Ethics

Page of Contents:

1) Introduction

2) Ethical issues and relevant principles

3) Implications for stakeholders

4) Possible alternative actions

5) Proposed action and justification

6) Application to other organisations

Introduction

Karen is a trainee at a large departmental store in California. She faced a dilemma when her superior, Judy, asked her to sell off packages of wafer biscuits, suspected to be infested. In her place, I will seek to address the ethical issues involved, evaluate possible actions, and propose a desirable ethical solution. Legal aspect discussions will be done in the context of Singapore’s law.

Ethical issues and relevant principles

Firstly, the sale of wafer biscuits will violate the ethical principle of individual rights.

Individual consumer has the right to full information regarding the condition of their purchasing goods. Failure to disclose this information amounts to unfair practice, under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act 2003. When Judy said: "they make the choice. We don't.", she overlooked the importance that consumers lacked the full information regarding their purchases. If consumers were told about the infestation, they would have made a different choice. The remoteness of the infestation cannot justify the non-disclosure since it concerns consumer products.

Secondly, the sale of wafer biscuits will violate the principle of distributive justice. ‘People who are similar to each other should receive similar benefits’. Consumers who bought the biscuits deserve to have the same product quality as the rest. If some consumers receive infested biscuits, then this principle is violated. The number of affected consumers might be a minority, but it cannot justify the violation. In addition, the company should, to their best knowledge, ensure this in accordance to Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act.

Thirdly, there is strong evidence that Judy exercises discrimination in her job. This...