Ethical issue: discrimination

Part Briefly explain the situation, working conditions, attitudes of the employees, and any discrimination occurrences you find in each Division of MU Corp. Marketing and Sales (Pg194) Situation: The department is made up of a total of 14 people consisting of 10 sales persons and 4 administrators. Among these workers, only one is female and she gets paid the least among the rest of the people. One of the workers happens to be the son of the boss and earns the most commission despite doing the least work. Working conditions: The conditions vary from person to person in relation to the type of relationship that one has with the boss’s son who is in charge of this department. If one is on good terms with him, then they will likely experience better working conditions than those who are not. Attitudes of Employees: The female member of this division is not satisfied with the conditions that she has to deal with including the fact that she earns less than the other workers due to her gender. Discrimination exists in this division seen by the difference in pay for the male and female workers. The preferential treatment by the boss’s son is also another form of discrimination as he tends to treat the workers he is friends with better than the others. Manufacturing and Tech Support (Pg 192-193) Situation: The division is divided into three groups including technical support, skilled and unskilled. The unskilled group has the largest number and is mostly made up of individuals of Latin origin while the Tech support which is the smallest group is made up of Caucasians and makes more money than the unskilled workers. Working Conditions: The unskilled individuals work longer hours than their counterparts and are afraid of losing their job if they dare to complain about this fact. Despite this, they are still the lowest earners of the lot. Attitudes of Employees: The unskilled workers live in fear of losing their employment and therefore though they are not satisfied with the conditions that they are subjected to, they suffer in silence. Discrimination in this division exists in the form of the way workers have been chosen according to their origin, for instance, workers in the unskilled group are mostly Latina and while the tech support is made up of purely Caucasians. Engineering (Pg 193 – 194) Situation: The division is made up of a small group of people (4 in number) with one female amongst them. Working conditions: Though they all perform the same tasks and duties, the female member of the division earns a lower salary than her male counterparts. Attitudes of the Employees: The male employees tend to undermine their female counterpart and do not take her into consideration because of her gender. This happens in social interaction as well work related activities. Discrimination is also present in this division seen by the fact that the female employee earns less than her male counterparts despite doing the same amount of work. Human Resources and Finance (Pg 194) Situation: This division is made up of individuals that happen to all come from the same family (the CEO’s). Working conditions: The conditions that they experience at work are more than tolerable and as a result there are no qualms about who makes the decisions (the CEO). The workers also get along well considering they are from the same family. Attitudes of Employees: They are happy to be working for a company where they do not have to worry about being fired by the boss. Discrimination here is seen by the fact that all the members of this division are from the same family, a fact that cannot happen unless it is planned that way. PART #2: Developing an Action Plan with Possible Responses to Discrimination found at MB. A. Compensation 1. Evaluate “ harm done” in each department based on your findings in Part 1. The differences in compensation of the workers creates a sense of disunity among the employees as those who earn less than their co workers view them as the favorites of the company. This makes it hard for these two groups to get along with each other making it harder to complete objectives in which they needed to work together successfully. Those who earn lower pay are also discouraged from doing their work to the best of their abilities as they are not motivated to do so.    2.  What compensation is fair to balance the “ harm done” by MB? The female employees of the company should have their salaries raised to equal that of their male co workers to create a sense of financial equality in the work place. Promotions to higher levels of management should also be determined according to an individual’s qualifications and not skin color and orientation. This means that Latina workers should not be stuck in the unskilled labor division just because of their origins and the boss’s son should not get preferential treatment due to his family connections. B. Future Discrimination List some action plans to implement in order to prevent discrimination happening in the future as MB becomes part of MU. The boss’s son will need to be replaced with an individual more capable of running the activities in the Marketing and Sales department. MU should also begin holding seminars on discrimination for the employees to discourage it from happening and those who are found guilty of it should suffer the consequences such as being demoted from their position or in more serious cases have their contacts terminated by the company. External Social Issues     1.  Focus: Education – prepare diverse work force in community Education on discrimination including ways to identify and prevent it from happening is important to companies to prepare a diverse work force in the community. Educating individuals on such matters allows for culture of acceptance in the community creating a harmonious society that is not divided in terms of race which develops hatred among the different groups. 2.  List action plans we can implement to help in this way This can be done by; Holding seminars on discrimination that is open to the public Hosting events that encourage interaction between the different communities in the area. These can be fun activities such as treasure hunts where people from different backgrounds are picked to work together. Spreading the message of love and acceptance of different races and communities within the region, this can be done through the use of flyers, adverts and other social media. D.  Equality among employees     1.  Focus:  Although different positions & duties among departments & employees — can equality be established among individuals, groups, divisions, & departments within the organization? Equality among employees can be achieved in an organization despite the differences in their positions and duties. This can be achieved through teaching every employee to appreciate each other despite their position and helping them to understand that every part of the organization is essential to its success. As the famous adage says, it takes a village to raise a baby.     2.  List ideas and action plans you can try to implement to create an environment of equality at MB as we make it into an MU company. (Recall Exercises 8. 1-8. 3 and apply some of your ideas to equality among employees) There are a number of actions that can be taken to promote an environment of equality within the work place, these include; Holding seminars on discrimination and means of eliminating it from the work place. Leveling the wages and salaries of both men and women in the company who work in the same department/division. Initiating serious consequences for those found guilty of discrimination in the work place such as docking pay, demotion and even termination of contracts. Ensuring that all departments have a healthy mixture of individuals from different backgrounds to create a sense of unity within the company. PART #3: Outline your plan and create a Memo Create a Memo based on the 4 categories in Part 2, outlining exactly what your suggestions are to change the un-ethical MB into an ethical MU company. A.  Compensation Compensation for both men and women should be equal in all departments of the company and should be based on the position that is occupied by the employee and not their gender. B.  Preventing Future Discrimination Preventing future discrimination can be done by initiating consequences for anyone who is found guilty of the act. The consequences can include docking their pay, demoting them if they are in apposition of influence or terminating their contracts in more serious cases. C.  External Social Issue: Education Educating individuals on the problems that discrimination brings and helps create a sense of unity among members of the community. This can be done via seminars on the subject that are open to the public and activities that bring the different members of the community together. D.  Equality among Employees. Equality among employees is essential in any working environment as it allows for a sense of unity allowing for a friendlier environment. It will also motivate employees to work harder if they know that they will be judged on the quality of their work and not their background. From: The Vice president To: The CEO Re: Discrimination After a careful study of the organization and the different departments, I have discovered that there exists a high level of discrimination in every division which is not healthy for the success of the company. Something has to be done immediately to change this if the organization wishes for a more suitable working environment. I suggest that first of all the salary and wage structure needs to be changed so that they are equal for every individual working in the same department. The managers need to be hired based on their abilities and not their family connections and the same goes for promotion of employees who I have noted are promoted depending on their background. The company will also need to hold regular seminars on discrimination and consequences need to be established for those found guilty of the act. Such consequences can include docking of pay, demotion and termination of contracts for more serious cases. Then organization will only be able to reach its full potential if the discrimination that exists is totally eliminated from the company. Best regards,