Business, Sustainability and Society - Coursework Example

Business, Sustainability, and Society: Discrimination is a major problematic issue among others examined in business ethics. Riam Dean is one such prime example of discrimination who was born with her left forearm missing and later as an adult while employed at Abercrombie & Fitch London branch, she was given a job role in the stock room so that she could be kept away from customers. She was not only discriminated against at the workplace but also made fun of by various other staff members due to the fact that she was instructed to wear a cardigan while at work. Though Abercrombie hired Dean unaware of her disability, the management later removed her from the shop floor only after her second shift. The employers made her hide in the stock room away from the sight of the customers on grounds that her prosthetic forearm was heavily interfering with the firm’s look policy. Though professionally and mentally fit and capable, Dean’s minor disability was repeatedly brought up by other workers and the management did nothing to change the situation for the better. She looked different than everybody else so the employers made her report to the stock room. She later left the position and sued the company. She claimed “she was diminished for not fitting the look policy” (BBC, 2009). She was not treated at the workplace in accordance with the guidebook she was given by the firm as an employee. Riam Dean’s case suggests that it was not an isolated incident but “rather part of a pattern of discriminatory and authoritarian policies that created not only a hostile work environment but also an environment that was subtly damaging to customers” (North, 2009). Riam Dean’s case suggests that under certain conditions suggestive of discrimination and prejudice, disabled people can be discriminated against based on their physical appearance which might constrain their social relations. General consensus among business ethicists is that discrimination by disability is a multidimensional issue and a common approach to treat which is affirmative action which should be acknowledged by all business firms. Affirmative action is widely known as positive discrimination in the UK which takes many factors into account including disability for making policies so as to benefit and represent an underrepresented group like a group made up of workers with minor physical disabilities like Riam Dean who face difficult and embarrassing work situations due to uncooperative, insensitive, and biased employers. Affirmative action is worth mentioning in context of business ethical perspective towards discrimination in this essay and is a suitably chosen theoretical approach because it basically aims to counter the effects of a history of discrimination in any firm or in the society on a bigger level. Affirmative action is interesting and effective because it makes and promotes such policies and actions which are meant to achieve non-discrimination and so it could significantly benefit the workers at small firms or big companies who are discriminated against due to minor disabilities. Sure every organization strives to gather the best talent pool but how could any such employee as Riam Dean be considered less eligible and capable to carry out work duties on grounds of having a prosthetic forearm? That was obviously a discrimination case because Dean employed at the UK firm was removed from the shop floor on grounds of not fitting in with the firm’s look policy. Affirmative action or positive discrimination can be applied by the employers easily which makes it a highly practical solution to discrimination which prevents establishment of equal work opportunity. It can be applied both in government and privately owned firms to ensure that minority or underrepresented groups in the society are well included and better represented in all programs for the public welfare. Proponents of affirmative action consider it a well balanced policy that addresses not only existing discrimination but also takes into consideration the history of past discrimination and exploitation by the ruling class of a culture (Sowell, 2004) as Dean, a British employee with a prosthetic forearm, was exploited on grounds of her minor disability by the firm’s management. Proponents of affirmative action opinion that the implementation or application of this business ethics approach can be well justified by disparate impact. Moreover, its implementation is a business setting could also be related to disparate treatment. Disparate impact differs from disparate treatment in respect that while the former doctrine or concept considers all such employment practices discriminatory and hence illegal which unintentionally inflict an adverse impact on people from a minority group, the latter is an intentional practice of the employers or managers to treat people differently (Horan, cited in Mujtaba et al., 2012). The employment practice which forced Dean to work in isolation away from the sight of the customers was not only discriminatory in its application but also discriminatory on its face due to which affirmative action could have been applied here if the employers at Abercrombie & Fitch London branch had cared enough. UK employment equality law is another business ethics driven anti-discriminatory policy to help the organizations curb prejudice-based actions in the workplace. Under this law it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person because of him/her having one of the protected characteristics like disability, age, race, religion, or sexual orientation or treating such people differently from others who lack such protected characteristics. This law can be applied in cases like Riam Dean’s because it aims at discarding all such employment practices or actions by which the workers with some kind of disability are treated less favorably or they are forced to shun their normal work routine. The Social Contract Theory (SCT) is a business ethics theory which implies that persons’ moral obligations depend upon the agreement or contract among them to form the society in which they exist. Hobbes and Locks are the main proponents of this one of the most dominant theories. The disparate treatment of workers who are physically disable in some way though capable mentally and professionally cannot be ethically justified. Research provides consistent evidence of discrimination against disabled employees and job applicants which raises concern and questions for organizational stakeholders. Employees should be valued as they form the most important organizational stakeholders. The disparate treatment of workers on grounds of their protected characteristics like disability is unlawful and condemned by SCT which proposes and stressed that all businesses are ethically obligated to promote the welfare of society by satisfying employee interests “without violating any of the general canons of justice” (Hasnas, 1998). SCT implies that certain conditions would have to be met by the members of society to allow businesses to be formed. Based on the social contract theories of Hobbes and Locks, it also implies that the ethical obligations of the businesses towards different members of the society could be derived from or based on the social contract or agreement. The social contract creates a link or relationship between the businesses and society members due to which the people living in a society grant businesses the right to be formed in exchange for individual benefits. In the case of Riam Dean, it is apparent that the social contract was tarnished by the employers when they refused to ensure specified benefits to Dean in return for her services. They ridiculed her, harassed her, and traumatized her emotionally and psychologically when she approached the manager to discuss the ethics violation issues. Discussion with her manager instead made her feel vulnerable, exposed, and hurt which questions the ethical obligations of the firm she worked at and makes it obvious that the social contract was badly bruised by the employers due to the way she looked. In words of Dean, “The store manager’s words pierced right through the armour of 20 years of building up personal confidence about me as a person, and that I am much more than a girl with only one arm. She brought me back down to earth to a point where I questioned my self worth. My achievements and triumphs in life were brought right down to that moment where I realised that I was unacceptable to my employer because of how I looked” (North, 2009). SCT can be applied in business settings to promote anti-discriminatory employment practices and ensure benefits to the employees by addressing their interests for their welfare. It can be applied in cases where the relationship between employers and employees is imbalanced due to discriminatory practices because this business ethics theoretical approach focuses on illuminating the social responsibilities of businesses. The people as members of society grant the businesses the right to operate and hire employees and in return the businesses should promote the employees’ interests instead of categorizing them due to their individual characteristic. The Stakeholder Theory is also an influential theory in the context of business ethics which stresses that “effective management requires the balanced consideration of and attention to the legitimate interests of all stakeholders” (Hasnas, 1998). Now employees are the most important stakeholders to an organization and valuing them should be the objective of the management team. In the case where Riam Dean’ interests got seriously tarnished and damaged by the unprofessional and discriminatory behavior of the management, especially regarding the way her manager addressed her concerns, bad employment practices heavily interfered with the concept of effective management as proposed by the stakeholder theory. However, this theory stands in contrast to the SCT and offers a different perspective in respect that it does not propose that businesses formed by the permission of the society members have any social responsibilities as stressed by SCT. According to the stakeholder theory of management, the stakeholder groups are limited to stockholders, employees, management etc. and managers should try to fulfill their obligations to the stockholders by addressing the legal interests of all stakeholders. This theory is widely applicable and it is stressed that businesses everywhere should respect it as much as any other business ethics approach. When not viewed exclusively as a theory of management, the stakeholder theory suggests that “businesses may not treat their stakeholders merely as means to the businesss ends, but must recognize that as moral agents” (Hasnas, 1998). Moreover, the freedom of all stakeholders is such that they are entitled "to agree to and hence participate (or choose not to participate) in the decisions to be used as such” (Hasnas, 1998). This theory of business ethics was clearly not applied in the Riam Dean case by the firm’s management due to which the employee got forced to sue the firm on grounds of discriminatory employment practices. However when properly applied in the business setting, this theory stresses that businesses in all circumstances should regard the contract they form with the employees. The managers intending to apply this theory have an obligation towards taking in consideration the employees’ interests when developing business policies. In the case of Riam Dean, the firm’s management clearly did not care in the least to represent the employees’ interests when developing the notorious “look policy”. Summing up, this much remains clear from the above discussion that disable people in a business environment made up of discrimination and prejudices are often denied equal work environments so that their contact with customers could be limited which in turn might forced them to limit their social action. Even in the present modern age discrimination prevails in the society at myriad levels due to which many amputees are often discriminated against and are denied several jobs reserved for physically able employees irrespective of the mental and professional capability. Many times decisions at workplaces by the employers are made unrelated to solid facts. This is because no matter how mentally able or smart an amputee may be, the employers will most certainly be concerned with what they visualize and reach decisions based on that visualization. The case in which Dean was banished and forced to leave the shop floor so that the customers could not view her is reflective of disparate treatment because the employers treated her significantly different as she looked different. Business ethics and proper implementation of different ethics theories, approaches, and laws imply that the need of the time is to make recruitment and selection decisions without regard to minor disabilities. References: BBC 2009, Woman wins clothes store tribunal, BBC NEWS, viewed, 16 November, 2012, Hasnas, J 1998, The normative theories of business ethics: a guide for the perplexed, Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 8, pp. 19-42. Mujtaba, BG, Cavico, FJ, Williams, AA, & Sungkhawan, J 2012, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE DISCRIMINATION, EDUCATION, AND DIVERSITY TRAINING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN THE UNITED STATES AND THAILAND, Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, vol. 8, no. 2, viewed, 16 November, 2012, North, A 2009, Banished Employee, Others Speak Out Against Abercrombie’s Awfulness, JEZEBEL, viewed, 16 November, 2012, Sowell, T 2004, Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study, New Haven: Yale University Press. Read More