Ethical behavior in business - Essay Example

Part I Introduction Being socially responsible has become an important factor towards the success of companies in the 21st century. Corporate socialresponsibility is the obligation of organizations to behave in ethical and moral ways as institutions of a broader society (Shermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn). Today’s customers expect companies to act in a responsible manner when it comes to the environment. In the case study Big Dirty Oil was involved in a terrible accident that hurt the wildlife and natural environment of British Columbia and Southern Alaska.

Millions of gallons of crude oil spilled in the water. This incident is a serious matter that should not be treated lightly. To clean up the mess the company has to invest millions of dollars, but the damage caused by the spillage hurt the ecosystem and killed thousands of animals. Big Dirty Oil faces an ethical dilemma in regard to how the firm should approach the problem. This essay includes the view and perspective of three stakeholders: CEO, local fisherman, and the shareholders of the company.

CEO Perspective The CEO of a company is the person that has the most power within an organization. When a firm faces any controversial situations the CEO must act as the spokesman of the organization. The oil spillage that occurred off the coast of British Columbia and Alaska was a major crisis that had to be attended to immediately. The CEO of the company must find a balance between doing the right thing and maximizing shareholders’ wealth. Maximizing shareholders’ wealth is the goal of all publicly traded companies.

In light of the sensitive situation the CEO should have reacted in a different manner. The current position of the CEO is that the incident was a tragedy and he offered two million dollars to aid in the clean up. The proposal of the CEO was outrageous due to the fact that it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to properly clean up the area. The CEO acted in an unethical manner. Instead of facing up to the problem he dismissed the protests against the company by calling the protesters “the outpourings of Greenies and other fanatics.

” The reality was that the company had polluted thousands of square meters of water and killed thousands of fish and wildlife in the region. These creatures no longer had a habitat to live. The stance taken by the CEO was wrong. He cared more about the quarterly profits of the company than about the well being of thousands of animals and hundreds of fishermen that depended on fishing in the region everyday to support their families.Fishermen Perspective The fishermen in the region should be outraged at the unethical stance taken by Big Dirty Oil and its executive management team.

The oil spill destroyed their livelihood and the company has not taken responsibility for their actions. The fishermen should unite and start a movement against the company. They have to ensure that the general public learns the truth about the circumstances of the accident. This accident could have been prevented if the company had adhered to proper due diligence procedures. Captain Slosh should have never been in charge of the expedition. He is a drunk that needs help to rehabilitate. He had been charged twice in recent months with drunk driving.

The company should have suspended or fired him prior to the trip. The person that was second in command ended up navigating the ship. He was inexperienced and incompetent. He misread the maps, misjudged the waters, and maintained a speed that was inappropriate. Another issue that the fishermen should bring to the public’s attention was that the ship, S.S. Vulgass, was in terrible condition. A newer ship might not have spilled after the crash. Shareholders Perspective The shareholders of the company should take the news about the accident very seriously.

The CEO’s offer of only two million dollars in damages is absurd. The shareholders of the firm should realize that the firm is acting in an unethical manner. In today’s stock market companies that act irresponsibly are penalized by the market. In the short term the resolution of the CEO will help the financial performance of the company, but the shareholders should not forget about the truth because the stock of the company has become fool’s gold. In the long run this incident could cost the shareholders a lot of money because a lawsuit against the firm is inevitable.

The firm acted irresponsibly, thus the chances of losing a lawsuit are high. My recommendation for the shareholders of the company is to sell the stock before the inevitable depletion of its value. Part II The accident to the S.S. Vulgass was a terrible occurrence that killed thousands of innocent animals and it hurt the local economy including the livelihood of fishermen and people that depended on the tourism industry. Due to the circumstances of the accident there should be criminal charges brought against the captain of the ship.

He was responsible for navigating the ship. Instead of doing his job he decided to get drunk on the job. Criminal charges should be brought against him the same way that a person that drives under the influence of alcohol would be charged if he has an accident while driving intoxicated killing another person. The innocent animals that were killed in this ordeal deserve justice. The second individual that deserves to be in jail is the CEO of the company. The CEO of the firm knew that the S.S. Vulgass was in horrible condition and needed repairs and reinforcements or needed to be put out of commission.

The CEO of the firm should be charged with negligence. Putting these two unethical men behind bars will bring justice, but it will not resolve the situation. A class action lawsuit should be brought against the company. The plaintiffs should seek all the money needed to clean up the area as well as punitive damages. The punitive damages should include the loss of income to the fishermen as well the economic losses associated with the reduction in tourism in the region.Work CitedShermerhorn, John, James Hunt, and Richard Osborn.

Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2003. Print.