Ethical Issues in Fast Moving Consumer Goods - Coursework Example

BUSINESS ETHICS al Affiliation 0 Introduction Every individual is brought up in a culture that has moral values. Moreover, people act in their unique moral imperatives that compel them to act in a particular manner. However, when there is a conflict in an individual’s opinions, dilemma arises. Value based dilemmas in the workplace may be difficult to handle when workers are put in a position where they have to choose between the right and the wrong according to their own principles. Therefore, employers need to put in place policies that should deal with workplace ethics to prepare for potential conflicts of interest that may arise due to the diversity of opinions, cultures, and values in the workplace (Clark & Lattal, 2003). . The main purpose of this report is to analyze the ethical issues that arise in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) specifically the brewery industry based on the ethical principles and philosophical approach. 2.0 Case Study: the FMCG industry (Brewery) Research shows that there is a connection between the use of alcohol and chronic diseases like liver diseases. This has been admitted by some of the alcohol industries that excessive consumption of alcohol may lead to liver and other harmful diseases. This was demonstrated by one of the managers at Pernod Recard a multinational alcohol company. In addition, the managers felt the need to some of the claims that consumption of alcohol was causing some ethical issues in the organization. For example, research shows that most people who drink excessively are not productive at work and may lead to absenteeism from work. Moreover, they might be tempted to leave work early or take credit for work they have not done as well as lie to a potential client to make them sign the insurance policy. In order for an organization to have strong business ethics in the workplace, it is important to lay down policies that spell out the acceptable and unacceptable behavior in the workplace. If an organization does not have ethical standards then the employer is risking losing valuable employees as well as customers. On the other hand, employees should think of the work ethics as part of the jobs. This is because; employees spend all most the whole day in the workplace and are in a position to know when an ethical breach occurs. It is the role of every one to ensure that workplace ethics are fully adhered to and not just the boss, the HR department and the management (Larmer, 2002). 2.1 Alcohol consumption, Ethics and Morality Most people argue that the consumption of alcohol leads to immorality. There are moral principles that company’s implement to ensure that all persons behave in a manner that is acceptable. Here we will discuss some of the ethical theories that examine the morality and immorality of the alcohol industry. The utilitarian approach This approach focuses on the utilizing the ethical actions that will promote good behaviors in an organization. As propagated by one of the philosophers Jeremy Bentham, organizations can use this approach to get maximum effective results to the stakeholders. This approach examines and determines the consequences of an action. In addition, if an action result to additional good compared to the bad then it is a moral action and if the action results to worse actions as compared to the good then it is an immoral action. Therefore when dealing with the sale of alcohol products, the excessive consumption of alcohol that may lead to liver diseases is an immoral action. Moreover, it is a requirement for all companies that deal with the manufacturing and distribution of alcohol to indicate in their products as well as advertise that excessive consumption of alcohol is harmful to people’s health. People have the freedom to drink as this is their choice. As individual consume alcohol it leads to individuals having good times and also boost the economy. This could be a good act according to utilitarian approach as the good results are more compared to the bad. Kantian approach According to a German professor by the name Immanuel Kant, it is not logical to have a theory that makes people have pain and suffering. He therefore criticizes the utilitarian approach. Instead, Kent focuses on the actions that determine morality. He further discusses that morality is not based on hypothetical imperatives where people do the wrong thing while they know the right thing to do. Instead he bases morality with categorical imperatives where an individual must do the right thing. Consequently, he argues that being rationale is the ability to act based on the motives that are universally protected. In addition, he says that human beings can behave in a good manner because it is the right thing to do especially when performing their duties. In addition, Kant came up with the theory related to duties known as Deontology moral theory. The name deontology comes from a Greek work Deon, than means duty. According to this approach individuals are obliged to behave and act according to a set of rules and principles regardless of the results. Therefore, according to Kantian approach, the manufacturing and selling of alcohol are bad actions since the end result is that if people consume excessive alcohol it will lead to chronic diseases. Cognitive approach In this approach, it requires the cognitive abilities in creating moral decisions as opposed to individuals using emotions. In addition, it is the use of ethical sentences that express propositions that can be true or not. Therefore moral judgments can be true as they describe some of the world’s features. Moreover the opposite of this approach is the Non-cognitive that view moral statements lack some truth in it. Therefore in this case, it is true to say that excessive consumption of alcohol is harmful to people’s health. An article in the new times newspaper describes how youthful employees take advantage and inappropriately use company’s resources. In addition, some of the sales representatives spend of the company time to conduct their own businesses. In addition, while working from the office, they used the company time in chatting and constantly surfing the web. Technology is changing the world and growth of the internet has greatly influenced the ethical dilemmas in most companies. The management has to balance both the privacy of workers and the freedom of workers while keeping standards that they use their office computers for legitimate business purposes. It is important for organizations to monitor all online use and email communications for their employees to cut on cost and ensure that people are working and not spending most of their time interacting with friends. It is unethical to post, or use the internet during working hours. Employees should find out the policies that are put in place by the employer on personal use of the internet and the issues as well as the precautions that follow after violation of company policies (Bredl, 2014).The productivity of a company goes down as people become unproductive and make others colleagues suffer while covering the workload. This may lead to an organization not meet their set goals and objectives. The most worrying thing about social media is that it gives individuals the freedom of posting and commenting on almost everything about themselves. Therefore, if businesses are to allow access to social networking sits, they should give employees time especially at lunch hour or tea break to access the sites. In addition, they can come up with web filtering software’s that provides administrators with the ability to implement time-based access to these sites. Consequently, it is also important to train an educate employees on the consequences of using the sites as well as the security issues that may be caused. Educating employees on facts such as, a simple click of a link they receive may result to the malware infections on their machines as well as the network. It is also important to have employees sign on policies related to the use of the internet in the workplace. Monitoring of all web activity in the workplace is also vital and employees should be aware that their actions are being monitored and that if an individual fails to adhere to the company policies is liable to disciplinary action or even dismissal (Malin, 2000). On the other hand, it is important to handle matters that deal with ethics cautiously especially those that may be illegal or dangerous. All employees should be made accountable for the resources exposed to them. In addition, disciplinary measures should be taken upon those employees who violate the company ethical policies. Consequently, employers should come up and implement policies based on the company’s mission and vision statements as well as the code of business conduct. They should incorporate these policies with the performance management program so that employees are held accountable for their actions and making them responsible and uphold professional standards throughout their job performance and relations with co-workers and managers. Employers should obtain the signed acknowledgement form from the employers who have read and clearly understood the workplace ethics policy. In addition, the employers can come up with ways to engage employees in learning how to address as well as solve ethical issues. The use of experiential learning and role-playing is an effective way to facilitate ethics in the workplace. In addition, it is also important to designate an employee to be in charge of the ethical concerns that arise from employees in the workplace. There should also be confidential hotlines where employees can raise their concerns if they do not want to reveal their identity. Additionally, employers should seek legal advice for employees who have become notorious and have been reported who can increase the liability of a company. It is also necessary to have a consistent work place policy that addresses employee concerns. The same principles should be used to everybody in the organization regardless of the level of employees involved. The same message should be communicated to everyone whether they are in the executive position or the management position and every issue should be approached with equal interpretation of the company policy (Gilliland, 2007). Conclusion In conclusion, as organizations have no way to anticipate the different types of situations and dilemmas in the workplace, individuals as well as the entire organization can prepare for any ethical issue that may arise in the workplace by integrating high standard policies and developing habits that help in responding and reacting to ethics in the workplace. Every decision made may have either a short term or a long-term implication to the organization. To develop some habits like thinking about the future is also important as it prepares the organization for any ethical issue that may arise as well as provide an opportunity to develop a sense of consistency and continuity in the workplace (Kaptein, 2006). Every day situations should be handled with fairness irrespective of the position people hold in the organization. In addition, employees should be wary of the organization resources and should not use company time to do personal activities. For instance, employees should blog or use social networking sites on their personal time away from work or before and after working hours. Employers should come up with policies that guide the employees on the ethical values of the organization. On the other hand, Employees should be loyal to the organization they work for and should not provide or disclose information or trade confidential information to outsiders. In addition, all employees should be educated on the policies of the organization and should be provided for with the consequences of not abiding by the rules of the organization. References Bredl, K. 2014. Methods for analyzing social media. London: Routledge. Clark, R., & Lattal, A. 2003. Workplace ethics: Winning the integrity revolution. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. Gilliland, S. 2007. Managing social and ethical issues in organizations. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub. Kaptein, M. 2006. Workplace morality: Behavioral ethics in organizations (3rd ed.). Concordia. Larmer, R. 2002. Ethics in the workplace: Selected readings in business ethics (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning. Malin, N. 2000. Professionalism, boundaries and the workplace. London: Routledge. Read More