Ethics

The ethics in the business world has assumed great significance in the modern world. It has been proved in the past that following ethics is one of the main component for the success of the business in the long run. In the article Overpromoted and over his head by Roche published in 2010 Harvard business review the case of the dilemmas faced by a new CEO in Nutriselect has been stated. The paper deals in the type of the issues faced and the alternatives for the CEO in this case.

Ethical Dilemma in the case of Dan Sestak
The case study deals in the ethical dilemma Dan Sestak is facing on the responsibility of the CEO. He has been promoted to the post prematurely with the death of his mentor and he had to take the position in his place. Months after assuming the position of the CEO, he is faced with a situation, which is testing his ability and skills to tackle the situation. He faced the dilemma if being over promoted prematurely. The problems rose from the problems faced by him from the colleagues due to his position and the colleagues were working against him. The colleagues were more deserving than him for the position and that raised the question in his mind if he was over promoted. One of his trusted member has leaked sensitive information to the media. This has prompted in the publishing of an article over the company and Dan. It has been reported in the article that the ability of the new CEO has been responsible for the poor performance of the company. Dan was visibly annoyed with the article and he felt the pressure of facing a tough situation against the shareholders.

Another point, which has been troubling Dan has been the attitude of his fellow colleagues. Some of the members like Richard Wells and Rena Singh did not cooperate with the works of Dan. However, the two members were an integral part of the company and they were both instrumental in the selection of a supplier in the frozen Dinners line. The deal was helpful for the company as it saved millions of dollars. However, Dan understood that the deal did not take into account the quality of the products. According to Dan quality was an extremely important issue in retaining the customers. This was another ethical dilemma Dan faced over the quality of the products and the financial benefits of the company.

The type of dilemmas for Dan Sestak
According to the case study the new CEO faced two ethical dilemmas. The first one was the licking of sensitive information to the press and the second one was the choice between quality and the financial gains of the product. The first dilemma stems from the fact that Dan is unable to confront the person who has leaked out the information. The person who leaked out the information was from the higher-level management and one of Dans colleagues. Therefore, he is facing a dilemma over finding out the culprit of the incident.

The utilitarianism view of the ethics point out that the business should make maximum number of people happy. In the business parlance it underlines that the business should earn profits after weighing the costs. The business can make the most number of people happy if it earns profits and this can be done by being efficient in its functions. The cost benefit analysis of the business often leads the business to pay no heed to the ethical principles of the society. (Sidgwick,1981 Pp 457-459). The Libertarianism view underlines that there should be freedom for everyone in the market to buy the goods. This often leads to problem because the business may tend to sell goods which the consumer demands. The product may be preferred by the customers due to various reasons like low costs and easy availability. But the process of the production may involve high levels of pollution. (Day, 2000 Pp 36-37).

In Deontology, the people of the society should do the right things irrespective of the situation. The principle is based on the duties of the people, which are based on the right ways of conduct. The principle of Deontology also states that the people should not use the others for their own benefits. (Fennel,2006P75). Another principle in the subject of ethics is the Virtue ethics. This principle refers in developing the right habits. The right habits are gained by the practice of doing things right and cannot be learned in books. The principle underlines the fact the main motive of the business is to do good for the people in the society. (Swanton,2003Pp 1-3)

In the case study, the new CEO is faced with two dilemmas. The first dilemma faced by the new CEO of the company is confronting the person who has leaked the financial information to the press. The financial information is very sensitive to the company and has been done by a person in the top brass of the management. This is why Dan is facing a dilemma to confront the individual as he has to go against the views of the management. The dilemma faced by Dan in this case is of Virtue ethics. Virtue ethics encourages the people to incur right habits in the business. Leaking sensitive information to the outside world go against the ethics of the company and is not the right habits for the business.

The second one can be termed as a combination of the utilitarian and Libertarianism view of the ethics. The colleagues of Dan were influenced by the prospect of lowering of the price of the products and as the price of the product will be low the consumers will demand more. The business will incur heavy profits and the cost benefit analysis will show the business in good light. The quality of the product will be affected but that was not the purpose of the deal. The deal was to get the least cost for the product. In the case of Dan, he is faced with the Deontology ethics as he is trying to do the right thing irrespective of the situation. He is stressing on the quality of the product and this is a main concern as the company deals in food products.

The best alternatives
Business ethics deals in doing the right thing irrespective of the context of the situation. Ethical dilemmas rise due to the clash of values in situations where there is a clash of interests. The companies engulfed in the ethical dilemma can harm their reputation if the wrong choices are made. The scandals rising from the harm of reputation destroys the market value of the companies. (Chryssides  Kaler, 2006 Pp 2-3). The ethical clash rises between people with different cultural contexts. In the case study Dan faced the same situation. Dan is faced with a tough situation as he has to go against the people in the top brass if he follows the ethical principles. The intention of the other people in the top level management is different from that of Dan. Dan was in the organic division earlier and that is the reason he understands the essence of quality in the food business. With the decrease in quality, the food business may suffer. For example, if the food of the company is contaminated with harmful substances, the business will loose customers. Therefore, the long term aim of the business will be hampered. The business will loose customers and sales will decrease. The main aim of the business is to grow. To grow the business has to cater to the needs of the customers that would help to build a strong customer base. The old customers form the basis for the growth of the businesses. However, the other members of the management are adamant at their decision of giving priority to the short term gain. The management got hold of a supplier who would supply the products at a much lesser cost. It is evident that the quality will be affected. Therefore, this would help in increasing the profits of the company. The management is looking at the short term perspective of making profits. It is true that the profit is one of the biggest concerns for the business but to grow it needs to build reputation in the market. However, with this move, the reputation of the company can be harmed. Therefore, keeping in mind the reputation of the company and the ethical perspectives, Dan should exercise his powers and cancel the contract between the company and the supplier. This will help in the development of the ethics in the company and the reputation of the company in the market will develop. The management can look for another supplier whose main focus will be on quality.

The internal matters of the company have been leaked to the media. The media used the information to publish an article on the company and its new CEO. The article can have a detrimental effect on the value of the company. The investors will think that the new CEO will be of no use to the company and the performance of the company will not improve. This will have a negative impact on the share prices of the company. The market price of the shares may go down as often it happens with the release of any negative news from the company. (Dobson  Goddard,2001 P381)Therefore, the article may have widespread implications. The information published in the article has been conveyed by one of the closest members in the management as this kind of information is only available to the higher level management. Dan is sure that one of his colleagues has passed on the information and this is not surprising as most of the colleagues are jealous of Dans rise to the post of CEO. However, Dan is not able to confront the person as he fears a clash between the management bodies which can hamper the activities of the company. The management body will become disrupted and at this crucial juncture it will stop to perform. Management is one of the primary tools that help in the operations of the company and therefore any disruption in that can be detrimental to the health of the company. However, one has to bear in mind that not confronting the guilty person can give rise to similar situations in the future. Therefore, Dan should exercise the powers of a CEO and confront the guilty person and if need arises terminate him for the breach of his moral responsibilities.