Whats a Manager to Do - Case Study Example

?Introduction to Health Administration What’s a Manager to Do Various ethical problems face a governing body and managers of a health organization. The politicization of the HSO position is morally wrong, since it is likely to affect the output of the staff working in the department. Influence of personal relationships on the decisions made by the top management is an ethical problem too. Most of the decisions reached are influenced by individuals who have vested interests with an aim to gain, creating a conflict of interest situation that needs to be avoided under all costs. Moreover, the use of organizational staff to work at the senior management homes to maintain their lawns, shrubs and trees is an ethical problem. Additionally, the directors, choosing to supply reagents, supplies and laboratory equipment to the organization is likely to affect the amount of money spent on procurement of supplies for the organization. The parties which are not directly involved in the process are also affected. Employees can be assigned more work especially in the maintenance department as they have to undertake the duties of the absent workers. 2. Both grounds maintenance and the sale of reagents and equipment to the laboratory are ethically similar, and thus morally wrong. Anything that is morally wrong is deemed to be wrong regardless of the simplicity of the matter involved. While there was no honesty in both practices, the managerial ethics and professional ethics were not observed by the parties involved. Rine and the laboratory director strongly felt that the culture adopted by the leaders was wrong and required to be changed. The sacking of the staff members who questioned the actions of the senior management illustrated that these actions were wrong. Moreover, the use of various organizational resources for personal benefits is wrong. Top managers are responsible for creating and maintaining appropriate ethics and ethical environment of their organization. They are also tasked with the responsibility of creating structures, processes, and methods by which the entire employees of the organization make ethical decisions. Subsequently, they should honour the decisions that they make and respect the structures that they put into place for the rest of the members of the staff to adhere to. In real world situations, the two are likely to be differentiated by the virtue of employee exploitation and lack of respect to the grounds workers. However, none can be said to be ethically or morally right. Both are wrongful deeds. While the sale of the reagents, supplies and equipment us a wrongful act of indirect misappropriation of funds and a conflict of interest, the grounds maintenance is equally a wrongful deed that the organization’s labour is put into uses that is not intended for. 3. Managers like Rine who have the moral courage to solve various moral crimes and curb unethical behaviour in organizations do not have to compromise their jobs, but rather need to seek the best way that such issues could be dealt with. They can either involve independent committees set by the organization to overlook into such matters. Alternatively, they can seek the intervention of other external organizations to deal with the problems such as the American College of Healthcare Executives. 4. There are institutions outside the organization which offer assistance to people faced with problems such as the one Rine faced. These institutions include professional associations such as the American College of Healthcare Executives and accreditation associations such as the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA). These organizations, by the request of dis-satisfied employees could intervene to streamline the issues affecting the organization such as through mediating among the two groups and offer expertise knowledge on the issue. Bits and Pieces 1. Mary, who was a departmental head responsible for the procurement of the various supplies of the Nursing Homes and Rehabilitation Centre used to receive gifts as well as paid lunches form the sales representatives of the vendor companies that supplied the Centre with the required supplies. Although William found this to be wrong, she was justified to do so. A number of reasons support the position that she took on the gratuities. Mary clearly stated that there was no policy put in place that prohibited workers from receiving gifts from other people. She was thus justified to collect any gifts from people so long as they did not affect her decisions regarding to the procurement of the supplies. She had to attend the meetings with the different vendors. According to this context, she was a client and thus, the representatives were supposed to putdown the lunch bills for the meals that they took. After all, most of the organizations offered lunch allowance to their sales representatives and their clients. The relationship between the two organizations had lasted for a number of years. Although Williams was of the opinion that her decisions could have been influenced by the gifts and thus her position was wrong, she felt otherwise. The organizations enjoyed a close business relationship for a number of years, and nothing that Williams had suggested had ever gone wrong in her department. If anything, it seemed to be running smoothly. Thus, her actions were not influenced by the gifts offered at all and therefore, she could keep on having them as long as she carried out her duties in a proper manner. Over the years, she had developed personal relationship with the sales representatives of the vending companies. In case they were paying her a visit in the office, it was prudent enough for them to bring small gifts for her. Most of the people does the same thing anyway, whenever they pay their friends courtesy visit. 2. The business custom in the relationship between Mary and the sales representatives of the vending companies is of beneficiary to the Heath Centre. The fact that they have a close and mutual understanding has created enough trust between the two departments; Mary’s procurement department and the vendors’ supplies departments. Due to this trust, Mary can obtain goods with a promissory note to pay at a later date and be granted the request. This would help the organization in times of constrained budgets or the times when the department is in an urgent need of supplies without finances. The fact that Mary has established a good relationship with the sales representatives ensures that she receives her order in a timely basis. Moreover, the likelihood of her being supplied with substandard goods is unlikely. The relationship too could lead to increased levels and volumes of business between the supplying companies and the Centre. With time, this relationship could develop and lead to new forms of business activities between them, away from the commodity supply business. Such relationships could lead to partnerships or merger of the two businesses. Such a relationship however, should not influence the ethics in the situation. The procurement official should handle duties in a prudent manner without compromising the quality of the work. She should avoid conflict of interest in any way possible. 3. The following policy framework regarding gratuities should be used by Affiliated Nursing Homes and Rehabilitation Centres. Every employee will be bound by the provisions of this policy framework. The policy of the Nursing Homes does not either prohibit or allow their workers to receive gratuities of any particular kind from employees of any other company. However, in case an employee receives such gratuities, the company is not liable for any damages that may occur from the gratuity. Any officer receiving gratuities of any form is required to state so and no action will be taken. The form of the gratuity and the amount there in is not supposed to be mentioned. In the event of the other party requesting for compensation of the gratuity, the organization shall not be liable for such costs involved. A member of staff shall not be influenced by the gratuities received from other parties. They should carry out their duties in an ethical and transparent manner. In case an action is proved to have been taken out of compromise by a gratuity, the action will be regarded as an act of bribe and will attract similar consequences as a bribery act. These policies are bound by the following ethical principles; Autonomy of the employees in undertaking of their duties, which requires the employees of the organization to have self-governing principles in making various decisions relating to their job. The principle of fidelity, which binds employees to their duties and requires them to keep their word on their oath of duty The principle of justice, which has to pass fair treatment and judgement to all employees, should attempt to equalize all the workers in the organization. This requires everybody to be judged in relation to the same criteria and be subjected to similar treatment. The principle of non-maleficence that requires binds employees and their actions so that they do not cause any harm to the organization. 4. A similar incidence happened during my high school life, and happened in the procurement department of the school. The officer in charge, a man, enjoyed a close relationship with the suppliers of the school. The fact that he was a trusted manager gave him autonomy to undertake all the decisions relating to the procurement process of the school. He oversaw the purchase of both the movable assets and operating assets. Unknown to the school, the manager had been receiving various gratuities from wicked business people. One point, during the construction of a block of classrooms, he was involved in a deal where he purchased substandard construction materials. During the construction of the block, the whole building came down. An audit revealed that the quality of cement used was compromised. Due to this, a complete audit of his office was conduct where it was found that he had been involved in a number of other deals where he was involved in procurement of substandard goods form suppliers who had bribed him. Reference Top of Form Leatherman, D. (2008). Quality leadership skills: Standards of leadership behaviour. Amherst, Mass: HRD Press. Bottom of Form Read More