Corporate Culture: Lunch Is More Than Just a Meal Essay

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Facts of the case

The practice manager is faced with several ethical dilemmas in the case. The first ethical dilemma is dealing with the pharmaceutical representatives who want the medical practice center to return the favor of buying for the staff free lunch using their produces. The pharmaceutical representatives use the free lunches to the staff as bait to serve their self-interest of increasing sales of their products at the center, irrespective of the views of the physicians. Besides, the pharmaceutical representatives surpass the right authority when dishing out the free goodies, despite the fact that the practice manager should be the link between the center and any person of interest. Despite the fact that the free luncheons are welcomed by the staff, the basis for their provision is questionable and aimed at compromising the practice manager and other physicians to continue using the products provided by the pharmaceutical representatives.

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The employees seem to enjoy the free lunch since they are frequent and a saving on their side. The employees view the free luncheons provided by the pharmaceutical representatives as a motivational tool from one of the partners of the center. Despite the fact that the strings attached to the free lunches may compromise the integrity of the center, the staff members are not ready to accept the communication by the practice manager that they should stop with immediate effect. Instead of following this directive, the employees are dissatisfied with the practice manager who is seen as interfering with their source of motivation. They turn a blind eye to the potential ethical dilemma that might be created by the lunch bribes offered by the pharmaceutical representatives. In fact, these representatives confirm to the practice manager that the free lunches were offered in exchange for use of their products, failure to which they are willing to stop giving free meals to the staff. The pharmaceutical representatives ignore the moral code of conduct in doing business by using free meals as bait to serve their self-interest of increasing sales without factoring in the interests of the other party.

Nature of organization behavior problem

Organizational behavior should be aligned within four models, which are the motivation to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend. Therefore, a proactive behavior control system should function within a structured communication system. When the system functions within accepted parameters, employees will eventually develop a self-consciousness to ethical concerns that might compromise the integrity of the health center (Douglas, 2009). As indicated in the case study, the organization’s behavior problem is a detachment between supposed benefits against serious ethical concerns that touch on the integrity of the business.

The teamwork-based organization structure between the practice manager and the staff members does not identify the hierarchy of command structure in order to understand the complex ethical concerns at hand. In addition, it does not provide a myriad illustration of persuasive importance of problem definition within communication contemporary context (Flamholtz & Randle, 2011). For instance, despite the clear communication about the reasons for stopping the free meals, the employees do not embrace the decision as good for business sustainability. The top bracket in the chain of command consists of the seven physicians who are caught between the desire to maintain business integrity and continuing to please the employees.

The factors that can be associated with inhibiting understanding in this medical center are inappropriate organizational structures, work pressure, and entrenched attitudes towards proactive engagement when handling ethical concerns (Sylvia & Stanley, 2008). Fear and resistance to the proposed change to stop free luncheons are a result of inter-functional rivalry between the practice manager and the other staff members. As a result, the cultural structure of the center has not spurred a continuous behavior assessment against possible concerns in this business environment.

There is a lack of centralization in managing decisions and actions at the medical center as seen in the direct contact between the pharmaceutical representatives and the employees without passing through the practice manager. Through decentralized and poorly designed communication procedures, counterproductive behavior has been internalized and the employees are not interested in understanding the repercussion of accepting the ‘free’ meals (McCain, 2005). Besides, the medical center operates on an informal scale in some aspects of organization and third part agreements. Employees’ behaviors in the center are not influenced by the mutual interests that exist between the business and them. The lack of mutual interest creates an ideal environment for contempt as seen in the case study.

Summary

The case study is a perfect example of an ethical dilemma that an organization may face when informal arrangements are used to hoodwink or arm-twist it to certain terms of operations. Although the luncheons provided by the pharmaceutical representatives are packaged as free to the employees, there are strings attached in the form of continuous use of their products. The unethical pharmaceutical representatives are even willing to immediately withdraw the ‘free’ meals of the medical center does not honor their informal terms of a partnership. Due to the lack of a strong organizational behavior strategy, the practice manager is caught between the physicians opposing the free meals and the employees who want free meals to continue.

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References

Douglas, R. (2009). Does corporate culture contribute to performance? American international college journal of business, 4(1), 45-47.

Flamholtz, E., & Randle, Y. (2011). Corporate culture: the ultimate strategic asset. Stanford, UK: Stanford business Books.

McCain, D. (2005). Evaluation basics. Arlington: ASTD Press.

Sylvia, F., & Stanley, K. (2008). Creating competitive advantage through intangible assets: The direct and indirect effects of corporate culture and reputation. Advances in competitiveness research, 16(2), 34-38.

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IvyPanda. (2021, April 20). Corporate Culture: Lunch Is More Than Just a Meal. https://ivypanda.com/essays/corporate-culture-lunch-is-more-than-just-a-meal/

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IvyPanda. (2021) 'Corporate Culture: Lunch Is More Than Just a Meal'. 20 April.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Corporate Culture: Lunch Is More Than Just a Meal." April 20, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/corporate-culture-lunch-is-more-than-just-a-meal/.

1. IvyPanda. "Corporate Culture: Lunch Is More Than Just a Meal." April 20, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/corporate-culture-lunch-is-more-than-just-a-meal/.


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IvyPanda. "Corporate Culture: Lunch Is More Than Just a Meal." April 20, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/corporate-culture-lunch-is-more-than-just-a-meal/.

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