Introduction
Ethical considerations and practices are extremely valuable especially in firms that deal directly with clients. Ethical issues often raise tension in organization. They can result in some employees quitting organizations or being sacked. This can be explored in the tenure of Tim Hertach at GL Consulting (Khedher, 2009).
Presenting the ethical problems in the Hertach – GL Consulting Case
Hertach got a job at GL consulting after working with several other organizations including Weston consulting and Habitat for Humanity. He held high standards of performance and ethics in his work. He understood work ethics in consultancy work. He upheld the ethical behaviors that are required of consultants.
He continued to uphold the same as he got working with GL Consulting. Having worked for some time with GL Consulting, his efforts were recognized by the management, who raised his rank in the organization. Hertach was assigned senior roles in the firm, which made him understand the organization (Nanda & Delong, 2002).
Many people would argue that Tim left GL Consulting on his own, while others would argue that the company wanted Tim to leave. The true answer was that Tim was exceptionally responsive to clients. He believed on applying ethical standards while dealing with customers. Having served the organization in several capacities, he realized a number of unethical acts in the business procedures of the firm.
Notable was the complicated billing processes, which made customers to benefit at the expense of the firm. His inquiry about the complicated practices put the management at ease with him, leading to his departure from the firm (Nanda & Delong, 2002).
Prospective view of the ethical standards of Hertach
The major disagreement of Tim came when he learnt about the complicated billing process in the transaction between the company and Bolton Machine, a client of the company. He had earlier battled to ensure that the transaction with Parks Food, a client of the firm, was transacted to benefit both the client and the company.
In fact, it was during the battle in this transaction that Tim knew of the scandalous transaction between GL Consulting and Bolton Machine. In the controversial transaction, GL Consulting gave high transaction rate, making it to be the greatest beneficiary of the transaction. This was done without the knowledge of the client firm – Bolton Machine (Nanda & Delong, 2002).
Tim sought to clear out on this billing issue with the top management because he believed in ethical practices. He wanted the management to uncover and explain why the transaction took place. The management remained adamant and insisted that everything was done in accordance with the policies and values of GL Consulting. They rejected to let him assess the transaction documents to ascertain their word.
All what Tim required was the assurance that the company was acting in an ethical manner with its clients as he believed in ethical consultancy. Having worked with the firm for quite long and having been applauded by clients, Tim was certain that the company was not being transparent to its clients in its seemingly unethical billing process. He thus rejected to ascent to the argument by the management that this was the culture of the company. He did not conquer with this culture (Nanda & Delong, 2002).
Prospective view of the GLC ethical standard
Tim noted a number of unethical operation pointers. The meetings in the firm were influenced by the top managers. They lacked transparency and open communication. This was notable in the revaluation proposal meeting where the presenters failed to avail copies of the controversial proposal and no feedback was given to those who attended it.
Tim noted that everything in the company was implemented not basing on its benefits but on the will of the managers. The senior management took advantage of the partners. The organization was too bureaucratic with the employees in the middle level not being given the chance to raise their views. The mid-level partners were suppressed to the extent that they could not raise controversial concerns to the actions and decisions of the bosses (Nanda & Delong, 2002).
Principle for ethical consulting
A number of actions stand to support the fact that Tim cook has high a high respect for ethical acts and wanted the organization to adhere to ethics in its transactions with clients. He defended the Park Food Company against the opinion of his bosses. This led him to the discovery of the unethical practices instilled in the firm.
He discovers that Williamson whom he considered his mentor solidly supports the unethical deal with Boston Machine. GLC was running business solidly for its own gains and did not care about the clients. This is a breach of ethics because he believed that this will have a long-run effect on the company (Nanda & Delong, 2002).
Conclusion and recommendations
- Though forced to leave the company, Tim was happy as he had gained lessons to lead his future career. The other point is that the Company offered a good working environment for its employees as compared to other companies.
- Tim would not have decided to hint to the top management that he would leave the company. His stay in the company could have helped to bring about ethical sanity in the company.
- Also, Tim took the Bolton Machine case very directly which hindered his progress in the case. He ought to have taken it slow and gain the full insights before confronting the management.
References
Khedher, M. (2009). Manage change using the nanotechnology model. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse.
Nanda, A., & Delong, T. (2002). Tim Hertach at GL Consulting. Harvard Business School.