General Manufactures widget manufacturing plant operating in Pleasantville (in a
ID: 404810 • Letter: G
Question
General Manufactures widget manufacturing plant operating in Pleasantville (in a midWestern state) is at a crossroads. Profits have been dwindling over the past several years, and management feels that high labor costs are making their operation uncompetitive. The plant is unionized, but the union has agreed to a series of wage and benefit cuts over the years. New hires, now a majority of the workforce, are paid $14 an hour, while the old workforce is paid at a rate that corresponds to an hourly wage of $25. Pleasantville is, for the most part, a company town. Most of the residents work directly or indirectly for General Manufacturers, and the town would be devastated if the plant closed. The company has been the beneficiary of the policies of the town and the state in the past: they have been offered tax breaks, a highway was constructed to help move raw materials and finished products, schools and other facilities for workers and their families were established, utilities were billed at a discounted rate etc. In addition, generations workers of from Pleasantville have spent their working lives at General Manufactures and have seen it progress from a tiny plant to a major manufacturer of goods for an international market. John Smith, the CEO of General Manufacturers has a decision to make. He has the choice of remaining in Pleasantville, moving to a non-union location in Tennessee, or relocating the plant to a cheap-labor country.
Analyze the above from the following perspectives:
1) Who are the stakeholders in this scenario? What, if anything, does the company owe to them?
2) Do you think that the companys decision should involve an ethical component? If not, why not? If yes, what ethical framework would you deploy (and why)?
3) What should the role of the leader be under these circumstances, especially from an ethical perspective?
4) What is the role of corporate governance in this scenario?
5) How does globalization complicate the issues surrounding any one of the following: corporate social responsibility, ethical leadership, corporate governance?
Explanation / Answer
answer 1) the union that has agreed to a series of wage and benefit cuts over the years are the stake holder's in this scenario as they can affect or the company can be affected by the actions of the business as a whole. AND Most of the residents who work directly or indirectly for General Manufacturers can also be considered as the stake holders
because The company owes them the benificiary of the policies of the town and the state where they have been offered tax breaks, and a highway was constructed to help move raw materials and finished products, schools and other facilities for workers and their families were established, utilities were billed at a discounted rate etc.
ans2) YES , i think ethical component should be present in the comapany's decision as
ans3)
A great leader should take the responsibility of maintaining all the factors that lead to ethical growth. he should not only do what the company did in the above passage, but he is solely responsible for maintaining the
ans4) coorporate governace has the responsibility of extracting major goods from tiny plants and converting them to products of international market as corporate responsibilities are done in favour of environment where use of natural resources is another business principle that often is found in code of ethics.
ans5) FIRST OF ALL globalization refers to the international integration of world views , ideas culture and most importantly the products worldwide, so yes globalization makes the issues such as corporate social responsibility, ethical leadership, corporate governance to be all the more complicated due to the fact that globalization extends the limits of services ,goods , values , principle to a mark of infinite due to international integration , so dealing with ethical components such as values and principles is not that easy task. leading a world/company with different minds belonging to different countries is a tactical one and most importantly extracting too many human resources and completely relying on them which is the sole responsiblity of corporate governace is a very complicated process
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