The Betterment of the Whole Organization than Individual Effort - Essay Example

?Part of an ethical dilemma The term ethics loosely refers to a distinction that is made between something regarded as morally good from bad in our societies (Rossouw 2004). Ethics shape the behaviour of people and they can also be applied to businesses. However, in some instances, there are certain issues that arise in where people are no longer sure whether some actions should be considered right or wrong (Hiti, 1999). People tend to view a certain scenario in different ways where others see it as wrong while others see it as right. This constitutes an ethical dilemma where the members in the organization often encounter challenges about making the correct decision over certain issues encountered in its operations. As such, this part of the paper seeks to describe a particular ethical dilemma that I have encountered when I worked as a sales representative at an organization called Mr Chip. In my case and other workmates, we would inflate the price of the products we offered to different customers. We mainly specialised in selling chips and we targeted mainly young children. I have often witnessed my workmates inflating prices of the chips when the demand was high. There were certain periods when there would be many customers such that we worked under immense pressure. During such period, one of my workmate who was senior to me since I was on intern would increase the price of the product or in some cases he would short change the customers. I felt that what he was doing was not good so my ethical dilemma was whether or not to confront senior management over the problems I had identified in the department. My main worry was that this person would victimise me if he discovered that I had spilled the beans to the senior management. My other worry is that I was slowly developing a guilty conscience since I was witnessing this guy stealing from innocent customers on a daily basis. Justification of an ethical dilemma Ethics specifically deal with moral issues as described above and they often derive from the values of the people in the organization or a particular group. Basically, values are described as the “essential and enduring tenets” that distinguish a certain company from the others and they are “not to be compromised for financial gain or short term expediency,” (DesJardins, 2006, p. 5). The values of the company spell its core ethical framework which should not be compromised for financial gain. Essentially, each business should strive to create a fine balance between its profit oriented goals as well as the interests of the stakeholders. It is important for our company to take into account the stakeholder approach in its operations which states that it should be accountable for its activities to all the people affected by its operations (Rossow, 2004). I realised that as a company, we were more concerned about our own interests. More so, I later realised other employees were also involved in this practice and they even advised me to follow suit but my conscience would not allow me to behave like that. I had a strong ethical background from the knowledge I gained from my classes. I was closer to reality since I was working in the sales department and was aware of the real situation obtaining on the ground. Therefore, I was in a position to give meaningful advice to the top management in the company but I was scared of approaching them over the issue. An element of fear poses an ethical dilemma since she should be in a position to freely interact with the management as well as updating them about what ought to be done in the company so that it can improve its performance. The channels of communication in this company were not open and this is the reason I was sceptical about confronting the management with this issue. Whenever the company engages in unorthodox means in its operations, then it means that it is in an ethical dilemma given that it has diverted from its stated values. This ethical dilemma is justified since the top management in the company is aware that the new policy is designed to create an unfavourable advantage to the organization at the expense of the stakeholders. It can also be seen that ethics seek to distinguish between something that is morally bad from right (Robbins, 1993). Indeed, as the new sales person in the department, I discovered something bad about the company policy but I was in a dilemma of whether to confront the management or not with regards to the issue of inflating the prices of the products we offered when demand was high. My colleagues would not return change whenever they sold a certain product to a person who was not aware of the actual price. The other colleague informed me that the middle management was aware of this policy but the senior management did not know anything. This policy is designed to generate more revenue for the company in a short period but it is not good for all the stakeholders who are not aware of the existence of such kind of policy in the operations of the company in the organization. This practice is morally bad by any standard since it prioritises the profit oriented goal of the company. The bottom line is that any behaviour that is against the values of the company is unethical. According to the Biomedical Ethics (2013), the utilitarian theory states that our actions should yield good results to the majority of the people. In other words, the right course of action should to be followed is one that yields greater benefits to the majority of people or stakeholders involved in the operations of the organization. In contrast, the policy adopted by the middle management of Mr Chip Company was oriented towards generating large sums of revenue in short period of time. However, the problem is that the people who were engaging in this practice were stealing from the unsuspecting customers though they would justify their actions by saying that the customers would never know anything. This behaviour was likely to compromise on quality and can impact negatively on the interests of the customers which presents an ethical dilemma which should be reviewed by the management. Ethical solutions to the dilemma There were different measures that I could take to address this ethical dilemma. I should prepare a document that outlines all the weaknesses of the policy to the company and she should try to present it in a professional way to the responsible authorities in the organization. Being a sale officer, in one way or the other, I was likely to be given the opportunity to present a report to the management of the organization since this is a requirement that is meant to establish if the department is operating within the expected standard. Given this opportunity, she should try to convince the management so that they can also understand the benefits that are likely to be achieved from adopting a moderate policy that is biased towards the interests of the company only. After all, I should present my case in such a way that the top management will see sense for adopting a policy that is favourable to all stakeholders. This will also help the company to build a positive image if it strives to satisfy the needs and interests of the stakeholders. In this case I should also try to convince other influential people in the organization that by any chance, the policy of the company can leak to third parties and this can tarnish its image. Therefore, to avoid such unfortunate scenario, the company should review its operational policy. Alternatively, I can just leave the case and concentrate on my work. It seems that I was speculating that the policy can negatively impact on the operations of the organization in the long run. However, this might not be the case since this is a once off event that is often practised when there are many customers. At the end of the company’s fiscal year, we often realised that our financial statement did not indicate any loss so the strategy of short changing the customers may be beneficial to the organization as a whole. This entails that there may not be any negative impact on the operations of the organization. Whilst it is a good observation made I made, it may be detrimental to the company I insist that the management should change the policy. The policy should be implemented in such as way that it does not impact negatively on the image of the company. If that can be the case, then I should just try to make an effort to drop the issue and adopt a wait and see attitude at close range. Alternatively, I can resort to whistle blowing if I realise that the policy can completely destroy the organization. However, this should be directed to other influential people in the organization not external forces which can tarnish the image of the organization. If the other influential people in the organization get wind of this particular story, they are likely to act in a decisive way. These people can also compel the top management to review the policy framework of the organization for the betterment of the company. It is easier for many concerned people to convince the top management in the company to revise its policies for the betterment of the whole organization than individual effort. This method can help me to communicate my sentiments to the targeted people in the organization. References An introduction to biomedical ethics (25 February 2011). Viewed from: . DesJardins J. (2006). An introduction to business ethics. 2nd Edition. Boston. McGraw Hill international Edition. Global Ethics (2013). “How the Chips Fall.” Viewed from: < http://www.globalethics.org/dilemmas/How-the-Chips-Fall/24/ >. Hiti S. (1999). “Fundamentalism and family values inside corporations.” Visions of ethical business. Financial times, Prentice Hall in association with Price Water House Coopers. Robins, S.P (1993). Organisational Behaviour: Concepts, controversies and applications. New Jersey: NJ. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs. Rossouw D. (2004). Business Ethics: 3rd Edition. CT. Oxford University Press. Read More