Unit IV Discussion Board

Unit II REM Case Study Scenario

The Rogers Engineering and Manufacturing (REM) company has multiple offices throughout the nation and across the globe, including the corporate

headquarters in the Midwest of the United States. Over the past 10 years, as REM has worked with several clients in different countries as well as many

suppliers around the globe, they have learned that business practices and

standards are very different around the world. The company has had to

assess and evaluate its code of conduct and ethical standards for working with vendors, subcontractors, and clients. The family-owned business

adheres to a high standard personally and organizationally, and the cost of

doing business has required a shift in practices.

Recently, a regional sales manager was wrapping up a very large contract

with a potential client in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. The contracting agent for the client continually insinuated that there were premiums to be

paid to secure a contract with the organization and get it approved by the government. The REM regional manager understood what was implied,

though he was aware that any such supplemental payments would be an ethical violation. He contacted his manager, who then approved the transactions. Upon final review by the vice president of sales, the extra

payments and the contract were audited. Both the regional sales manager and his superior at corporate were called to account for their actions. Upon

review, both were terminated for ethical violations, and the contract was

terminated. The vice president (VP) of sales contacted the chief executive officer (CEO)

of the client organization, who was not aware of the supplemental payments. The CEO of the client organization investigated the matter and found that

multiple individuals were skimming undocumented, supplemental payments in order to do business with the company. All of these individuals were

terminated. Both companies respected the ethical standards of the other and were able to work out a viable contract.

REM also employs many individuals across their remote offices, including

many who are able to work from home on a global scale. The personnel have

become greatly diversified as to culture, background, and experience over the 60 years of company growth; however, there have been incidents in

multiple offices regarding racial and religious slurs as well as sexual

harassment. The human resources (HR) department has received multiple complaints as to such issues. The VP of HR is developing a training as to

code of conduct, ethics in the workplace, and diversity training for the entire

organization to complete through a computer-based training module.