Should He Be Fired for His Facebook Post: An Ethical Dilemma for Down City Motors

This report analyzes the ethical dilemma faced by Down City Motors due to a potential employee's Facebook post. It discusses the background of social media policies and the negative impacts of social media on organizations. The report suggests alternative solutions and recommends taking disciplinary action with appropriate justification.

Report
Critical Thinking Management
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Executive Summary
“Should he be fired for his face book post” is an article which highlights the case of the
organization down city motors. This case highlights that one of the potential employee of down
city motors has commented negatively on his face book posts. Even though it is not ethical to
consider the face book post of the employee by the organizations, the down city motors takes this
action of the employee serious since it is his second attempt and it can caused the reputation of
the organization badly. In the modern business environment where there is a tremendous
technical advancement, almost all the organizations face such social media challenges. This has
put the organizations in to a compulsion that they started developing the social media policies
which the employees have to cope with. Most of the employees posts such things without
considering the impacts which can generate it for the organizations. The situation of the
organization down city motors is analyzed when such potential employee exhibits such an
immoral and irresponsible behaviour. Different alternatives are developed which can resolve the
current issue of the organization.
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Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Back ground................................................................................................................................................5
Case study scenario.....................................................................................................................................5
Alternative solutions....................................................................................................................................6
Recommendation and conclusion................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
Ethics and ethical norms play an important role in the sustainable operations of the business
organizations. Ethical practice is the moral behaviour which has to be practiced by the employers
as well as the employees in order to make the work place harmonious and productive. The
modern business environment provides much importance to the ethics and the ethical practices as
it can build loyalty trust worthy, increase productivity etc of the organization. The ethical
theories like the utilitarian theory, duty based theory, etc are implemented in the organizations to
establish ethical norms and standards (Stenmark, 2017).
The employers and the employees should follow the ethical standards in order to implement the
ethical concept successfully in the work place. The business issue of the organization BMW
highlights the unethical behaviour of the potential employee and the consequences which the
organization has to face due to his behaviour. The social media has emerged as a new technology
which connects the people throughout the world and to share information. The case of BMW
“should he be fired for that face book post” highlights the ethical concerns which arise due to the
integration of the social media with its operations.
This report highlights the problem situation which the organization BMW has to face due to the
immoral practice of its potential employee through his face book posts. The ethical and the
operational dilemmas which the organization has to face due to his behaviour have been
discussed through this report. Some of recommendations are given in order to resolve the ethical
issue. The ethical implications each recommended approach has been discussed effectively.
Considering the implications and recommendations an appropriate solution is provided with
sufficient justification. This report concentrates on various concept of the ethical theory which
evaluates the approach of the employee as well as the employers in this case which enables it to
lead to a final solution (Patterson, Wilkins and Painter, 2018).
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Back ground
Social media is the internet technology which has been utilized by the organization for their
personal networking and other communications. The organizations are facing positives as well as
negatives when considering the integration of the social media. The social media policies has
been proposed and implemented by the organizations in order to determine the ethical and the
issues related to it.
Information sharing which happens knowingly and unknowingly which take place through the
social Medias is the primary issues which the modern organizations are facing. The peoples who
prefers to stay connects their official profiles like the clients, suppliers, customers etc in their
personal blogging or in the social medias. This connection enables the members to see all the
posts which are getting shared. If official or confidential information related to the business are
shared through the social media then it can impact the business operations badly (Bertrand,
2018).
Next issue is the spreading of the negative image of the company unknowingly by the
employees. The posts of the employees can reflect the working conditions, standards etc of the
organization which can generate negative image about the organization. This issue which
impacts the organizations badly has paved way to the formulation of the social media policies
and procedures. The impacts which the social Media posts and information sharing are serious
damages to the organization which justifies the formulation of the social media policies and
claims it to be ethical (Gelinas et al, 2017).
When thinking in some other angle the social networking is the personal rights of the employees
and the employers taking official decisions based on their personal affairs are unethical. But
when it comes to the cases which affect the reputation of the organization, the management has
to take measures to safe guard the organizations. Better social media policies and making the
employees aware about it can protect the employer as well as the employees for its negative
implications (Golder, Ahmed, Norman and Booth, 2017).
Case study scenario
The Down city motors is a reputed dealer of the automobiles which is owned and operated by the
BMW, Mercedes Benz, Range Rover. This organization holds a good reputation in the city and
has been operating successfully over three generations. Mr. Kenton who is a potential employee
of the down city motors has shared information through the face book which defames the
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reputation of the organization. This practice of the employee has put the management of the
down city motors into a problem situation. Mr. Kenton has criticized the standardization of the
organization which can ruin its reputation. Since the employee has performed a similar social
media default the management is being forced to take disciplinary actions against him
(Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018).
This practice of the employee has put the management into an ethical dilemma. The management
couldn’t take any strict disciplinary action against this practice as he is a good performer and
plays a major role in the sales generation. At the same time the management also worries that the
same practice can be taken as example by others which can cost the organization badly. The
management is also concerned about the other legal implication which can arise if any
disciplinary actions are taken.
Alternative solutions
Considering the present situation of the organization Down City Motors some of the alternative
solutions are determined and are mentioned below
 Ignore the issue: The management can just ignore the issue or the ace book post in order
to resolve the issue. Since the employee is a potential employee and has a huge impact
over the sales and the production of the organization any disciplinary action can put the
organization into trouble. According to the sales team head Mr. Tyson, Mr. Kenton the
defaulter is the good performer. He also claims that losing such a good employee can
impact the production turnover of the organization. It can also cost the organization in
training up a new employee. Hence ignoring the issue can be an ethical decision for
resolving the issue (Bender, Cyr, Arbuckle and Ferris, 2017).
The disadvantage of this solution is that if the practice of this employee is ignored, the
probability that other employees can imitate the same practice and can cause more similar
issues for the organization. The no response of the organization for this action can turn
out very costly. No other employees can be punished for this similar action, if punish
they can claim it considering this case. Another disadvantage is that leaving the issue as
such can make the statements of the employee true by its shareholders and clients. Lack
of standardization is important expectation which can ruin its competitive advantage as
well (Babalola, Stouten, Camps and Euwema, 2017).
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 Discipline them: Taking disciplinary actions against the action of the employee is
another suggestion which can be given to the organization. The disciplinary action may
involve giving punishments like the suspension, asking for the letter explaining the fact
etc. This approach can restrict the employee from posting any similar posts in his
personal networks in the future. Since the employee has already conducted the similar
activity taking disciplinary actions can be appropriate. This approach of the organization
can be a warning of the other employees also and can restrict them to perform similar
actions. It can also make the viewers of the post like the share holders, clients, etc that the
organization values its reputation and hence it took the disciplinary action (Babalola,
Stouten, Euwema and Ovadje, 2018).
The disadvantage of this approach is that the disciplinary actions can impact the morale
of the employee. The employee could have posted the matter in the ace book fun without
any negative intention. Hence it can ruin the loyalty of the employee and hence can
impact his performance level. Apart from this many ethical concerns or ambiguity can
rise in the mind of the other employees which can impact the work place harmony and
hence the performance (Bell, Bryman and Harley, 2018).
 Firing the employee: This can be an extreme end alternative which the organization can
adopt in this case. Even the director of the down city Mr. Dell has almost decided to fire
the employee as he has already attempted to defame the organization through face book.
This approach can almost stop the threat of the social media challenges for the
organization. The organization can implement the social media policy related to it and
can be communicated to the employees in order to make their social media operations
personal and unofficial (Schwartz, 2017).
Even though this approach of the problem resolution can benefit the organization in many
ways it can be an unethical approach. Social Medias like the face book are the personal
area of the employees. The organizations taking any disciplinary actions like firing the
employee considering his social networking posts can be considered as odd. This can
give rise to many critiques, conflicts etc within the workplace which can ruin the loyalty,
performance etc. However this method could generate the ambiguity within the
employees and can impact the job security negatively (Neuliep, 2017).
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Recommendation and conclusion
Considering the facts of the case and the ethical theories the alternatives which can be suggested
for the organization down city motors is the method of “discipline them”. The organization
should consider the ethical constraints before taking the decision. The organization can ask for
the detailed explanation from the employee for his action. He can be made understood about the
position of the organization through his immoral activity. The employee can be given soft
warning through explaining the negative impacts which his action can cause. This approach can
make the employee understand the seriousness of the issue and he may also not repeat the same
action. This action can also generate awareness about the social media policies which the
organization is holding and will try to stick on with it (Singer, 2018).
This report highlights the ethical issues which are generated through the social media impact
over the work place. The case of the down city motors are concerned here for the purpose of
analysis. The case has been reviewed effectively through identifying the present situation of the
organization and the difficulties it is facing due to the immoral activity of Mr. Kenton. Three
alternative solutions have been recommended for the organization like the ignoring the issue,
taking disciplinary actions, and firing out. Finally the alternative “taking disciplinary action” has
been recommended through providing appropriate justification (Huang and Paterson, 2017).
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References
Bertrand, C.J., 2018. Media ethics and accountability systems, 1st edition, New York,
Routledge.
Bender, J.L., Cyr, A.B., Arbuckle, L. and Ferris, L.E., 2017. Ethics and privacy implications
of using the internet and social media to recruit participants for health research: A privacy-
by-design framework for online recruitment. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(4).
Bell, E., Bryman, A. and Harley, B., 2018. Business research methods, fifth edition, UK
Oxford university press.
Babalola, M.T., Stouten, J., Camps, J. and Euwema, M., 2017. When do ethical leaders
become less effective? The moderating role of perceived leader ethical conviction on
employee discretionary reactions to ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-18.
Campbell, R., Martin, C. and Fabos, B., 2018. Media essentials: A brief introduction.
Bedford/St. Martin's, volume 1, Boston.
Babalola, M.T., Stouten, J., Euwema, M.C. and Ovadje, F., 2018. The relation between
ethical leadership and workplace conflicts: The mediating role of employee resolution
efficacy. Journal of Management, volume: 44(5), pp.2037-2063.
Golder, S., Ahmed, S., Norman, G. and Booth, A., 2017. Attitudes toward the ethics of
research using social media: a systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research,
volume:19(6), London
Gelinas, L., Pierce, R., Winkler, S., Cohen, I.G., Lynch, H.F. and Bierer, B.E., 2017. Using
social media as a research recruitment tool: ethical issues and recommendations. The
American Journal of Bioethics, New York, volume 17(3), pp.3-14.
Huang, L. and Paterson, T.A., 2017. Group ethical voice: Influence of ethical leadership and
impact on ethical performance. Journal of Management, 43(4), pp.1157-1184.
Neuliep, J.W., 2017. Intercultural communication: A contextual approach, 7th edition,
London, Sage Publications.
Patterson, P., Wilkins, L. and Painter, C., 2018. Media ethics: Issues and cases, 9th edition,
London, Rowman & Littlefield.
Singer, L., 2018. Settling disputes: Conflict resolution in business, families, and the legal
system, 2nd edition, newyork Routledge.
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Stenmark, M., 2017. Environmental ethics and policy-making, 1st edition, London,
Routledge.
Schwartz, M.S., 2017. Business Ethics: An Ethical Decision-making Approach (Vol. 10).
John Wiley & Sons
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