Этика бизнеса – как часть стратегического менеджмента – создает трудные дилеммы для работников и менеджеров.
1. Могут возникать вопросы об ответственности работка, который считает, что стратегия его или ее организации является неэтичной (например, ее практика продаж) или не адекватно представляет законные интересы одной или более заинтересованных групп. Должен ли работник жаловаться на организацию или он или одна должна покинуть организацию на основе несовпадения ценностей. Это часто называется гражданской активностью (whistleblowing). В Великобритании такая активность служащих защищается Актом Защиты Общественных Интересов (1998).
2. Есть потенциальный конфликт для менеджеров между тем, какая стратегия является наилучшей для их собственной карьеры и какие стратегии преследуют долгосрочные интересы их организации и акционеров.
Вопросы и задания.
Опишите три уровня этики бизнеса и основное содержание этих уровней.
Дайте определение этической позиции и перечислите типы этических позиций.
Дайте определение социальной ответственности корпорации
Какова роль работников и менеджеров организации в этике бизнеса?
Приложение к Теме 11.
Практические примеры.
Пример 1. Starbucks, the benevolent capitalist?
Can making profits be combined with a social conscience?
In September 2003 The Sunday Times interviewed Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, the multinational chain of coffee stores. From its small beginnings in Seattle in 1971 Starbucks (by 2003) had 7,000 stores and 70,000 employees worldwide. The following are extracts in which Schultz explains the 'ethical stance' of Starbucks:
Schultz .. . has a commitment to worker-friendly employment practices. His motivation to create an employee-centric company were based on his experience growing up poor in New York [he says]: 'One of the things I remember as a young boy was how my father's self-esteem was linked to how he was treated as an uneducated blue collar worker, who was disrespected in the workplace . . . That's why I wanted to build the kind of company that did not leave its people behind, that would value people whether they were well educated or not and that would give everyone an opportunity and a clean slate'. Schultz has also promoted an interest in fair-trade issues [and]... he is immensely proud of his firm's environmental and social awareness policies, its drive to integrate its stores into local communities and, especially, its innovative share-option scheme for employees. 'When we created that it was the first time in the history of America that a programme like that was created for part-time workers and we've brought it to the UK'. Schultz claimed that it paid off with low rates of people leaving for other jobs. Despite these claims for its progressive social policies some still see Starbucks as an evil empire - alongside the more aggressive American multinationals such as MacDonalds or Wal-Mart. It is regularly attacked by anti-globalisation protestors and has
drawn criticism from a range of opponents. Schultz himself has been targeted by fair-trade activists and Starbucks reception in Europe has been chillier than elsewhere. Schultz countered these accusations: 'I'm not concerned with Starbucks becoming the most profitable company in the world. That's a very shallow goal, to achieve profitability at all costs. That isn't a zero-sum game for me or anyone else at Starbucks. It's very important that we do something that hasn't been done before, to build a different kind of company that does achieve the fiscal issues . . . but demonstrates its heart and its conscience in giving back to our employees, to the communities we serve, to the coffee-growing regions, and then to reward our shareholders.'
Source: The text has been amended and extracted from an article that was originally published in The Sunday Times, 14 September 2003, p. 3.7.
Questions
1. Looking “Four possible ethical stances” how would you characterise Schultz's view of Starbucks' ethical stance?
2. Do other stakeholders see Starbucks in the same way?
3. If there are differences between these views does it matter to the success or failure of Starbucks' strategies?
Пример 2. Ethical dilemmas
Managers face a range of different ethical dilemmas that need to be resolved.
Conflicting objectives
You are a Dutch manager in charge of the mining operations of your multinational company in Namibia. You employ mainly local workers on very low wages. Your operation provides livelihood for 1,000 families and is the mainstay of the local economy. There is no other local work other than subsistence farming. You have discovered many safety problems with the mine but the company engineer has advised that the cost of upgrading facilities would make the mine uneconomic. Closing the mine would cause a major political stir and harm the parent company's reputation. But keeping it open risks the chance of a major disaster.
Performance data
You are the recently appointed head teacher of a school that is now improving following a period of very poor performance under your predecessor. It has been made clear that one important performance indicator is pupil attendance levels - that must be brought up to the national average (95 per cent). You have now collected all the data for your regular statistical return and notice to your disappointment that your attendance record has fallen just below your required target. On discussing this with your deputy she asks if you would like her to 're-examine and correct' the attendance data before submission.
Bribery
You are the newly appointed manager in charge of a new sales office in New York set up following extensive market research by your British company. After a few months you discover that none of the company's products can be sold in New York without code approval from an obscure New York authority that is controlled by Local 4 of the electricians' union. Further investigation reveals that Local 4 had Mafia
connections
Shortly afterwards you are visited by Local 4 representatives who offer you a deal. If the company pays an annual 'consultative fee' of $12,000 (€10,400) (with escalation clauses as sales grew) you will secure approval in six months. The alternative is to attempt to secure approval alone, which informed sources say is unlikely to succeed. Company policy is opposed to bribery. But the project is a make-or-break for the company's ventures in the USA and your own career. Given the potential gains $12,000 is a small amount and would probably be approved if presented 'appropriately'.
Rationing
Rationing is one of the most important issues in many public sector organisations. You are a Swedish doctor working on secondment in charge of a local hospital in rural Nigeria. The medical facilities are poor, particularly supplies of medicines and blood. A bus leaving town has collided with a tourist vehicle. Apart from several fatalities there are four seriously injured survivors. Two are local children (both age 2), one is an elderly leader of a local tribe and the fourth is a German tourist. They all have the same blood group and need transfusions. There is only enough blood for two patients.
Questions
You are the 'player' faced with each of these dilemmas:
1. What choices of action do you have?
2. List the pros and cons of each choice to your organisation, the external parties and yourself.
3. Explain what you would do and justify your actions from an ethical point of view.
