A Manager's Ethical Dilemma
It is important for manager to rethink about the incentive ides through eight step of effective decision making process. In order to brought better solution after allegation, the CEO should effective analyze the problem through eight step of ethical decision making process.
Firstly, it is important to collect all the important fact and information related to its stakeholders. While gathering important fact and information, it is necessary to keep remind about the company rule, regulation and company policy. Company should make ethical decision without hampering to its stakeholders and society. Company policy about the commission based incentive plan should be properly checked while gathering important fact.
Secondly, it is important for manager to recognize the current ethical issue related to the situation. It is necessary to look up the decision is ethical or not. Managers of Sears should understand the ethical implication that can be brought due to unsolved problem in order to gain short-term profit. The decision should be made that is ethical to all the stakeholders of the company. The company paid its employee based on commission. Even the company cut of the employee salary that the sears term as fixed dollars and provide salary based on production quota. Previously Sears enjoy costumers trust when employees weren’t set on commission but later on customers’ loss their trust toward the company when new commission system is given to employees. Obviously, this is the key issue that the company and its stakeholders are facing.
Thirdly, after identifying the key related issue, it is also necessary to identified all the stakeholders or the affected parties that are related to the issue or affected by the decision. The affected stakeholders are employees, shareholders, consumers, suppliers, financers, society and the government who are directly and indirectly influenced by the activity or the decision made by company.
Fourthly, identifying the possible consequences and alternatives action is important thing that the company should consider properly. It is necessary to find out the positive as well as negative consequences from the final decision. The decision of new incentive plan is not benefits to any stakeholders at all. It is necessary to find the solution based on cost benefit analysis. It is better to find solution which give high net good return and less net harm to the society. But analyzing through cost benefit decision can’t give any social benefits in this case.
Fifthly, the sears company obviously has some obligation and responsibility to its affected stakeholders. The sears should realize its obligation toward its consumers and its employees. The company should know that the decision they made is violation of customer’s law. The obligation of company manager toward its consumers is make sustainable environment by providing them good services and satisfying them but not to fraud them by charging extra for unnecessary repair. The obligation of manager toward its employees is to encourage and inspire to do right and ethical activity but not to force them to do unethical action. The company main obligation is to provide commission based on customer satisfaction but not on the basis of sale or production quotas.
Sixthly, it is important to judge oneself ethically as a person of integrity. We should consider integrity as well as character while considering the community standard. The community standard of integrity suggests us that it is not ethical to do fraud business and not legal to do activities that violate consumer right. The CEO should act as a person of integrity in this case and should have high morality and virtue while making ethical decision. But in this case, he didn’t seem to have high intellectual and moral cognition power to make ethical decision. Better he should take advice from other legal department and other executives.
Seventhly, we should also rethink about the possible action and best creative alternative action to make the creative decision that will benefit all stakeholders. So, it is important for the CEO to look beyond the box. The CEO should think for better idea that can be ethical to all the stakeholders as well as that can help the company to recover its all losses and regain its market place. In order to make ethical decision and to remain competitive in market, the company should focus on consumer satisfaction rather focusing on incentive plan based on production quota and sales quota. And employees should be motivated for customer satisfaction and paid on the hourly basis or on the basis of customer satisfaction rather the commission based on production and sales quota.
Eighthly, after evaluating all the steps of ethical decision making process, we should check our gut feeling. Checking our own gut feeling help us to stop doing unethical activity. I think CEO of the company lack his gut feeling while making decision of his company. If he has good capacity of recognizing his gut feeling then his emotional ability won’t allow him to make unethical decision. His gut sign would suggest him to do what is right for their consumer but not for benefit of company.

Due to new productivity incentive plan, service advisors and mechanics are alleged or involved in such unethical conduct. Brennen, CEO and chairman of Seas develop a new incentive commission plan to service advisors and mechanics in order to increase profit of the company. Commission was paid on the basis of hourly production quota or product sale quota in order to motivate employees to increase production and sale of company which can ultimately lead to profit. In order to fulfill the higher sale and production quotas and being unaware of ethical issue, the mechanics and the sales advisor involved in unethical activity like overselling and fabricating activity that lead to violating auto repair act and allegation . This activity negatively impact to the consumers that cause consumer misleading and overcharging for unnecessary repair. Service advisors and mechanics knowing or unknowing directly or indirectly alleged in such unethical practices. in ethical practices. Moreover, the eight step of ethical decision making process help to provides the better solution for the managers ethical dilemma
References
Dunkelberg, J. & Jessup, D. R. (2001). So then why did you do it? Journal of Business Ethics, 29(1/2), 51- 63. doi:10.1023/A:1006494909657
Hosmer (1997) L.T. (1997). Why be moral? A reply to Shaw and Corvino. Business Ethics Quarterly, (7)4, 137-143. doi:10.2307/3857214
Treviño, L.K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.