Analysis of Green Move - Case Study Example

Green Move Case Study Part A The issue in this case is very clear. There are both ethical as well as legal issues to be addressed. On the legal side, I will have the responsibility to make my case about the decision not to reform the defective product. This is because failing to do so would make me an accomplice if the dangers posed by the defective product eventually materialize. It is also an ethical situation and I have the ethical responsibility to come clean with this. Of course, I may do this at the cost of me losing he jobs and so I will have to prepare for this. In dealing with case, I will prefer to see it as a conflict between the management and myself. As such, I will choose to use the cooperation conflict resolution style. This may help me in making sure that all the factors have been examined and that I have been able to understand the concerns of the management. I do understand that the managers may have the concerns that their firm may have to collapse if put at the extreme pressure of having to incur the cost of fixing the defects in the already manufactured products. However, at the same time, the management have to understand that if the defect leads to even one incident that will harm someone, this could lead to a massive lawsuit that will cost the firm not only financially but also will cost it its image and goodwill of the public. By reasoning out with the managers, it will be easier to come to a resolution as opposed to where I choose to approach the problem from a competitive perspective. With regard to the $5,000 fee being charged to place the product on the sporting goods shop, this can be either legal or illegal. It all depends on the reason for payment. Competition law may prohibit such payment because it brings in unfair competition and this is not allowed in the United States. However, if there is a reasonable reason as to why it should be paid, then this can be done. However, based on the case, it does appear that the $5,000 fee is more of a bribe. In this case, it is neither legal nor ethical to pay $5,000. In this case, I may not recommend that the $5,000 fee be paid since it is not legal and also may not go in line with the firm’s ethical standards. Green Move can apply the cost benefit analysis on this issue. In applying this cost-benefit analysis, the firm must be able to consider the potential damage that the defect would cost the firm if even one product is eventually affected by the defect. On the one side, the firm has to consider the probability of the identified risk happening. For instance, the defect can only affect the product at extremely high temperatures. Part B Here is another ethical situation that has more than two dimensions. On the one side, there is the need for Green Move to make sure that it is relating with the firms that practice both ethical and legal standards that are in line with the American work and business ethics. However, it is clear that the case is more complicated since although the solar manufacturing group are not to par in the context of American standards, it does however offer a very good solution for so many unemployed people in India. Terminating the contract may look good on one side because Green Move will have avoided relating with those firms that do not have the required standards. On the other hand, it will mean that so many who wouldn’t mind working under this conditions will lose their jobs. In this case, it is inevitable to consider these people who would rather be working in these conditions that seem to be too low in the American context rather than the alternative of not having a job at all. It is already indicated in the case that while the working environment in the Solar Energy manufacturing firm may not be to par with American standards, it is far beyond the standards in India, where the firm is located. Green Move also has to consider the wrong publicity because this can paralyze the entire business. In the modern social world where almost everyone is a moral police due to proliferation of the social media, any practice that is deemed as unethical will be criticized bit in social media and the mainstream media and this can lead to the public image of the firm can be harmed a lot (Joel, 59). In such a case, Green Move would end up failing and thus even the employment it was intending to protect by not canceling the agreement with the solar manufacturing groups would no longer be there. The standards that are supposed to be applied are the ones in Bangladesh. Green move can apply the standards in Bangladesh but still try to upgrade the standards to come close to those in America. Firms like Green Move outsource their jobs to places like Bangladesh due to availability of affordable labor that can make it possible for them to serve their customers. Trying o apply the same exact standards as in the United States will beat the whole purpose of outsourcing. The reality is that these outsourced jobs do not only offer the firm a cheaper way to access labor but also offers the much needed employment to the people in these developing or underdeveloped nations. There is a need for this need to be understood in all aspects to understand that the people in these countries such as Bangladesh are able to benefit, despite the working conditions not being as great as the ones in the US. This is extremely important in that this is a need to use the available resources to give the firm a strategic edge. The blog will affect the firm in a negative way in that it will lead to the firm losing its positive image. Firms like Green Move must be able to deal with such issues and make sure that they have a well prepared public as well as media relations in order to make sure that they are not affected negatively by such issues. Part C Another ethical issue here emerges. This issue is not only an ethical one but also has legal (or rather illegal) implications. The property manager is definitely asking for a bribe from Victor and this is not allowable. There are two options here that Victor can consider. He can either choose to avoid the bid altogether and forgo the process of bidding. Alternatively, Victor can choose to be more proactive and look for other ways that he can still apply for the bid without having to bribe the property manager. At the same time, he has to consider that since the whole process seems to be wrapped in corruption, the chance of him or Green Move to win the bid without bribing the property manager may have to be a difficult one, if not impossible. It is necessary for Victor and Green Move at large to avoid getting embroiled in corrupt deals where bribes have to exchange hands in order for the firm to achieve anything. Apart from this being unethical and illegal, it has the potential to collapse the firm in the long term. Green Move can still expand its business to Russia because as Victor has outlined, this will give the firm the advantage of affordable high quality labor. In doing this however, Green Move has to make sure that it is prepared to operate in an environment where corruption and bribes are the main ways of doing business. It is very evident that these developing nations that act as a place to outsource labor have high rates of corruption. Any firm such as Green Move that wants to expand to these countries must be prepared to work in harsh business conditions where they have to meet barriers caused by the rive corruption in these nations. In the decision to expand to Russia, Green Move must be able to know that there is going to be many challenges, as has clearly come out in the fact that Victor is already being asked for a bribe by a best friend who should not be doing this. However, this may not necessarily mean that there are not better alternatives. For instance, while Green Move may not be able to get the manufacturing facility that was being proposed by Victor’s Russian friend, this does not mean that they cannot get one. They can choose to do it in another way. For instance, they can buy a piece of land and develop their own facility. This will help the Green Move to be able to achieve its goals while not implicating itself in corrupt deals. This is of course of most importance. However, even after dealing with the problem of getting a manufacturing plant, there may be other barriers that may come up in the form of Green Move being required to pay for bribes. For instance, getting a license to operate can be one of the issues that Green Move may be needed to pay bribes to get the licenses. Failure to pay these bribes can lead to such a firm finding it harder to acquire the licenses and the required for the operation of the business. These factors have to be considered before choosing to expand to Russia or any other country for that matter. Green Move must be able to wade these waters before they are able to benefit from the available labor in these countries. Part D There exist various factors which can make a firm being involved in illegal and unethical deals. For Green Move, these factors are many and varied. These are with regard to the following issues; Southeast $5,000 deal The main problem in this case is the fact that Green Move is a new firm and its products have not been visible enough in the market. In this case, the need to put the products in the market and the fact that the retailers may not be too willing to waste their shelf space on a product that is not in demand brings in new marketing issues. This dilemma makes it possible for the firm to consider bending the rules (both ethical and legal) in order to come out of the situation. Working conditions not solved This is a complicated issue. The first factor contributing to this is the issue of finances. The very reason that a firm like Green Move decides to outsource its labor is for the purposes of making some savings on the cost of labor. Expecting the firm to apply exactly the same standards of working environment as well as employee compensation in the outsource destination will not be feasible since this would beat the very purpose of outsourcing. In such a case, the firm has to close its eyes and do the very thing that looks unethical. This is not Green Move’s problem only but a problem that all firms have to deal with. For instance, even big and established firms such as Apple, Inc. have been accused of the same things that Green Move is being accused of. These firms did not buckle down but continued with their operation in the outsource destination. The only up side here is that the situation is not completely illegal or unethical. As set out in this case study in the earlier sections analysis, the fact is that these employees despite not getting exactly the same working conditions as those that are enjoyed in America, they do enjoy working standards that are much higher than the local standards. Corruption in the Russian deal The factors that affect this situation is the fact that the business is operating in an environment that is not as conducive as the environment in the United States of America. Green Move is not completely alone in this issue. For instance many organizations that choose to expand to these developing or underdeveloped nations have to operate in situation where the use of corruption is almost not avoidable. In these countries such as Russia, corruption is so rive that it is almost an accepted part of society and operating in these environments can be greatly difficult if not impossible if the firm is not willing to bend a few rules and laws here and there. This is what may have made Victor to have to do the ‘facilitation’ envelop. The other factor in this case is Victor himself. Victor was brought up in Russia and unlike the other members of Green Move executives; he may be socialized to the issue of corruption and bribery. Additionally, peter, being the person who is relatively not financially powerful in Green Move may be feeling the pressure to achieve something that is useful to Green Move so that he can earn his place in the firm. This need to achieve and not look like he is just an appendage in the Green Move trinity may have pressured him to decide to bend the rules and pay the required ‘facilitation’ fee. These problems can however be sorted out in order to make sure the green Move will not find itself in the situation that it has found itself in the past. Corruption in the Russian deal With regard to this issue, Green Move can come up with short term solution. This solution can be in the form of creating standards and ethical principles that the employees as well as the executives should follow in making sure that such a mistake will not be repeated. To fix this in the long term, Green Move should consider coming up with a better way to come up with its own manufacturing facilities, whether locally in the United States or abroad in places like Russia. Working conditions not solved For short term solution, Green Move should immediately upgrade the working conditions of the employees in Bangladesh in order to make sure that their working conditions are suitable. This may not help the firm to bring the working conditions to par with the American standards but will help in making them much better. For long term solution, Green Move should start a process of continually upgrading the working conditions in order to ensure that these working conditions are slowly but surely improved. Southeast $5,000 deal As discussed, this issue arose from the fact that the firm’s products are not very visible in the market and thus the retailers don’t consider it a must-have product for their shelves. In the case, it was indicated that the firm only uses word of mouth to market its goods. By having a more active marketing campaign, the firm will solve this issue by making its products more visible in the market and the retailers will be compelled to ask for the firms products without asking for bribes. Works Cited Joel, Peterson. Socila Media and Business Pubis Relatiosn: Navigating the Modern Medai Relations in a Technology Driven World. New York, NY: Pearson Books, 2012. Read More