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The Godfather Reflective Summary Essay Shawn Carelli Business Ethics: Week 4 The Godfather Reflective Summary The Godfather is a great movie the many consider essential to any great business. This movie shows the realization of the American Dream. A family empire built from little to nothing. Though the business that took place in this movie was certainly illegitimate, the practices and rules they lived by are a key asset to modern day business. Break the laws they might, but family values are one of the most scared attributes to being part of these families. The Godfather truly shows it’s important to play by the rules, or you’ll be â€Å"sleeping with the fishes†. There are plenty of great lines in this movie in which hold great value in business. â€Å"Never dishonor those who help you†. Taking care of those who take care of you, great businesses today understand the importance of this. They take care of employees that contribute well to the company and partnerships that generate business. â€Å"Don’t discuss business at the dinner table†. This is a great line for people in business to understand. This means there is a proper time and place for business talk. And in my opinion, one of the most well-known lines, â€Å"It’s not personal, it’s business†. It’s very important in business to understand that your business life and personal life are separate, and that the main goal of a business is to make money. Competitors will get beat and will not be happy about it, but it’s not personal, it’s business. Business is not all about making people happy but is more so about making the business money. That being said, many of the other values of business both in The Godfather and in the business world are kept in check with the values that are set. Defying those values can prove to be very costly as illustrated in the movie. The Godfather shows how doing business properly is vital to the old world values that are set. To be respectful and understand your priorities, as stated, â€Å"A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man†. The movie shows that in business it is vitally important how we conduct ourselves, how we interact with others, and how we stand behind the team, or family, that we are a part of and not deceive them. â€Å"Show, don’t tell†. This has means that there is more credibility in what you do, not just what you say. You can’t say that you conduct yourself following the values that are set by your peers; your actions have to speak for themselves. Though in The Godfather, much of the business conducted had plenty of corruption, violence, and vengeance, there was still a very strong set of values on how the different families conducted themselves in their business dealings. This goes to show how ethics is something that can be interpreted differently. Something that might be considered unethical and wrong to one person might be considered perfectly fine and ethically sound to another. It’s interesting how the strong family values were of the utmost importance, even though they were involved in illegitimate business. This movie really illustrates the importance to take pride in your work and to play by the rules. Loyalty is, in my opinion, one of the biggest lessons The Godfather shows. Being loyal you your family or business is essential to them doing just that for you, but defy them and you will have a mark against you by them and others who know that you are not a loyal member. Being loyal is so important in business. It’s taught to us at a young age, â€Å"treat others the way you would want to be treated†. The movie emphasizes this greatly, as family is the most important thing, and since the family is in business together, business loyalty is even more important. To conclude, I feel The Godfather was a great movie to watch. I think there are great lessons to be learned from the famous quotes on how to conduct oneself in business. From family values, to why it’s not right to deceive people.