MBA527DL

Professor Smiley
Homework 1

“Resolving Ethical Business Challenges”

Why should Lael get involved in reporting if she has not experienced any of the allegations the other
employees are making?

This is a morale issue. Lael needs to get involved with this issue because this affects the relationship the
employees are having with the employer – thus making it difficult to maintain the operation, which
ultimately leads to failure to maintain profits. According to our text, Lael needs to develop a culture that
promotes ethics in the workplace – this clearly is not the case at these motels. The benefits of Lael
getting involved contributes to employee commitment, which should be “absent from abusive
behaviors” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2015).

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2015). Importance of Business Ethics. In Business ethics: Ethical
decision making and cases (10th ed., p. 14-15).

What are some of the characteristics of Best East’s ethical culture that would create the current dilemma
for Lael?

The relationship with her mentor, Nikhil, who is the son of the owner causes extreme caution for Lael,
however, the dilemma of constant employee turnover should be her concern. There is apparent culture
of the “good old ways” as it seems as though this culture of sexual harassment runs very deep through
minds of the men and the off-shift women workers. Why doesn’t this behavior happen during the day-
shift hours? In the Military, we had to acknowledge the covert culture of sexual harassment and the
exclusion of women; many older generation men did not see the error in their ways. Other factors that
are present in this case includes: a potential case of prostitution, human trafficking, and abuse of
positional power. All of these factors and characteristics make this an extreme case for Lael and she
needs to nip this highly unethical situation in the bud very quickly.

What should Lael do to resolve her concerns?

Here is the avenue I suggest Lael takes in order to soundly correct the misuse of power as well as
creating a safe environment for all employees while at work. First, I believe Lael should go her
supervisors (outside of Nikhil) and get an assessment of what their ideas of what the culture identity
should be within the company. Secondly, once these standards are recognized, she should conduct an
anonymous survey of all employees; once this survey is conducted, hold the supervisors that
acknowledged what the culture is, and hold them accountable. The follow up phase is just as important
as the initial action of trying to solve this issue. Once a climate survey is conducted, Lael should suggest
there be a mass briefing/retraining on the sexual misconduct and its effect on the workplace and the
business as a whole. Lastly, Lael can start a culture of positively acknowledging the employees. This small
token of appreciation will reinforce employee satisfaction thus giving the employees reasons to work
more diligently and professionally – creating a better atmosphere as well as increased profits.

Videos:
“Homework On The Clock.”
I think as a business, it is imperative that the employees aren’t being paid for wasted time. However, I do
think this scenario will be different according to your business. For example, I work as an Air Reserve
Technician as an E-7/WG-10 on Joint Base Charleston. In the Military culture, getting an education is
highly encouraged; meanwhile other jobs in the civilian world may emphasize other ideas. But, why
wouldn’t an organization promote its employees focusing on getting a better education so that the
company can promote those employees to higher positions? Other companies where business is
constantly moving with little to no down-time, I understand the concern this will have from the
employers point of view, but if there’s a good amount of downtime and work isn’t being affected, then I
feel that the business should promote education just like the Military does.

“March Mayhem.”
The legality of gambling is pretty cut and dry in the workplace – it should not be done nor tolerated.
Gambling at work will ultimately lead to fights and an unfavorable work environment. The purpose of
the workplace is for everyone to work well with each other to attain goals and objectives the
organization set forth – this cannot be accomplished if members of the workplace are arguing of money,
religion, and other workplace violations that will halt the production.

Camaraderie is very necessary. However, it needs to be conducted when there is down-time. Scheduling
moral building events can be very difficult to forecast due to unpredictable workflow. And in cases where
work is due, the camaraderie should come in the form of completing the task set forth, not avoiding it. I
don’t think there should be an alternative for building camaraderie, I think the emphasis should be on
when to have the team building activities and how to conduct them – not gambling.

I think the managers are unaware of time-thievery going on here. The woman that asked for the reports
could have been another co-worker just asking for reports – the roles aren’t clear cut in this scenario;
however, being that a co-worker is asking for documents shows that there is some need to accomplish a
goal and the other members were solely focused on March Madness. If members of the managerial staff
were in on MM, then they would be the reason for the thievery. In this case, based off of the evidence,
the employees are solely responsible.

“Case 1: Monsanto Attempts to Balance Stakeholders Interest” p. 382

1. Does Monsanto maintain an ethical culture that effectively respond to various stakeholders?

Since Monsanto has been knowingly, consistently, and purposefully deceiving the public, they have lost
any and all impressions of being ethical. On top of those accusations, seems as though they have taken
bribes to take shortcuts. The shareholders have been misled for most of Monsanto’s existence.

2. Compare the benefits of growing GM seeds for crops with the potential negative consequences of
using them.

I think there are some benefits of growing GM seeds for crops; one main idea is that GM seeds help
reduce the effect insects and weeds from interfering with the development and growth of products
needed. However, there are far more harmful side effects such as: Orange Agent – was used during the
Vietnam War that affected people’s health and breathing ability.

Ferrell, O. C., Fraerich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2015). "STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY,
AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE". In Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of GM seeds? | Food Dialogues. (2015, August 21).
Retrieved August 21, 2015, from http://www.fooddialogues.com/foodsource/what-are-the-advantages-
and-disadvantages-of-gm-seeds

3. How should Monsanto manage the potential harm to plant and animal life from using products such
as Roundup?

Since Monsanto business is GM products, there’s no way for them to avoid this practice – and since it’s
the business mission to do so, I think Monsanto move to indoor facilities to minimize the effect on the
outside environment. Also, I think with this move, they can use less herbicides and pesticides creating a
better product for consumption for the consumers.