Ethical Dilemma in a Business Operation - Essay Example

Ethical Dilemma of Ethical Dilemma Ethical dilemma is characterized by a mental conflict in an individual while he is making a decision between two choices. It often arises when a person has to choose between his duties and ethical practices (Stevens and Brownell, 2009). Most of the times our practices are based on ethical grounds, however there are certain situations where we need to choose between an action which is morally right and the one which defines our duty. In such situations we cannot decide if we should take the moral high ground or follow our responsibilities. Following the responsibilities may solve our immediate problems, but following the ethical path allows us to secure a long term goal or success. Often times our myopic approach does not allow us to see the long term possibilities of an ethical action, thus we up taking the shortest and easiest way to fulfil our immediate needs. Ethical dilemmas are prevalent in every aspect of our lifestyle, starting from social groups to work place environment. Velasquez et al (2010) mentioned that ethics cannot be defined by any single definition, as it is dependent on a person’s mentality. Some people define ethics as following their feelings, while other may believe that ethical practices are synonymous to religious customs. However, on closer inspection it has been identified that our feelings often deviate from ethical practices and although several religious customs dictate ethical practices, it may vary across different religions (Bucaro, 2007). Moreover, ethics applies to a theist and atheist alike. An ethical practice also does not fall under legal criteria, because an activity although legal may be unethical. Ethics can be described as developing one’s behaviour based on certain standards which dictates him to do the right thing in a societal context, which will eventually yield a long term achievement or success (BBC, 2014). Ethical Dilemma in a Business Operation Running a business operation involves following a set of rules and regulations, which defines the governance of the company. The rules are set in such a way that the company can achieve its financial goals, while meeting the stakeholder’s interest at the same time (Rafner, 2014). Due to highly competitive marketplace, some companies create a competitive work environment, where the employees and workers are given steep targets to achieve. In such a competitive environment the employees often adopt certain unethical practices to achieve their target. In jobs involving direct sales, employees often fabricate and manipulate product related information to the customers and often make false promises to close the sale. Although it can be considered as an unethical practice but if he is unable to close the sale, he may get penalized by his supervisor (De Cremer and Trenbrunsel, 2011). This is a typical case of an ethical dilemma in a work place. An individual may choose to follow the ethical way of doing his job but this may eventually cost him his employment. Thus he is in a moral dilemma, where he has to decide between acting ethically and acting selfishly. Let’s discuss a situation involving a company’s CEO, who faced an ethical dilemma while running his business operation. Apple is a renowned consumer electronics company, best known for its product quality and consumer service. Recently, after the demise of the former CEO and co-founder, the position has been taken by Tim Cook. Although the former CEO did not care much about ethical practices, but Tim Cook have realized that in order to ensure long term sustenance of the company, he must make certain changes in the business policies and the code of conduct. Apple has one of its supplier units at location Y, where the work environment and work pressure was unbearable for the worker. As a result, they started committing suicide by jumping from the building of the manufacturing plant. This disturbing situation created huge chaos among the employees and it also hampered the brand image of the company. The employees blamed that they were poorly paid and they were compelled to work for long hours. Due to the hard work of these workers, the company has made huge revenues and were able to meet the market demand. However, when it comes to easing the work load of the worker, in order to provide a better work life, the CEO, Tim Cook faced an ethical dilemma. In order to achieve organizational goals the company must push its production capacity by increasing the work load of the workers. On the other hand to provide a better work environment for the employees Tim Cook must reduce the work load, which as a result will decrease the productivity of the company. Thus, Tim Cook is faced with an ethical dilemma, where he has to decide between his responsibilities for Applend the ethical welfare of the workers. I aspire to be a manager of a multinational company where I will have to lead a group of subordinates. Being a manager I will often face work related ethical dilemma where I will have to decide between achieving the quarterly targets and at the same time I will have to be a good leader, who will be respected by his subordinates for ethical behaviour. These situations mostly arise in firms where the internal competitiveness is extremely high (Dev, Brown and Lee, 2009).). I think the ethical dilemmas should be handled by keeping in mind the long term goals and benefits of following the ethical path. However, in certain cases there are no other option but to abandon the ethical practices in order to follow one’s duties and organizational responsibilities. Being a future manager I will often face situations like these where I will prefer to choose a middle path which will serve the interest of both ends. In situations where I will have to meet the given targets urgently and at the same time I will also have to take care of my subordinates’ workloads, there I will allocate the activities in such a way that the employees are not over stressed and at the same time the organisational goal is also met. Furthermore I will keep the workers motivated so that they voluntarily step forward to work harder. Employee motivation acts as a driving factor for an organization’s success. I will motivate the employees by offering rewards and appreciation and by maintaining a close relationship with them. I believe that using motivation to make an employee work harder is much better than using coercive methods. Coercive methods may succeed in increasing the productivity of the firm, but it will also lead to high attrition rate and negative brand image of the organization (Braley, 2008). Ethical Solutions I think the situation of Apple could have been managed in a different way. The work load of the company became so unbearable that the workers started committing suicide. Being the CEO of the partner company, he should have laid down strict rules for its suppliers, by establishing a strict supplier’s code of conduct. Apple must ensure that all the suppliers, who enter into the contract, must abide by the regulation; failing to do so will lead to their penalization. The code of conduct must clearly mention the working hours of the employees along with a proper industry standard pay scale. As a result it will improve the working condition of the workers and would eventually stop the suicide cases. However, the CEO will also have to take care of the organizational goals by meeting the market demand. This situation can be handled by making partnership with several partners, and each of them is given a lower production target. This strategy will allow the company to meet its goals and at the same time the workers in the supplier’s manufacturing unit will not have to face high work load. Thus by employing certain strategic decisions, some ethical dilemma can be managed where an individual will not have to make a trade off between his responsibilities and moral or ethical behaviour. Ethical dilemma in a work place can come in various forms where an individual may feel helplessly stuck between his duties and ethical activities (Griseri and Seppala, 2010). Often times, we find unethical activities in the lower management, like discrimination, biasness or unspeakable behaviour from the supervisors. Although one can certainly lodge a complaint in the HR department but there are certain factors present in an organization that stops him from whistle blowing activities (Hartman and Werhane, 2009). Even though whistle blowing may seem to be correct, if one follows his duties and regulations of his organization, but it may not always be ethical. Blowing a whistle against someone may ruin his career or his relationship (Griseri and Seppala, 2010). In such cases, I will avoid escalating the issue as much as possible and at the same time, I will try to convince that person out of his unethical activities. However, if that fails, I will keep whistle blowing as a last resort. Thus, it can be stated that ethical dilemmas should be handled by using one’s sense of moral and at the same time one must keep balance between his ethics and duties. Ignoring one and prioritizing the other, will lead to organizational dispute and may eventually affect personal relations with colleagues, so one must strategically choose his actions keeping in mind its long term outcome. References BBC. (2014) Ethics: a general introduction. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml Braley, S. J. F. (2008). Ethics incorporated: Department managers set and enforce guidelines. Meetings & Conventions. 36(1), 58-66. Bucaro, R. C. (2007). Tackling the ethics question in business. Club Industry. 17(1), 14. De Cremer, D. and Trenbrunsel, D. (2011) Behavioural Business Ethics: Ideas on an Emerging Field, (4th ed). New York: Routledge Dev, C. S., Brown, J. R. & Lee, D. (2009). Managing marketing relationships: Making sure everyone plays on the team. Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly. 41(2), 10-20. Griseri, P. & Seppala, N. (2010) Business Ethics and CSR. (4th ed). New York: Wiley Hartman, C. and Werhane, P. (2009) The Global Corporation: Sustainable, Effective, Ethical Business Practices, (3rd ed). New York: Routledge Rafner,D. (2014) Common Ethical Workplace Dilemmas. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/common-ethical-workplace-dilemmas-748.html Stevens, B. and Brownell, J (2009). Ethics: Communicating standards and influencing behavior. Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly. 41(2), 39-43. Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., & Meyer, M.J. (2010) What is Ethics? Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html Read More