Ethic-final - The end of the year PDF

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Zyedego1 are the legal and ethical risks associated with the decision about hiring truck drivers at Zyedego? The legal risk associated with the decision to hire truck drivers at Zyedego is owed to the fact that the company is making a decision that goes against the law. The corporate officials at th...

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Zyedego 1.What are the legal and ethical risks associated with the decision about hiring truck drivers at Zyedego? - The legal risk associated with the decision to hire truck drivers at Zyedego is owed to the fact that the company is making a decision that goes against the law. The corporate officials at the Zyedego company have been hiring truck drivers that have previous records of abusing alcohol and driving while they are under the influence of alcohol. The ethical risk associated with the decision to hire truck drivers at Zyedego is owed to the fact that the company’s decision could, in fact, ruin the company’s reputation. If one of the company’s truck drivers were to get in a car accident and police officers found high alcohol content in the driver’s system, the Zyedego company would then be at fault for hiring the truck driver knowing that the driver had a history of executing such behavior, like drinking and driving. The backlash and public scrutiny that could result after such an incident may prove to be a bit much for the company to handle without the assistance of a professional whom the company would have to hire to perform some sort of damage control on Zyedego’s behalf. 2.What should Peter recommend to Gwyn about Dana’s case? - In the case regarding Dana, Peter should recommend Gwyn to give Dana the appropriate amount of time that is needed for the new mother to heal considering the fact that she has just given birth. Though the company may be knee-deep in work that needs to be taken care of in an immediate amount of time, offering Dana the pre-approved maternity leave will make sure that the Zyedego company is remaining compliant with the employment laws that exist in the United States of America. In addition, granting Dana with the time off of work that she needs for her body to heal will show Dana that her employer actually cares about her wellbeing in addition to the state that the company is currently experiencing. 3.Do you think Peter is too emotionally attached to the Martin case to make an objective decision? - I do think that Peter is most definitely attached to the Martin case. However, I do not believe that his personal attachment to the Martin case will hinder his ability to remain impartial. Being that he had a personal relationship with Martin does not necessarily mean that Peter is unable to make an objective decision. As the story described, Peter and his employee, Martin, were the close of friends. Considering their friendship, Peter is just trying his best to make sure that Martin’s remaining family members are placed in good hands in spite of their current financial situation. Yes, it is true that Peter wishes to see that Martin’s wife and child get the best resources that they can in effort to repair the current financial state and move on with their lives, but this does not mean that Peter is playing favoritism. Peter and Martin were friends and as a friend (as well as a manager), Peter is in the position to make sure that Martin’s wife and child receive all of the assistance that they need in order to survive without the presence of the recently deceased Mr. Martin.

Zyedego 1. What are the legal and ethical risks associated with the decision about hiring truck drivers at Zyedego? Some of the legal and ethical risks associated with hiring these truck drivers is that they already have a DWI history so even though they have stated they have been clean for 5 years doesn’t mean that they won’t drink again. These drivers can seriously hurt or kill someone if they were to drink and drive. They could also cause the company money is fine’s and assets if they were to get in an accident while drinking. Legally, the company can look at fines and be sued if one of their drivers was to hurt or kill someone. The company is already having financial issues and if one of these driver’s was to do something wrong like that again it could cause the company to be shut down or to go bankrupt. 2. What should Peter recommend to Gwyn about Dana’s case? Peter can recommend that once Dana has the baby that she can go out on FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) which would provide her with 12 workweeks of unpaid leave, and requires group health benefits to be maintained during the leave as if employees continued to work instead of taking leave. Employees are also entitled to return to their same or an equivalent job at the end of their FMLA leave (United States Department of Labor, 2013). As far as production, Dana is entitled to do her job as long as the pregnancy is going fine. If for any reason Dana should start to have complication she could be put on light duty by her doctor and the company would have to make those accommodations. As far as Dana’s citizenship it looks like she did provide the paperwork to Gwyn but just not in the timely manner that Gwyn wanted it.

Victoria

1.Identify the issues of which Victoria needs to be aware. Victoria as she is now a part of this organization and the new venture into the new markets there are a few things she does need to be aware of. As she hinted toward the end of the scenario, the monopoly structure of the business and its legality. The more pressing matter that I see in the story is the per se violations of the Sherman Antitrust act which includes price fixing as a violation. Price fixing is “an agreement among competitors to raise, fix, or otherwise maintain the price at which their goods or services are sold. It is not necessary that the competitors agree to charge exactly the same price, or that every competitor in a given industry join the conspiracy” (Justice 1). In the story Victoria was told by Wendy to create a unique pricing strategy to consistently undercut the competition which indicates that she was instructed to create a formula for computing prices which is considered price fixing by the justice department and a violation of the Sherman Antitrust laws. 2.Discuss the implications of each decision that Wendy made.

The first decision that Wendy has made was to hire the best employees of the rival businesses. While this may be an effective tactic to lure knowledgeable employees while also crippling the workforce of its competitors. This also has its downside, they have agreed to give the new employees a fifty percent raise from their current pay. Which will have a large impact on their company as they plan to keep the employees from eighteen months until they can find a way to get rid of them. Wendy also instructs one of her employees to lean on the bankers of the competitors to gain information, this would be considered social engineering which “involves tricking people into breaking normal security procedures” (TechTarget 1). If caught they would face serious violations and serious damage to the company’s image. She also has informed Victoria to create a formula to consistently undercut the competitor’s prices even if they lose money. That would be a violation of the Sherman Antitrust and they could face charges. 3.Discuss why the federal government has determined that monopolies are not in the public’s best interest. A monopoly is “when a company has exclusive control over a good or service in a particular market” (Girard 1). A monopoly is not in the best interest because they can indeed set fixed prices on items and has a very large impact when it comes to items where there is an inelastic demand. Another downside to monopolies which is very pronounced in the scenario is the destruction of family businesses and jobs, because the company is larger and can offer lower prices it tends to cause others to go out of business and close their doors. It may also seem that the larger monopoly can command influence over politicians which could influence potential laws in an effort to eliminate threats and further expand its profit margin. Monopolies also tend to restrict or make it very difficult for others to enter the market which only makes the monopoly even more powerful by securing its market share or increasing its market share.

Chantal SOLUTION 1: There are following issues that B needs to deal with: 

Retailers in some countries were diluting the products and selling them with full strength,

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Suppliers in p mistreated their workers,

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Some plant employees were facing pay cuts,

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Old employees were losing their full time benefits,

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Political alliances were being made in marketing, finance, and manufacturing departments, and

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Every plant is operating as an individual profit making entity.

Implementing an ethics program will surely help the company in addressing these issues in a better manner. They can show' to suppliers and Workers that the company stands with the right and the company Wants to bring the core values and good ethics. When the employees, suppliers and shareholders will get to know that company is looking forward to having an ethical program, it will help them to get back on track. Issuing a code of conduct will surely help the employees.

SOLUTION 2: An ethics Committee should at least comprise Senior management from Human resources and Audit and Legal Committee who can check all issues related to working ability, sharing of information and other legal issues. Secondly the most important aspect is sharing of information which is a breach of Insider trading Act, should be resolved . Secondly all workers should be given fair treatment and industry standards working hours and salary, thirdly look at retailers as to how they are selling Butterfly products. SOLUTION 3: Yes forensic audit and ethical audit both should be conducted to bring out all loopholes and address them, such audits should be done every 6 months. There should be an internal resolution committee set up to address all issues and various Acts like Sarbanes Oxley Act and FCPA Act should be clearly defined to mitigate all legal issues.

Jerry 1. What areas of its ethics audit should Soumey change? Ethics audit should cover all the functional aspects of a company rather than just going around the personal deeds in the company. It should cover various aspects on current operational, financial transaction, employee engagements, supplier/vendor deeds etc So it should focus on holistic development. 2. Does Jerry have a legal duty to report any of the items that he has heard to an outside authority No, he dont have legal duty to do that. As all are outside his responsibility and requirements. He is not compiled or accountable for all these deeds. 3. Discuss the makeup of Soumey’s board of directors. Is it ethical? Board has to be lead by an experienced member with knowledge in leading an ethical audit. The person's presence can give a holistic change in the overall audit firm. So it is advisable to have a regulatory body which meets all the requirements. It should have persons from finance, Human resource, Operations and general management legal background. So suggestions, feedback, opinions from an expert team can be attained through these ways. 4. Is Jerry liable for the problems associated with Soumey over the last three years? Explain why or why not To an Extent he is liable for the issues associated with. He shows some disparity in employees and all the dealing was not transparent at all. So he has deviated from the set of standardized practices and its violation of ethical norms. Jerry 1. What areas of its ethics audit should Soumey change? Soumey should change several areas of ethics audit. The hotline should be made anonymous. It is illegal and unethical to make it open but not to tell about it. The racial discrimination exists, too. Most Spanish workers work during the night shift

and they are underpaid. There are also issues related to workers’ reporting and dishonesty. In order to gain higher salaries, the company has kept back the fact of a toxic spill. Such situations should be audited better. The fact of corruption has also taken place. To make ethic audit more open and disinterested, Soumey should use the services of external audit companies. 2. Does Jerry have a legal duty to report any of the items that he has heard to an outside authority? Jerry has a legal duty to report about the things he heard to an outside authority. However, it should refer only to the facts that make influence on the company’s activity, legal issues, and ethical issues; and Jerry should be confident that this information is true and reliable. 3. Discuss the makeup of Soumey’s board of directors. Is it ethical? Soumey’s board of directors consists of John Jacobs, Soumey’s president; Alan Kerns, a retired Soumey executive; Alice Finkelstein, a retired executive from a similar company; Latisha Timme, a consultant within the industry; and Jerry, John’s friend. To my opinion, such makeup is not ethical. Two of five members are from this company. They may know each other well and be in collusion. It would be better for Soumey to set up a competition where candidates could pass some tests and an interview in order to be selected to the board of directors. It would be more ethical to select members who are not connected with Soumey, but better from the same industry. 4. Is Jerry liable for the problems associated with Soumey over the last three years? Explain why or why not? Jerry is liable for the issues associated with Soumey over the last three years, because he is a member of the board of directors. However, his liability is limited by his authority. He is not responsible for ethical audit, because the ethics compliance officer is Alan. Nevertheless, Jerry should report about any ethical issues occurred.

Jerry 1. What areas of its ethics audit should Soumey change? The first issue with Soumey’s ethics audit is their choice in who should do the actual auditing. While they are correct in getting an outside firm to conduct the ethics audit, the firm that they chose was highly recommended by Latisha, one of the board members. It appears that the board went solely on Latisha’s recommendations of this accounting firm. I believe that it would be in the best interest of Soumey if the board hired a completely unbiased firm that was not connected to Soumey in any way to conduct the ethics audit. The audit suggested that the board of directors needed to appoint someone to be in charge of the company’s ethical compliance program. They recommended that this person should be someone with high managerial authority. The board decided to appoint fellow board member Alan Kerns as Soumey’s ethics compliance officer. Alan was once the president of Soumey, but is now retired. Instead of choosing an officer that employees of Soumey would feel comfortable going to when issues arose, they chose Alan because he had the time to do it and lived close to the main offices. They should have focused more on finding a current employee with excellent managerial skills. This would allow them to have an ethics compliance officer with managerial authority as well as an existing relationship with the employees.

The audit also suggested that the company needed to create a confidential hotline for employees to report ethical or legal concerns they might have. The hotline was created but the confidentiality regarding it was questionable. Soumey needs to ensure that this hotline remain confidential. If they are unable to do that, the employees are less likely to report their issues internally. Instead, they may choose to report these issues to outside sources which would have a negative effect on the company. 2. Does Jerry have a duty to report any of the items that he has heard to an outside authority? Illegal actions definitely need to be reported to an outside authority. Unethical actions may be reported to an authority within the company to start with. Whether or not Jerry is reporting these actions internally or externally, he needs to follow the appropriate chain of command. If the first authority refuses to do anything, he should move onto the next chain of command until action is taken. This is especially true regarding the illegal actions Jerry is now aware of. One issue is obvious when he overhears workers talking about a toxic spill that occurred because the appropriate safety measures were not in place. There are many environmental laws that require a company to report accidents involving chemicals, especially toxic ones. OSHA has guidelines in place for companies working with chemicals to keep records of employee exposure to these chemicals. Jerry also learns of actions that are definitely unethical and border on illegal. He learns that previous managers and employees have reported accidents. He also learns how these employees were subsequently treated by higher ranking officials within the company. He learns of one instance where the employees reported a toxic spill and were taken off projects that offered incentives and bonuses. This led to their pay being reduced by 40%. This type of coercion needs to be made known to the proper authorities. If these authorities within the company are unwilling to handle it, then Jerry needs to find someone outside the company to report it to. 3. Is Jerry responsible for the problems associated with Soumey over the last three years? Explain your answer. I think his responsibility for Soumey’s problems over the last three years could actually go either way. I feel Jerry is and is not responsible for these problems. Because he was not aware of these problems, his level of responsibility decreases. In addition, the reports given at the meetings held twice a year suggested that the company was running well, both financially and ethically. However, as a member of Soumey’s board of directors, he is responsible for overseeing the activities of the company. So he cannot be completely absolved from these problems. When Jerry first became a board member, he noticed things that he did not completely agree with. Instead of backing down when he was met with resistance about these issues, he should have been more forceful in seeing that they were looked into. One instance is when he suggests that another ethics audit would be a good idea for the company. He was right in suggesting this. Regular ethics audits are important to a company wishing to maintain ethical compliance. However, when he proposed his idea to have another audit, he was opposed by the other board members. Instead of arguing his case, he backed down. In my opinion, Jerry chose to remain at a distance regarding the company’s business dealings and inner operations.

This prevented him from knowing how many and exactly what illegal and unethical practices were being used at Soumey. Sid Answer 1: Broadly speaking ethical issues are a situation where one needs to decide between what is right and what is wrong. The most lucrative alternative might be ethically incorrect. After going through the given case, I have identified two major ethical issues. These are as follows: 

Sid and Glenna did manage to fulfil government official’s request of playing in U.S. golf courses. This was totally against policy and can be categorized as a sort of bribe. This act was morally incorrect.

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In order to lower their expenses by using his own funds, Sid bought and sold stocks for the express purpose of increasing his own revenues. Such a practice is a subject to ethical concern. It is morally incorrect to do so in the U.S. However, it is normally acceptable in Japanese culture.

Answer 2: Moral philosophies deal with pinpointing what is right and wrong. Nature of morality is explored in this branch of philosophy. It also helps in guiding people how they should take decisions that are morally correct and does not harm others. Moral philosophy used by Sid, Glenna, and Ron are as follows: Sid and Glenna: Applied Ethics: The way Sid helped others and be helpful for others, ways he even ignored company policies are all what is mentioned in applied ethics. Similarly, Glenna ignored company policy and took some decisions that might not lie within the boundaries of moral act but did not harm anyone. Ron: Meta-Ethics: Ron concentrated on the big picture and always focused on what is consid...