Knowledge Integration Exam
Issue 1 – Ethics and Legal Environment In the corporate environment, there are usually codes of conduct or rules and policies that all employees must follow. Non conformity to what is required usually results in disciplinary actions or termination. At times there are situations when an employee does something that is not right but cannot be views as wrong. There situations are usually ethical dilemmas and finding the right course of action is not an easy process. An example of a situation like is that of Alison Costello who is a Senior Vice President at AlphaSoft Corporation. Alison worked her way up from an Assistant Project Facilitator to her current position in ten year. She is well respected and has received good to outstanding performance evaluations throughout her career at AlphaSoft. Sam Snarkley, another employee at AlphaSoft who was disappointed about not getting the promotion that Alison received found out at a social gathering that Alison did not complete her MBA degree due to family reasons. The issue here is that Alison noted on her resume when she applied to AlphaSoft that she did have her MBA. The MBA was not a requirement for the position the Assistant Project Facilitator position that Alison held when she first started but it is a requirement for the Senior Vice President position. Sam informed the human resources department about his findings. Human resources requested that Alison provide them with a copy of her official transcripts. In this situation it is clear that Alison lied and was unethical but on the other hand, Alison has proved herself to be a good leader and employee and she has generate revenue for the company. Because of her accomplishments, I think Alison should be showed lyneacy and should not be terminated. She should be asked to complete the eighteen credits she has left for her MBA degree as soon as possible in order to retain her position as Senior Vice President. Using Joseph Badarracco’s framework discussed in his lecture “Defining Moments,” I believe this is the best solution to his dilemma. Badarraco discusses “right versus right” situations where there is an ethical problem but a solution can be derived by utilizing the four steps and three tests included in the framework. The basis of this framework is “Utilitarianism,” which was “crystallization in the early part of the 1800s by a man names John Stuart Mill.” Mills believed that, “the essence of responsible behavior is doing whatever promotes the greatest happiness for the greatness number of people.” This is what the human resources team should consider in the situation with Alison. Allowing Alison to continue in her position would be a win-win situation for both Alison and AlphaSoft. Requiring that she must still complete her MBA will show that other employees that the policy still holds. The only one who may be unhappy about this solution is Sam Snarkley because he did not get the position. The first step in Badarraco’s framework involves determining, “which way of proceeding is going to get the best net-net consequence”. I believe that keeping Alison in her position would produce the best net-net consequence for the company and for Alison. Requiring that Alison complete her MBA would show that the Company still upholds the policy that Senior Vice President require an MBA and it is an indication that Sam Snarkley’s concerned were heard. Alison’s accomplishments and experience could be used to compensate for her lack of her MBA degree. To further address the issue of misleading the company by falsifying information on her resume, I recommend that Alison be written up. The second step examines individual rights. The third step refers to ideas and principles and what a person stands for. The fourth step is relates to, “what will work in the world as it is.” The first test is “the newspaper test.” This test explores the possibility of consequences relating to the media. The second test refers to the golden rule. The third test is the “obituary test” which relate to the long term and what people who care of you will think.

Issue 2 – Organizational Environment Organizations usually have success against competitors mainly due to having strong business strategies that gives the organization a competitive edge against others in the same market. It is important for an organization who decides to expand its operations or enter into the global market to develop strategies that will allow its product to remain unique at a low cost. For instance, Go Ape who producing custom and high quality stuffed monkeys has decided to expand their market due to increased demand. The organization wants to also produce non-customized monkeys as a reduced cost of twenty five dollars in addition to the customized non-customized monkeys that ranges from seventy-five dollars to two hundred dollars that the organization already produces and sells. Furthermore, the organization wants to expand the operations globally to the Great Britain, France and Asia due to demand in those markets. Prior to taking action, the organization would need to explore various strategies to ensure that they remain competitive. The first thing that Go Ape should consider is their organization resources. Jones (2010) defines organizational resources as “an organization’s ability to coordinate its functional and organizational resources to create maximal value” (p. 453). The organization needs to ensure that its managers have the core competencies needed to ensure further success of the company. The core competencies include “skills and abilities in value-creation activities, such as manufacturing, marketing, or research and development that allows a company to achieve superior efficiency, quality, innovation, or customer responsiveness” (Jones, 2010, p. 451). Since Go Ape is already in the stuffed monkey business therefore, they do have an advantage and the organization has already developed a reputation for high quality products. The next step is to ensure that the company has marketing managers who have knowledge of the market for the lower quality stuffed monkeys, factors surrounding the demand for the lower quality stuffed monkeys and the cost for producing them. In addition to incurring addition costs that maintaining organization resources, Go Ape will also incur cost relating to the production equipment to meet possible increased demand. The best way for the organization to remain efficient is to lower their cost of production. Go Ape can do so by developing a functional-level strategy which provides low-cost and differentiation advantages. Jones (2010) states that “to gain a competitive advantage, an organization must be able to perform functional activities at a lower than that of its rivals so it can charge lower prices for its good and services or in a way that allows it to differentiate its products from those of its rivals, by giving them unique qualities that customers desire, so it can charge higher or premium prices” (Jones, 2010, p. 456).

References
Jones, G.R. (2010). Organizational Theory, Design, and Change (6th ed.). Boston, MA. Pearson Learning Solutions.
The Ethics of Management: A Multidisciplinary Approach (7th ed.). New York, N.Y. McGraw Hill/Irwin.