The Management of Engineering - Case Study Example

Running Head: Case Study: KBC32 Name Course Lecturer Date Executive summary Each professional as well as companies have a code of ethics which every employees is supposed to observe at all time. Code of ethics promotes ethical behavior in an organization and profession. The top management has a role to play in ensuring that employees in a company conduct themselves ethically. If the top management attitude towards ethical behavior is wanting, this can spill downwards influencing most if not all the employees to behave unethically. This case study explores the unethical behavior in a manufacturing company. It outlines the actions that one can take when faced with such a situation. It recommends that top management need to be actively engaged in ensuring that employees conduct ethically at all time. The top managers also ought to be role models as far as ethical behavior is concerned Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Problem Identification. 5 2.1 Sexual harassment 6 2.2 Lack of coordination among top managers 7 2.3 Breach of workplace ethics. 7 2.4 Lack of team work. 7 3.0 Problem analysis 8 3.1 Melissa course of Action 10 4.0 Recommendation 10 5.0 Conclusion 11 1.0 Introduction The case study is about Melissa Mulders, a chemical engineer who have been working with East Island Petrochemical Company. Melissa Mulders working for East Island Petrochemical Company has given her the required exposure to further her career but at the same time she had witnessed deep rooted unethical issues in her place of work. One of the issues is having a boss, Walpole, who is a womanizer; he is known to molest women and has on several cases landed himself in trouble for sexual harassment. Melissa her self has been a victim of this, as the few times they had been together with her boss, he had tried to grope. Her immediate boss, Brian Bunsen has some issues which Melissa feels could interfere with the working relationship in the company. He is not happy to have been left out as far as the Head of the Division appointment was concerned; given the number of years he has served in the division and the fact that he is the senior most employees in the department. He felt that he is the one who was supposed to take up the position instead of Walpole, who was fetched from another department. He is known to do very little and he is always at logger heads with the Head of the Division. The other colleague Roger, is involved in shady deals where Melissa suspects that he has been selling the company formulas, to rival firm. Melissa also suspects that Roger and Trudy Truesome who is a technician at the division are involved in an intimate relationship. The other co worker, Craig Cattler is involved in drinking problem; he usually sneaks during the working hours to have a sleep. He is also finding fault at other people’s work. Trudy is good at work and always seems dedicated to her work but she has some family issues which at times seem to get her on way, Melissa see this as a problem as far as her performance in some occasions is concerned. Roger had always requested Melissa to attend one of the drags meeting with him to just see what goes on. She had always resisted since she knew they were boring, but one day she decides to attend with her friend. In this occasion she witnessed some events that shock her. It is on this occasion that she discovered that Roger and Trudy are engaged in an intimate relationship despite being co workers. She also discovered through her spying that Roger sold a bottle of KBC32 to a senior manager of the rival company, Steiner Industry. The company is involved in the same kind of business as her employer.KBC32 is a product of one of the forty projects that her division is involved in developing. The product is at an advanced stage and soon it will be out of market. The project has been going well and initial trials of KBC32 indicate that the product could be a lucrative money spinner for the company. Melissa realizes that the same KBC32 bottle that Roger could be handing over to the rival company head could be the same she signed for the previous afternoon. Melissa concludes that Trudy and Roger were working together in this as they were together at the time of exchanging the liquid; it was also Trudy who had approached Melissa to sign for the bottle as Rogers was busy somewhere else and could not have procured it herself. The company policy dictates that each time the product is used; the users must record the details as well as sign their name. 2.0 Problem Identification. East Island Petrochemical company seems to be doing well judging by the number of projects it is undertaking at one given time and the fact that one of the project that Melissa’s team is engaged in is promising huge success. Despite this success, there is a deep rooted management problem bedeviling the organization. The management seems lax as far as the conduct of the staff is concerned. First the Head of the Research and Development Division is Walpole Snodgrass is known for his sexual harassment cases and yet he remains as the supervisor in the Division. There is a known rivalry between the head of division and the person who is below him in rank and yet the top management has not dealt with the issue. Patronage also seems to play a big role as far as getting things done in this company is concerned. The fact that Walpole is in a close relationship with the directors of the company ensures that he gets the funding for all the projects being undertaken by the division.Roger also expects to get some favors from the Vice President of the company and that is why he is so keen to engage himself with Drag meeting. This is a top management problem since they have failed to demarcate between work and personal relationship. The top managers have used their personal relationship with the directors to get what they want. Walpole has continued to be a top manager in the company despite his shortcomings and the fact that he commits a serious offence, sexual harassment at the workplace. With proper management practices in place there would be no cases of breaching code of ethics which requires employees to observe confidentiality, avoid intimate relationships with the fellow employees as well as respect one another at work and also away from the working premises. In the case study the following problems are identified: 2.1 Sexual harassment The head of division has been using his power to sexually harass workers of the opposite sex.No action has been taken against him, in fact he seems to have been rewarded by his appointment and the fact that the company directors always support him with the necessary financial request for his division. 2.2 Lack of coordination among top managers There is an unchecked rivalry between the top managers in the Research and Development Division of the company. The fact that the deputy head of the department does little means that the other staff members in the department are left to carry out most of the duties. He feels that the position belongs to him for the fact that he was the most senior person in the division in terms of number of years worked. This issue ought to have been addressed since it can lead to serious problems. Power struggles between head and deputy of an important division can be detrimental if not checked. 2.3 Breach of workplace ethics. As identified in the case study, there has been a serious breach of ethics by almost all the works in the division. One of the workers is involved in heavy drinking. He takes a nap during working hours and always finds fault with others work. Another worker is involved in stealing company products and selling them to rival company. He is also engaged in an intimate relationship with a fellow worker. 2.4 Lack of team work. The head and deputy of the division are at loggerheads, they do not seem to get a long too well. There is no team work as far as the top management is concerned. There is also a feeling among the other members of the staff that some of them are doing more than required. One of the staff is not happy with the colleagues work. There is clear evidence that the level of team work is wanting as far as this division is concerned. 3.0 Problem analysis Unethical behavior in any given company arise due to several reasons, one of the reason that scholars have identified is the failure of the top management to set the required standards. (Miller ,Gaylord and Jentz 2007 ) In the case of the East Island Petrochemicals, there seems to be some laxity as far as enhancement of the ethical behavior is concerned. Employees are known to influence the directors as far as decision making are concerned. The head of division has been known to go his way to use the power of the directors to get more funding for the projects being under taken by the Division. This could have made the head of the division to think that he is not disposable given his closeness with the directors. This perception has encouraged him to continue with his bad practices as far as his position is concerned. He has used his position to oppress the junior staff, he is a known womanizer and sexual harassment has put him into trouble. Sexual harassment in the workplace is something which top management should not tolerate but in this company it seems that the top management has lost it all. The head of division has bought patronage and he can do anything he wants and no action is taken against him. Roger frequenting and participation in drag meetings where the company Vice President also is a member gives him a chance to befriend him and get some favors, this, coupled with the fact that his head of the division engages in unethical practices and get away with it could have motivated him to engage in theft of company products. When the top management attitude towards ethical behavior speaks otherwise, the employees are most likely to act indifferently. The top management is supposed to set a good example to the juniors as far as their conduct is concerned. East Island Petrochemicals Company has a managerial problem; where there is no proper supervision, lack to distinguish between personal relationship and work and lack of motivation for the workers. (Miller, Gaylord and Jentz 2007) The company also seems to have very good policies as far as handling the products and confidentiality is concerned. The employees attend regular seminars and workshop where a topic such as intellectual property is taught. The procurement process is also supposed to be stringent, with every employee signing for the products they have taken from the stores and also giving details on how they have used. The employees are supposed to maintain confidentiality at all times as far as their work is concerned. All these rules and policies are brilliant, but they seem to be very good only in the paper. The implementation is what lacks, again this goes back to the top managers. They have not been vigilant enough to ensure that employees stick to these policies. The fact that Rogers would sell the KBC32 to a rival company clearly shows that there is lack of employee loyalty as far as this company is concerned. It even gets worse when it comes to the light that more than one employee are involved. Melissa role in this theft is signing for the product and not following up to ensure what she has signed for is not misused. Odom (2010) observers that employee’s loyalty to their company emanates from the way they are treated by the top management. What could have motivated Roger and Trudy to act in such a manner? Odom is of the opinion that employees sell their companies secrets to the rivals once they have been betrayed or felt that their needs are not catered for and their efforts are not appreciated. The top management has failed to act accordingly as far as employee’s loyalty is concerned. Their laxity and hand off management has bred a culture where impunity thrives and employees do not feel obliged to protect the company property. Their lack of appreciation may have forced them to look for ways through which they can compensate for their hard work. 3.1 Melissa course of Action Within the short stay in the organization Melissa has learnt so many things, especially the unethical behavior that goes on in the organization. She can opt to play along and let the status quo continue but she also has an option to change things around. Cartwright and Cooper (1997) recommend the following steps in dealing with an unethical behavior as observed by Melissa in her workplace. The first step should be documentation of the behavior, there is need to present evidence as far as the sale of the product to the rival company is concerned. In her case the only evidence would be her signature and the fact that she gave the product to Trudy. She should talk to the concerned parties, Roger and Trudy and gets their side of the story as far as unethical behavior is concerned. The second step should be to report the unethical behavior to the immediate supervisor. In this case Melissa should report to the deputy head of division,Brian.This should be done regardless of whether she thinks any action will be taken to Rogers or not. She should give all the details including any evidence that she may have collected. Her role in the signing for the product should also be clearly explained in the report. She should also go ahead and report to the department which is charged with ethical compliance in the organization so that they can take the matter over in case the head of division due to their power wrangles opt to sit on the report. Human resource department should also be involved so that they can institute an investigation as far as the practice is concerned. (Bennett 1997) 4.0 Recommendation East Island Petrochemicals Company needs to come up with policy which encourages the employees to follow the ethical codes. In additional to professional codes which guide people from a given professional, the company needs to have policies which act as a guideline as far as the employees are concerned. There is need to define the boundaries which should exist as far as employees relationships are concerned. The fact that that Roger and Trudy are involved in an intimate relationship shows that they are in total disregard of the companies policy or there no such policy in place in this company. There is a need to establish such a policy where employees working in the same department refrain from having an intimate relationship. This kind of relationship could be blamed for the theft that Melissa has witnessed. Lack of policy or total disregard of the same could have encouraged Walpole to continue with his sexual explicit activities. It could have also lead to employees’ failure to report such acts. Employees should be supervised properly to ensure that they always adhere to the set code of ethics. This should be coupled with recognition of those who are loyal, honest as well as other virtues which are encouraged by the company. The top management should serve as role models so that the junior staff feels motivated and obliged to act ethically at all time. Through these measures incidences which Melissa has witnessed in the company would be no more. 5.0 Conclusion Melissa is faced with a tough choice; she is working in an environment where people have no respect for work ethics. The company which she is working for seems to be successful judging by the number of the employees as well as the number of projects that are being implemented. There is a total disregard of the work ethics by the employees since they are engaged in theft, breach of confidentiality, intimate relationship and using company hours to engage in sleep. Melissa does not seem comfortable with all this and that is why she has gone a head to get to the bottom of the matter. First she has done what every ethical employee should do, to document all the evidence which point out on ethical misconduct. It is a worrying, to trend to discover that those who are engaged in unethical conduct are people who are supposed to guide the rest of the employee. (Bennett 1997)There is lack of role models as far as observing the required ethical conduct is concerned. Although one should not be guided by the supervisor as far as observing ethical behavior is concerned, there is enough evidence showing that top management attitude towards ethical conduct greatly influences how the junior staff behaves in a given situation. When the top management act in total disregard of the ethical principles the employees under their direct supervision will most likely follow suit. (Bennett 1997) Therefore there is a need for the top management to always set a good example as far as company code of ethics is concerned. Through their positive attitude they will have a moral ground to punish those who break the ethical code and engage in practices which are not allowed in the company. References Bennett Lawrence (1997) The Management of Engineering: human, quality, organizational, legal, and ethical aspects of professional practice, University of Michigan Miller LeRoy, Jentz Gaylord (2007) Business Law Today: The Essentials: Text & Summarized Cases, engage Learning Odom Lamar (2010) Leadership Ethics: Is Doing the Right Thing Enough? Xlibris Corporation (2010) Susan Cartwright and Cary L. Cooper (1997) Managing Workplace Stress  Sage Publications Whitebeck Caroline (2011) Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research, University of Cambridge Read More