Blood Banana
Strategic Management 581
Blood Banana
Running a business is about more than just making money. It requires adequate consideration to a number of issues, of which ethics is most certainly one. As a business grows and becomes more significant, it impacts the lives of people in so many ways. But without a clear understanding of business ethics, a company can lose its business by ruining its reputation and alienating employees, suppliers and the local community around it. With recent expansions in global businesses and the decrease of trade barriers worldwide, the importance of ethics in business has been further underlined.
Chiquita Brands International Inc., is a leading
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Chiquita Brand values integrity and so it should be very transparent with its workers about the reality they are dealing with. Employees who are not comfortable to work under such conditions should be free to leave, with an appropriate severance package to help them in the transition. The company should also hire a security team with the money they were suppose to pay off the AUC with, even if they can’t afford the highest protection. This is to provide the best possible environment for the existing employees until the company finds a better solution.
For the long run, Chiquita should not operate in a country with such corruption and unrest. It should immediately begin to review its plans and re-strategize. It can either explore moving to another location where it can start new banana plantations. Neighboring countries in South America like Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala are some of the top producing banana nations in the world, even higher than Columbia. Or it can choose to expand one of its other subsidiaries, so it can recover its lost production from Columbia.
Chiquita should gradually start moving out of Columbia as soon as possible. It should also offer its employees a job wherever they decide to relocate. The employee can choose to move or settle for a suitable amount. Wherever they go, the company should provide a descent and safe environment for its workers. This is the cost of being ethical. It not always
The author Robert Solomon argues that ethics has to an integral part with regard to business management. He does not believe that business management must include unethical or illegal methods to be able to succeed. Solomon preaches that business management is not as simple as obtaining revenue. “Businesses need to abide by fair policies and their owners have to be ethical in dealing with their customers” (Shaw p. 37). The author acknowledges that while illegal practices in business management could bring positive results at first, eventually the business is bound to fail. This is why Solomon recommended eight important policies that can help businesses in integrating ethics into their operations.
Ethics in business addresses the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ behaviours of business practises, and how these practices impact the employees, shareholders, the general public and the environment.
Ethics “is the study of moral principles concerning rightful conduct based on our most deeply held values”. It is prescriptive and normative, categorizing and laying down guidelines for determining what is right and what is wrong; what is good and what is evil; what is fair and what is not. Although there are many points of convergence between ethical norms and the law, however, quite a few instances could be cited where what is legal may not be considered ethical or moral. But, there appears to be a vast overlap between ethical norms and the moral values of the world’s great religions. Where ethical considerations flow into business domain, business ethics comes into being.
Company Q close down a couple of their stores in high crime areas I believe the reason why company Q close down two of its locations was due to the fact of the affect on the store's revenue , because the store had low revenue due to the location of the store it is very possible that the amount of customers that scheme and to make purchases of the products offered by comp company Q decided to go two other locations they felt were located in safer areas. I strongly believe in that company Q is not socially responsible because even dull their stores were located in high crime areas and most likely was not receiving a great deal of revenue they calls a hardship on the
This paper will obtain information about a researched issue that deals with business ethics. The paper will include a summary of the Article and issue. This paper will also touch on the following topics, what seems to be the basis of the issue, what ethical change, deficiency, or conflict brought it about, and how did the organizational leadership come into play. The paper will conclude by proposing a plan for revising the ethical standards and
This will be an over view of ethics as it relates to business in our society. Concepts from Philosophy will seek to describe the correlation between actions that are classified as morally right or ethical in our dealings with each other as human beings. Clear and concise examples will be given as well as ways in which to improve upon business ethics.
Business Ethics is a set of moral principles applied in the commercial world. Business ethics provide guidelines for acceptable behavior by organizations in both their strategy formulation and day-to-day operations. An ethical approach is becoming necessary both for corporate success and a positive corporate image. Following pressure from
Ethics oftentimes determines what is right and what is wrong. It is a moral code that determines values, morals, standards of behavior, principles, and ideas (“Ethic,” 2012). After careful review of the results achieved from the Ethics Awareness Inventory and Ethical Choices, decisions were made that helped to determine my ethical perspective. I will explain the role of ethics and social responsibility in developing a strategic plan, considering stakeholder’s needs. Also, I will explain how my ethical perspective has evolved throughout the course of my MBA program here at University of Phoenix.
Chiquita Brands International and its leaders learned a very hard lesson about paying off terrorist groups to protect their employees. Over the past 25 years, no place has been more perilous for companies than Colombia, a country that is finally beginning to emerge from the effects its Colombian banana subsidiaries had made protection payments to terrorist groups from 1997 through 2004. The Justice Department began an investigation, focusing on the role and conduct of Chiquita and some of its officers in this criminal activity. Subsequently, Chiquita entered into a plea agreement that gave them the dubious distinction of being the first major U.S. company ever convicted of dealing with terrorists, and resulted in a fine of US$25
Another option would be to refuse paying compensation to victims of FARC and AUC based on the fact that Chiquita did nothing directly to harm them. Moreover, they were protecting people by paying the terrorist. If the law holding the company
Today’s business world presents numerous ethical issues. In today’s world above board/moral ethics in organizations do not often materialize intuitively. Organization must strive to provide employees with a clear understanding of the overall company vision. This will aid employees in practicing the code of ethics, policies and procedures in the workplace. Companies must be unwavering in continuously delivering the uppermost ethics of provision in which customers, applicants and employees are entitled to under fair business practices. One major core value is to uphold responsible and fair business practices.
They have made sure to go above and beyond with having high standards and have stated very clearly what they expect out of their employees on their website. The company bases its rules and regulations off of what is covered in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principals and Rights at Work. Clear cut rules for hours of work, contract workers, workplace safety, etc. are well known to all employees and management. This should (in most cases) ease ethical dilemmas. Coca-Cola is very outspoken about human trafficking and forced labor. Due to that conviction the company has strict policies in place to prevent these violations. With these well-publicized guidelines in place, mangers are able to avoid these types of international ethical dilemmas (Coca-Cola
In their personal and professional lives, people can and, unfortunately, sometimes do go against their moral and ethical standards. Ethical standards are what it means to be a good person, the social rules that govern our behavior. Ethics in business is essentially the study of what constitutes the right and wrong or the good or bad behavior in the workplace environment. A business is an organization whose objective is to provide goods or services for profit. The organization has a group of people that work together to achieve a common purpose. The moral challenges that these men and women face each day along with a whole range of problems that could occur, are why ethics plays such an important
Chiquita Brands International is one of the world’s largest banana producers that were founded in 1899. Founded as United Fruit Company, Chiquita has grown to be one of the top three companies in the banana business with a combined control of 60% market share. Chiquita had annual revenues of $4.7 billion and operating plants worldwide with its main business coming out of Colombia. In this case study, it tells the story of the Chiquita business and how they faced many problems in the past years. The main problem in this study is how Chiquita paid the AUC terrorist group a combined $1.7 million from 1997 to 2004 and then told the United States Justice Department about their dealings. After the criminal investigation and plea
Business ethics reflect the behavior of a business firm with rest of the world. The dealing of a business house with its consumers, rivals, associated firms and every other body defines its business ethics to be good or bad. The history has many instances, where renowned business brands lost their reputation and were fined for following undesirable business manners. These ethics can help a business to grow and remain in healthy competition, though today’s competitive world is discouraging small and big business brands to remain ethical. With WSI business opportunity, you can learn methods of becoming sue.