Organization
The Blue Garden Restaurant is one of the mid-sized fast food stores in Miami Beach. The restaurant was established in 2004 and has experienced massive growth over the past one decade. It has about 120 employees working as cooks, cleaners, waiters, loaders, security guards, drivers, marketers, supervisors, and managers. The location of this restaurant is very strategic for this type of business given that the beach attracts tourists from all over the world all year round. I once worked at this firm as a supervisor of all the waiters. I was directly answerable to the sales manager, Mr. John McMinn, who is a younger brother to the owner of this food outlet. Mr. McMinn is answerable to the chief executive officer who is the owner of the firm. This paper will look at the ethical concerns faced by the management of this firm as it strives to be the preferred food outlet in this region where tourism is one of the best performing industries.
Problem
When I joined the firm as a junior supervisor, I noted a trend that to me was a little strange. Tourists and even the locals preferred this restaurant to other rival restaurants in this region. It was not because of out friendly prices because this firm charged a little higher on its products compared to that of the rival firms. It was also not because of the value offered. There were other restaurants that had better infrastructure than Blue Gardens Restaurant. I was able to understand the reason why this was the case. It had to do with the dress code at this firm, and the manner in which the waitress related with the customers. The facility had 18 waitresses and only 5 waiters. All of them had a uniform that they had to wear at work. For the waiters, they wore a black suit and a white bow neck tie. They looked very presentable. They mostly served wines and spirit. For the ladies, they wore a short black skirt and a white t-shirt. They were also presentable only that their dresses were a little more revealing.
The main problem I noted at this firm was that the waitresses were subject to some form of abuse from the patrons. In many cases, these ladies reported to me that the patrons would touch them inappropriately when they are serving them. Some would talk to them suggestively, something that really annoyed most of them. Every time this happened, they came to report it to me. At first, I took the initiative to be close to them in order to intervene whenever such incidents would occur. However, these patrons would dismiss me, threatening to visit other restaurants. I noted with concern, that we were actually encouraging this habit because of the dress code used. I shared this problem with the sales and marketing manager. He told me that he would find a solution to this problem. After one month, I visited his office to follow-up on the issue, but he dismissed me, saying that the top management had insisted that the dress code for all the employees should remain as it had been planned. In the meantime, the problem was becoming worse each day. Some of the employees who could not withstand it anymore left the firm. Others were forced to withstand the mistreatment in order to protect their jobs. I left the firm six months ago after making all possible efforts to address the problem. However, the management remained adamant that the dress code will not be changed.
Topic: Ethical Decision Making
Ethical decision-making is one of the critical aspects of management that a firmâs leadership cannot afford to ignore. According to Jackson and Jenkins (46), ethics is a critical component of management strategies that helps a firm to remain sustainable. Every decision that a firm makes must make sense ethically before it can be put into application. Any decision that lacks in ethical principles cannot be sustainable in the long run. This is what the management failed to realize. The dress code chosen for the waitress was exposing them to psychological harm. It is a fact that it was one of the reasons why many patrons frequented the place. This means that it was earning them some good income. However, this income was coming at a price to the employees. Instead of being part of this institution, these employees felt that the management is using them as a tool to attract customers.
Most of them who talked to me said that sometimes they felt wasted. They were always unhappy with the management. As a supervisor, I was there to ensure that they do as per the expectations of the firm. However, I was also responsible for their well-being. I was particularly concerned about the constant plastic smile they had on their faces as per the instructions of the management. Behind such smiles were deeply rooted sadness and anger. Employees are very important in defining the success of a firm. A firm that fails to make ethical decisions that would protect its employees cannot have sustainable operations (Robison and Reeser 89). It means that Blue Garden Restaurant may soon start experiencing serious operational problems.
Recommendations
There is a genuine issue at this firm that needs the attention of the top management. This management must address this problem in the best way possible. The following are some of the possible measures that should be taken into consideration when addressing the problem.
- The top management unit needs to listen to the grievances of the junior employees, especially the current issue about dress code that they have described as being unethical.
- The management is ethically required to engage its employees when coming up with a new concept of dress code. If possible, there should be options that these employees can choose from as long as it of the right color.
- The management may need to engage its patrons on issues raised by the employees. They must understand that the employees need to be respected.
Works Cited
Jackson, Steve, and George Jenkins. Managerial Accounting: A Focus on Ethical Decision Making. Mason: South-Western, 2009. Print.
Robison, Wade, and Linda Reeser. Ethical Decision Making in Social Work. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000. Print.