Reflecting on Ethics
Watson Water Technologies is a global retail company based in Chicago, Illinois, specializing in the production of large-scale water treatment systems. These water systems have been used to improve water quality in Third World countries, mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Melissa, a new CMA hired at the company, faces the dilemma of unethical standards for the new sales team in Africa. Melissa faces the decision to maintain her ethical and moral past to protect not only her career, but that of her parents in the business.
Under pressure from the CEO to expand and develop its activities in Africa, the sales force managed to finalize the contract, despite the large number of competitors purchased for the region. The deal was promoted on the basis of a “bribe” that the sales team could bribe government officials in the region. After Melisa listening to the conversation between the two sales representatives in the break room, Melissa is faced with the ultimate dilemma of fulfilling the government’s ethical and government commitments to protect her career and business, as well as the potential and potential for corruption. . In addition to the broadcast report, he learned that another global company had been fined $ 250 million for violating foreign policy.
Besides, it is “illegal for a representative of a U.S. companyy to bribe foreign officials to procure a contract (Bargerstock, A). Therefore, if the SEC is ever to investigate or become aware of the situation, the company could be in for a drastic fine that could have been bypassed if Melissa were to come forward and present the information.
Tom, the lead salesperson for the “Grow Africa” project, has received pressure from upper-level management to grow and expand business within South Africa. Tom is faced with a get in a done situation, meaning that if the deal were to fall through then certain things such as commissions, bonuses, and even his career within the company if the certain quota hasn’t been met. Therefore, Tom is faced with ethical and moral standards to forgo the use of the “slush fund” and possibly losing the “Grow Africa” deal or making the deal and continuing his career within the company. Within any company, regardless of the size or industry, the goal of any salesperson is to drive sales, which in turn drives revenue for the company. Therefore, with the amount of pressure passed down to the sales team to continue to grow increase business, its only fair to believe specific shortcuts will be made to close absolute deals although unethical and against foreign policy, in this case, specific ethical standards are implemented to ensure that companies are conducting business fairly and adequately and that companies are in their means of commerce especially globally.
On the other hand, Melissa is faced with her own set of ethical and moral decisions opposite to the Toms. Having a piece of extensive knowledge in the ethical guidelines and practices with global eCommerce, she’s well aware of the push back bribing government officials at the expense of a company contract is considered and deemed illegal. Her character or moral standards have come to the forefront as she’s faced with the decision to garner company attention as to what Tom and the sales team did to close a deal. Even though she has a professional obligation to report any unlawful or unethical practices within a company, there is still a sense of sensitivity for the other employees possibly effected by her decision, including herself. Not only is she employed by Watson Water Technologies (WWT), but so is her father, which her decision, either way, can have both a direct or indirect on him as well. On the other with Tom and the sales team implementing the “slush fund” to close Africa deal her decision should she decide to bring the unlawful and unethical behavior to the forefront could cause for Tom and individual members of the sales team to lose their jobs and in turn impact the company as a whole.
Rest’s four-point model outline that of proper functioning made up of the four components of sensitivity, reasoning, motivation, and character. Melissa’s path moving forward can be justified by that of the rest’s model in deciding the best plan of action for her to take based on the components and process of following the model. The first component of the model is sensitivity; Melissa must rationalize what and who her decision affects. In this case, the decision is sensitive to the company, Tom, and the sales team, her career along with the possibility of effecting her father’s career as well and being able to see how individual decisions can affect other people outside of herself. The second component of the model is reasoning/judgment, Melissa must reason with herself to justify the best choice for her, whether that be the best moral or career decision. In this scenario, understanding and having the appropriate knowledge of accounting concepts, foreign codes of conduct, and the ethical guidelines to support a conclusion. The third component of Rest’s model is that of motivation, which I suggest is the lessor of the four components used in Melissa’s moral decision. Furthermore, the ideal that moral motivation influences that of moral action can be in direct correlation to the other components of the model, meaning that motivation to uphold your ethical standards and your morality can be a strong influencer in the decisions you make, ultimately knowing the right thing to do in any situation and making it your top priority.
Ethical standards are a fine line in any company and with some moral standards being higher in certain individuals than others, ethics are subject to different opinions throughout a company. In this case money and meeting a certain quota is at the root of the cause for this specific case. The cause for concern is that of essentially breaking foreign policy to drive the company’s sales and overall revenue based on bribing government officials. Therefore, it’s important for large companies especially multi-national companies to have compliance and human resource divisions along with internal auditors to ensure that all angles are being covered across the company beyond just that of a accounting and finance position. Furthermore, on the other hand one of the best sources of ensuring that company and ethical guidelines are being enforced is that of the employees themselves, in this case Melissa overheard one of the salesperson in the breakroom and from her background and knowledge of the situation she believes that it should be brought to the attention of someone and rightfully so.
Bargerstock, A., & Shi, Y. (2014). Watson Water Technologies: An ethical dilemma in the workplace (Links to an external site.). Strategic Finance, 96(1), 48-52.
