Professional Workplace Dilemma - Essay Example

The product at my firm was built on customer forecasting, thus all activities associated with product manufacture were scheduled based on customer projections. The off-site reps, and the customer falsifications, moved up their unique production schedule, causing internal failures to meet the true forecast needs of other, much more profitable companies. The ethical dilemma: Should I report their false schedule forecasts to senior leaders as a means to reduce costs or should I allow the habit to continue, despite the fact that profitable customers were being overshadowed by false representations of product needs? I was responsible for working directly with the off-site representatives and communicating their production needs to senior managers, thus I was directly involved in whether to allow this unethical act to continue.

Analysis of Ethical Dilemma

            There was a significant difference in power and authority, especially in relation to my position as their point of contact. The off-site representatives consisted of senior marketing managers and the direct customer, which made all parties in this ethical dilemma superiors to my own position. Blowing the proverbial whistle on this unethical activity might have meant significant complications in my job if my analysis of their fraudulent production forecasting were even slightly askew. In essence, if I were incorrect, I could have easily lost my position as a company representative, which was something I felt needed protection.

            Did the company have a right to submit inaccurate production needs simply to secure the interests of a less-profitable customer? Were emergency production overtime payments and outrageous expedited shipping costs, which cost the company (literally) thousands and thousands of dollars per week, justified by self-serving off-site representatives who were willing to strike a blow at profitability just to ensure they were supported? These were questions I had to ask myself in relation as to whether to remain silent or blow the whistle.

            One of the more profitable customers, which for anonymity purposes I will call A & B Corporation, experienced three significant disruptions to their business due to failure to provide them with the needed product. Instead, due to false forecast numbers from the off-site representatives, efforts were streamlined internally to build products for the less-profitable customer. This began to damage the quality of the relationship with A & B Corp., which promised to find another product supplier if another shipment of their merchandise was missed. As a result, several members of senior leadership were chastised for failing to meet the needs of a multi-million dollar customer.

            If I had decided to let senior leadership know that nearly all forecasts from the less-profitable customer were completely fabricated, I would have lost all interpersonal elements of the quality relationship that I shared with the off-site reps. In addition, it would have prompted an internal investigation of the ethics of off-site marketing managers, making my job more complicated as a key witness to their unethical behaviors. It may have even cost the company the profits from the less-profitable customer who would have likely found another supplier due to being exposed for fraud.

Evaluating the Outcome

            I ultimately made the decision to remain quiet about the false forecasting, as other members of supply chain management began to suspect that there was something amiss in their product forecasting. Rush manufacture of their unique products, costing countless thousands of dollars in labor and delivery charges, raised eyebrows by additional staff members who pointed out their concern as to why rush product stayed in the inventory warehouse for weeks after it was rush-produced. Supply chain management, along with other suspecting middle managers, called an emergency meeting with senior marketing leadership to revamp the forecasting guidelines associated with the less-profitable customer. Though the business did not discipline its off-site management team for their unethical forecast numbers, the method by which this particular customer was allowed to order future merchandise was radically altered to avoid impacting more profitable customers. Though I had remained quiet about the behaviors for many, many months, I was not investigated as a participant in the falsifications, as the general senior-level belief was that I could not have been privy to these details. Hence, my silence met with zero problems in my job position.

            Reflecting back on the experience, I would have handled the problem differently, as I realize that I have a very real responsibility to securing the needs of the broader business community, hence I should have blown the whistle on this activity. Ethical behaviors do not always begin at the managerial level, and I realize that I could have saved the company in excess of (approximately) $500,000 if I had raised publicized concerns about my perceptions of unethical product forecasting. I believe that if I had done this, the internal investigators would have praised me for my commitment to the firm’s profitability rather than chastise me for any perceived unethical support for their off-site fraud. I realize that all members of the company have an obligation to reporting and identifying unethical behaviors, thus in the future I would be more proactive in addressing issues as they surface.