Case 4.4: “A New Work Ethic” Student: Maria Leiva Instructor: Prof. Chuck Brooks Date: January 29, 2012 Introduction This assignment discusses the case of James Sheehy, who worked undercover in a restaurant and discovered the attitude of the younger generations towards work ethics, especially under the customer service area, which they lacked, and also how they perceived employee theft. The following questions are to help us analyze and maybe even understand where business in America is heading, especially with a capitalist society. 1. Describe how typical the attitudes that Sheehy reports appear to be in work environments you have experienced. The attitude described by James Sheehy unfortunately is not …show more content…
However our reality shows a decline in the commitment people have towards their jobs for many reasons, the one I believe is the most important is the focus on the Short Term, explained by Shaw (2010, p.154), which tends to make workers “unimaginative, inflexible, and ultimately uncompetitive,” thinking of ways on how to make big amounts of money in short time without much effort, by investing, by inventing, by becoming an artist, a sport star, etc. unrealistically thinking they can succeed without much effort. Customer service as we know it, might be changing in a near future, we are getting more used to a self-service mentality and that’s why many young people don’t think is a priority to show devotion on that area. 4. Explain the reasoning behind employee theft. Employee theft is explained by a mix of circumstances that employees experience within our capitalist society. People have profit motive, some employees believe they enjoy certain advantages of working for a specific company, let’s say an employee thinks he or she is entitled to take home office supplies that cost the company a lot of money, only because he knows is within the company’s budget and they feel they aren’t compensated well enough so they can supplement their salaries by stealing. Also most employees that steal do it because they believe they can get away with it, or they have seen other employees doing it without having any consequences, therefore it’s a spread feeling among co-workers
In the book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris argues that the teachings of the ancients can and should be applied to today's corporation. His message is that the four virtues - truth, beauty, goodness, and unity - form the foundation of human excellence. Putting them into practice leads not only to self-fulfillment, but ultimately to an open, nurturing, and ethical workplace that is more productive and successful in the long-term. The purpose of this essay is to examine how Morris treats the system of ethics in relation to these four virtues.
In the book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris argues that the teachings of the ancients can and should be applied to today's corporation. His message is that the four virtues - truth, beauty, goodness, and unity - form the foundation of human excellence. Putting them into practice leads not only to self-fulfillment, but ultimately to an open, nurturing, and ethical workplace that is more productive and successful in the long-term. The purpose of this essay is to examine how Morris treats the system of ethics in relation to these four virtues.
Question 3: Within the company, are there any divisions whose employees have an attitude problem and, if so, why? (Conversely, if there are divisions that have happy employees, I’d like to hear about that too.)
The values and attitudes in Walmart’s business situation deals with a lot of the overall ethics. This paper will discuss some situations that comes in walmart .ethics. This paper will include clear definitions of organizational values and a description of the organizational values of Wal-Mart. This research is conducted to understand the success of Walmart’s employment rate. The values and attitudes will be related to some examples of other companies and how Walmart was successful. Some arguments that will be addressed in this research paper is basic and common.
This paper is intended to explore the work ethic and value of Trader Joe’s as a company and their employees. Hands-on top managers have always been insistent in the company. Now, CEO Dan Bane created the values to reflect on the original traditions of its founder. When reading through the accomplishments of this grocery store, I was pleasantly surprised that they have managed to keep their integrity during their growth. Being a customer at Trader Joe’s myself, I find myself thinking about all the good experiences I have had every time I visited the store. Trader Joe’s has grown from a “mom and pop” grocery to a worldwide chain. Their integrity for selling a good product at a good price with great customer has proven them to be one of the grocery stores to be in high completion with other retailers in their genre. Their focus on giving their customers the options of different goods and the smiling faces of their friendly employees has risen them to a higher level of grocery shopping.
The lack of motivation among customer service staff is caused by several factors which include the boredom from monotonous work, feels disconnected from the consequences of their work, conflicts with other departments and the stress serving unhappy clients. All of the above causes are leading to job dissatisfaction among employees which then driving poor quality service to their customers. They are lacking of common goal in their task.
In “Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy,” author David Callahan explains the fundamental reasons for the decay of simple business ethics in today’s economy in order to meet bottom line standards. Callahan draws conclusions from everyday businesses such as auto mechanic services, law offices, and even professional medical firms to prove that people will almost always choose financial stability over integrity. The economic life in America has transformed itself into a vast land of professionals focused on achieving “lean and mean” businesses in efforts to achieve the “American Dream,” but in essence lose sense of their morals.
I believe in the principle of working hard, and I believe sports are the reason I am who I am today. My whole life my parents pounded into my head the importance of hard work. I had heard this idea so many times, I never really understood what it meant, I just knew it must be important. As I grew up, I realized how many amazing things sports have taught me, and I am thankful for the work ethic I have now, because of sports.
The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” presented a series of ethical dilemmas that surround a group of salesmen working for a real estate company. The value of business ethics was clearly undermined and ignored in the movie as the salesmen find alternatives to keep their jobs. The movie is very effective in illustrating how unethical business practices can easily exist in the business world. Most of the time, unethical business practices remain strong in the business world because of the culture that exists within companies. In this film, the sudden demands from management forced employees to become irrational and commit unethical business practices. In fear of losing their jobs, employees were pressured to increase sales despite possible ethical
According to Walsh (2000) one of the major reasons for employee theft is low morale at the workplace. Second a lack of control over inventory. Sometimes young employees are subjectivity to peer press to be part of the group can encourage theft. The employee feels that the business or company has wronged or mistreated them in some way. This may be why employees feel underpaid and under-appreciate for their “hard” work done. Like any crime, there must be motive, method and opportunity. It is easy to steal because the employer does not have preventive measures to stop them. Preventive measures are crucial to reducing the risk of employee theft. If preventive measures are not existent then the opportunity to steal is very high. Employers should limit the opportunities to steal. Employers should open their own mail, segregate duties, and particularly bookkeeping functions. Also, employers should not have the check writer balance the checkbook and do not use cash. Younger employees do not think prudently, and tend to be impulsive (Walsh 2000). This is also a major reason why businesses suffer from low production and profit loss.
1.A. How would you describe the HR practices and beliefs of the program manager, the narrator of this case?
Is stealing becoming more acceptable in the workplace? Generally, when people think of stealing or theft they are referring to the act of physically taking property from someone else. In reality there are many different ways that an employee can steal from an organization, and I have seen three different ways in my short career. The basic definition of theft is the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods or property of another, and this is one way in which people can take away from an organization. The most common way for people to steal from an organization is theft of time, and this includes; taking extra time on breaks and
Employee theft is a crime that is costing U.S. companies a great deal of money. Employee thefts are growing in number, partially because the perpetrators really do not see themselves as criminals and rationalize what they are doing in much the same way as taxpayers rationalize income tax fraud. Employee theft is one of many personnel problems that is easier to prevent than to solve. Prevention should begin before an applicant becomes an employee. Some theft
Need to get be better rewarded: theft is a symptom that managers are not well remunerated. Pocketing the
Need to get be better rewarded: theft is a symptom that managers are not well remunerated. Pocketing the