Human Resources Code of Ethics Essay

MessageI am thrilled to join follow Xs management team. My colleagues pull in been stellar in providing me give and helping me accilmate to the organizational culture, which is different from what I am accustomed to.I have encountered my first ch totallyenge, a challenge that is incumbent that I bring to your aid along with terzetto detailed solutions, inclusive of attractive and detractive aspects of each. It is also important that I sh be with you the methodology I employed to arrive at these conclusions, since it is reasonable for you to have access to and test the methodology employed to engender these solutions. I leave behind also recommend to you an appropriate hunt of action.Separately, I will present a report, which will report the findings of an analysis that I conducted on our companys ethical decision-making offshoot. This report will include strategies to mitigate against concerns I will have raised in the memorandum. I will also discuss the process of creating a code of ethics that will provide for employee development through ethical decision making and continued company revenue growth.Production ConcernCompany X is the ingester in the production of chat up whistles for children the world over. Our principal production plant is located within the United States and, naturally, is under the purview of production guidelines set forth by the U.S. government.The tone-assurance department of late informed me of a production retire that has arisen. Toy whistles that have been manufactured and be on schedule for shipment undergo an arduous testing process to ensure that theconstitution of each short-change meets federal regulations. Toy whistles that will be shipped to South American countries have, unfortunately, failed lead-level requirements they atomic number 18 slightly higher in lead than what is jurally tolerable. Our company has decisions to view about how we organise this considerable concern.After analysis, col pressation w ith team members, and sufficient reflection, I have developed three solutions to address this concern. Each solution has attractive and detractive aspects, both of which I will discuss. Ethical, good, and financial considerations must be made with all solutions. reply 1 abjure shipment Re-produce Toy WhistlesAt current lead levels, the toy whistle would not be shipped to customers. The entire production process would re-apply, which includes re-securing the raw materials necessary to make replacement whistles, re-producing those whistles through the production process, and commissioning the quality-assurance department to verify that the whistles meet all federal guidelines for selling and consumption. It will also be important that the quality-assurance department provide a quality verification of its own processes. Such a verification will be necessary, since antecedent quality processes failed to identify the higher-than-normal lead levels of our toy whistles.Solution 1 Explana tion of Method Used to Select SolutionA combination of brainstorming and SWOT analysis were employed to determine three solutions for our companys quandary. The brainstorming process involved three team members who look backed the situation and offered ideasany ideasas solutions. Each team member produced two ideas, totaling half-dozen possible solutions. The by-line is a breakdown of submissions by team membersBob Jones Celine Jiles Patti DurantStop Production Adjust execute Levels Continue Production Bribe inappropriate andDomestic Government Stop Production Offer Different Product Stop Production Make Plastic Whistles Continue Production Ignore Lead Levels Stop Production Close BusinessA SWOT analysis was performed on each decision alternative to test its integrity. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (Bradford, Duncan, & Tarcy, 2000). The goal is to fall the possible responses to those that require attention.Bob Jones Solution AStrength s Legal and ethical approach to doing business. Promotes high levels of customer service. Holds all parties accountable for their actions due to process review and refinement.Weaknesses Delayed production. Poor customer-satisfaction surveys in the short term. Costly to hold up production.Opportunities Favorable contract renegotiation if determined process failure with supplier. manageable acquisition of natural customers if mitigative steps made known.Threats Possible government intervention if lead levels are exposed. Possible customer revolt if mitigative steps to lead levels not perceived correctly. Customer churnpossibly to competitordue to production delay. Board of directors overhaul of C-level managementBased on these considerations, Solution A is a viable candidate for resolution.Bob Jones Solution BStrengths No delay in production. Customer satisfaction not harmed. Foreign government receptive to bribes. No disruption to revenue.Weaknesses Domestic government not receptiv e to bribing. Massive cost due to bribing. No consideration for customer health. Short-term solution. Socially irresponsible course of action.Opportunities Short-term customer growth. Relationship-building with alien government.Threats Considerable legal actions from both domestic and extraneous government if not receptive bribes. Possible legal threats from customers.The costs associated with Solution A indicate that it is not a viable solution.Celine Jiles Solution AStrengths Legal and ethical approach to doing business. Promotes high levels of customer service due to considering customers health. Holds all parties accountable for their actions due to process review and refinement.Weaknesses Massive delays in production. Abrogation of contract with current supplier. Extensive training costs for newborn products. Extensive project-management costs to deploy new product. Substantial outgrowth in customer churn due to offering different product. Possible negative press in foreign market. Possible domestic layoffs due to change in product.Opportunities New streams of revenue due to new product. New streams of customers due to new-product demand. New, lower cost contracts with new suppliers. Possible employment of foreign workers to replace costly domestic workers.Threats Legal threats from current employees subject layoff. Possible customer revolt if competitor unable to make up for our departure from whistle market. Increased regulatory scrutiny possible based on new product. Intractable board of directors.Based on these considerations, Solution A is a viable candidate for resolution.Celine Jiles Solution BStrengths Minimal delay in production. Avoid lead-level requirements. Safter products for customers, thereby increasing customer satisfaction. Avoid legal issues from foreign and domestic governments. Contract abrogation with supplier if process failure due to supplier. Socially responsible course of action.Weaknesses Contract abrogation with existing supp lier if Company X process failure. Short-term customer dissatisfaction due to minimal production delay. Training for production of new whistles. Costly process refinements.Opportunities Possible acquisition of new customers. Long-term customer growth. Possibly reduced prices with contract negotiations for new suppliers. If process adjustments made public, possible acquisition of customers in other countries.Threats Minimal threat of legal action from domestic or foreign governments due to initlal lead-level failures. Minimal threat of substantial customer churn.The strengths of Solution B indicate that is viable enough to be considered. Patti Durant Solution AStrengths Reduced production costs. Short-term customer satisfaction due to on-time delivery. Possible increased customer acquisition.Weaknesses Very short-term solution. Disregard for long-term customer health. Disregard for domestic legal mandates. Socially irreponsible course of action. Long-term profit loss. High customer churn in long term.Opportunities Short-term increase in streams of revenue.Threats Extensive legal threats from public and private sector. Abrogation of current contracts iminent. Long-term erosion of shareholder confidence.Solution A should not be raise considered due to the blantant disregard for customer safety.Patti Durant Solution BStrengths Regard for customer health.Weaknesses Total loss of all revenue and profit.Opportunities No known opportunities.Threats Possible legal action from suppliers, employees, customers, and governments due to abrogation of contracts, inability to pay out on employee pensions, or willfully missed customer demand.Solution B is unquestionably not worthy of further consideration.Solution 1 Advantages and DisadvantagesThe important advantage this solution offers is that our toy whistles lead levels will not detrimentally influence the health of our customers. Our acknowledgment of this issue will allow our company to take mitigative actions before t he whistles are in the hands of our consumers.Another advantage of this solution is that our customers will be unaware that there could have been an issue with the whistles. Our consumers ignorance allows our company to avoid a public-relations concern or public excoriation of our product and company brand. There are no government mandates that our company must disclose these sorts of issues if they are discovered before being delivered to our customers.An important disadvantage to this solution is that the investigative process and result process refinements will prove costly and timely. It is evident that a production and service failure has occurred, since our whistles lead levels currently contravene United States legislative mandates however, we are not certain where in the supply chain this failure has occurred. Unnecessary people-power must be devoted to resolving this issue sufficiently to prevent issues in the similitude of this one.Another disadvantage to this solution is the effect it will have on employee morale. To be specific, the judgment of the managers of these processes is dubious and will have to be investigated. It is genuine that coaching and development, inclusive of corrective action, will have to be meted to all parties involved in this situation. And because of the cost of resolving this matter, some managers and their employees may have to have their employment terminated. No matter how delicately the corrective action will be handled, other employees will inevitable respond negatively. This situation may upgrade discussions of unionization. It may engender unnecessary employee churn. Or for those who have their employment terminated as a result of our investigation, it may very well involve contending against ex-employee litigation for perceived wrongful termination, which will involve government agencies and their investigations.Solution 1 Ethical ConsiderationsThis solution is an ethically viable option. The reason is that the lead levels prescribed by the federal government are ostensibly predicated on customer saftey and, if more stringent, supersede lead-level requirements of the target country. Providing customers, especially young children, with high-lead toys is immediately unethical and demonstrates a disjuncture from social responsibility.Solution 1 Financial ConsiderationsThis solution, however, is the most costly and will make profit from these sales impossible unless we increase the price of the toy whistles. Thefollowing are cost considerations of this solution1. Vetting Raw-Material Supplier It is possible that the raw materials that we obtain from our supplier do not possess the integrity that we expect, which would cause products to fail quality verfifcations. An audit would be required of the supplier. This audit would entail the following costs a. On-site inspections $10,000, inclusive of labor costs and travel expenditures b. Report of findings $5,000, inclusive of labor costs of present ing the findings c. Negative findings $10,000, inclusive of replacing and contracting with a different raw-materials supplier. d. Positive findings $15,000, inclusive of sunk costs of on-site inspections and reporting of findings (since no issue would have been with the supplier)2. Vetting Production Processes There may be deficiencies in the production process that cause higher levels of lead to result in our products. Here are the costs associated with this vetting e. Departmental inspections $7,000, inclusive of labor costs f. Report of findings $5,000, inclusive of labor costs of presenting the findings g. Negative findings $50,000, inclusive of making process adjustments, training on new processes, and follow-up labor costs h. Positive findings $12,000, inclusive of sunk costs of inspections and reporting of findings.As easily noted, the costs of making process changes are considerable. However, the costs of these changes should not, by themselves, be an impetus to continue to produce high-lead toy whistles.