Assignment Case Study 2: Why Didnt We Know?

Student Name & ID: Liew Kok Liong 15904786

Tutor: Siti Rohani Md. !"o#
I have read and understand Curtin Policies regarding academic
integrity. This assignment has been submitted to Turnitin and
has a minimum o !"# original material.
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
1
$nt%od!&tion
The ob$ective o this essay is to determine ho% should &alvetrens
strengthen their system or con'dential re(orting o misconduct as %ell as
identiy the roles o board and management (lay in the investigation by
using S)T)A)* +Seeing)Tal,ing)Acting)*evie%ing- rame%or,. *eer to the
case study. /i,e 0ields has 'led a %histle)blo%er1s la%suit against
&alvatrens. charging he %as %rongully terminated because he has
re(orted &reg 2ilson (ro(osed channel)stu3ng scheme to in4ate sales
and generate bonuses. At business (oint o vie%. this la%suit 'led by /i,e
0ield %as a serious accusation against &alvatrens1s mission and values
%hich could im(ose severe ris, to &alvatrens1s re(utation. Des(ite /i,e
0ield has inormed the C55 o &alvatrens. but he did not handle it
res(onsibly and (assed it to /i,e1s 6oss. Conse7uently. /i,e 0ields %as
orcing to acce(t either demotion or transers to another &alvatrens1s
subsidiary. The system or uncovering misconduct %as in (lace. ho%ever it
made easier or retaliation. This conse7uence on /i,e 0ield raises the
concern about &alvatrens1s to( management ca(abilities to handle
misconduct events in the %or,(lace. At this (oint. it seemed that the
system or uncovering misconduct %as ine8ective. Additionally. the roles
o management and board on the oversight %ere still unclear. There are
our ethical issues arise rom above issues %hich are %rongully
termination o %histle)blo%er '1(. retaliation (ractices ')( as %ell as
transgression in the %or,(lace '*(. The ollo%ing table +9.9- sho%s the ,ey
main (layers %ho are involved in the ethical issues.
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
2
+a,-e 1.1
Name *oles in &alvatrens
Chi( 6ro%nlee
C:5 o &alvatrens
Chairman o &alvatrens
;arry /art
C55 o &alvatrens
&reg 2ilson
Divisional Sales /anager o
&alvatrens
/i,e 0ields +The Plainti8-
Divisional Sales /anager o
&alvatrens
Terry Sam(les
Senior <ice President o
&alvatrens
/i,e1s 6oss
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
3
Seeing .thi&a- $""!e"
The 'rst identi'ed ethical issue %as %rongully termination o a
%histle)blo%er. /i,e 0ields. &alvatrens %as %ell)established Consumer
Product Com(any associated %ith good re(utation in the industry.
Together. the C:5 o &alvatrens %as ta,ing initiates to im(rove its
cor(orate moral res(onsibility by learning and listening to its customers
and em(loyees (Case Study). Indeed. /i,e 0ields %as being %rongully
terminated as he tried to %histle blo% transgression in the %or,(lace. This
ethical issue e=em(li'ed the u(graded (rocedures or re(orting
misconduct +niti- %ere incom(atible %ith the %ay o &alvatrens claimed to
behave +nyaya-. %hich can be best described in term o /atsyanyaya.
Accordingly. no matter ho% (ro(er the established organisation might be
+Niti-. i a big 'sh is still consume a small 'sh at %ill. then there must be
an obvious violation o human $ustice as nyaya (Sen 2012, 266).
2histleblo%ing is the (roblem o dirty hands as the good are uncovering
and rectiying misconduct but the bad may involve betrayal o colleagues.
stress on amily and more (Grace and Cohen 2013, 21). Dirty hands are
situations %here it is necessary to commit a moral %rong in order to do
%hat is morally re7uired (De Wijze 2013, 87). ;o%ever. there %ill be a
moral residue or dirty hand. /i,e 0ield had dirty his hands to %histle blo%
the channel)stu3ng scheme as he %anted to do %hat are morally re7uired
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
4
but the moral residue %as the stress on his children. loss o $ob and
emotional (ressure. /i,e 0ield %as doing his duty as an em(loyee and
,no%ing that re(orting misconduct %as a right thing to do. In this sense.
the (ers(ective outloo, o /i,e 0ield %as a((lying the golden rule %hich
beyond conse7uentialist reasoning +Deontology-. Nevertheless. dirty
hands can be vie%ed as a result o the human duality o (ers(ectives
%here it is the clash bet%een conse7uentialist and deontologist ethics
(!e"ini 201#, 173). :ven i /i,e 0ield tried to achieve greater sum o
utilities +Conse7uentialist- by ignoring this illegal scheme. there is still a
moral cost %here misconduct %ould be recurring and could hurt all
&alvatrens1s sta,eholders. 0or e=am(le. i this misconduct (ractice %as
%itnessing by (ublics. there %ill be a severe colla(se o &alvatrens1s
re(utation.
Secondly. Terry Sam(le orced /i,e 0ield to acce(t either demotion or
transer in retaliation or uncovering misconduct. It is clear that Terry
Sam(le %as ocusing only on his sel)interest %hich %as ,ee(ing their
sales (erormance. Des(ite /i,e 0ield has inormed ;arry /art. but he did
not handle it res(onsibly and (assed it to /i,e1s 6oss. The rationalisation
o ;arry /art on this misconduct had subse7uently creates a blind s(ot
%here Terry Sam(le %as able to retaliate /i,e 0ield or re(orting
misconduct. This %ould amounts to moral rec,lessness %hereby ;arry
/art ailed to (ay ade7uate attention on the misconduct issue. Thus.
behaviour o Terry Sam(le can be understood in term o utilitarianism
because he tried to minimise the cost o e=(osing misconduct by
(unishing /i,e 0ield. A((arently. Terry Sam(le denied /i,e 0ield1s duty as
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
5
a loyalty em(loyee to re(ort misconduct (ractice. 0or Terry Sam(le. the
right thing to do %as de(ending on the conse7uences itsel. 5n the other
hands. ;arry /art o%ns the reedom o choice to (ursue his o%n sel)
interest by choosing not to ollo% u( the misconduct issues re(orted by
/i,e 0ield. It is $usti'able in term o libertarianism> ho%ever acting in a
%ay that %ithout considering ma=imisation o %elare as %ell as moral
duty could result in adverse conse7uences. To illustrate. ;arry /art ailed
to ta,e the res(onsibility on the misconduct issues. causing occurrence o
retaliation (ractices. %rongully termination o %histle)blo%er as %ell as
la%suit against &alvatrens. ?nli,e /i,e 0ield and Terry Sam(le. ;arry /art
%as seeing the ethical issue based on sel)o%nershi(.
In vie% o the transgression in %or,(lace. &reg 2ilson %as '=ation on
meeting sales target and triggering bonuses through channel)stu3ng
scheme %ithout considering his colleagues and &alvatrens. :ven though.
customers had reused the channel)stu3ng scheme (ro(osed by &reg
2ilson but they may lose their aith on &alvatrens1s code o conducts.
Similarly. The behaviour o &reg 2ilson is $usti'able in terms o
utilitarianism as he (erceived greater sum o utilities rom meeting sales
target and triggered bonuses rather than saeguarding &alvatrens ethical
(osition. :vidently. the unbalanced (ursuit o (ur(ose in Terry Sam(le.
;arry /art and &reg 2ilson raised the (rinci(le sym(toms o teleo(athy
%hich had result in moral ha@ardous. As the lac, o consistency bet%een
the values an organisation (ublicly ado(ts and the values that conveyed in
its (ractices %ould (rovide a basis or ethical ris, ($ond%e et a%& 2013, 37).
This is %hy &alvatrens Com(any %as involving in a la%suit 'led by its o%n
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
6
em(loyee that raised serious accusation against organisational values and
mission. In res(onse. Chi( 6ro%nlee had call or conerence meeting %ith
board o directors to solve the la%suit o %rongully termination and
misconduct in the %or,(lace. 6y ,no%ing that the accusation %as against
telos o &alvatrens. Chi( 6ro%nlee tried to develo( the common goods
under this deteriorating situation.
/o01a%ing and /ont%a"ting .thi&a- 2e%"1e&ti3e"
2e%"1e&
ti3e"
Main 2-aye%"
4ti-ita%iani"
0
Deonto-ogy Li,e%ta%iani"
0
5i%t!e .thi&"
/hi1
6%own-ee
7a%%y Ma%t
+e%%y
/aintaining sales
(erormance
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
7
Sa01-e
+6ene't-
Decline in overall
sales
(erormance
Mike 8ie-d
Aoyal to
&alvatrens
Treated
*e(orting
misconduct as a
duty and right
thing to do
9%eg Wi-"on
/eeting sales
target and
triggering bonus
+6ene'ts-
*ights and %rongs o mar,et
+0reedom does not al%ays mean airnessBtainted consentB degradation o
higher goods-
A(art rom these. re(orting o misconduct occur %hen the em(loyee
+%histle)blo%er- (erceives dissatisaction on deteriorating situation.
(articularly %hen the values o an em(loyee is not com(atible %ith the ,ey
values o the organisation (S'iate()*ary%s(a 2013, +1). This understanding
o loyalty allo%s recogni@ing %histleblo%ing as the sym(tom o em(loyee
loyalty.
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
8
Re#e%en&e" -i"t
De 2i$@e. Ste(hen. 2"9C. DPunishing EDirty ;andsE))Three
Fusti'cations.D :thical Theory and
/oral Practice 9G +H-: !IJ)!JI. doi:
htt(:BBd=.doi.orgB9".9""IBs9"GII)"92)JCJG)=.
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
9
htt1:;;"ea%&h.1%o<!e"t.&o0;do&3iew;1400587*87?
a&&o!ntid=10*8).
&race. Damian and Cohen. Ste(hen. 2"9C. 6usiness :thics Hth :d.
/elbourne: 5=ord.
Fondle. Douglas. T. D. /aines. /ichelle *ovang 6ur,e. and Peter Koung.
2"9C. D/odern *is,
/anagement through the Aens o the :thical 5rgani@ational
Culture.D *is,
/anagement 9L +9-: C2)HJ. doi:
htt(:BBd=.doi.orgB9".9"LIBrm.2"92.99.
htt1:;;"ea%&h.1%o<!e"t.&o0;do&3iew;1)7)*8*945?
a&&o!ntid=10*8).
Sen. Amartya. 2"92. DThe *each o Social Choice Theory.D Social Choice
and 2elare
CJ +2)C-: 2LJ)2I2. doi: htt(:BBd=.doi.orgB9".9""IBs""CLL)"99)"G9C)I.
htt1:;;"ea%&h.1%o<!e"t.&o0;do&3iew;10)*0**969?
a&&o!ntid=10*8).
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
10
S%iate,)6aryls,a. Ilona. 2"9C. D2histleblo%ing as a Sym(tom o :m(loyee
Aoyalty ) Polish
Pers(ective.D International Fournal o 6usiness and Social Science H
+9L-: HJ)LI.
htt(:BBsearch.(ro7uest.comBdocvie%B9HI92C!"GHMaccountidN9"C!2.
Kemini. /oran. 2"9H. DCon4ictual /oralities. :thical Torture: *evisiting the
Problem o
DDirty ;andsD.D :thical Theory and /oral Practice 9I +9-: 9GC)9!".
doi: htt(:BBd=.doi.orgB9".9""IBs9"GII)"9C)JH2J)".
htt1:;;"ea%&h.1%o<!e"t.&o0;do&3iew;149*981599?
a&&o!ntid=10*8).
Business Ethics 300 Semester1, 2014
11