Write an essay analyzing this situation, from Mary’s point of view, according to the ethical decision-making. Your paper should be written from the point of view of Mary, the chief executive officer, and should conclude by recommending an appropriate course of action for Mary to take on behalf of the company.
Pay particular attention to the category “evaluation of ethics” of the alternatives (step 5 of the seven step system covered in the course,) which is the most important part of the ethical decision-making process. A student must do well on the evaluation of the ethics of the alternatives in order to receive a good grade on the paper.
(2) Also see "Outline for Ethics Paper" distributed in class and posted on Blackboard. Your paper should be in the same format, and use the same headings, as set forth in the "Outline for Ethics Paper."
FACTS: Mary is the chief executive officer of Endless Energy, a manufacturer of wind turbines that produce electricity. Endless Energy has 100 sales people who sell the company’s products in all regions of the U.S. Fred was recently hired as the company’s vice president for human resources. Fred has recommended that Endless Energy adopt an automatic termination policy for Endless Energy’s sales people. Under the current system, members of Endless Energy’s sales staff are evaluated according to a formula based on a combination of two criteria: (1) the dollar amount of what they sell and (2) ratings in customer satisfaction surveys sent electronically to customers. Currently, workers who do well in the evaluation get cash bonuses. Fred’s suggestion is to improve the overall productivity of the sales staff by adding an automatic termination policy that would require dismissal of any sales person whose evaluation score is in the bottom 10% during any evaluation period, which covers 3 months. Fred has told Mary that a similar automatic termination provision was effective in increasing productivity among sales workers at his previous employer, Turbo Industries (a manufacturer of backup natural gas-powered electrical generators for hospitals,) which is known as one of the most profitable manufacturers in its field. While mindful of Fred’s reputation for improving profitability of large companies through changes in human resources policies, and of her own duty to run a prosperous business, Mary is uncomfortable with the idea of automatically dismissing a sales person whose evaluation score is in the bottom 10% during any evaluation period. She remembers her own experience as a regional sales manager for Endless Energy many years ago when the company was getting started. Back then, Mary saw that some good sales people could have relatively low sales figures. She also remembered that only a small percentage of customers bothered to fill out a customer satisfaction survey. Nevertheless, Mary recalled that as a regional sales manager she had to perform the unpleasant task of dismissing workers for a variety of reasons, including unusually low sales figures and low scores on customer satisfaction surveys. Although she remains uncomfortable about the proposed automatic termination policy, Mary realizes it could be helpful in some situations and could improve the profitability of the company. Write an essay analyzing this situation, from Mary’s point of view, according to the ethical decision-making. Your paper should be written from the point of view of Mary, the chief executive officer, and should conclude by recommending an appropriate course of action for Mary to take on behalf of the company. (1) See attached "Framework" document for guidance on what the paper should cover. Pay particular attention to the category “evaluation of ethics” of the alternatives (step 5 of the seven step system covered in the course,) which is the most important part of the ethical decision-making process. A student must do well on the evaluation of the ethics of the alternatives in order to receive a good grade on the paper.
(2) Also see "Outline for Ethics Paper" distributed in class and posted on Blackboard. Your paper should be in the same format, and use the same headings, as set forth in the "Outline for Ethics Paper." 1. ALTERNATIVES: How well did the student identify alternative courses of action? ___excellent · Identification of at least two alternatives, and
· Creativity in formulating one or more alternatives ___adequate: Identification of at least two alternatives ___unsatisfactory: Failure to identify at least two alternatives
· 2. STAKEHOLDERS: How well did the student identify stakeholders?
___excellent: Application of the concept of stakeholder in an expansive manner ___adequate: Identification of the most obvious people likely to be affected by an
alternative, but omission of others ___unsatisfactory: Omission of obvious stakeholders ·
3. EVALUATION OF ETHICS: How well did the student evaluate the ethics of each alternative according to moral rights, justice, and/or utilitarianism?
___ excellent
· Demonstration of a thorough understanding of each ethical principle which is applied, and performance of an in-depth analysis, and
· Each alternative is evaluated by the same set of ethical principles, and
· At least two ethical principles are applied, and
· Responsibilities within the organization and/or society are emphasized (when relevant)
___ adequate
· Application of each ethical principle in a plausible way, and
· Each alternative is evaluated, but not necessarily by the same ethical principles, and
· At least two ethical principles are applied, and
· Responsibilities within the organization and/or society are mentioned (when relevant)
___ unsatisfactory
· Application of ethical principles in faulty way, and/or
· Failure to apply two or more ethical principles to each alternative, and/or
· Failure to mention any responsibilities within the organization and/or society (when
relevant) ·
4. ACTION SELECTED: How well did the student select an appropriate course of action as a result of the ethical analysis?
___excellent: The alternative selected is well supported by persuasive reasoning based on the evaluation of its ethics
___adequate: The alternative selected is supported by the evaluation of its ethics ___unsatisfactory: The alternative selected is not supported by the evaluation of its
ethics.