...SUMMARY: During routine product testing, item 32167 was found to contain levels of lead that exceed U.S. allowable limits. This finding may impact a recent order scheduled to be shipped to Department of Elementary Education in South America. The client is expecting delivery next week. Remedies to the situation must be weighed carefully. Financial impact, changes to the company’s reputation, potential liabilities, as well as, social and ethical responsibility should be thoughtfully considered prior to moving forward. The company will incur a cost associated with these findings; the decision that must be made is how we pay the price; with dollars or with our reputation. Considering the above, there are three options, outlined below, that may mitigate the situation. OPTION 1: Ship the items as scheduled. RATIONALE: This option is the simplest. It requires nothing more on our part than to fulfill the existing contract. ADVANTAGES: No further cost incurred. We fulfill the contract with on-time delivery. By delivering the product as requested and on time, the client will be happy and contract with us in the future. The children will be happy with their new toys. DISADVANTAGES: Children could be harmed. South American equivalent of Consumer Product Safety Commission could test the items and determine the lead content and insist on replacement or refund. Our reputation as a company could be damaged internationally, as well as domestically. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:...
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...Importance of Ethical Decision Making In today’s business world operating with a focus on ethics is critical to be successful. Advanced technology allows the public to assess information that wasn’t available in the past. It is basically impossible to keep anything private. Our reputation could be damaged beyond repair if we make the wrong decisions by failing to act ethically in our everyday business activities. Many companies have realized they cannot afford bad publicity and have focused on establishing a code of ethics to guide their employees to make the right decisions to impact their reputation with stakeholders. Competition is fierce in today’s global economy and our company has to find a way to stand out against our competitors. Two strategies we could adopt to ensure ethical behavior throughout our organization are we could conduct yearly audits and provide training to all employees, so they are aware of our code of ethics and their rights. Simply having a written code of ethics is not enough. We must make sure everyone is aware of our expectations by fostering a culture around ethical behavior. Implementing these strategies will create a focus around ethical behavior that our company will live by. The audits will be conducted by a third-party and will ensure we are upholding all requirements of our code of ethics. Any breakdown in our program will be addressed and this will allow us to continuously improve our ethical standards. Failure...
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...To: CEO Executive Team Subject: RJDT Task 2: Code of Ethics As the Elementary Division Manager it is my responsibility to establish and enforce a Code of Ethics regarding the distribution of whistles. The decision whether to distribute the whistles as scheduled or incur additional cost to reproduce/repackage the whistle involves exercising ethical decision making. According to the quality assurance manager, the whistles have traces of lead above the U.S. legal acceptable limits for children ages 7 and younger and the cost to reproduce/repackage is $100,000. It is my goal to resolve this dilemma in a manner supported by the Toy Company as well as protect the company while fulfilling our obligations. There are three possible decision alternatives to address the problem. Each having advantages and disadvantages along with financial, legal, and ethical considerations: 1. Distribute whistles as-is and on schedule a. The company’s advantage would be honoring the negotiated contract to produce the whistles. b. The disadvantage would be the potential harm to the client due to increased lead. c. The financial consideration would be the company saving $100,000 at the customer’s risk of harm. d. The legal consideration would be the risk for potential lawsuits. e. It would be unethical towards the customer and law to disregard the regulatory limit of traces of lead. 2. Reproduce and repackage the whistles a. The company’s advantage would be ensuring customer confidence in...
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...B1. STRATEGIES Two strategies that the company should adopt to ensure that ethical decision making takes place at all levels of the organization: a. Adopt a company-wide Code of Ethics The company must develop its Code of Ethics. It should be the embodiment of what the business believes in with regards to the nature of the business, business practices, operations, people and its ethical responsiveness. In doing so, the company will always operate under the guidance of the code- legally and ethically; and all business decisions will be made within the principles of the code. b. Create an Ethics and Compliance Committee The company’s Ethics and Compliance Committee will play a pivotal role in the practice, application and training of the Code of Ethics because: • It will ensure that the Code of Ethics remain global- applicable to anyone and everyone within the company and doing business with the company • It will ensure that the Code of Ethics is always in alignment to the ever-changing economic environment- both locally and globally • It will ensure a continuous education and training of all employees at all levels (regular employees, management and executives as well). • It is a resource to all questions and concerns regarding the company’s ethical practices B2. CODE OF ETHICS Every business, every company, every organization should willfully adopt a Code of Ethics. Code of Ethics is important because it embodies the governance of a business. It provides guidance...
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...Rjdt Task 2a By saltzmachine | Studymode.com Human Resources RJDT Task 2a Mitchell Shaneman February 12, 2013 Memorandum To: CEO; Executive Team From: Eric Saltzman, Manager Elementary Division Date: February 11, 2013 Subject: Alternatives for the decision regarding the high lead found in the whistles. The situation of determining how to handle the recently discovered high lead content in the large whistles order is a difficult one that will in some way affect the company. Three alternatives have been made to allow options for this decision. Alternative 1: Say nothing; allow the whistles shipment to go without notifying the customer. Alternative 2: Replace the customer’s order by providing whistles that meet the appropriate company standards. Alternative 3: Contact the customer and explain the situation, offer them a discount for on the whistles that are lower than the company standard. Decision Process The process for choosing the three alternatives began by identifying the decision to be made. The decision at hand is what to do with the information discovered about the order of whistles going to a school in South America. This is a big decision that will affect the company in each alternative. The next step of the process is listing options possible for the situation, and then studying those options by listing advantages and disadvantages of each. Then the decision was made by choosing the best overall solution for...
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...To: CEO Executive Team Subject: RJDT Task 2: Code of Ethics As the Elementary Division Manager it is my responsibility to establish and enforce a Code of Ethics regarding the distribution of whistles. The decision whether to distribute the whistles as scheduled or incur additional cost to reproduce/repackage the whistle involves exercising ethical decision making. According to the quality assurance manager, the whistles have traces of lead above the U.S. legal acceptable limits for children ages 7 and younger and the cost to reproduce/repackage is $100,000. It is my goal to resolve this dilemma in a manner supported by the Toy Company as well as protect the company while fulfilling our obligations. There are three possible decision alternatives to address the problem. Each having advantages and disadvantages along with financial, legal, and ethical considerations: 1. Distribute whistles as-is and on schedule a. The company’s advantage would be honoring the negotiated contract to produce the whistles. b. The disadvantage would be the potential harm to the client due to increased lead. c. The financial consideration would be the company saving $100,000 at the customer’s risk of harm. d. The legal consideration would be the risk for potential lawsuits. e. It would be unethical towards the customer and law to disregard the regulatory limit of traces of lead. 2. Reproduce and repackage the whistles a. The company’s advantage would be ensuring customer confidence in our...
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