Employment Essay Example for Free

Employment Essay Overview: An elementary toy that is due to be shipped at the end of the week has failed quality control testing. A metal whistle has been shown to exceed the federal regulation guidelines for lead. The testing process showed the lead level for this particular toy tested at 103 parts per million. The federal guidelines dictate that toys cannot contain lead with more than 100 parts per million (OSHA, 2013). The projected cost to conform to federal guidelines and replace the whistle are projected to cost 0,000. This should take 3 weeks for completion. Facts: Lead is naturally occurring, but it can be toxic to humans (EPA, 2013). It can cause serious medical conditions, such as, hearing loss, learning disabilities, physical growth retardation and neurological damage. Lead gathers in the body quickly and increases at a fast pace if it exceeds federal guidelines. Children because of their size are more susceptible to lead poisoning than an adult. Children are curious by nature and often place themselves in danger without realizing it. Children often investigate by touching, placing objects in their mouths and then sharing with others. These actions can cause lead poisoning to occur. Although the cost to replace the whistle is considerable, this is a small price in the long run. Our company will retain customers by providing customer satisfaction by replacing the faulty whistle. This will also save the company money in costly legal fees by facing our responsibilities now. Our company needs to ensure that we have identified all involved when considering our options. It would be remiss of our company to not consider the parents, dealers, and stakeholders with an interest in the company. Parents—trust our company to produce products that are safe Vendors—sell our company’s products and assume reliable construction Employees—rely on our company to sell products to continue to receive money for the work they have provided Investors—hold an interest in how the company’s actions and decisions affect employees, customers, and overall viability Options to Consider: Cost Monetary—Reproduction costs, fines, legal fees, litigation and income Vendor Relationships—strained relations, decrease in customer relationships Reputation—loss of customers Employment – layoffs Time Length—reproduction time, construct reputation and relationships Reasonable—ability to get products to customers Ethical Responsibility—employees, vendors, parents, children, investors Due diligence—don’t take risks, maintain ethical position, weigh all the options The options listed help define possible reasons for possible lawsuits and probable fines if the product is found defective. Our company needs to consider alternative options to fine a viable solution. Three options will be discussed in detail to be considered. Cost Considerations The yearly budget is not far from thought and to remain within budget we must consider the option of shipping the product as it stands now. The amount of lead was only slightly above the federal recommended guidelines. We would be able to get the product to our customer on time and without added cost. However, the children may be subjected to possible lead poisoning. Depending upon the extent of exposure, this could lead to detrimental side effects. This would leave the company open to the risk of legal action and may have a devastating effect on investors, employees and the company not to mention the children harmed. Legal action against our company would be costly. The fines can be as much as $100,000 per violation with $15,000,000 for a series of violations (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, 2008). We would most definitely have a series of violations, but more importantly our relationship with our customers would be damaged. The company’s reputation would be in tatters. Ethical Considerations Our company has a moral obligation to keep our customers safe. The code of ethics within our company is to be honest and provide protection to the children who play with our products. The overall cost to our company is how big of a risk are we willing to take. Our company needs to decide if business growth and profit is more important than the risk we would be taking in delivering those toys to children. Reproducing the whistles is ethically correct, however doing so will impact our vendors by missing out on peak sales. This may lead to other companies replacing our company and products, which will lead to overall revenue losses and possible employee layoffs. On the other hand, if we replace the defective whistles, parents will believe in our company because we ensure our products meet the federal guidelines for safety. This alone may increase revenue. Our company has a responsibility to meet the federal guidelines. This protects our company from costly fines and legal proceedings. Most importantly, we protect our customers—parent and children. Risk is good, but not when it can potentially kill children. Time Considerations Our company cannot dismiss time considerations when discussing the impact on business. We can dismiss the time consideration when we consider the risk of legal implications upon our business. First, our company can notify our vendors and customers that we plan to substitute a like item for the whistle in our elementary toy collection. This would allow us to move ahead with the current shipping date. This would cost considerably less than reproducing the whistle. Secondly, we can notify our vendors and customers that the whistle has been removed from the elementary toy collection and offer a credit towards future purchases. The company would still incur a monetary loss, but retain vendor and customer relations. Thirdly, the vendors and customers would have an option to wait for the whistle to be reproduced. Should the vendors and customers choose this option, we can reproduce the whistles, but reduce the overall number of whistles to be replaced. This would still cause the company to incur a monetary loss, but retain positive relationships with our vendors and customers. The options outlined are viable. We can maintain company integrity, provide protection to our company, employees, investors, and customers. Following federal recommended guidelines will secure our position in the business realm and provide longevity for all involved. Our company would take a risk by announcing the problem with the whistle, but we would be able to highlight our commitment to protect our customers. We would be able to convey we place safety over profit. This would help raise consumer confidence, avoid legal implications, and retain satisfied customers. Recommendation: Notification of our vendors and customers is the best option. We know how much lead is in our product and how much is considered safe per federal guidelines. We need to be honest in our business dealings and not take unethical risks for profit. We also need to find a cost effective material that has reduced lead readings to replace any future whistles. Our commitment to protect everyone involved cannot be taken lightly. We should begin notifying customers affected by this product and shipment. We should advise them the order must be changed and the circumstances that require this change. We should allow our customers to make an informed decision and then find out how they would wish to proceed. We would then be placing any liability into the customer’s hands, as we made every effort to right a wrong. This will help preserve our relationships with vendors and customers. As a company, we need to minimize risks that are ethically and legally wrong. We need to be socially responsible and have strong relationships with our employees, vendors, customers, and investors. Longevity is everything in business and by following these rules, our company will have vendors, customers, investors and employees who want to be there and not forced to be there. Moral, ethical, and responsibility are keywords within my own personal mantra. I believe striving to be morally, ethically and socially responsible helps have a positive impact on business and personal endeavors. These traits provide positive contributions both in business and society. I believe our company has strong moral and ethical values. Thus, we cannot allow this shipment to proceed. This would be hypocrisy and go against not only my own beliefs but the company’s code of ethics. I understand the cost is considerable to replace the toy, but by replacing the whistle we have an increased positive impact in our own company, customer base, investors, and employees. Finally, we are showing social responsibility and will set a standard in our industry as a leader. We cannot be a leader by taking unnecessary risks children’s lives.