Ethical Situations in Business Task 1

Ethical Issues in Business

Western Governors University

In this scenario, company Q is having to decide whether or not to donate food to the local food bank and risk fraud and theft by some employees, or throw all the food away, thus wasting a chance at helping needy families. Morally, one would think that donating food that cannot be sold, while still edible for needy people and families would be the socially responsible thing to do. I would say that company Q is not being socially responsible to society, but responsible in fact to, the company’s bottom line. All corporations have a duty to make money. It would appear to me that this company is not being socially responsible. It starts with closing 2 stores in a high crime area. The first action they could take in relation to that is to determine the mentioned area needs. Perhaps the area would be better suited for a specialized type of grocery store as opposed to the direction they want to move. Customers might look at Q and make the judgement that they could care less about certain communities, thus hurting their business elsewhere. My suggestion would that they truly listen to the needs of those communities and find a way to best serve them. It could do wonders to their reputation should they stay and adapt to those communities.

My second recommendation would be to find a way to donate to those local food banks. There will come a point where the media will find out that company Q would rather throw away edible food because of possible fraud and theft rather than donating it to a great cause. All it would take is one picture in the newspaper of company Q throwing away food to put at risk their entire business. In a large metropolitan area I am sure they are competing with many other businesses and this would be devastating to them. It seems like an unnecessary risk for company Q to take.

My third recommendation would be for company Q is to capitalize on this opportunity to increase...