COMPETENCIES
3066.1.1 : Ethical Issues in Business
The graduate analyzes ethical and socially responsible courses of action in a given business situation.
3066.1.2 : Ethical Leadership
The graduate analyzes ethical considerations that shape business leadership.
3066.1.3 : Employment Issues in Business
The graduate applies ethical principles to employment.
3066.1.4 : Environmental Concerns in Business
The graduate applies ethical principles to environmental concerns confronting business.
3066.1.5 : International Business
The graduate applies ethical principles to international business.
3066.1.6 : Ethics Programs
The graduate evaluates ethical policies in a given business scenario.
INTRODUCTION
In a complex, multicultural business environment, it is important that business professionals adhere to ethical standards throughout their daily activities. The goal of this course is to introduce you to concepts and guidelines for ethical courses of actions in business. In order to assess understanding, you will analyze the ethical and socially responsible courses of action for the business scenario below. You will take on the role of human resources (HR) director of the firm to discuss the situation, propose ethical guidelines for the organization, and analyze possible solutions to address the ethical dilemma for the company.
SCENARIO
TechFite, a British company that produces high-technology goods, recently began production of its innovative recreational equipment in its first U.S. factory in Dellberg. TechFite is widely known for its culture of workplace collaboration and leadership development. Additionally, the company culture encourages employee empowerment and engagement in corporate decision making. The company also prides itself on being actively involved in the communities in which they have a presence.
As the human resources (HR) director of the new factory in Dellberg, you soon realize there are financial obstacles that must be addressed as it relates to hourly employees. The budgeting process has constrained the amount of funding available to provide full-time employee benefits, and hours have been reduced to keep many employees classified as part-time. The HR department needs to develop policies to address the legal and cultural differences between the United States and the United Kingdom pertaining to hours and benefits. As the HR director, you are grappling with the ethical obligations to your employees and the limited funds available. Upon a review of the budget, excessive bonuses are being paid out to top executives.
During one of the companys presentations to the Dellberg city council, commitments were made to sponsor community events, to support local youth leadership development programs, and to invest in infrastructure to aid in the rebuilding of the city of Dellberg utilizing environmentally responsible techniques. Up to this point, these commitments have not been addressed or funded by TechFite. The leadership team realizes the importance of community involvement, and this commitment is central to their corporate culture. A plan needs to be developed to meet the companys corporate social responsibility to the city.
While residents of the city were excited about the companys investment and the opportunity for new jobs in a bankrupt city, relationships quickly began to deteriorate when employees began to complain about wages, benefits, and weekly hours that fell far below the 40 hours necessary to receive full-time benefits under company policies. In addition, the company is not fulfilling the commitments it made to city officials about community involvement.
As part of its launch into the United States, TechFite realizes that corporate actions must be consistent with company culture to gain acceptance. Two primary focuses will be making this a great place to work and developing a strong presence as a company that is good for the community.
REQUIREMENTS
Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. An originality report is provided when you submit your task that can be used as a guide.
You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.
A. Create three corporate policies that reflect the organizations culture and ethical viewpoints.
1. Explain the rationale behind the policies, including how they align with the organizations culture.
2. Distinguish between ethical and legal issues.
3. Analyze the ethical issues at stake in the scenario (e.g., conflict of interest, misuse of resources, whistleblowing).
4. Describe the purpose of the ethics officer.
B. Describe corporate social responsibility and how it applies to the scenario.
1. Explain the ethical desirability of improving the companys reputation in the community based on the scenario. The explanation should include three supporting examples of what the company has done or failed to do that has harmed its image in the community.
2. Describe an ethically, socially, and environmentally responsible course of action to address each example from part B1 based on the companys culture and core values.
3. Explain how the course of action from part B2 is ethically, socially, and environmentally responsible.
C. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
D. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
