Decision making is a business process that must be handled carefully. The decisions made by the top employees of an organization can affect an enterprise either negatively or positively. The decisions made by employees affect the organization because they are made on behalf of this organization.
There are several instances whereby Elaine declined signing or approving loans of several organizations due to different reasons, for instance, declining approval of a loan for a tobacco company because it promoted the sale of the product to underage children, declining to sign a loan for a company from Cuba due to Cuba’s relation with the United States and a loan for a cigar transporting company (Ferrell, Freadrich and Ferrell 170).
The decisions made by Elaine were both advantageous and disadvantageous to the company in different ways. By declining the approval of the loan for the tobacco-producing organization because was advantageous to the company because it portrayed the willingness of UBC to uphold ethical practice and social corporate responsibility. Secondly, declining these loans for a company from Cuba is both advantageous and disadvantageous to the company. The decision is advantageous to the organization because it portrays the willingness of UBC to abide by government regulation and economically relate to companies from countries that enjoy good relations with the United States.
On the other hand, it is disadvantageous to the company because it may be viewed as biased by other business entities willing to transact with UBC. This might also affect relations with other organizations from other countries that deal with the Cuba originating company. Moreover, the company is only based in Cuba but is originated from another country, which may affect the client base of the organization from the country of origin of ABCO (Ferrell, Freadrich and Ferrell 170).
Elaine is a trusted company representative of UBC. However, there are ethical and legal considerations Elaine is facing, which are the company she works for, UBC, and her husband Dennis. Elaine has been a reliable employee and makes decisions that serve the interests of the company best. However, there were decisions that she made that were not fully supported by the staff and the management of the company, for instance, declining to approve of the loan request by tobacco companies. This affected the returns of UBC although it was in good faith to protect social corporate responsibility by increasing sales of tobacco to underage children.
On the other hand, UBC, as a company, has a social corporate responsibility among its employees to ensure ethical practices. Although Elaine opposes the financing of the tobacco companies, other employees reject her opinion and approve the move to finance the company, which is to support the activities of ABCO. Yet they are to promote sales of tobacco to underage children by approving the financing of ABCO. UBC lacks ethical operations because the decision affects well being of the society and promotes breach of government regulation because it prohibits the sale of the cigar to underage children.
Legally, UBC can face closure motion or direction by relevant authorities in case the government learns of their decision to finance a company that promotes the sale of cigars to underage citizens yet it is prohibited by the law (Ferrell, Freadrich and Ferrell 171).
Dennis, as the company representative, rejects a good deal, which is later accepted by another company and gets enormous profits. Ethically, this portrays the inability of Dennis to hold the management and leadership position in the organization. Employees must critically evaluate an offer before accepting or rejecting the respective deal because they act on behalf of the company and the entire staff. The success of an organization is measured by the decisions and profits made by an organization. Moreover, employees must make profitable decisions to avoid losses and propel an organization’s performance in making profits and achieving its goals and objectives (Ferrell, Freadrich, and Ferrell 171).
Morally, Elaine was making decisions based on the expected ethical practices and government regulations and policies. Her decisions were within the law and promoted government regulations and policy of dealing with other states and rules of drug sale to underage citizens. It is true that her actions were within the law and upheld ethical practice and promoted corporate social responsibility by ensuring well being of citizens and promoting law and order by limiting the sale of drugs to adults (Ferrell, Freadrich, and Ferrell 171).
Works Cited
Ferrell, O C, John Freadrich and L Ferrell. “A real life situation.” Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. 7th ed. Ferrell, O C, J Freadrich and L Ferrell. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. 170-171. Print.