Shell Business Ethics - Essay Example

Task 1. The business objectives of shell Nigeria are affected by ethical considerations in different ways. Basically, ethics refers to “the rules or principles that define right and wrong conduct,” (Robbins, 1993, p.14). It can be seen from the case study that Shell has been failing to uphold its ethical principles in its operations in Nigeria. For instance, Shell refused to compensate the Ogonis for the oil spillage which deprived the people of fertile land and fresh water for fishing. Though evidence showed that all spillages were caused by Shell equipments, the company refused to honour its obligation. To that effect, the image of Shell has been falling down worldwide. In order for Shell to counter this negative publicity that has tarnished its image, it should operate in an ethical manner. It should adopt the utilitarian view of ethics whose goal is to provide the greatest good for the greatest number. The Ogoni people in this case constitute the greatest number of people who have been negatively affected by the operations of Shell so they deserve to get better treatment from this company. The management of Shell should also ensure that their actions do not violate the rights of the local people such as the right to live in a clean and safe environment. It has been observed that the company’s failure to uphold ethical principles has impacted negatively on its operations. Therefore, the company’s goals and objectives should be shaped by different ethical principles in order to fulfill the interests of the stakeholders who may be affected by its operations. 2. There are various implications to Shell and its stakeholders (Interest of conflict between the foreign owners and the local citizens) that need to be considered in order for it to operate ethically. Whilst Shell may argue that it is primarily concerned with generating profits that would benefit the stakeholders, there is a conflict of interest where it can be observed that its actions negatively impact on the local communities. In order to operate ethically, Shell should try to create a fine balance between its profit needs as well as fulfilling the needs and interests of the members of the local community. Enlightened companies encourage their managers to be socially responsible and try to seek ways to protect the long run interests of their stakeholders and the environment (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Essentially, all companies operate within a certain environment and it is their obligation to protect that same environment. In case of Shell, it should be noted that the company should not only be concerned about its profitability goals but the needs and interests of the local people in the environment in which it is operating. The principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR) posits to the effect that companies should be responsible for their actions and they should plough back into the communities they are operating as a sign of goodwill in order to gain the trust of the local people in these areas (Dari, 2012). Thus, Shell is compelled to go beyond written regulations and try to fulfill the needs and interests of the people in the communities in which it is operating. Task 2 1. The way employees in the sales shops in Libya are treated amounts to exploitation and oppression. Such treatment is unwarranted for and it has negative results on the employees. The performance of the employees in the organization is mainly affected by the way they are treated. In this case, it can be seen that the employees are treated in a bad way and there is little they can do to address the problem. This means that their rights get little or no recognition at all. The type of autocratic leadership style used by the leaders in these companies need to be reviewed since it is exploitative to the workers. A holistic approach needs to be taken in order to improve the working conditions in such workplaces. Yerby (2013) suggests that employee morale in the workplace can be boosted if a corporate policy which outlines the expectations of each person has been put in place. As it stands, the employees in the sales shops in Libya have no right to ask their employers about the bad treatment they get as a result of different reasons. Their voices are gagged and they cannot complain to their superiors in the organization. Therefore, effort should be made to create a flexible working environment where the employees can have the opportunity to air their grievances to the responsible authorities. This can only be possible if there is a corporate policy in place that clearly outlines the legal and ethical issues that should be observed within the operations of the company. 2. In order to ensure that the sales shops in Libya operate ethically, there is need for complete overhaul of their operational standards. It should be noted that the employees are also human and they have needs and interests just like any other person. The employees generally desire more freedom and less monitoring as a result of the fact that this practice leads to the creation of a hostile workplace and lowers morale among the employees (Yerby, 2013). Unethical practices in the workplace are counterproductive and they should be abolished. Legal aspects also need to be taken into account in order to protect the rights of the employees. Legally, the employee in the organization has a right to freedom and fair treatment in order for them to be productive. As the situation stands in the Libyan shops, the employees are demoralized and they lack motivation to work in a productive manner. This scenario can be improved by treating the employees as valuable assets. There is also need to take into account the legal and ethical considerations that should guide the operations of all the organizations. The employees should be involved in the decision making process so that they can improve their morale. The other issue that should be taken into consideration is that the above mentioned organizations should create a professional code of ethics that should help them to set the expected standards of operations of the employees. This code helps to ensure that the organization is operating in an ethically recognized way. Bibliography Dari, S.S. 2012. “A Study Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mass Tort And Environment Protection. ARPN Journal of Science and Technology, [online] VOL. 2, Special Issue. Available at: http://www.ejournalofscience.org/archive/vol2s/vol2s_17.pdf [accessed 15 March 2015]. Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. 2010. Principles of Marketing. Cape Town: Pearson Education. Robbins, S.P. 1993. Organizational behaviour: Concepts, controversies and applications. 6th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Yerby, J. 2013. “Legal and ethical issues of employee monitoring.” Online Journal of Applied Knowledge Management [online] Volume 1, Issue2. Available at: http://www.iiakm.org/ojakm/articles/2013/volume1_2/OJAKM_Volume1_2pp44-55.pdf [accessed 15 March 2015]. Read More