Case Analysis of “Does This Milkshake Taste Funny?” The case “Does this milkshake taste funny?” presents a situation, where company employees were confronted with an ethical decision. Their thoughts and actions were shaped by several factors, including their personal moral values and the corporate culture engendered by the management of the company for which they work. This case provides an example of how a lack of a code of ethics or ethical training within a corporation can lead to negative consequences. The major players in the case are the night shift employees of Eastern Dairy, and the management of this company that set up the rules and expectations for the night shift. The background and the ethical situation …show more content…
The management of this corporation, however, was only interested in in the nightly completion of production orders and the cleanliness of equipment at the end of the shift. Eastern Dairy seemed to have a singular focus on economic responsibility, at the expense of ethical responsibility. This influenced Paul’s mindset about his own responsibility during the shift and his decision during the ethical situation described the case. The ethical situation arose when, during one of the shifts, George discovered that the pipeline filters were becoming clogged up with solid matter composed of maggots that have gotten into the mix running through the production line. This disconcerted George, but Paul told him that maggots occasionally got into the bag of ingredients for the mix and that the filters would catch them. George stopped the pumps, cleaned the filter and the equipment was restarted. However, it soon became apparent that the filters kept clogging up, and the process of continuously cleaning them would not allow the workers to run the last 500 gallons of the mix. At this point, Paul told George to run these 500 gallons without the filters, claiming that the rest of the process will pulverize the maggots and kill any bacteria. George, however, felt uneasy about this, thinking about the kids who would drink the milkshakes
The author of “Working At Wal-Mart,” a case study, provides a stunning overview of a day in the life of a Wal-Mart employee. The sheer number of ethical issues that present themselves for the average Wal-Mart worker are beyond astounding, as Barbara Ehrenreich covers in her study. The sheer morality and care for Wal-Mart staff that is far from evident in this piece speaks to the way that corporate culture has become ethically and morally bankrupt in numerous ways.
Decisions made in the organizations by either individuals or groups are a result of the company’s culture. Ethical decisions are moral, and the decision makers in the company have to take the right course of action no matter what it costs (Cadbury Schweppes par.1) as this has its advantages such as attracting many customers, employee satisfaction and bringing more investors into the business. Unethical acts, on the other hand, damage the reputation of the firm making it not appealing to the stakeholders. Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the world, and for many years, Wal-Mart has had to get away with many illegal and unethical acts.
During the announcement of the seventh annual list of most ethical companies in the world in 2013, Alex Brigham of Ethisphere, noted that more companies find that ethical business practices increase their competitiveness in their respective industries, helping to further substantiate the notion that a culture of ethic is crucial to sustainable excellence (Smith, 2013). Researchers in the field of Organizational Behavior has found that employees are subjected to an environment of ethical dilemma constantly. During such moments employees have a choice either to pursue with ethical conduct or engage in an unethical behavior which results in harming the organization or its stakeholder (Trevino & Brown, 2004). How the employee behave greatly depends
This paper explores how ethical issues of Pinto case have affected the Ford Motor Company business environment. A number of factors suggest that Ford Motor Company was negligent and violated its code of ethics. In this paper, we will review the corporate culture mindset which prioritizes profit over the value of human life for the purpose financial gain.
There are a number of ethical concerns contained within the case study. Due to the large number of ethical issues confronting Jacob, he may wish to make a decision as to whether he truly desires to work in such an unethical culture. The environment of a business can certainly influence the individual employee, either for good and positive aspects, or in a bad or negative manner.
Chapter four of our textbook reveals the importance of ethics and goes into detail about what ethics is. The textbook directly states that “We define ethics as society’s accepted standard of moral behavior, that is, behavior accepted by society as right rather than wrong.” The article states that although ford made defective vehicles that there were no reported injuries because of them. However, because of ethics ford is recalling the vehicles before anyone gets hurt. This proves that Ford has good
Chocolate milk should be served in cafeterias. Schools should provide it as an option for students because it has many nutrients. Kids who drink chocolate milk do not consume more sugar or other harmful substances. Chocolate milk helps kids get the three daily servings of dairy. Cafeterias should serve chocolate milk.
Businesses use workplace ethics to manage the behavior of the employees. Workplace ethics control management’s moral decisions and keep companies out of any type legal trouble. Some businesses break down their ethics in an official company code of ethics. Employees of companies that have no official code should rely on their personal ethics that they were taught and have learned. Ethics is defined as a moral philosophy or code of morals practiced by a person or group of people. In the workplace, ethics keeps the employers and the employees from doing the wrong thing. So when an employer or employee demonstrates unethical behavior what is the outcome? In December 2015, Fortune listed “The 5 Biggest Corporate Scandals of 2015”. Some
The workplace is littered with ethical dilemmas no matter where you work. For Pacific Trust the primary ethical issues that need attention are Jack Ryan’s negligent behavior toward his work with the Palisades Produce contract. His negligence caused him to be faced with lying to his superior or taking responsibility for his mistakes. The necessity for a course of action to help Jack comes partly from the underlying issue of Stephen Wood’s misconduct within the Middle-market Group.
Our CEO Indra Nooyi implemented the “Performance with Purpose” guideline to help the company and employees make the right decisions. The company has also developed a Code of Conduct that addresses various business ethics issues such as bribery and conflicts of interest. PepsiCo expects the associates to be familiar with the Code of Conduct. The company also created a Chief Compliance Officer position to enforce the Code. In order to maintain our commitment to the communities and assorted stakeholders, the company has high standards for quality. By adhering to processes and ensuring proper governance, PepsiCo attempts to uphold its responsibilities and earn the confidence of stakeholders. To measure its progress and to make certain that it remains focused, PepsiCo has also developed the following six guiding principles that it uses to sustain its commitment. However, my example shows that we face ethical issues or questions even at a company that is established on how to handle unethical behaviors. It is largely at the individual level to act ethically. As we observed in the baby lab video, we are born with the universal moral core as well as the dark side of morality. As we grow older, society trained us to behavior ethically. However, when under pressure, we do regress to our younger selves. When we are faced with pressure and complications, decision making also become extremely difficult. Saying what is the right thing to do is easier than doing the right thing when you are in the situation. In the future, I will weigh in all four methods of ethical reasoning (virtue, interest, rights and duties) during the decision-making process. I believe that having the proper tools and help will guide me in making the right
The ethics case contemplation, Dilemma at Devil’s Den, is an unblemished precedent of the challenges that can appear at an establishment that question’s the moral ethics of business. The Devil’s Den is a snack bar on a college campus, which employed approximately 36 students with 6 of them in management positions. Evening and weekend positions were difficult to fill, and wages were low, making employees valuable. Therefore, the managers were more flexible in their actions and correction measures were not enforced. In order for this den to carry on in an ethical manner it transpired to be a challenge and culture shock for all staff involved.
Ethical issues can strengthen both people and the community. Businesses in the community will generate a much more loyal following if they behave in an ethical manner with regard to the community. In this paper I will describe the ethical issues and how those issues may be used in organizational and personal issues, and the association between legal and ethical issues shown in the film, Greyston Bakery. The bakery has operated since 1982 and employs convicted felons and homeless people. The company places the profits into a nonprofit foundation that benefits the entire community (CBS News, 2009).
George Stein, a college student employed for the summer by Eastern Dairy is faced with an ethical dilemma. His co-workers don’t care about proper procedures required in ensuring that the milkshake produced during the shift is hygienic and safe for human consumption. The milkshake that is produced is usually delivered to fast-food restaurants and drive-ins. George had less than a minute to think about his choices and must decide if he is going to remove the filters from the plant's piping and, thus, allow the current production run of milkshake mix to be contaminated with maggots or refuse to remove the filters, and report the maggot problem to management. Removing the filters will save the company money,
This case, “Dilemma at Devil’s Den” is about Susan, a business student, and her experience as a student employee in the campus snacks bar called The Devils Den. It basically deals with ethics and individual behaviour of a person towards the organization. Susan observed that the employees of the Den were allowing their friend free food, themselves taking food
This case study was a powerful example to illustrate the presence of ethics within the