Making Ethical Decisions - Essay Example

Making Ethical Decisions Making Ethical Decisions Ethical Scenario The scenario stipulates that a manager has been indicated to be reflecting on firing an employee who was consistently reporting late for work and where customers file diverse complaints. However, that same employee was deemed very honest and never stole anything from work (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010). In this regard, the essay aims to determine the best course of action in the given situation by responding to the following questions: 1.

What is the problem? The problem faced by the manager is to determine if it is indeed the best option to fire the employee based on absenteeism and customer complaints versus the employee’s possession of personal virtues of honesty and not stealing. 2. What are your alternatives? The alternative courses of action are: (1) fire the employee; (2) give the employee a warning or reprimand depending on the number of absences and customer complaints; (3) consult the company’s code of discipline that should guide the decision-maker on appropriate courses of action depending on violations of company policies; (4) do nothing. 3. What are the effects of each alternative?

Firing the employee without just cause will subject the manager under legal complaints for violating labor laws, especially if the employee is a permanent employee. Giving the employee a warning or reprimand, depending on the number of absences or customer complaints would make the employee aware that management does not tolerate his inefficiency in his working behavior. This would also give the employee a chance to improve his performance. Consulting the company’s code of discipline would ensure that the employee knows the penalties for his absences and the manager would implement the option depending on what company policies state.

Finally, by doing nothing, the employee would not have the chance to improve on his working performance. 4. Which alternative will you choose? Why? The best alternative is to consult the company’s code of discipline that would give the manager the exact penalty for violations noted. For example, for two or three absences in a month, a written reprimand must be given; for more than five absences, a warning or suspension. This alternative supposes that the employee knows what he is about to be penalized with for violating company rules on absenteeism.

For customer complaints, the employee should also be made aware of these complaints through a formal advise to enable him to improve on performance. If no improvement is noted, then, the manager would be justified to fire the employee, despite the exemplary virtues that he manifests/ 5. Is your choice ethical? I think the choice is ethical because it is grounded on rules and regulation stated in company policies through the code of discipline and should have been communicated to all employees of the organization.

Anyone could therefore be appropriately justified by abiding to rules where the decision arrived at was subject to fair practices for organizations to protect both the employer and the employees in the work place. Reference Nickels, W., McHugh, J., & McHugh, S. (2010). Understanding Business. McGraw Hill.