Ethical Decisions Essay

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a salesman, Joe Smith, uses the common good approach to make an ethical decision in making a possible uniform sale between UWEAR and Peninsula Hotels, Bill Batesman, CEO. Joe Smith has been reprimanded the year before when he signed the contract with Peninsula Hotels because the price he offered was so low. He has to bid so low because his competitor THREADS4U was a very shrewd bidder (Virtual Classroom-CTUO). This year the competitor, THREADS4U has offered Bill Batesman a 10% less bid than Joe Smith, UWEAR. Bill and Joe have also gained a personal friendship as they have done business with each other. Bill is considering to take the discounted bid with THREADS4U and Joe is desperate to save the contract with Peninsula Hotels. The contract with Peninsula Hotels is over 50% of Joe’s sale’s territory. He needs to gain approval from the management team with UWEAR to discuss the negotiations allowed (Virtual Classroom-CTUO). Who are the stakeholders in this situation? Stakeholders are those individuals, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization. They can affect or be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives and policies. Not all stakeholders are equal. A company’s customers are entitled to fair trading practices, but they are not entitled to some consideration as the company’s employees (Business Dictionary, 2013). The stakeholders involved within this sales contract between Joe Smith and Bill Batesman are Joe Smith, salesman, management team, and employees of UWEAR. What are the responsibilities of each stakeholder to the company? Joe’s responsibility as a sales person is to secure business which adds to the company’s viability. The management team is to take the income for the business and insure profitability so employees can be retained and for shareholders to receive dividends (Clawson 2012). Employees have the responsibility of completing tasks assigned to insure quality and viability for the company. Four ethical responsibilities for each stakeholder. Joe’s ethical responsibility is to represent the company with a professional and ethical attitude. He is to make an ethical business decision based on the common good for viability of the company. He should use the common good ethical theory as a basis for all a sales decisions, as each sale affects the entire community of the UWEAR. He has a responsibility to share all necessary items that could factor the sale in a positive or negative manner (MUSE, 2010). The management team of UWEAR has the responsibility to organize the policies for all ethical decisions made by all employees. They should set projections to meet budgeted revenues to run the company. They are responsible to control expenditures for the company to reach projected profit (Watkins and MUSE). The management team has an ethical decision to work to peak performance to meet the ethical goals for the company. The employees are responsible for completing the task assigned to see that the company is profitable. They are to meet their job description according to the company’s standards. They are to represent the company with a professional and ethical attitude, as well. Employees need to realize all they do is for the common good of the company. Responses of Stakeholders Each stakeholder should respond with keeping the common good theory as a focus to obtain the goals as a team. Joe needs to understand ethics are about making choices that may not always feel good or seem like they benefit you, but are the right choices to make. They are the choices that are examples of model citizens and examples of the golden rules (Curry). His decision involves the entire business of UWEAR as all employees are looking at possible cuts and layoffs due to economic strains after a merger between UWEAR and PALEDENIM. The management team should respond as having the main focus of making profit for the company to meet the day to day expenses needed to run the company. As the employees should be concern by making sure the tasks assigned to make the product/items sold by UWEAR is presentable with quality for Joe to sale, as well as, the customer service provided after the sales contract is obtained. Joe’s proposal and support for proposalJoe needs to propose to the management team after merging with PALEDENIM there are additional items of a different quality he could offer to Peninsula Hotels and still be able to offer a reasonable quote. He needs to support his proposal by showing a list of additional items compared to last year’s contract UWEAR now offers at a lower cost, but feels Bill Batesman would be satisfied with the quality of uniform and product. He can inform them he has spent quality amount of time getting to know Bill since the contract is 50% part of his sales region. Spending this quality time with him has opened opportunities to discuss items further and you feel Bill would see the items as a positive means to and could show him how he could save. He could also, look at the turn-around-time of how the time of purchase compared to competitors meeting the same time of delivery, etc. Joe needs to demonstrate how a lower price could open other doors for new business which would could mean he would expand just by making an offer to Peninsula Hotels. Conclusion Joe, the management team, and employees of UWEAR need to build a program in how to deliver a common good as a team using ethical decisions. Each member of UWEAR needs to be aware of the policies of the company and meet the requirements within each department so profit can be the main goal for the company. If all parties have the common goal of profitability, in reality means quality of product and service, as well, even though it is managed by the management team Joe could obtain sales beyond Peninsula Hotels. Peninsula Hotels may be offered a lower price, but could mean Joe Smith needs to obtain additional clients to meet the profit goal set by management of UWEAR. The new merger could be what the public is looking for, but the company needs to have a reputable client to build a quality reputation for UWEAR. References Business Dictionary, 2013. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/stakeholder.html. Web Finance, Inc. Clawson, James G. (2012). Level three leadership: getting below the surface. (5th ed.). One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Curry, Myron. Business Ethics Article: Ethics in the Workplace. http://www.business-arketing.com/article-businessethics.php My Unique Student Experience, M.U.S.E. (2010). Theories and Ethics. Approaches to Ethical Decision Making. Colorado Technical University Online. https://campus.ctuonline.edu/ courses/INTD670-X/p1/hub1/9206.pdf. Career Education Corporation. My Unique Student Experience, M.U.S.E. (2010). Theories and Ethics. Manager as a Leader. Colorado Technical University Online. https://campus.ctuonline.edu/courses/INTD670-X/p1/hub1/9206.pdf. Career Education Corporation. Virtual Classroom, 2013. INTD670-1303B-03, Leadership and Ethical Decision Making. Dr. Edward Goold. Colorado Technical University Online. Watkins, Michael D. (2009). Harvard Business Review: How Managers Become Leaders. June, 2012. Vol. 90 (6). pp 64-72.