Failed systems management and consumerism
- Failed systems management case study
I once worked as a middle line manager in one of the most exotic shoe manufacturing companies in my country. After a successful interview, I received a cordial welcome on the first day of work. My supposed seniors presented me with some company newsletters to read more about company policies and cultural practices. The one quality that stood out in those newsletters is its consistent application of a bureaucratic management system that advocates fairness, knowledge, and logical rules.
After about a month into my new workplace, my fellow middle manager expressed a resignation interest, thus creating a job vacancy. Announcements were made, and interviewers began. Not long after the interviews were conducted, we learned of a sexual assault attempt press disclosure involving a lady who broadly exposed one of our top management officials who tried to assign her the job position, even without the necessary experience in exchange sexual favor. The lady became a whistleblower as she was disappointed with the official’s behavior, which prompted her to record the occurrence for evidence purposes. The revelation dealt a big blow to our organization as it portrayed an explicit, unethical behavior and contradiction of the bureaucratic management policy, which stands for merit-based promotion. As a result of the embarrassing disclosure, our company began experiencing client withdrawals due to a stained reputation, which affected the general company performance.
- Consumerism
The United States government is often involved in business intervention when consumer abuse is evident. The government established consumer laws such as; right to informed nutrition, safe consumption, and the right to be heard. These rights constitute consumerism, which refers to measures put into protecting consumer rights. For instance, the government put forth legislation that required the Food and Drug Administration to review particular food and nutrition container labels, to increase consumer right to informed nutrition in 1990. This intervention was in a bid to protect consumers from the unintentional consumption of new nutrition products.
Public Health
The government intervenes in business by instructing cigarette manufacturers to put visible warnings to consumers of the potential harm that cigarettes pose to human health upon consumption. This intervention was aimed at informing consumers about the harmful effects of excessive cigarette consumption. They include; specific types of cancer and kidney diseases. This intervention was also aimed at preventing cigarette manufacturers from making excessive profits at the expense of the public health
Environmental Protection
The United States government also intervenes in business in the case where businesses are directly involved in environmental pollution. In 1970, the government created the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee its behalf’ environmental protection mandate. This agency investigates and prosecutes any firms or businesses that irresponsibly dump toxic wastes in rivers, lakes, and on undesignated land surfaces. This agency has instituted numerous laws, such as imposing large monetary fines to water polluters and setting the standard air pollution emissions for industries with air pollutant emissions. The businesses have, in turn, responded to environmental pollution concerns. They have set up recycling plans to reduce the amount of waste dumped in sites and introduced a green marketing concept, whose idea is to produce environmentally safe products.