Operation Decision Making

Respond with150 words

Suzanne This scenario is an ethical dilemma. An ethical dilemma in an organization can be tricky to navigate and compounded with the expectation of being a socially responsible company.

For reference, an ethical dilemma is a decision-making problem between two possible moral imperatives, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. Social responsibility is an ethical theory in which individuals are accountable for fulfilling their civic duty, and the actions of an individual must benefit the whole of society.

First, I need to look at the scenario and ask myself some questions, like how costly is this, is the short-term savings worth my reputation, and I can take my business somewhere else? Ruining my socially responsible business reputation, frankly, could put me out of business; therefore, I can not take my production to China, and I would decide to look at other ways to offset the cost increase.

We have seen this scenario play out in real life, and the outcomes are not favorable to the organizations that did not maintain social responsibility. A few prominent names include Volkswagen, Nike, and BP.

Respond with 150 words

NicoleAfter thinking about the pros and cons of producing athletic shoes in China, I would have to keep production within the United States. Even though the labor cost difference between doing business functions in China versus using the current suppliers is $1 per pair of shoes, damaging the company’s commitment to social responsibility could do more damage in the long run. Corporate social responsibility considers all environmental, societal, and financial impacts when making decisions for the company (Heizer et al., 2020). Being that the Chinese government does in fact engage in censoring the media, is still repressive, and is still a dictated country, it would take away the control for the shoe company to monitor a variety of factors. The working conditions in China are very different than they are in the United States. This would run the risk of child labor, sweatshops, and other tough working conditions that would take away from being socially responsible. In China, there is no specific punishment for sexual harassment, which would put employees at risk and take away from the company being socially responsible (Bodupalli, 2018). Pollution is another example of something the company would have no control over if they outsourced to China. Overall, I believe that this athletic shoe company should remain with their current supplier to produce their shoes. It would keep their supply chain, reputation, community relationships, and profits intact. If they were to switch to a contractor that makes the shoes in China, they run the risk of not being socially responsible and losing customers, and in the long run losing profits.

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