Introduction There is a complex legal issue that has the attention of senior management at the Alumina Company. How that issue is handled will affect the way the company does business and its standing in the community. The purpose of the next few paragraphs will be to describe the company and its stakeholders, determine the values of the company, set the current situation, analyze the risk factors in possible solutions and present a best solution for Alumina to follow.
The company/stakeholders/values
Company info
Alumina is a four billion dollar company based in the United States of America; it has operations in eight countries and seventy percent of its business is in the United States. Business interests include, auto parts, bauxite
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“The consequentialist ethics known as stakeholder theory … Considers the concerns of all proper stakeholders and weighs their interests when making decisions” (Reed, et al, 2005, p49)
Company Values
1- Alumina wishes to remain compliant with pertinent regulations and project an image of a good environmentally conscious corporate citizen.
2- Alumina values the competitive edge and will work to best advantage for profitability
3- Alumina will defend itself against charges that it does not operate within the law
Situation
A past infraction, almost five years ago, is the only blemish on Alumina’s EPA record. Now a public accusation of a single mother who claims continual dumping of carcinogens in the lake has caused her daughters leukemia. While conducting an internal audit of the company, it is found that site testing reveals PAH levels released by Alumina to be below the EPA standards. As well, a scientific journal points to traffic congestion increases in the area for the raised level of PAH to dangerous amounts. A local single mother, Kelly, and the local paper are requesting data from the EPA on the five year old infraction under the provision of the Freedom of Information Act. Kelly threatens a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages from the five year old EPA violation as the cause of her daughter’s leukemia.
Ethical Dilemma
The main dilemma is how to respond to the charges? It appears that Alumina has clear case
Stakeholder theory looks at the relationships between an organization and others in its internal and external environment. It also looks at how these relationships affect how the organization conducts its activities. You can think of a stakeholder as a person or organization that can affect or be affected by your organization. Stakeholders can come from inside or outside of the
The stakeholder theory made popular by Ed Freeman (1984) does seem to represent a major advance over the classical view (Freeman, 1984). It might seem inappropriate to refer to the stakeholder position as neoclassical. Bowie (1991: 56-66) has defined stakeholders as a group whose existence was necessary for the survival of the firm--stockholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the local community, and managers themselves.
Bates to find other reasons to accuse Alumina. This violation should never be sought out by the company since there is a failure to exercise care in ridding of waste products. Alumina owes to the public duty of care. Violating Ms. Bate could have also held the company liable for libel and defamation of character, had they performed an investigation and made public use of it. Ms. Bates and the newspaper could have publically damaged the company by causing critical harm to the organization reputation. Posting these types of damaging stories could also been confirmed as libel. It is important that all information is true statements and should include an ethical decision.
1. What should CEO Werner say to the Division Chiefs? Is the decision ethical? Why or why not?
The town of Woburn, MA was stricken with an epidemic of different types of leukemia, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which affected 8 families. The mere notion that such rare cases occurred within a half mile radius of each other was a call for attention. It is the plaintiff 's claim that these cases were the result of a toxic contamination of the town’s water supply by the defendant 's unintentional, improper disposal of the following chemical waste products: Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Perchlorethylene (PCE). The plaintiff accuses the defendant of the following charges: negligence of chemical procedures including, but not limited to, illegal dumping of TCE, as well as PCE, and wrongful death, resulting from a depraved indifference to human life. Given the pain and suffering the victims and their families have undergone due to the defendant’s gross negligence, the plaintiff asks for compensation for and acknowledgement of wrongdoing on the defendant 's part. The plaintiff also calls for an injunction; in order for the defendant to resume further factory work, the company must propose, and be approved of, new procedures that strictly follow the enforced regulations that ensure the safe disposal of all chemical waste.
Daft (2012) defines stakeholders as “any group within or outside the organization that has a stake in the organizations performance.” Stakeholders within the organization include the owners, managers and employees while external stakeholders includes the organizations customers, suppliers, community, workers unions, creditors as well as the government. Due the variety as well as different nature of the stakeholders, each stakeholder has a different expectation from the organization as concerns their stake. It is from this characteristic and expectation that each stakeholder will be affected differently by actions and decisions as well as policies and practices implemented by the business from those of another stakeholder (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). This also means that the different stakeholders will act or make decisions that affect the business in a way best situated for them. Carroll & Buchholtz (2014) discuss the relationship between the business and stakeholders as one that has a two-way interaction; businesses will affect stakeholders as well as stakeholders affect the business, that is an interchange of influence. The complexity of the stakeholder-business relationship calls for
A Civil Action is based upon a true story that Jonathan Harr, a former staff writer of New England Monthly describes a case that in the legal system that is fascinating and compelling. The story of a impracticable quest by an idealistic young personal-Injury lawyer, whose aim was to prove that two conglomerates, Beatrice Foods and W.R Grace, allegedly polluted the water in Woburn ,Mass. a Boston suburb, with carcinogens. Jan had hoped that a victory would send a message to the boardrooms to America and felt that the culture of Leukemia in Woburn guaranteed his success. He never realized that he would be comforted with problems in the justice system.
In today 's business world regulations set the benchmark that guarantees a secure, coherent and fair marketplace for everyone (Canada Business Ontario, n.d). Whether you are starting or developing a company, associations need to meet certain regulations and guidelines to remain compliant, and to build the productivity and validity of their business (Government of Canada, 2014). This paper examines the struggle Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. faced with the new Ontario mining regulation.
Because Tim is without a business degree, he is not well-equipped to operate a business properly. Research online and in other places has provided him with a good deal of knowledge, but it has not given him enough of an advantage to compete with his degreed counterparts. Since that is the case, Tim needs two things: a business degree (or at least all of the information he would learn in acquiring said degree), and someone who already knows the needed information to partner with him for a period of time in order to make sure he is capable of handling his business correctly. Tim must learn more about marketing, since his efforts are not concise and professional enough just yet to really bring in the level of customers he needs and wants. He must address what sets him apart and show that value to everyone who sees his ads or comes into his shop. He must also learn more about financial aspects, because he is not yet clear on the financial statements of his company and how to determine how much money he is actually making. Until he focuses in on those kinds of issues, he will not be successful because he will not see if he is gaining or losing. Once he knows that answer, he can then focus on the SWOT analysis and consider which issues he needs to address first in order to move his business forward successfully.
A stakeholder is someone who someone who benefits or is burdened by a corporation, or someone who the corporation benefits or is burdened by. (Steiner). Stakeholders are represented by two main groups; primary and secondary
Evan and Freeman believe that managers have a trust-keeping relationship to stakeholders. They think the modern corporation should be governed for the stakeholders and to their benefit. The theory that they believe in is the stakeholder theory of the firm. They believe that in the government today the stakeholders are being used as a means to some end and are not able to contribute in determining the prospect of the company that they have a stake in.
This was an excellent course of action which helped Alumina establish itself as a responsible and environmentally friendly company. Any business that has emissions that are not processed accordingly to regulations, run the risk of ruining the environment can and therefore, the EPA's cleanup was in order.
A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in a business and could be an individual or an organization. The actions of stakeholder can affect a business at the same time; stakeholders can be affected by certain business activities or business changes. The business in focus is Primark and will be evaluating the implications of its recent ethical issues and how it affects both the business and its stakeholders. The stakeholders for Primark are
Cheeseman defines stakeholder interest as “A theory of social responsibility stating that a corporation must consider the effect that its actions have on persons other than its stakeholders” (Cheeseman, pg. 720).
Alumina Inc. is a $4 billion aluminum maker, based in the United States and operates in eight countries around the world. The United States market constitutes of 70% of its sales. The company manufactures automotive components, alumina refining, bauxite mining and aluminum smelting. Alumina falls under the jurisdiction of region 6 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As the business manager in Alumina Inc., I am leading the effort in managing a crisis arising out of allegations of environmental damages. (University of Phoenix, 2008) In this paper, I will identify the legal issues and note the legal principles that apply. The result of my decisions will need to ensure that I prevent extensive losses, environmental and