The 11-Inch Footlong at Subway

It is perhaps all too common for companies that franchise out stores to insist to complaining customers that the franchisee bears full responsibility for any dissatisfaction. That franchisees are bound to certain standards in a legal agreement with the company is apparently of no consequence. The refusal to take responsibility is perhaps all too common in the retail sector. It is more convenient to point to the other guy’s responsibility than to one’s own. In fact, this mentality may be said to characterize business culture today. The sordid condition can be seen in the knee-jerk avoidance company statements made on the heels of a customer-led controversy.

The full essay is in Cases of Unethical Business: A Malignant Mentality of Mendacity, available at Amazon.com.