefully guided one of his co-workers into the back room, slumping into a chair.

“Taz, please tell me you or Tucker have something for my head.”

The younger male grimaced, sucking air between his teeth as he shook his head, softly. “Tess drove us today and was in a hurry, so we forgot our bags in his car.”

Roman groaned pressing the balls of his palms to his forehead, “There are five of you and none of you carry anything for migraines?”

“Maybe caffeine will help. Your shift doesn’t start for another 10 minutes, so let me make you a latte.”

Roman nodded, waving the younger male off before burying his face back in his hands. He had 6 hours to plow through on register, and then a paper he needed to go home and write. His head continued thudding on, but curiously Roman noticed shaking in his fingers. He pulled his hand from his face, squinting at the light and looked down at his hands, they were trembling now.

His heart began to pound a bit faster. What exactly did this mean?  He went to stand up, but felt his legs trembling too, and quickly sat back down.

“T-T-Taz..” Roman frowned. As he tried to speak it felt as though he had to force the words out, the hard stutter a result of them gripping his tongue and almost refusing to leave his mouth. “I-I think I need t-to go to the h-hospital..”

Taz came back with Roman’s latte to see him in full body muscle spasms his arms and legs shaking and bouncing wildly. “Roman? What’s wrong?”

“I-I don’t know.. g-get help.”

 Virgil stared at the unknown number blinking across his cell phone's home screen. He didn't like having his music interrupted, particularly by unknown numbers. With a heavy sigh he clicked the answer icon & put the phone on speaker, muting himself quickly. He wasn't in the mood for any telemarketers today.

"Hello, this is Rosa calling from North Community Hospital, may I speak with Virgil Grimments, please?"

Virgil’s eyes widened, and he felt his heartbeat quicken reflexively. He took a deep breath and unmuted the phone. “Speaking.”

“Virgil? As I stated, this is Rosa. We have a Roman Pierce here in the hospital, you were listed as his emergency contact. Can you come in?”

Virgil’s pounding heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach as he nodded, clutching the phone tightly to his ear. “Is he okay? What’s going on?”

“He’s okay, it doesn’t look like anything too serious, but we would like you here at your earliest convenience, to discuss his health.”

Virgil continued nodding despite himself, the butterflies in his stomach flapping their wings wildly. “Yes, yes of course. We’ll be there soon.”

Virgil pocketed his cell phone and all but ripped his door off the hinges, taking the stairs up to the living room two at a time. “Pat! Patton!”

Patton jolted upwards from his position in the couch, pausing the cooking show he was watching. He turned around to see a disheveled Virgil, his eyes wide with worry. “Hey Virgil, what’s wrong?” He asked making his way over to him.

“Ro-Roman’s in the hospital. I dunno what happened. We have to go.”

Patton nodded making his way over to Virgil and cupped his hands. “Okay, we’ll go right now. Deep breaths, okay? Did they say what condition he was in?”

“They said it wasn’t too serious, but they needed me there right away.”

“Okay, okay. So, it’s nothing serious. He’s at the hospital surrounded by people who are qualified to take care of him. So, he’ll be alright, we’ll leave right now, okay? Did you call Logan?”

Virgil shook his head as Patton slowly released his hands, taking deep breaths to calm his rising worry. He watched as Patton grabbed his hoodie, and cell phone before scampering into the kitchen. “You go call Lo and I’ll meet you in the car, okay?”

Virgil nodded, pulling up Logan’s number on his phone as he headed out the front door. Logan answered on the second ring.

“Virgil. Normally you’d be resting at this hour, what is it?”

“Ro’s in the hospital, Lo. They said it’s nothing too serious, but Pat and I are headed up there right now. Can you come?”

Logan looked down at the stacks of paper across his desk. He still had tests to grade, essays to examine, and an entire lesson plan he needed to write up by Monday. Still, the health and safety of his partners came before his job.

“Which hospital?”

Virgil gave a sigh of relief, as he relayed what he was told from Rosa, and gave Logan the address. While Roman was of course the focus, he felt much better about heading into a hospital with the two people who helped calm him down the most. What he wasn’t prepared for was to see someone as infallible as Roman in a hospital bed. He stared at his phone after Logan hung up and sighed softly. The others deserved to know too. With much reluctance he unlocked his phone and pulled up his text messages.

‘Dee. Ro’s in the hospital, tell the others.’  That should be enough, Dietrich could let the others know, and Virgil wouldn’t have to be involved.

‘Which hospital?’

‘No.’

‘FamILY only, huh?’

Virgil sneered at the response, something in the pit of his stomach was coiling in on itself. He didn’t want to talk to his ex-boyfriend any more than he had to. The fact that he and Roman were even talking was.. well, Virgil felt a lot of things about the two of them getting along. He took a few more deep breaths and typed his response.

‘You can come over when we get him home.’

‘Thanks for your permission.’

Virgil pocketed his cell phone fighting back waves of nausea as he made his way to Patton’s car. The sight of the pastel blue Volkswagen helped to lighten his mood. Patton had decorated the car with tons of bumper sticker and his back window was home to several plush kittens. It was hard to be upset in Patton’s car; it was almost a rule. He waited by the passenger’s side door as Patton came rushing outside, clutching a canvas backpack in his arms.

“A change of clothes, a puppy plushie, and some shortbread cookies.” Patton explained as he handed the bag over to Virgil, unlocking the car.

“You think he’ll be there overnight?” Virgil tried to keep the growing concern from creeping into his voice.

“Hopefully not, but it never hurts to be prepared, right? And if he does come home today he’s got everything he needs for a cozy nap.”

Virgil nodded, trying to relax against the seat as Patton drove.

 Logan couldn’t stop tapping his foot as he waited in the lobby. He had arrived at the hospital as quickly as he could, triple checked Roman’s room number, and tried very hard to distract himself by reading over a few articles on his tablet. He tried to tell himself his partner was fine, that he’d see his smiling face in a few minutes, and they’d all go home together. He couldn’t be certain though. He didn’t have all the facts. What he did know was Roman wasn’t being held in the ICU, so his condition wasn’t that bad. He did know the woman who spoke to Virgil said his condition wasn’t serious, and more than anything he was positive Roman had insurance because Logan signed him up for it. With the facts he did have in place there was a very high percentage rate that Roman was fine. However, the bit of him that craved certainty didn’t like to be dwelling on the unknown.

“Logan!”

Logan stood up instantly and felt his worry subside seeing Patton and Virgil approach. Patton threw his arms around him and Virgil gave a soft smile, gently touching his shoulder.

“Which room?”

“413, let’s go.”

Quietly Logan and Patton reached for Virgil’s trembling hands as they walked towards the elevators.

“He’ll be alright.” Logan said softly.

 Virgil stood timidly at the door as Patton lead the way inside and Logan brought up the rear.

“Hey there, handsome. You doing okay?” Patton asked giving Roman’s hand a gentle squeeze. Roman turned his head to look at Patton and gave a small smile.

“A p-prince is always fine.” He croaked.

Patton chuckled, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on Roman’s forehead. “Always, huh? So what are you doing in here? Wooing all the nurses?”

“I-I would n-never. N-not when I have s-such amazing boyfriends.” His voice was a low rasp, the stutter only making him sound feebler. Virgil clutched at the front of his jacket just at the sound of him. Logan gave his hand a gentle squeeze, encouraging him to step into the room.

“There they are. T-tall, dark and broody and Ti-85. What are you all doing here?”

“Virgil received a phone call earlier, apparently we need to have a discussion in regard to your health, Roman.”

The usually lively and boisterous male sunk lower into his hospital bed, pulling the blanket up to his nose. “N-noo..” he whined pitifully. I’m fine..”

“Evidently not.” Logan chided, gently as he ushered Virgil inside. “So, care to explain?”

As Roman opened his mouth to protest a nurse stepped into the room. “O-Oh, I wasn’t expecting such a full house.” She laughed softly. “I’m assuming one of you is Virgil?”

Virgil shuffled awkwardly and gave a small wave to the nurse. “That’s me.”

“Oh, good. Do you mind if I speak with you out in the hallway?”

Virgil shook his head as Logan came to stand behind him. “If this is to discuss Roman’s current condition, I would like to be present as well.”

The nurse nodded, ushering the two of them outside. Patton stayed put at Roman’s bedside, humming softly as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“You gave all of us quite the scare, you know. Virgil was a mess when he got the phone call.”

Roman glanced away, smiling sadly. “I-I’m  sorry.”

“Mmn.. For what, kiddo?”

The door to the room was opened once again and Virgil pushed his way through looking equal parts irritated and heartbroken. Patton glanced up in confusion to see Logan beckoning him out into the hallway.

“What the hell, Princey?” Virgil fumed once the door was closed. “Are you serious? What’s all this about you not eating? You almost passed out at work? What are you doing?”

Roman flinched and tucked further into the blankets. “I-It was just o-one day..”

Virgil raised an eyebrow giving his boyfriend a hard stare. “Go Ahead and say that again. Look me directly in the eye and tell me this is the first time you’ve been skipping meals or ignoring your headaches. She said your blood sugar was so low it was a wonder you hadn’t fainted yet. How is that possible in just one day, huh?”

Roman pouted refusing to meet Virgil���s heated stare.

With a heavy sigh Virgil knelt at Roman’s bedside and clutched his hands. “Why, Ro? Is something wrong, are you.. Do you need to see Emile?”

“Do I..? N-No. No. V-Virgil I’m not..” Roman swallowed, turning away from him, his bottom lip trembling slightly. “I-I didn’t want you to see me like this.. I just. Between school, and clubs and work I forget to eat sometimes, and it’s usually not a big deal, b-but then today the migraines came a-and it got h-hard to talk, and I was so scared, but.. I didn’t.. I didn’t want to let anyone down.”

“Let us down? Roman, how—”

“You all were s-so proud when I got this acting job, Logan even took off work to see my performances, you fought through your social anxiety for me. B-but I didn’t want to walk out on the café, or any of my clubs when things got too busy, but I-I’m so tired Virgil.. I’m just so tired all the time, but I can’t just quit or give up, so..”

Virgil sighed and gave Roman’s hands a squeeze, pressing his forehead against his.

“Roman, I am proud of you. There’s nothing you could do or not do to make me not be proud of you. You’re.. You’re always so confident and charismatic and you work so hard and you’re talented at so many things, it’s amazing. I admire you for that. But even if you only did one of the things you’re good at, or dropped them all, my feelings wouldn’t change, and neither would any one else’s. Now I’m going to tell you something that’s hard to hear, but you need to learn to put yourself first.”

“I know..” Roman sniffled softly.

“No, you don’t. I know you don’t or else you wouldn’t be here. Roman. You need to put yourself first. If you are tired you take a break. If you haven’t eaten you stop, and you eat. If anyone has anything bad to say about you taking a break or working fewer hours they can answer to Pat. You need to find what your boundaries are, and don’t let others cross them, not even yourself. Give yourself some time, okay?”

“When did you become the therapist?” Roman chuckled, wiping his eyes.

“When you encouraged me to go see one. It really helped, now’s my turn to help you. Take care of yourself.”

“Well spoken, Virgil.” Logan said from the doorway. The two jumped as Logan and Patton returned. Patton’s arms were crossed but there was concerned softness in his eyes.

“I’m packing you more snacks, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me, got it?”

“I will help you come up with a suitable schedule, so you don’t run into this issue again.”

“And I’ll text Remus your every location to check up on you in the most embarrassing way possible if you don’t listen.”

“We’re here for you Roman, you don’t have to do it all on your own anymore.”

Roman nodded and gave a soft smile. “I love you guys, thank you.”