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Ethical Issues and Operations

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your peers’ posts and identify some common and/or popular unethical actions. Give additional advice and alternative solutions to help avoid unethical behaviors and outcomes from happening in the future.

MELISSA’S POST:

Ethical behavior is a critical topic in the workplace because the impact of it can make or break a business, the environment within the company, and the relationships that are built throughout a career. Ethical behavior can be classified as anything that impacts or falls under the realm of employee rights, environmental impact, product safety, social communication, legal issues, etc. (Vonderembse, 2013). Each of these categories and any others that fall under the ethical umbrella all circle back to operations and how it impacts businesses. If something unethical occurs, it could impact the organization negatively in many ways from legal action being pursued, to the decline of shareholders, or a loss of customers and employees, and ultimately even the downfall of a business.

When looking at business ethics, it is important to note that it includes five key elements in which lead to a success organization and operation which are honesty, integrity, trust, confidentiality, and openness (Robertson, 2016). If businesses do not follow ethical practices, it can lead to the company being branded as untrustworthy which will push customers and shareholders away. For example, confidentiality is a big ethical concern in any business, whether that be with credit card information, personal information, healthcare, etc. If that is not handled properly and the information gets out to the public or in the wrong hands, the whole operation of the business is under fire. Another example is how advertising decisions are being handled. Honest, clear, and fair advertising is what is considered to be ethical (Robertson, 2016). It can hurt a business if advertising is deceitful, negative, and attacking a competitor. So operational managers not only have an obligation to keep the ethical information confidential and truthful, but they also have an obligation to make sure their is an effective system put in place to support their efforts. The CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, elaborates privacy, regulation and the ethical dilemma when as it relates to technology in society and the workplace. He points out the fact that these days everyone is connected on the internet and on social media and that companies need to look at this information and compare it to the values they want to encompass as a business (Segall, 2018). He also explains that most companies are preaching privacy for their customers, when in reality they are selling their customers information (Segall, 2018). This is interesting because he speaks on a broad basis of all businesses in relation to technology and I couldn’t agree with him more. The operations of a business is all based on ethics so if companies are failing in items such as protecting their customers privacy from a data breach, it can be dangerous for not only the business but also for its customers but can also be detrimental to the government and economy as well.

References: Segall, L. (2018, December 04). Retrieved January 30, 2019, from https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2018/12/04/marc-benioff-privacy.cnn-business (Links to an external site.)

Robertson, T. (2016, October 26). What Are the Ethical Decisions That Impact Any Organization? Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethicaldecisions-impact-organization-26159.html (Links to an external site.)

Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ (Links to an external site.)

FEDERICO’S POST:

· Week 1 - Discussion 1 - Ethical Issues and Operations

Ethics, as the analysis and praxis of right and wrong conduct, is vital in operations management. Ethics is related to personal morals and not to legality. For a behavior to be ethical, it must satisfy specific values and standards. According to Johnston (2021), “Ethics are often taught separately from business skills. In fact, they affect every business” (p. 1). As the company is built up, it must deal with ethical considerations that affect how successful its business will be. Organizations are tempted to focus just on operations, processes, and products, but avoiding ethical factors could be disastrous. Some organizations intend to prioritize short-term benefits to the stockholder by cutting corners on safety, environmental, or quality compliance (Vonderembse & White, 2013, chap. 1.5). However, many primary industries, like the steel industry, have made enormous progress in these areas. I witnessed the evolution of these changes in the steel business during my entire career, where safety is now priority number one. Operations must be stopped if an unsafe condition affects operators, equipment, environment, or quality of products.

Paine (1994) explained the case of Martin Marietta Corporation, a U.S. aerospace contractor, which implemented an integrity-based ethics program in 1985. At the time, the defense industry was under attack for fraud and mismanagement, and Martin Marietta was under investigation for improper travel billings. Managers were skeptical that an ethics program could influence behavior. “Ethics is something personal. Either you have it, or you don’t”. Today the initiative consists of a code of conduct, an ethics training program, and procedures for reporting and investigating ethical concerns within the company. Paine also stated that “Martin Marietta’s ethics network, which accepts anonymous complaints, logged over 9,000 calls in 1991 when the company had about 60,000 employees. In 1992, it investigated 684 cases”.

We can mention at least one example of how the violation of ethical standards can be prevented. Many organizations promote ethical self-regulation by creating moral codes to help direct their business activities, like the Project Management Institute (PMI), which promotes its code of conduct as the ethical standards and professional values to be followed by project managers. According to the PMBOK guide (2017), the code of ethics will help individuals make wise decisions when confronting difficult situations where personal integrity or values can be compromised. PMI certification holders must conduct themselves according to these standards; otherwise, they will be part of disciplinary actions. In summary, organizations’ top management must provide written policies and develop training programs for employees to manage their operations, processes, and business in general in the most ethical manner.

References

Johnston, K. (2021). What Are the Ethical Decisions That Impact Any Organization? https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/business-ethics-apply-to-15940.html (Links to an external site.)

Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management. Bridgepoint Education.

Paine, L (1994, March). Managing for Organizational Integrity. Harvard Business School Publishing. https://hbr.org/1994/03/managing-for-organizational-integrity (Links to an external site.)

Project Management Institute. A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (Sixth ed.). (2017).

Business Processes

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your peers’ posts. Provide additional reasons for agreement or disagreements. Include real-life applications for clarity.

VONCENT’S POST:

Hello Class,

Strategy Development: “Proper planning prevents poor performance.” This is a quote I think of when I hear strategy development. As stated by Vonderembse & White (2013), “The strategic planning process provides a path toward the organization’s objectives. This path includes setting goals, developing action plans for achieving the goals, and determining resource requirements.” Strategies take into account what threats and opportunities a business will face within its market and also analyzes the strengths and weaknesses within itself as an organization.

Product Development: Product development is something that can be more important for certain organizations than others. For instance, a retail company such as WalMart or Target isn’t as product development orientated as a company like Apple or Samsung who release new products constantly. For these companies, the teamwork process that revolves around the companies’ strategic plan is extremely important. Information such as consumer preference, technology, operating capabilities, financial constraints, etc. are all factors that must be taken into account by a product development team.

Developing Systems to Produce Services and Goods: A well-developed product or service can either flourish or fail depending on how smooth the system to produce it runs. As stated by Vonderembse & White (2013), “Important knowledge inputs needed to develop an effective production system are the product and process designs created in the product development process.”

Order Fulfillment: Order fulfillment is the process that involves all the steps required to satisfy a customer’s order (Vonderembse & White, 2013). This step involves obtaining the actual order, inputting it into the organization’s system, and delivering the product to the consumer. The important takeaway from the order fulfillment step is that the goal here is not the product itself, but a satisfied customer at the end of it all. Order fulfillment is more of a customer service component than a product development piece.

In my opinion, strategy development and order fulfillment are both equally as important in today’s day and age. Firstly, a company must have a clear and concise strategic plan in order to make educated decisions on where to go next. Without a plan, a company is just winging it and can easily experience financial losses and unforeseen roadblocks. Additionally, order fulfillment is becoming a staple in the digital world that we are continuously expanding on. It is now easier than ever to be a consumer with things such as online ordering, free shipping, and 1-2 day delivery. The standard expectation from consumers is high and order fulfillment is something that all companies need to nail if they want to see continued success.

Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management . Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUBUS644.13.2/sections/sec2.4

LISA’S POST:

Hi Everyone,

Strategy, as stated in the text requires a comprehensive knowledge of the different areas of the process or functions to make a feasible and accurate strategy (Vonderembse & White, 2013). I am not sure it is the most important part of the process, but it certainly can set the entire process, department, or organization up for failure if attended to in a haphazard manner. I have certainly worked for organizations where the directive comes down to do things a certain way and meet certain goals when in realty anyone with any real working knowledge of the process would laugh and say impossible. There must be actual strategy involved in the planning and that requires an interdependence on departments and parts of the whole to create realistic plans and obtainable goals. It must be more than risk analysis and financial measures to be effective. Product development is an ongoing process which relies heavily on the business strategic goals and plans which include the functional pieces. Finances, labor hours, equipment. Strategy has to be more than the concept or dream big it is the groundwork for all the other components so it must also incorporate the other areas within operations. The systems, people, equipment and means utilized to produce goods and services are all determined by the designs developed in the product development phase which relies on the strategic development that got the ball rolling (Vonderembse & White, 2013). Once all the ducks are in a row, so to speak order fulfillment takes place. This is no small portion of the process and is also a concept visited in some depth in the strategic development plan. All in all, the Strategy is the blueprint and through cooperative efforts of teams and departments the process may be altered or revamped to make it run more smoothly. I would equate this with planning a trip or vacation. Most people don’t simply board a random plane and then decide after they land that this is where they are vacationing. What would you pack? Where would you end up? How long will you be gone? Where will you stay? What is the environment where you are going? You plan. You have a strategy. You know where you are going, what you plan to do, what you need and where you will stay. There may be mishaps along the way, and you will come back to a solid point in the plan and rework the plan to accommodate change. This is manageable but thinking you might go to Florida for a couple days and then randomly ending up in Alaska for a month would be a catastrophe! This doesn’t happen, because people plan vacations. Business strategy is crucial for this very reason, strategic planning is the backbone of success and while there will be points where reworking the plan may be necessary it is manageable when you have the basics figured out ahead of time.

Lisa

Reference

Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Ethical Conflicts

Please respond to at least two of your classmates by Day 7 with your responses being approximately 75-100 words in length.

CARMEN’S POST:

Ethical Conflicts

Week 1:Discussion 1

This week's reading provides a close look at patient center models and working with other stakeholders to provide a holistic approach when helping our clients. In learning about gaps in care and continuity of care as mentioned in Marbury (2016) it is crucial to be able to provide a whole person care service. In the provided question if a client per say is struggling with dual disorders such as substance use and mental illness due to homelessness, we can see that there are several stressors that can impair an individual's daily functioning. It would benefit in learning what other services are involved in helping this individual to collectively provide the aid and basic needs the individual needs. When there are gaps or no collaboration between stakeholders, problems, incidents, and crises are prone to arise due to the lack of collaboration. In a case of suicide several investigations take place not only in the agency it self, but, the hospital, police and even other agencies that provided care to the client become involved. As human service providers our role is to do no harm per the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals (2015). As mentioned El & Phillips (2001) being involved in the community is very effective as it can help with the delivery of services, develop coalitions and group interest. This can be effective for human services professionals as it can increase resources.

In this case, if my client was getting services at a hospital for substance use, case managers from my organization or others, management will all take part in my adverse incident review. I would like to know more of the services received not only in our organization but others who were involved.

What are the potential ethical conflicts that may arise from your role investigating this incident

One major ethical conflict that may arise in my investigation is the Responsibility to Client in both Standard 3 and Standard 4 of the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals (2015). Making sure we do not disclose information without consent even in this given example. However, it is our duty to warn and to protect, if the client disclosed in a session suicidal ideation and the staff did not follow through with the proper protocol this can become an ethical conflict. In Standard 4 as human service professionals we have to protect the safety of our client. At times, if the incident goes to court and they request clinical notes of sessions in which staff did not report the suicidal ideation or proper follow up this can become a greater dilemma for the agency and the staff.

What would you do to appropriately discharge your ethical duties?

I feel that responsibility to clients is very crucial and important. As we have clients that come to us for help and they disclose so much because they feel safe and secure. Before this incident I would make sure we have the proper protocols in place and make sure everyone is trained and up to date with modifications to avoid confusion or lack of follow up. I would make sure that all documents are up to date and meeting state standards by having records check all documents and audit on a regular basis. To address this issue, I would collaborate with those involved in which consents were signed. I would also develop a staffing with staff to identify services and areas we can improve. If all steps and protocols were taken from my staff I would be able to discharge, however, if a staff did not follow through with proper protocols and lack of follow up this staff would be terminated as it is our role to ensure the well-being and welfare of our clients.

References:

El Ansari, W., & Phillips, C. J. (2001). Interprofessional collaboration: A stakeholder approach to evaluation of voluntary participation in community partnerships. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 15(4), 351–368. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1080/13561820120080481 (Links to an external site.)

Marbury, D. (2016). How behavioral health can benefit from population health strategies: breaking down silos remains critical for building continuity between primary care and behavioral health. Behavioral Healthcare, 36(3), 40, 42-43.

National Organization for Human Services. (2015). Ethical standards for human services professionals. Retrieved from http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals (Links to an external site.)

JENNIFER’S POST:

A patient under the care of your agency committed suicide, and you are in charge of the adverse incident review of this case. Considering the stakeholders in your agency (clients, providers, management, third-party payers, etc.), what are the potential ethical conflicts that may arise from your role investigating this incident?

Adverse incidents are a reality of medical care; thus, it is imperative for the investigator to know and understand the ethical principles while conducting the review of the case. An organization is responsible for maintaining detailed policies and procedures that disclose the proper management of adverse outcomes to include the patient, clients, providers, managers, and other stakeholders. A major goal of implementing an adverse incident review is to prevent future related events by exploring the contributing factors (Vargo, Sharrock, Johnson & Armstrong, 2013). As the investigator, ethical conflicts may appear during the review.

One of the first conflicts that would need to be investigated would be whether the human service professional followed the responsibility to client ethical standard. While developing a relationship with client it is important to clarify that if danger or harm is imminent then the right to privacy and confidentiality will be disregarded (National Organization for Human Services, 2015). If the provider wrote down reports that the client urged to conduct harm or mentioned suicidal plans but failed to notify proper services, this may result in a violation of ethical standards. Another ethical concern could pertain to the responsibility to the profession principle in which if a provider that is still in training decided to see the client without supervision. For example, if this provider met with the client and the client used a specific street phrase for suicidal plans it could have been misunderstood due to lack of supervision.

What would you do to appropriately discharge your ethical duties?

In order for institutions to minimize risk of further adverse incidents, there is an ethical obligation to the professionals (Bakewell, Pauls & Migneault, 2020). According to Kelly (2009), the mental healthcare delivery system is a disaster which leaves many individuals seeking aid to experience a vicious cycle often leading to the disappointing outcome. This is especially upsetting to those providing services, anticipative consumers, and the third-party payers that fund services in hopes of healing consumers. To appropriately discharge my ethical duty, I would fully and comprehensively support my employees and my organization so future errors wouldn’t continue. I would make sure my institute was fully staffed, adequately trained, ethical protocols completely outlined, resources stocked to the max, and prioritize access to care. Assessments would also be implemented to gauge employee burnout and determine any other specific requirements that employees need to do their job correctly. Ensuring compliance and effectiveness would also be a requirement, so a follow-up schedule every 30 days will determine whether the new strategies address the inconsistencies.

Bakewell, F., Pauls, M. A., & Migneault, D. (2020). Ethical considerations of the duty to care and physician safety in the COVID-19 pandemic. CJEM, 22(4), 407–410. https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2020.376 (Links to an external site.)

Vargo, A. C., Sharrock, P. J., Johnson, M. H., & Armstrong, M. I. (2013). The use of a participatory approach to develop a framework for assessing quality of care in children's mental health services. Administration And Policy in Mental Health, 40(4), 286-299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-012-0419-7 (Links to an external site.)