Case Memo #2
In this assignment,
students will read and analyze a case study. In response to the case
study, students will write an analysis in business memo format, addressed to
the Board of Directors for the company. The memo is written by the
student acting as a hired consultant for the company.
The case study to be
analyzed, The Case of Plant Relocation, is attached.
By completing this
assignment, students will meet the outcome(s):
- identify ethical issues that arise in domestic and
global business environments using an understanding of ethical concepts
and of legal and business principles;
- develop and evaluate alternatives to, and recommend
solutions for, ethical dilemmas, taking into account ethical and legal
requirements and the essential mission of the business enterprise
- effectively communicate to internal and external
business stakeholders the complexities of ethical issues, suggesting and
analyzing various solutions in order to ensure appropriate business
practices and accountability
Requirements of Case
Memo #2:
- Draft memo using the prescribe format
(subheadings/sections) prescribed below;
- All sections must be comprehensive, in-depth and fully
justified;
- Resources from your own research may be used to justify
and support rationale;
- All in-text citations and resources must be in APA
style;
- Make
sure your discussion is founded on principles in the articel A
Framework for Thinking Ethically [http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework.html
Memorandum Format:
TO:
FROM:
RE:
DATE:
Include all the
following subheadings/sections in the memo:
INTRODUCTION: Brief intro to subject of memo.
FACTS SUMMARY: Summarize and explain the facts that
are directly significant and relevant to the ethical dilemma in this
case.
ETHICAL DILEMMA: Discuss either/or ethical dilemma facing the
company.
ETHICAL ISSUES: Discuss two (2) of the most
significant ethical issues related to, and arising from, the ethical dilemma
and then, explain each ethical issue and why it is an ethical/moral issue,
etc.
ALTERNATIVES: List, explain and justify one (1) possible
alternative/solution for EACH ethical issue to address and
resolve the ethical dilemma and each ethical issue discussed above.
Alternatives should be
feasible, logical, directly related to resolving the ethical dilemma and
addressing the ethical issues in the case.
Alternatives are
expressed in the form of propositions or prescriptive statements suggesting
action and are framed by asking the normative question, what could or should
the company do? Consider consequences. Identify relevant stakeholders and
the effects on them, pros and cons, etc. of each alternative. Apply
ethical theories in context of your evaluations, but don’t over-do this
aspect. For example, teleological or consequentialist theorists would
examine who the stakeholders are, both internal and external to the company,
and the positive and negative consequences for each group, etc.
RECOMMENDATION: Recommend one and only one (1)
alternative from the two (2) alternatives suggested above. Justify and
explain your choice discussing:
- why you recommend this alternative;
- how, specifically, the recommendation will address the
ethical dilemma and ethical issues;
- how the recommendation will likely impact relevant
stakeholders;
- pros and cons of your recommendation;
- feasibility of your recommendation;
- how the recommendation will be implemented;
- Apply ethical theories, resources from previously
assigned course materials, or resources from your own research to justify
and support your recommendation.
FUTURE IMPLICATIONS for
RECOMMENDATION: Discuss potential
implications arising from your recommendation for:
- the company
- other businesses within the industry
- other industries
CONCLUSION: Summarize the case and its
ethical issues, implications, etc.
Case Memo 2 Case
The Case of the Plant Relocation
You are the chief
executive of Electrocorp, an electronics company, which makes the onboard
computer components for automobiles. In your production plants, complex
hydrocarbon solvents are used to clean the chips and other parts that go into
the computer components. Some of the solvents used are carcinogens and must be
handled with extreme care. Until recently, all of your production plants were
located in the United States. However, the cost of production has risen,
causing profits to decline.
A number of factors have
increased production costs. First, the union representing the workers in your
plant waged a successful strike resulting in increased salary and benefits. The
pay and benefits package for beginning employees is around $15/hour. A second
factor has been stringent safety regulations. These safety procedures, which
apply inside the plant, have been expensive in both time and money. Finally,
environmental regulations have made Electrocorp's operations more costly.
Electrocorp is required to put its waste through an expensive process before
depositing it at a special disposal facility.
Shareholders have been complaining
to you about the declining fortunes of the company. Many of Electrocorp's
competitors have moved their operations to less-developed countries, where
their operating costs are less than in the United States, and you have begun to
consider whether to relocate a number of plants to offshore sites. Electrocorp
is a major employer in each of the U.S. cities where it is located, and you
know that a plant closure will cause economic dislocation in these communities.
You know that the employees who will be laid off because of plant closures will
have difficulty finding equivalent positions and that increased unemployment,
with its attendant social costs, will result. However, you are aware of many
other corporations, including your competitors, that have shut down their U.S.
operations, and it is something that you are willing to consider.
You have hired a
consultant, Martha Smith, to investigate the sites for possible plant
relocation. Ms. Smith has years of experience working with companies that have
moved their operations to less-developed countries to reduce their operating
costs. Based on your own research, you have asked Ms. Smith to more fully
investigate the possibility of operations in Mexico, the Philippines, and South
Africa. A summary of her report and recommendation for each country follows:
Mexico
A number of border
cities in Mexico would be cost-efficient relocation sites based on labor and
health and safety/environmental factors. Workers in production plants
comparable to Electrocorp's earn about $3 per day, which is the prevailing
wage. There is frequent worker turnover because employees complain that they
cannot live on $3/day, and they head north to work illegally in the United
States. However, a ready supply of workers takes their place.
Mexican health and
environmental laws are also favorable to production. Exposure to toxic
chemicals in the workplace is permitted at higher levels than in the United
States, allowing corporations to dispense to some degree with costly procedures
and equipment. Mexico's environmental laws are less strict than those of the
United States, and a solvent recovery system, used to reduce the toxicity of
the waste before dumping, is not required.
The only identifiable
business risk is possible bad publicity. The rate of birth defects has been
high in many Mexican border towns where similar plants are in operation.
Citizen health groups have begun protests, accusing the companies of
contamination leading to illness.
Philippines
Conditions in the
Philippines are more favorable than those in Mexico in terms of labor and
health and safety/environmental factors.
The prevailing wage in
the Philippines is about $1/day, and young workers (under 16) may be paid even
less. As in Mexico, the workers complain that the rate of pay is not a living
wage, but it is the present market rate.
The health and safety
and environmental regulations are equivalent to those in Mexico, but there have
been no public complaints or opposition regarding birth defects, cancers, or
other illnesses.
South Africa
Conditions in South
Africa are positive in some respects, but not as favorable in economic terms as
in Mexico or the Philippines. The prevailing wage in South Africa is about
$10/day. Furthermore, there is a strong union movement, meaning that there may
be future demands for increases in wages and benefits.
The unions and the
government have been working together on health and safety issues and
environmental protections. Exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace is not
permitted at as high a level as in Mexico and the Philippines. Although the
equipment necessary to reduce toxic chemicals to an acceptable level is not as
costly as in the United States, this expense would not be incurred in the other
two countries. Furthermore, there are requirements for a solvent recovery
system, which also increases operation expenses.
You have to decide how
you would like to proceed. Your options are to select an overseas site for
relocation or to simply continue all operations within the United States.
By Karen Musalo,
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
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