Analysis of Personal and Organizational Ethics and Values - Case Study Example

? Analysis of Personal and Organizational Ethics and Values between Apple Inc. vs. Red Cross Introduction Every organization has a diverse set of cultures in which they perform their operations, progression and networking. Organizational ethics play a vital role in defining an organization. In the industry, organizations are known for their culture and environment; eventually making a perception in the minds of masses. Following a formal or casual culture entirely depends upon the deciding elite panel of a firm but regulating it in its true spirits is the name of the game. Various companies claim to have the best corporate environment in their respective cultures but there are several discrepancies and deviations in them. Abolishment of organizational ethics can be observed in companies and yet they claim to be the best in market. The purpose of this paper is to examine such circumstances in a profit organization- Apple Inc. and a nonprofit organization- International Red Crescent. What sort of organizational ethics play into action in these firms and how are they following the code of ethics is the essence of the paper. What kind of culture is prevailing in the decision making process- authoritative or democratic etc. Examining the current status of employees, management practices and their relationship with the ethical management theories will be illustrated. What processes the companies have applied to remain competitive in the industry and are the mission & vision matching with their respective actions etc or not. In depth analysis of both these companies will be done to acquire concrete knowledge. Part 1: International Red Cross: Company Profile The International Red Cross movement is a world renowned nonprofit humanitarian movement for the welfare of human race. It has the legacy to help out human beings irrespective of any race, color or religion. The motto of this movement is to protect human lives, cure them from diseases and prevent their sufferings. This movement has been working globally having stations in almost every country of the world. The Red Cross movement has its subsidiaries working in countries by the name of National Red Cross; however the mother organization remains as International Red Cross. Red Cross joined hands with the Red Crescent movement so that humanitarian services would be expanded and an overall impact all over the globe could be made. The efforts of the merger of both these organizations gave a powerful message that humanity first. The establishment of International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement was essential as they got immense aid and their humanitarian services also spread out. This movement is highly acknowledged by the governments of the world and in the time of war, floods, earthquakes or any unpleasant circumstances; International Red Cross & Red Crescent are the front row saviors of human lives. They have well qualified doctors, physicians, rescue team and technology. Due to their enormous fame and great services, government and people whole heartedly aid this organization. The efforts laid by Red Cross are verily outstanding and commendable. Ethical Dilemma at Red Cross Every organization faces tough and hard circumstances through which it has to pass victorious. Red Cross has faced several ethical dilemmas and it occurred due to numerous reasons. The biggest issue which Red Cross has been facing is the logistics problem. Logistics and Supply chain management is a big setback in the serving efforts of the organization. The proper management and allocation process still needs to be examined. There is no doubt about the services provided by Red Cross but most of them it is observed that there process is slowed down due to delay in supplies. The supply chain management department of Red Crescent has not been so active in the years and their service has not been up to the mark (Van Wassenhove, 2005). Delays in facilitating the affected masses have been due to shortage of supplies in which the negligence of supply chain department and logistics is clearly observed. Although it is true that in several areas rescue operations cannot be carried out due to no connection with roads, telephones or bad weather conditions but there the supply chain management department must have a contingency plan to watch over such critical scenarios (Eder & White, 2010). Rapid pace and effective communication must have been done to avoid unpleasant conditions and saving & serving the humans must be the first agenda. As tremendous amount of aid is attained by Red Cross so stealing of finances is also an issue which Red Cross has to tackle with. (McCarthy, 2009) illustrates for instance in Hurricane Katrina, almost 49 members of Red Cross was alleged of stealing $4 million from the society’s money. The case was very well presented by MSNBC. They made a strong connection by transferring amount through Western Union in the favor of their friends or relatives name. The big scandal brought a bad name for Red Crescent in the media. The main culprit behind this whole dilemma was the subcontracted employees. Serious action took place after this scenario raised in media. Another ethical dilemma which Red Cross faced was that they changed five leaders in the last 10 years. This showed that there was something messy going on among the management. The system had certain flaws and the operational activities were not managed properly. Flaws in governance, failure in blood business and unsatisfactory relief efforts were making a huge headline for Red Crescent movement. These all dilemmas were very serious and must be resolved within prior time (McCarthy, 2009). Prior Actions Taken The severe logistics problem was resolved for the time being in certain affected areas but more steps needed to be taken to resolve these deadliest issues. The upper management and the leadership of Red Cross was made clear by the fund providers that serious negligence in logistics supply would eventually end up cut offs in financial aid. Policy formulation regarding supply chain management and proper logistic plan was prepared within days to avoid unpleasant circumstances in future (Fussell & Collins, 2010). A group of financial analysts were hired sooner after knowing the financial scandal going on in the lower management. The investigative time found that contractual employees were transacting enormous amount of money in the name of financial assistance to the Hurricane Katrina affected people. Those people were caught red handedly and serious allegations were charged against them. The efforts of the financial analysts brought fruitful results for Red Cross movement (McCarthy, 2009). The governance issue was solved in the later years but the policies formulation authority has not been yet given solely to the management. The elite panel formulates it and implements it on the management without hearing their concerns. This system has several discrepancies in it. Due to these decisions; blood collection and relief activities are affected. The management should be given power to make contingency plans and policies for any sort of bad situation (Rieffer, 2009). Part 2: Apple Inc. - Company Profile Apple Incorporation is one of the world’s most successful computing companies of the world. The company is responsible for producing state of the art computer hardware, software, cell phones and technological gadgets. It has a massive following and reached paramount of success after the launch of its revolutionary iPhone in 2007. The financial position of the company boomed substantially as consumers had the best technological gadgets in their hands. Steve Jobs, one of the founders of the company got exceptional critical reception all over the world due to his tremendous presentation and communication style (Yoffie & Kim, 2010). Apple Inc. is an American consumer electronics manufacturing company with millions of users all over the globe. The brand name of Apple is sold colossally in the consumer market. The manufacturing of quality hardware along with the world’s fastest firmwares is the elegance and class of the company. The revenues of company are in billions as its America’s most admired company. Apple has currently approximately 73,000 permanent employees and 3300 temporary employees making a huge contribution to the employment industry. It is also a pillar in the U.S economy now. Company has been facing criticism regarding its business practices and labor issues. The management however calls it the competitor’s strategy to let the company’s moral down. Ethical Dilemmas at Apple Apple has been under several ethical dilemmas and the allegations against it are of serious concern. Worker rights violations is the most heard claim that is made against Apple Inc. The issues raised by the investigative agencies and media are also true as Management of Apple also confirmed about the violations of workers right in their factories in China; although prior actions were taken instantly to resolve these issues. The instant action taking process depicts shows the commitment of company with employees. In the year 2006, it was alleged that China manufacturing units of Apple have almost 0.2 million employees who work and live in the factory. The published articles went one step further and demonstrated that those employees/labors work more than 60 hours a week and are in a critical situation. They were only paid $100 per month and the work taken from them was rough and tough. This was a clear cut violation of worker rights and serious actions needed to be taken place in this regard (Sullivan, 2012). The contractors of Apple in China have been trouble making machine for Apple as in 2010, employees were poisoned through cleaners. In the name of cleaning LCD screens, cleaners brought poisoned cleaning liquid substances which floated several diseases in the employees. This was a very critical scenario as most of the employees went into very serious situations. Apple Inc. intervention at that particular moment was the need of the time and company made sure that such liquid would not come again in the factory (Cusumano, 2010). (Sullivan, 2012) demonstrates that child labor issue was another big problem that company had to face. As the manufacturing plant of Apple hardware is in China, so the management over there utilizes child labor for various operations. The issue rose in 2011 and Apple whole heartedly accepted this allegation. The main culprit behind this scenario was suppliers. Essential steps were taken to examine this issue and eventually came up with the solution. Response to Ethical Dilemmas Apple Inc. is one of the most responsible companies in United States and to avoid bad image in the market, they instantly resolved ethical dilemmas faced in the organizational operations. First of all the region of problem was their China manufacturing plant where problems rose so they came up by resolving each problem in a respectable manner. Apple took care of the 60 hours working going on in China and ensured that workers would work maximum of 40 hours per week. Pay was also raised and incentives, appraisals were also inaugurated for the labors of China. The cleaner’s health issue was a big threat for the company so Apple dealt with it very seriously. They developed an investigative team for this purpose and were given the task to dig in the real reason behind this whole scenario occurrence. Alleged were punished and were given to the law enforcement authorities. Apple made it clear that child labor practice would not be taken anymore at their China plants. The suppliers were also told that serious actions will be taken in case of their negligence. Part 3: Critical Analysis- Evaluating the Measures Taken Red Cross Response Ethical dilemmas can occur at any place and it’s the responsibility of higher authorities to deal with it properly and make precise decisions. The issues raised regarding organizational ethical dilemma were of very serious in nature. The repute of Red Cross was even at stake in certain scenarios. Effective planning from their team was the need of the team which they did it quite nicely. The issue of supply chain management and logistics handling is very crucial. Red Cross negligence in this department has been reported throughout. The inner activists of Red Cross also complain about the late disposal of supply. The logistics and supply chain management department give their explanation and excuses on this matter but the fact remains that contingency planning is the name of the game which must have been done. In the recent years Red Cross has overcome this problem and has impressed the masses. The financial scams and frauds in Red Cross are seen often, so to tackle this scenario, Red Cross have developed financial analysts team which examines each and every activity proceedings to avoid such scenarios. Auditing of Red Cross is also done bi annually so that fraud cases would emerge rapidly. The response towards ethical dilemmas by the Red Cross team has been quite positive and promising. Apple Inc.’s Response Apple is the most booming company of the century and it cannot make even a single mistake to let its prestigious position down. The response towards ethical dilemmas by Apple Inc. has been very optimistic. They have not only accepted the incompetence’s and discrepancies which have taken place under their umbrella but also have made precise actions against it. Company like Apple cannot afford such accuses as their consumer market is increasing day by day. The long working hours shift case, health problem issue and the child labor case were primarily the three cases which tried to put Apple Inc. down but management’s farsightedness made recovery of the firm possible. Quick actions taken by the company created a mystical path so that media and competitors would not speak out loud against them. This shows that Apple accepted its flaws and also took steps to eradicate the problems. The management of Apple sitting in United States always has a contingency plan to overcome problems and certainly they utilized it when needed. Part 4: Theories Adaptation by Apple Inc By watching the responses of Apple and Red Cross from the eye of ethical theories, the picture seems appropriate and legitimate. Apple Inc. was previously abiding Moral Relativism as the morals; ethics for its employees working in China were entirely different. They were not given their rights properly and violation of international rights was done. As moral relativism depicts that nobody is right or wrong, it’s the deed which determines path, so Apple had to leave the path of moral relativism. The issues raised by the society enforced Apple Inc. to abide Utilitarianism. The current scenario of the company clearly depicts that Apple in abiding this ethical theory. Through following this theory the position of Apple has not only emerged but also a significant increase in their profits has also been seen. This was a very pleasant scenario for the company. The company has made sure to eradicate the sufferings of their employees and labors working in China especially and make their living better. The management practices of Apple Inc. in United States and China are strictly abiding Utilitarianism which has brought positive results for the company’s prestige too. The market value and importance of the firm has been increased considerably. The consumer purchasing has been increased and the employees satisfaction level has also boosted. Theories Adaptation by Red Cross Red Cross has been abiding Deontological ethics throughout. The movement has been a lot of critical scenarios in the previous years but by making prior changes in their management strategy, they have overcome these problems. Deontological ethics implications are visible in the movement the whole time. The moral ethics has not been left by the movement any time, although delays in supplies of logistics occurred but their intention was to serve the humanity. Red Cross has been making revolutionary changes in their organizational setup so that shortcomings would be addressed properly. The governance issue remained the primary one as this needed some strong actions to be taken by the organizational board. The issue was sorted out in the end by active management style. Blood collection deficiency was also addressed by the new management strategies. Deontological ethics are the backbone of Red Cross as they fully abide it. The flaws and shortcomings in the system of Red Cross are still not properly addressed till date, as there are several departments where incompetency still exists but still hope for the best. Adaptation of a new ethical and management strategy might help out them. Conclusion The problems of organizational ethics discrepancy occurrence is a natural process as there are several social, political, economical and technological factors which come into action. Coming up with an active strategy to deal with such circumstances is the real victory of the company. By examining both the organizations, it is clear that Apple has been actively more powerful and intelligent in decision making process. Also as the company is a profit making organization so quick decision making is done in hours. On the other hand, Red Cross is slow in bringing change. This is because it is a nonprofit firm with not so much active strategists. Lack of contingency planning is visible in Red Cross. References Van Wassenhove, L. N. (2005). Humanitarian aid logistics: supply chain management in high gear†. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 57(5), 475-489. McCarthy, A. (2009). Ethics and the American Red Cross, uk: Fairfield University Eder, A. F., Herron Jr, R. M., Strupp, A., Dy, B., White, J., Notari, E. P., & Benjamin, R. J. (2010). Effective reduction of transfusion?related acute lung injury risk with male?predominant plasma strategy in the American Red Cross (2006?2008), Transfusion, 50(8), 1732-1742 Fussell Sisco, H., Collins, E. L., & Zoch, L. M. (2010), through the looking glass: A decade of Red Cross crisis response and situational crisis communication theory. Public Relations Review, 36(1), 21-27. Rieffer-Flanagan, B. A. (2009). Is neutral humanitarianism dead? Red Cross neutrality: Walking the tightrope of neutral humanitarianism. Human rights quarterly, 31(4), 888-915. Yoffie, D. B., & Kim, R. (2010). Apple Inc. in 2010, Harvard Business Review, 1-13. Sullivan, M. A. (2012). Apple Reports High Rate but Saves Billions on Taxes. US: Policy Cusumano, M. A. (2010). Staying Power: Six Enduring Principles for Managing Strategy and Innovation in an Uncertain World (Lessons from Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google, Toyota and More). Oxford University Press, USA. Read More