Ethics

Part A
A1
If I were in the position of the newly-hired Quality Control Manager, I wouldnt have to be a whistle blower immediately. The issues that I would have to consider in being a whistle blower include my position in the company and the reason for my being hired.  First of all, how would whistle blowing impact on my role in the company as Quality Control or Assurance Manager Another issue which I need to consider is how would the company, its stakeholders such as employees, investors, customers, suppliers and the regulating bodies, react and respond if I would tell on the companys quality issues
The most crucial factor that I would need to consider is the fact that I was hired by the company to manage the Quality Control of the operations and the products. Would I think it wise to whistle blow on the companys quality standards Definitely, no because if I do so, it would be tantamount to betraying the trust of the company on my role as QC manager and as an employee. Likewise, whistle blowing would be tantamount to telling the public that I, as QC Manager, would be useless and ineffective in my role.

Overall, whistle blowing may not always prove to be beneficial to most of the parties concerned in any scandal, the companys stockholders, employees, clients, suppliers and creditors. Whistle blowing will most probably result to business catastrophe. Is there anything positive that will happen Perhaps, only the emergence of truththat is, as was the case of Enron.

Instead of whistle blowing, I would exert my best efforts to fully implement what the QC Director has already started the identification, segregation and disposal of salmonella-contaminated products. Since this has already been started, the only requirement for the tagging system to be fully implemented is to ensure and enforce its implementation. The fact that the companys top management hired a QC manager, aside from the existing QC Director impresses on me its desire to enforce Quality control on its products. The significant problem is in the implementation. So as the new QC manager, I would choose to enforce the compliance to quality control measures and communicate the results to the top management. That is, since my boss is indifferent to the situation in the production.

My stance or decision on this matter is based on the utilitarian standards. You would be wondering how come I am using the Utilitarian standard here since I wouldnt even be revealing the quality issue with the food products. I will analyze the facts and try to come up with win-win solutions which would result to minimal catastrophe. Since I believe that the Quality issue can still be resolved with proper monitoring and implementation, there would be no need for public revelations. This way, I wouldnt scandalize myself and the company. Everybody holds on to their jobs, and adhere to the requirements and standards of the food processing. With regard to the consumers, there are no consistent and solid evidences which can prove that the companys food products have indeed resulted to serious health conditions. Hence, there is still a chance to resolve the Quality issues and ensure the absence of contaminants on its food products.

On signing the Quality Control form, based on the authoritarian standards of ethics, I will not sign the Quality Control form unless the products on the subject pass the quality requirements. Based on the authoritarian standards, I should exercise the authority bested on me through my position as QC manager.  This way, I can impress on the production people the necessity to conform to the required quality standards (Leys 6)

A2  Root Causes of the Food and Safety Quality Problems at Delectables
Using the Ishikawa Diagram as a tool for identifying the root causes of the quality control problem, I would consider the 4 Ms and E of the company. The 4Ms are Man, Machine, Method, Money and the Environment to analyze the root causes of the problem.

On Man, why is there no Quality Because of poor work attitude( why The foremen are paid and rewarded by the number of boxes produced (regardless of the quality of the output). Another reason for the poor attitude is because the production workers are paid by the hour.  Hence, there appears to be no checkpoint or reward system for quality output. This is the root cause of the problem in the Man element.

On the Method, why is there no Quality There is already the tagging system introduced by the QC Director. To complement that, the later also recommended an inspection system applied as best practice by other companies. The problem lies in fully and realistically implementing it. This is due to the indifferent and nonchalant attitudes of the production people towards quality. After all, their wages are not quality-based, but by the hour and quantity.

In terms of machineequipment, the substandard quality of the food products can be attributed to the lack of or absence of proper maintenance system, e.g. the rusty and dirty roaster. In turn, this can be attributed to the lack of maintenance program, due to lack of awareness and competence. On top of that, there is also the negative attitude towards such a task.

In terms of Money, the lack of maintenance program and negative attitude of the production people can be attributed to the lack of financial resources to implement such programs and motivate the employees.

On the Environment, the poor quality may be caused by the general lack of commitment towards quality. The Top and Middle Management have an important role to play in creating an environment which can inculcate positive attitude towards quality and ethical standards. Ethical climate is, in essence, the employees perception of the norms of an organization (Bartels et.al. 1998799-804, cited in Mahdavi1).

A2  The Quality Control Director
I believe that the Quality Control Director cannot be effective in his role. He was not and may not be effective. He seems to be very competent and knowledgeable, but it looks like he is being ignored by most people in the company, as evidenced by the kind of office he has and by the management ignoring his proposals.

A3- Issues for Management
There are issues or problems which the management must address, although these are already deeply rooted. First, the prevailing attitude of the production people must be addressed by modifying the performance or reward system. The hourly-wage system can also be adjusted to incorporate quality outputs, instead of by the hour system

The commitment of the Middle Management (foremen and supervisor) towards quality also needs to be enhanced and strengthened because the workers follow the lead of these personnel. All of these factors, if not addressed by the Management, will cause pressure and challenges to my efforts to improve the Quality Control at Delectables.

PART B
B1 The Governments Role
The government should have regulatory authority over companies, especially to those that manufacture food products. The government should designate a special body or agency to issue and renew licenses to companies to operate as food processors. These licenses should be granted depending on the compliance of the company to quality control requirements set by the inspecting and monitoring bodies.

The challenges being faced by the government in dealing with quality issues at Delectables include the lack of staff to conduct inspections and monitoring. Meanwhile, FDAs partners in monitoring the food health and condition in Georgia are not given adequate funds. As these are serious outbreaks of food contamination, theses inspectors are too preoccupied with more serious food contamination issues,
Georgia can provide guidelines to companies like Delectables. Possible in-house inspectors can be designated. The inspection and monitoring reports can just be sent to the Georgia monitoring board.

The government can encourage and support companies to act more socially responsible by conducting regular and consistent dialogues fostering social responsibility. The government can also provide incentives to motivate companies by reducing taxes, regulating fees and others.

Yes, I believe the state should also allow an alternative self-regulation system. However, conditions, guidelines and consistent recording system must be fully communicated and implemented to ensure that industry self-regulation is aligned with protecting the public interest.

PART C
The legal and ethical issues raised in the supervisors proposal to ship red-tagged items includes fair dealing, compliance with laws, rules and regulations, and upholding the responsibility of business from shareholders and onto the stakeholders.

The intentional releasing of contaminated goods to the customers is tantamount to the emergence of lawsuits from customers who may be adversely affected. Ethically, this is also wrong, in accordance to the ethical principles of fair dealing and upholding the responsibility of the company towards the stakeholders such as customers and the general public. Despite the supervisors argument that the contaminated goods are acceptable to San Lopez, it is still unethical and unlawful act.

If the subject of this case were the yellow-tagged items, my analysis would be the same. Yellow-tagged products have been sampled with contamination, and therefore require further tests. Since the quality of these products is questionable, they cannot be considered as fully-compliant.

PART D
The San Lopez case is a classic example of extortion, bribery and gift-giving resulting to an unfair business practice. This may be legal in the county but pertaining to International Business Code of Ethics, these three acts are prohibited as per International Code of Ethics (Sullivan 20066).

Extortion, bribery and gift giving is prohibited in most countries, even as small as San Lopez. These acts are all forms of corruption. These acts are of course, unethical, too.

Yes, there may be acts which may be legal but unethical. Examples of these are those acts which are considered by a country as unethical, but in other countries, these are legal.