Assessment for Business Values & Ethics

Answer any 4 case studies given below:
Case I
Study the given case and answer the questions given below:
A junior member of staff has just returned to work after taking special leave to care for her elderly mother. For financial reasons she needs to work full-time. She has been having difficulties with her mother’s home care arrangements, causing her to miss a number of team meetings (which usually take place at the beginning of each day) and to leave work early. She is very competent in her work but her absences are putting pressure on her and her overworked colleagues. You are her manager, and you are aware that the flow of work through the practice is coming under pressure. One of her male colleagues is beginning to make comments such as “a woman’s place is in the home”, and is undermining her at every opportunity, putting her under even greater stress.
Questions:
1. In light of the above case, elaborate the ethical dilemma.
2. How should you proceed so as not to discredit yourself, your profession or the practice for which you work and at the same time maintaining integrity and confidentiality in your actions?
Case II
Study the given case and answer the questions given below: As a senior officer in the Ministry of Public Works Department you have access to important policy decisions and upcoming big announcements such as road construction projects before they are notified in the public. Your son is a land dealer and realtor. The Ministry is about to announce a mega road project. Once it is announced, the land price in the vicinity would see a steep hike. You have access to maps and know the dimensions of land to be acquired. Your son wants to know the complete details and he is insisting you about this. He wants to buy the land at present rates which is very cheap in and around the soon to be announced project. He is trying to convince you by saying that he would purchase land confidentially and there would be no problem in future for you. You are aware that the Minister has already shared this information with his children who are also into the land business. In fact, the minister has asked you to do the same so that your son also makes huge profits. He has tried to convince you by saying that his and your children are buying land legally and there is no harm in it.

Questions:
1. In this situation, what will you do?
2. “Greed breeds unethical practices and harms the society more than what the organization gets or gives back to the society”. Discuss this statement with reference to above case.
3. Critically examine various conflicts of interests at play in this case study and explain what your responsibilities are as a public servant?
Case III
Study the given case and answer the questions given below: Mr. Rabanta has been hired as an intern under the Internship Program in the Auditing Section of a well-known firm in Dubai. After working there for a month, Rabanta noticed what behavior is acceptable and what is not. The attitude of the employees appeared to be “laid back.” They knew that their bosses wouldn’t discipline them for overlooking rules of the firm. For example, employees did not turn in “expense accounts” as they did not think it important. One honest employee has rightly said, “Nobody submitted receipts to verify reimbursements.” In fact, when Rabanta tried to turn in his receipts with his expense report, he was told that nobody turned in receipts and that he did not need to do the same. Turning in the receipts was the proper procedure as indicated in the firm’s rules. Also, the employees used the company telephones for personal purpose, which is incidentally prohibited under the firm rules. What is more is that one employee even told Rabanta that he can take what he likes related to pencils, pens, and papers for office and home use.
Questions:
1. What can Rabanta do about this situation beyond saying “I resign?”
2. If Rabanta was the boss in the auditing section, how would he go about changing the rules?
Case Study IV:
Unethical practices of food industry

Tasty meal is one of the largest foodservice retailer having more than 200 restaurants across country. It has more than 3000 employees including staff members, waiters and chefs.
However, Tasty Meal has been criticized for
 Unfair treatment with its employees by taking too many hours of working against very low wages. Tasty Meal has no difficulty in hiring its employees on low wages due to poverty and unemployment in the region. It has also been criticized for taking work from children against one time meal. The situation is even worst in under developed cities of the country.
 Meals served are mostly junk food, oily, having high calorie and could cause health issues if eaten regularly.
 Tasty Meal is not even environmental friendly. Using disposable stuff like wrapping paper, straws and tableware are comparatively cost effective but harmful to the environment, especially those which are non-recyclable. It has been criticized for over packaging and using extra wrapping papers.
Questions:
1. Do you think treating employees in Tasty Meal is unfair? Justify. Keep the unemployment factor, poverty and economical environment in mind.
2. Should Tasty Meal be accused for health issues by providing unhealthy food? (Note: Tasty Meal never sells its product forcefully. Customers have choices)
3. Do you think Tasty Meal is running an ethical and socially responsible business? Why or why not?
Case Study V
Read the case carefully and answer the questions given below: Breast milk is a natural, safe and free human product. Breast-feeding creates a strong maternal bond between mother and child, and it is designed to protect the baby against a number of conditions such as pneumonia and diabetes. Not only is it advantageous for children, but also women who breast-feed develop greater protection against breast and ovarian cancers. In this modern world, many women feel awkward in breast-feeding and sometimes the medical staff do not have the time to provide adequate training to teach new mothers how to breast-feed. Now, the infant formula is the obvious alternative. However, this product is derived from cow’s milk, which is not designed for humans. Though it can supplement the diet of a hungry baby, or help a working mother during the day, but it should not be marketed as an option that can replace breast milk entirely. The working mothers easily get convinced with the formula provided by the manufacturers, as the infant formula is much easier and more convenient to use. In developing nations, the area of breastfeeding is a very pathetic, sad and uneducated one. The big and powerful multinationals that control the world’s infant formula market take all the advantages of the poor and uneducated in order to increase their own profits. The World Health Organization has a marketing code, endorsed by UNICEF and the UNHCR, which bans all promotion of baby milk — both through advertising and indirectly, through health workers and midwives, but these powerful companies pay little more than lip service to it. As the data says in the developing world, one baby dies every 30 seconds from unsafe bottle-feeding. There are some MNCs which enjoy almost 40% of the worldwide infant formula market and try to capture more and more. For this they conduct a different
marketing practice. They send their representatives to developing countries identified as a
‘knowledgeable medical personnel’, who give free samples of formula to hospitals and health workers. The medical staff, health workers, nurses — all these encourage the mothers to use the infant formula by providing free samples and therefore discouraging breast- feeding. Obviously, for promoting their products, companies give some sort of gifts and incentives to local health officials. Other kinds of promotion of their products are in the form of posters on the walls of clinics, some advertisements in national magazines, etc. The company’s main aim is to encourage mothers to use the formula but they never provide adequate information about formula feeding. They do not teach these women about sterilizing the bottles, they use; they provide no resources with which to do this. So the uneducated and unaware mothers use un-sterilized bottles and use dirty water mixed with formula which causes severe diarrhea and dehydration in the babies, which further kills them. Very soon, after the infants have become dependent on formula as their sole source of nutrition, and the mother’s milk has dried up through lack of demand, the free samples stop coming. And now the only option left in front of mothers is to buy the packets with high prices. The majority of families cannot afford this. So either they go without food themselves and feed their babies or just over-dilute the powder to make it last longer. Again the babies will be suffering from malnourishment and often loss of lives.

These companies do not follow WHO Codes according to which they are required to put labels on formula products in the appropriate language. They actively promote the use of infant formula as opposed to breast milk and always try to make as healthy a profit as possible.
Questions:
1. How are these marketing practices ethical/unethical? Explain your view.
2. What are the harmful effects if the infant formula manufacturers continue without any interference?
3. If you were a health official of an NGO, what actions would you recommend and implement, which will be beneficial for all the stakeholders?