Business Ethics - Term Paper Example

Business ethics Question A Ethics is an important part of a business transaction. That means that all the decisions made by a firm will have some impact on the way the business will be conducted. In the given situation, I would first try to investigate and try to find out if what Doug is saying is true. If the issues are true and valid, then I would move to the next step of approaching the management and informing them about the issue at hand. From that point, we can try to negotiate a way that will be most viable in dealing with the situation. The relevant pressure includes the fact that the item of discussion is the main income earner for the company. That means that it would be a great risk to stop selling the item. The other pressure that is involved is the fact that Doug had stated that the last person who had tried to raise the issue was sacked because of asking about the issue. That means that the job may be at risk and it could be lost if the management is not accommodative enough. In this situation, the questions that I would ask myself include the following, if there is an ethical issue at hand. The ethical issue that is under consideration is the fact that the bikes will not be effective and that may lead to loss of lives and other bad outcomes. The other thing I would do is to establish the key principles and values that are involved in the issue. The issues that are involved include the fact that the bike will be ineffective after 4 hours of usage. That can be checked to ensure that is a fact. The other thing would be to rank ethical principles that are relevant in the dilemma. The issues that can be ranked include the company’s profitability against the value of people’s lives. The other step would be to prepare an action plan that should be in line with the ethical principles. The action plan will be to suggest that the bikes be improved or totally scrapped off to ensure the safety of the users. After that, I would implement my plan laid down. The last thing will be to reflect on the outcome of the process (Hantzes 67). I would not recommend that the company pays the special $5,000 for the pedal to be placed on shelves of shops. That is not legal and ethical. Every product should be placed on shelves at the will of the buyer but the shop owners should not demand a price for putting the products on the shelves. That may be viewed, as a bribe and it would not be ethical. The considerations that can be put in place are the reasons that are behind the payment of the special fee. Green Move Company should not apply the cost/benefit analysis on the safety of the product. The costs may be more adverse and also the life of a person is not something to gamble with and it should be the first consideration while the rest come last. The risks that are involved include the company being sued for more money in case there is a loss that occurs and it becomes associated with the manufacture of the zero pedals. The other risk is the fact that the company may lose its reputation and that will be a risk factor because that will imply that the products that the company will sell in the future may not be considered by the customers. Question B Every organization should be a different entity from the affiliate companies and the owners. The owner of a company cannot be judged because of something that may have happened in his or her company. That also applies to the companies that are associated with a supply chain. A supply chain will involve wholesalers and retailers. All the businesses that are found in the supply chain are independent not unless they are owned by the same company. That means that each company transacts its businesses independent of any other business. In the case of the agreement between Green move and solar group, the agreement is not legally binding. The agreement is one that interferes with the internal affairs of another company and that means that the independence of the other company is interfered with. Anything that happens in another company can not affect the affairs of the other not unless the issue involved is based on the quality of items produced. That means that Green move should not be affected by the affairs of the company and that the company should transact its internal issues without interfering with other company's affairs. Green move should not terminate the agreement. However, the company can advise against poor working conditions. They can also advise that poor conditions can affect the productivity of a company. The issue is not morally right and it can lead lack of morale among the employees. The interests that are at stake in this kind of issue include the interests of the employees. The employees are being involved in very poor working conditions and that is a demotivator for their productivity. That means that the capacity that they meet is not the maximum that they can do. The other interests that are stake are the quality of products produced. Employees who are subjected to poor working conditions can be less effective. Younger employees are not trained in production and that implies that the quality of the products that they produce is likely to be below standard. The standards that should be set when setting the wages of workers in Bangladesh should be in line with the company’s principles. Different countries have different policies on labor. Some countries have a lower minimum wage as compared to others. That means that a country can take advantage of low costs of production by engaging business in a country that has low costs of production and low wage rate. However, that is not the only factor that should be considered when setting the wage rate or coming up with a work environment. It is prudent and ethical to engage employees in a good working environment in which they will be comfortable working. That means that the environment should be safe and clean. The wages should be set according to international standards or above the average wage rate of the company if the country engages its employees in low wages. The other factor that should be considered is the policy that exists in a company about hiring of employees. The company should ensure that it maintains the standards that it has internally so that the policy of the company becomes standard regardless of the company of operation. The blog may have a negative impact of the Green move’s brand. If the blog associates Green move with solar group, then some customers may have a negative view on the items being sold by green move. However, the blog will have no effect on rational customers. Such customers will recognize that green move is not directly related to solar group and the poor working conditions are found in solar group and not Green move. The blog may also lead to a government inspection on the both companies. That means that the government may want to know how the operations of the company are operated. That will be in an attempt to try to find out if the allegations stated are true and if the company will be able to function well without any changes been implemented. Question C Victor should provide a bid on the property lease. However, the facilitation should not be done so that the bidding can be free and fair. The bidding if done according to the laid down process will be legit and it will not face any legal hurdles. Victor should not include both envelopes. The facilitation envelop should not be included because that can be perceived as a form of bribery in which he is trying to seek a favor by paying for it. If the company turns out to be the best bidder, then the property will be leased out to them. The problem with paying the facilitation fees is the fact that the lease is not assured. The company may invest a lot and end up been disappointed when the lease is not handed to them and that will be a loss on the side of the company. The other reason that they should not take the two envelopes is the fact that the person who receives the facilitation envelop can continuously blackmail the company so that he can earn more income. That means that if the person is not paid the amount he demands, he can expose the company. Exposing the company will have a negative impact on the reputation of the company and that may lead to loss of customers. The competitors may also use the fact against the company when they are making their marketing campaigns. Expansion of operations into Russia is a great idea. The expansion is essentially because it will lead to an expansion of the market share of the company’s products. The company can establish its base and it can manufacture some of its products in Russia. Availability of cheap labor in Russia will also be a good thing because the company will cut on its costs and at the same time increase it profit margin. The other good thing about the expansion into Russia is the fact that the company will be increasing employment levels in Russia. That will improve the standard of living for the locals staying in the country. Question D The organizational issues that may have led to the ethical and legal breaches in the company include corrupt leaders. Corrupt leaders can do anything within their power to achieve whatever they want using whatever means possible. That means that the leaders of green move are corrupt. The fact that the leaders of the company are willing to give out facilitation fees is an indicator that the leaders want to find the easiest ways up their success ladder. The leaders are sure that getting the property in Russia will be of great benefit to the company and that can be the key to company’s super profits. The other issue that may have led to the breach on legal and ethical issues is greed and need for easy money. The leaders of the company can be said to be greedy because they are only interested in their well-being as opposed to the well-being of other people too. When the company does nothing on the issue of the zero pedals, the company does not care about the safety of its customers. The company also has greedy leaders because they do not mind about the poor working conditions of the people working at solar group. According to my opinion, the leaders of green move have no duty of care over the employees who are working at solar group. However, it would be appropriate for the company to raise the issue with the management of solar group informing them the issues that are associated with the use of underage employees and the issue of poor working conditions. Green Move Company may be faced by a number of risks that surround the unethical behavior. The issue of paying the facilitation fees can lead to a criminal liability. The company can be faced by a legal suit if the authorities find out that the company is using corruption to achieve whatever they want. The right procedures on bidding should be adhered to and the best bidder should be rewarded. The company can also be faced with a criminal liability if the authorities found out that the company was selling products that had a default that compromises on the safety of the customers. The company owes a duty of care to its customers. That means that the company should manufacture products that are of a high quality and that are safe for use by the customers. The steps that the board of directors can take to fix the company may include setting up a code of conduct that should be strictly adhered to. The company should ensure that the company employees comply with the code of conduct that has been put in place in the company. The code of conduct should apply uniformly for all the employees in the company. The code of conduct will include the policies that the company will follow in acquisitions and making employing staff. The other thing that the board of directors can do is to liaise with solar group so that they can change the employment regulations. That will ensure that only employees who have attained the right age are employed in the company. Solar group should also renovate its premise so that it can be conducive for employees. That will ensure that employees work in perfect conditions. the board of directors can also ensure that the employees that are involved in manufacturing the zero pedals investigate the problem that exists. After diagnosis of the problem, the team can be asked to look for a solution to the problem and that will lead to more safety for the product. The government can fix the issues by ensuring that all companies produce products that are safe for use. That means that products should be inspected by the government officials before been declared safe for use. The government can also be strict on the employment laws. The other issue will be the government ensuring that the procurement cat is adhered to. That will involve fair bidding of any tenders of government contracts. That will ensure that all citizens are treated fairly. Work cited Hantzes, Nicholas. Ethics Helps, Not Hurts, Effective Decision Making. Executive Idealink December 2007. Read More