Business Issues, Ethics and Whistleblowing - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2480 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Q1. In this case, there are three main ethical issues, as following: Firstly, the two guys are construction workers and they should sign an engagement letter before working. However, the article did not state any content of the contract. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Business Issues, Ethics and Whistleblowing" essay for you Create order Maybe, the contract of employment did not state the fixed working hours due to flexible. They obtain recalling and they need to work on the site. It is also possible that the contract had a fixed working hours but no assigned location. This contract has clauses to restrict the scope of job, time and others. In fact, they should obey employment contract. On one hand, they should not obtain salary over their actual working hours if salary is based at working hours. On the other hand, they should not absent on working day if the contract listed working time. Anyway, the two guys have a legal relationship between them and their employer, and they breached the contract of employment. Thus, they received money over the amount of actual salary. There is conflict of interest between them and the employer. The reason is that the two men did not work on that day but the names were marked into the attendance book. After that, the day was regarded as working day for them and they would rec eive the salary of that day. That is to say, the company still paid money when they did not attend at work. Its expenditure does not equal employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ contribution. It leads to the profit of the company of the employer is less than actual profit. The implication is that its shareholders make less money. In fact, their behaviour would affect third partiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ interest and it is unethical. Moreover, they are not honest and straightforward even they justified a number of points why they had done. For example, attendance at work did not mean that the progress was faster. They could work hard to compensate the rest day lost after they were rest and renewed vigor. The productivity would be higher and they had never let Bobby down. In fact, they cannot prove the increased productivity and there is no evidence that it is useful for compensating the rest day lost. In addition, their logic does not make sense. Although their behaviour does not influent othe r workers, it is unfair for them. Because they did not work, they can receive salary on that day. Nevertheless, other workers worked on that day and they got salary that is as same as the two menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. The conduct means whether workers attend at work are the same on salary. They breach the code of integrity and are lack of credibility for the company and other workers. According to the article, they expressed everybody knew about the system, seeing it as an incentive to their work or even a bonus. It means they and their colleagues cheat the company together, which is unethical action. The phenomenon does not become rationalization even if all do this event. They do not obey their duties of the employment. Final, Chui also breaks his duty of care since he is responsible for recording books and accounts. He marked the name of two men into the attendance book but they did not recall seeing on the site the day. Thus, it is seen he intentionally violate his duty. Alt hough it does not show whether Chui obtains an advantage, his conduct has been already wrong. If he receives any benefits on this situation, he will breach the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO). Of course, the conduct that the workers offer a benefit also breaks the POBO due to corruption. If it is real, they will be guilty of unethical behaviour and may be prosecuted under the POBO. Except that, he has a duty to report the record for his supervisor who is Bobby. According to the article, Chui had been Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s right hand man for many years. In this case, he was not honest using his position as he defrauded the attendance of workers. He tried to mislead Bobby and the employer about the workersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ working day and make some benefits for the two men. To conclude, the above behaviour of the two men and Chui is unethical. Q2. Bobby should blow the whistle due to ethics of right and justice which is one of normative ethical theories. The eth ics of right and justice is not in accordance with the outcomes of a decision and it is based on business ethics. Rights are basic, unalienable, important entitlements that should be protected and respected, including rights to life, freedom and property. In this case, the employer has a right to protect his property but the two guys took some money which they should not own. They also did not respect other people because they did not contribute any manpower and got benefits as same as other working labour. Of course, Bobby was also one of the hard labour and they did not revere others effort. In addition, Bobby has a right to expose the unfair event. Besides, justice is the fair treatment that individuals obtain what they deserve. In other words, everyone strives in a situation and obtains the same benefits, it is fair. Everybody is to have an equal right under conditions of fair equality of opportunity. Ethics of right and justice includes fair procedures and fair outcomes. Fair procedures are that fairness is determined according to whether everybody acquires rewards for his or efforts. This is regarded as procedural justice. Although the two guys said everyone knew about the system and it is seen as an incentive to their work or even a bonus, the point cannot prove by evidence. What is more, Bobby did not know it. That is to say, someone does not know its existence. Their conduct is unfair for other workers since they did not work on that day but they received the salary of that day. In fact, other workers need to work hard on whole day. Thus, they are unfair for others, including Bobby. However, the two men certainly breach the ethics of right and justice. Hence, Bobby should blow the whistle. There are three possible personal consequences of Bobby if he followed my suggestion, as following: Promotion Bobby blows the whistle and then Clint knew the degree and implication of the system. Because the managers or employer have not known the event, the company still pays more salary for the staff. The conduct harms the interest of the company and its shareholders. After knowing the event, the company can avoid this expenditure so that it must reward Bobby. In order to encouraging the behaviour, the company awards him a bonus or promotes his position. His career will be better than prior. Moreover, the employer appreciates an honest employee due to benefits for the company. The reward tells all staff that does not do again and also remains vigilant at all time. Breaking a relationship among colleagues According to the article, the two men indicated everybody knew about the system, seeing it as an incentive o their work or even a bonus. That is to say, a lot of people have used the method in their job even it existed for a long time. Byblowing the whistle, Bobby displeases a great deal of colleagues. After knowing the event, Clint may stop the atmosphere at work and reconstruct the culture of the job. At the same time, his colleagues would lose a chance of making more money. Thus, they will be angry with Bobby even never acknowledge him. Besides, Bobby may become a person at work and it means he is isolated thanks to different from othersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ thinking. Disemployment When Clint also took part in the system and Bobby blows the whistle, they would make a contradiction between their thinking and behaviour. In fact, Clintà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s position was higher than Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and it reflects lots of people of various positions joined the system. They made more benefits in the potential rules, nevertheless, Bobby breaks them. In this case, Bobby is seen as trouble-makers. At the moment, Bobby is victimized and his career prospects in that company will be damaged. He may be fired or people provide him an acceptable bonus if he resigns voluntarily. Of course, he needs to sign an agreement not to disclose the issue to anyone else. What is more, his leave does not affect companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s daily operation since Clint would promote other colleague instead of him. Q3. There are two most prominent personal factors that might influence Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decision, as following: Education and employment General speaking, the type and quality of education, including professional training, may affect attitudes towards ethics. Different major subjects would teach the various scope of content. It also changes peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s critical and independent thinking and views. For example, accounting students should learn Ethic of Code. They know more these knowledge than others so that they should know the implication of breaching ethics. Moreover, they should have higher critical thinking and doubt when they have higher educational background. They would analyze event at different level. If Bobby has higher educational background, he should sense and analyze whether the two men do wrong. He also considers what his duties are and whether there is a contradiction if he does not stop the behaviour. According to his learning, he should know the difference implication when he considers various solutions. Besides, employment experience also affects ethical decision making. When a person owns some working experience, the person should deal with various predicaments easily. Or, the person dealt with the situation in prior entities. Thus, he thinks it is not danger and always does the unethical conduct. If that is real, in this case, Bobby should not expose their event to third parties. To opposite, his working experience tells him that consequence is very serious since his previous colleague was a prisoner by similar occurrence. He must vigilant self and does not conceal the event even they are closed friends. Education and employment are that let them know themselves situations and may reduce the risk of unethical behaviour. Thus, they are too important for Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decision making. Personal integrity Personal integrity is an adherence to moral principles or values. It is also people with integrity have a set of personal values that they live up to and follow consistently. Personal values should consistent with organizational values if conflicts are to be avoided. When they disagree with some points on an organizational or business issue, because it conflicts with their personal integrity, they need to face a potentially troubling moral dilemma. The degree of personal integrity influence strongly ethical decision-making. In this case, the two guys did the unethical behaviour but other workers easily accepted as a lot of colleagues do it. If Bobby has integrity and adherence his moral rules, he disapproves them and needs some courage to report it. At the same time, he needs to accept whistle blowerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s result, such as discrimination by other workers. If he does not have personal integrity, that is to be not adherence his moral requirements, he could give u p blowing whistle. And then, he disguises that he does not know anything even he takes part in this system. Therefore, personal integrity is so prminent for Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decision making. The following two items are the most prominent situational factors that might influence Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decision. Reward system Context-related factor is that different procedures and systems in every entity offer the context for business decisions and may affect the outcome. Rewards, one of context-related factor, are salary, bonus, health care, commission, fees for extra work, subsidized meals at work, and so forth. Sometimes, partial companies would provide employees a lot of rewards because of encouraging their ethical behaviour. When too much emphasis is focused on motivation to perform, employees may adopt unethical practices to obtain the bonus or commission. Therefore, the design of reward system in a company is very important. If Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company has some requirements that the working hour of employees is over than specific hours, they would have an additional bonus. Bobby may not expose the two menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s behaviour even he also joins the event. The reason is that he may try to meet the number of hours in order to achieving the bonus threshold. It should not encourage , as a result, managers establish carefully ethical reward systems. If Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s company has a set of perfect reward systems, the above situation should be avoided. The company sets a reward for encouraging employees to blow the whistle. Setting hotline, it does not publish the name of whistle blower and investigate the unethical event. If the investigation proves that it is true, it should pay secretly a bonus for the whistle blower and punish the wrong-doer. In addition, Bobby needs to take a high risk, such as breaking relationship among colleagues. The reward can be regards as compensation. Although fame and wealth cannot buy all nor do all, they are the root of many offences. People easily are induced even if they know they do wrong something. When they successfully do on first time, they will continue the action. Thus, the reward can become a tool of inducing offences. At the same time, benefits also push employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ report. Whether the des ign of reward systems is useful or useless is based on the setter. Therefore, it is too important. Group norms Group norms, another one of context-related factor, are entitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ expectations about how a great deal of members of the group should behave. They are to be a combination of training and experience and suggest what things are done, or not done. They determine how the members of the group are expected to act. Group norms evolve year by year as experience grows and circumstances change. Sometimes, the members would follow the norm and new members quickly learn what is expected. In Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s working community, it is assumption that employees have a norm that they do not pay attention each other and only concern themselves. What is more, Bobby works there for a long time. He should know the norm and does not have a hand in this event. New staff learns the norm at the beginning of employment and they should know the existing staff would comply with companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s rules, including some ethical conduct. If Bobby until obey the requirements, he should not harbor criminals as the behaviour will violate the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s norm. In this case, the two men indicated many people know the system. It reflects others accept the fact, which is norm. Thus, Bobby may be obedient the system. To conclude, group norm is also prominent for the influence of Bobbyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decision making. Reference: BBUS B368 Business Issues and Ethics, Unit 1-2: OUHK Andrew Crane Dirk Matten, Business ethics (third edition): Oxford

Cub A Political Leader Of Cuba - 1707 Words

â€Å"A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.† Fidel Castro has had a tremendous impact on Cuba. Castro was a political leader of Cuba (1959–2008) who transformed his country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro became a symbol of communist revolution in Latin America. Before Fidel Castro took rein Cuba was the island of sin, a society consumed by the illnesses, gambling, the Mafia, and prostitution. In 1969 Cuba changed drastically, but still was mainly known for dance, music, prostitutes, cigars, abortions, resort life, and pornographic movies.† Gambling in Cuba meant casino gambling. The reason Cuba attracted tourists is because of its gambling. After several ups and downs in†¦show more content†¦Compared with New York City in 1977, where 40,000 female sex workers were reportedly working, the ratio of sex workers in 1950s Havana, with a population of 1 million people, was approximately double the amount of the one in New York City, with 8 million people. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926, near Birà ¡n, in Cuba s eastern Oriente Province. He was the third of six children, including his two brothers, Raà ºl and Ramà ³n; and three sisters, Angela, Emma and Agustina. Castro grew up in wealthy circumstances even though most of Cuba was in poverty. From an early age, Castro showed he was intellectually gifted, but he was also something of a troublemaker and was often more interested in sports than studies. He attended Colegio Dolores in Santiago de Cuba and then El Colegio de Belà ©n in Havana. After his graduation in late 1945, however, Castro entered law school at the University of Havana and became immersed in the climate of Cuban nationalism, anti-imperialism and socialism, focusing his energies more exclusively on politics. By 1947, Castro had become increasingly passionate about social justice and he traveled to the Dominican Republic to join an expedition attempting the overthrow of the country s dictator, Rafael Trujillo. Even though the attempt failed he traveled to Columbia and was involved in an attempt to overthrow the government. In 1947, Castro also joined the Partido Ortodoxo, an anticommunist political party founded toShow MoreRelatedMinimum Wage Should Be Legal1427 Words   |  6 Pagesare bigger issue than someone s gender identity. America’s Conflicted Cuba Policy (July 23, 2016) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/opinion/sunday/americas-conflicted-cuba-policy.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FUnited%20States%20Politics%20and%20Governmentaction=clickcontentCollection=timestopicsregion=streammodule=stream_unitversion=latestcontentPlacement=184pgtype=collection A year after the United States and Cuba formally established diplomatic relations, the two governments have made

Environmental factors affecting Nespresso in China free essay sample

The micro environment on the other hand comprises the industry and market.   Religion, education, ethnicity, education and language, age group, family, cross cultural differences. In 1978, the Chinese government introduced a birth control policy of one child per family. (Newsweek 2014) This in the long run will reduce both sales and labor availability for Companies especially foreign brands like nespresso. The business culture in china is based on strong family ties and cultural network. Guanxi is a Chinese business practice of favoring a family and close friends prior to doing business. This could be unfavorable to foreign businesses like nespresso and other western companies. LEGAL FACTORS. Foreign trade laws, land ownership laws, patent and trademark laws, piracy laws, lobbying laws. According to reports, foreign firms cannot and do not acquire land as all land remains the property of the Chinese government. However the lease system provides foreign firms and corporation access to land for about a period of 50years after which the lease can be renewed. However the lease system provides foreign firms and corporation access to land for about a period of 50years after which the lease can be renewed. There was a case of McDonalds in Beijing who were forced out of their property by the government during the contract period (China unique, 2013). This spells an unstable working environment for nespresso. ECONOMIC FACTORS Economic factors include, Unemployment rate, exchange rate, inflation, interest rate, consumer discretionary income, labor cost. Unemployment: According to the ministry of human resources and social security of the PRC, there has been a significant decrease in unemployment rate in China from 4. 10 in the last quarter of 2013 to 4 percent in the second quarter of 2013 (Trading economics, 2014). This will increase salaries and wages due to scarcity of labor as only few of the population are unemployed. Similarly, Chinas inflation rate as reported by National Bureau of Statistics of China was at 2. 50 percent in January 2014 (Bloomberg business week Jan. 2014). This has caused a reduction in unemployment and an increase in wages. This might mean an increase in sales for western brands like nespresso and luxurious brands. According to ban and company luxury goods purchases has slowed down by 7percent as Chinese shoppers now do their luxury shopping abroad (Ban and company 2013). This might not be too good for foreign companies in china but it shows how passionate Chinese are for luxury brands. Chinas GDP were recorded at 7. 7 percent (9. 4 trillion USD) in the fourth quarter of 2013. (Bloomberg business week Jan. 2014) The above information shows that China’s economic environment would promote and facilitate business activities. (Trading economies, 2014). Lower unemployment rate implies high purchasing power of customers. Inflation will affect nespresso because suppliers will demand more. High interest rate means high return on investment. The higher consumer’s discretionary income, the higher their purchasing power especially for premium products like the nespresso brand. POLITICAL FACTORS. Factors present in the political environment include Political Stability, government involvement, trade barriers (tariff and non-tariff) Political stability: The three decades of reform in china has led to both a political and social landscape. (China daily Feb 2014). China has a unique form of political risk which is a constant battle between the central government and local government over applicable laws. For Nespesso, this stability and a clear understanding of local law would guarantee a stable business environment in the long run. Government involvement: The purpose of this is to protect domestic firms. (Protectionism). Government may impose barriers (tariff and non-tariff) on imports or foreign investment in order to protect domestic industries and to reduce competition. Although china has continuously opened its market for foreign investors, it has also place restriction on some foreign businesses in certain industries. For instance the restriction on American producers of autos, beef and steel into its market. (Bloomberg news April 2013) TECHNOLOGY. Technology when applied to work makes it easier, quicker and sometimes more efficient. The level of technology. Technology is inputs that improves an organization’s output. Technological factors includes machinery, communication, internet penetration, transport and logistics, social infrastructure. Internet penetration and logistics. See question 2 THE MICRO ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY ANALYSIS PORTER’S FIVE FORCES. Suppliers: Local suppliers include; Yunnan Zheng coffee co ltd, Baoshan Yatong coffee commercial co. ltd, Dehong Hogu coffee co ltd, Yunnan Changshengda investment co. ltd, Kunming Qianxi industry and trade co ltd, Acme Fate international ltd (Alibaba, 2014). This shows that the supplier power is low because there are so many suppliers in the industry. Power of buyers (customers): With over 14million people in shanghai and other major cities of china and the tea drinking tradition of the Chinese people, there tend to be a high buyer power amongst customers. Also, the quest for luxurious band amongst Chinese consumers tend to influence buying power Competitors: The level of competition in china is high not just for coffee consumption but also for other hot drinks. In terms of luxurious coffee key players include Starbucks, costa, McDonalds, 85 degrees, pacific coffee etc. research from Mintel has shown that there has been an increase in the number of cafes from 15,898 to 31,283 between 2007 and 2012. (China briefing, 2013). Threat of new entrants: With the existence of so many players in the coffee industry it can be concluded that there is high threat of new entrants because it may seem that coffee business in China is attractive. Analysts say there will be a continuous increase in the consumption of instant coffee. (Euro monitor international). Industry rivalry: Competition is intense in the coffee industry in china as key player continue to compete in different ways. According to reports, there is a continuous fight for market share, who has more coffee shops etc. As Starbucks plans to have 1500 stores in china, costa coffee has stated their intention to increase its number to 2500 by 2018. Nestle and Starbucks has been competing for dominance of china’s coffee market for the last decade. While nestle has focused on being a ubiquitous brand, Starbucks has targeted the upper middle class. (Context china) QUESTION TWO According to reports, China has 618million internet users. 80percent of this number are mobile internet users. (ZDnet, 2014). The outbreak of mobile internet users drove the number from 500million as at December 2013. With this number of internet users, a firm would have no problem carrying out online sales, advertising, or communicating with its customers. A report by adage confirms that Taoboa and Tmall, two of china’s largest e-commerce company broke their last year’s sales record via the internet. Therefore many firms are capitalizing on the power of the internet by doing series of online promotion. (Adage, 2013) Online retail sale according to Bloomberg, went up by 2percent last year (adage, 2013). The surging internet purchase indicates that Chinese consumers are moving away from bricks and mortar outlets for their shopping. Opportunities of online CRM and sales include; Wider reach. Using the internet, nespresso can keep up with a large number of its customers on a daily or weekly bases. Advertising. Nespresso can also use the internet to advertise its product to millions of customers at the same time. This could be cheaper to operate too. Segmenting purposes. The record of customers and their previous purchase can help nespresso in automatically segmenting it customers based on purchase history Feedback and adjustment. Customer feedbacks is very important as these information can be used in making services or products better. Despite the attractive and promising nature of using the internet, investors and firms should also consider the drawbacks of using the internet for sales and communication. The Chinese government recently just imposed a new law regarding e-Commerce in China. The law stipulates that real names registration of sellers on third party platforms, strict seven days return policy, and also online payment market place must safeguard user’s privacy. (Pac net services, 2014) Another report says the government is imposing a law where all consumer to consumer online trading would have to register for a business license and  also pay taxes (China daily, 2014) Legal system. There are different legal restriction and regulation from government and regulatory bodies. Payment environment: the cash payment culture of the Chinese creates difficulties for online shopping. International credit cards are not accepted in most online shops. There is unavailability of credit card payment in most transactional websites. The online payment system in china is still at an infant stage. Logistics network environment: there is a restriction on foreign investment of logistics companies. Limited choices of delivery therefore, much more time is spent on delivery (jitm, 2007). QUESTION THREE Despite the large number of internet users I personally would recommend that nespresso adopt another marketing strategy as it will be very harmful to assume that the nespresso club would work in the Chinese market. From careful observation of the forces at work in the Chinese market environment, I can say that there is high level of government protectionism and regulation on internet businesses (Ecommerce) that tends to favor Chinese owned firms and businesses. Report has it that not only were a lot of websites blocked in china, there were also a Chinese replacement. Sites blocked include Facebook, yahoo, google, twitter, YouTube etc. according to report, the British newspaper The Guardian along with The New York times and Bloomberg news has been blocked in china for over a year. Motives for this act remains unknown (Taipei Times, 2014). Nespresso’s use of the internet is limited as not so much can be achieved due to interference by the government therefore using the internet could hinder performance as there is too much interference from the government. Nespresso should adapt its marketing mix to overcome the current situation of internet insecurity so as to reduce reliance on the internet. Though the internet can be used to position the nespresso brand image in the minds of the consumers for sales, or advertising or customer relationship but it won’t be wise business decision to apply the nespresso club concept in China because the government can decide blacklist them just like the case of Facebook. Nespresso should create more awareness about its brand to the Chinese public especially the less educated ones explaining the difference between house coffee and the nespresso brand Lastly, since there is already a tea drinking tradition amongst the Chinese population, nespresso should consider a local adaptation which involves offering other kinds of hot drinks so as to have a variety of products for it ever growing tea drinking customers.