Management: Ethical Dilemma of Discrimination against Female Employees in Apple and Samsung

This scenario involves a business in IT sector (in Apple Inc. and Samsung) where an incident occurred regarding sexual discrimination of a female employee in the organization. The workplace of the business in both Apple and Samsung has a very conservative nature where practices of discrimination and biasness are very common in the form of job stereotypes, gender based job roles and unequal job promotions and job opportunities for male and female employees.

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Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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1. Scenario
The scenario involves a business in IT sector (in Apple Inc. and Samsung) where an incident
occurred regarding sexual discrimination of a female employee in the organization. The
workplace of the business in both Apple and Samsung has a very conservative nature where
practices of discrimination and biasness are very common in the form of job stereotypes,
gender based job roles and unequal job promotions and job opportunities for male and female
employees. The workplace does not promote a culture of inclusiveness and equality and
incidents of harassments of employees have also taken place on several occasions. The
incident involved one of the senior female employees working in the Human Resource
Department of Apple. She was denied leave for maternity as she was expecting in the next
months. The management considering her inability to continue with her work only offered
her to discontinue her employment and provided no assurance of re-employment after her
delivery in Samsung. As compensation she only would be given the medical coverage for her
delivery and the company would take no responsibility of her post natal medical care. The
senior Human Resource Manager and Vice President HR of Apple as well as Samsung, were
on the same page to consider that leave for pregnancy would be a loss for the business since it
was the end of the financial year the company could not take form of burden. Moreover, they
also thought that the employee was already under the knowledge of the work pressure and
dynamics and how pregnancy episode can adversely impact the companies (Apple and
Samsung). The female employee tried to express her grievance regarding these policies with
the Vice President HR considering that she was one of the best performers who consistently
gave high performance and was rewarded for the last five years. Even though she is
completely aware of all the practices and norms within the organization, she expected that her
track record would be helpful in retaining her job at Apple or gain a new job at Samsung.
Even though she continued her employment after her conception till sis months taking great

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risks to prove her credibility and her loyalty to work, sit did not persuade the management.
Instead the communication meant to her was very short, abrupt and one-sided where she was
just given the option to leave the company. The management in Apple and Samsung
moreover failed to take any initiative to facilitate her medical care during her term while she
was working and neither did they reduce the work pressure on her.
The stakeholders at Apple and Samsung who can be influenced in this case scenario include
the employee, her family, the management and leadership as well as the other female
employees in the organization. External stakeholders such as the customers, especially female
ones, might also be affected by the scenario as it can adversely impact their perspective on
the business image (Sipeet al., 2016).
The ethical dilemma that can be identified in the given case scenario in Apple and Samsung
is that of biasness against working females and the rift between the motherhood and their
professional attire. The scenario shows that the values of empathy and consideration for the
health and wellbeing of the employee in this situation has not been focused on by the
management. The inability of the management in Apple and Samsung to see the perspective
of the female employee, instead considering the natural process of a pregnancy as an
inconvenience to the business can be considered as a highly irresponsible and callus. The
leadership further showed a lack of understanding and responsibility towards the health and
wellbeing of their employees thereby showing a lack of ownership and accountability
towards their leadership and managerial duties (Heilman&Caleo, 2015). The situation
moreover was contributed by the fact that the employment contract did not clearly mention
such a requirement or clause regarding pregnancy and employment discontinuation for
employees who are female. This shows that the management did not take into consideration
the biological differences and differential biological needs of the male and female employees
and a lack of good policy making process. The ethical dilemma that stems out of this

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situation roots back to the policies which are male centric and provides a disadvantage to the
female employees. This gender inequality in Apple and Samsung can lead to discrimination
and discriminatory practices against the females and can limit their engagement with the
organization and moreover can affect their health and wellbeing. The employees therefore
stand to be adversely affected by such discriminatory policies as they do not get the necessary
privileges that the organization owes them and moreover the practices can jeopardize their
maintenance of good living and employment. The management and leadership of Apple and
Samsung can also be adversely affected from such an incident through a deterioration of the
image and negative publicity that can occur from such an event. This can also affect the
performance of the organization adversely and thereby impact all the involved stakeholders
of the organization. It can therefore be said that for the organization and its management, the
image is at stake while for the employees their job security is at stake (Adesoye et al., 2017).
2. Script
-Ethical dilemma/values presented in the scenario
The ethical dilemmas or values of conflict which can be related to this case scenario includes
the following:
 The restriction of female employeesin Apple and Samsung pertaining to her
employment during pregnancy can restrict the rights of women to work within an
organization. this creates a discriminatory practice of unequal rights which in turn
creates biased practices within the workforce. It can be mentioned that the practice of
providing equal opportunities to both male and female is an important aspect because
it involved the engagement from the entire society within a workforce in Apple and
Samsung thereby setting up a balance in the socio-economic status of people (Ruggs
et al., 2015).

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 Negative culture can get created within the organization due to discrimination against
gender and in this case the pregnant employee. The incident not only under values the
culture of the organization but also puts in question the moral integrity of the
leadership and management which in turn can cause the respect of the leadership and
management to be adversely affected. The negative culture can moreover impact the
sense of job security as well as the health of the employees. The adverse impact of the
culture on the workplace moreover impacts the engagement of the employees of
Apple and Samsung as well as their performance thereby the organizational success
(Cundiff&Vescio, 2016).
 The incident clearly shows that there is a lack of protocols and policies within the
organization for the protection of women’s rights. Legal protection from harassments
and discrimination has been a part of corporate policies for a long time. However, the
incident shows that such practices are hardly followed and therefore it creates a
negative impact on the health and wellbeing of employees and damages the
organization culture of Apple and Samsung.
 The practice moreover limits the engagement of the female employees within the
organization for a long time as the female employees have to leave within a short
duration of tenure of they wish to extend the family. This results in the upper levels of
the management being dominated by the male employees and causing a stark under
representation of female within the higher management of Apple and Samsung
(Lucifora&Vigani, 2016).
-The stakeholders involved and what is at stake for the key parties
The incident can be considered to have a negative impact on the stakeholders of Apple and
Samsung through various levels which influences the way they associate themselves with the

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organization. the main stakeholders who can be affected by this incident and how the incident
can influence or affect them are briefly outlined under:
 Female employees of the organization: female employees would be the worst affected
stakeholder I the given scenario because the incident creates an adverse situation
where the employment becomes jeopardized due to a natural process that can occur in
the course of life. This not only affects the financial status but also the independence
of the female employee.
 Management and leadership: the management and leadership can e adversely affected
from the scenario as it can lead to tarnish of the organization’s reputation as a fair
employer and in turn can affect the performance and sustainability of the business in
the market. Therefore, for them the reputation and the image of the organization is at
stake (Jones et al., 2017).
 Human Resources department: the Human Resource department can lose its
engagement with the employees thereby affecting the performance of the department
in the maintenance of a positive relation with the employees. Since Human Resource
department is the one communicating the employment related information their
reputation is also at stake from such incident.
 Owners: the Owners of the organization can significantly be affected from the
incident it can cause a loss of productivity and negative image which further can
affect the funding and investment on the business negatively. Furthermore, the
incident also puts at stake the mission, vision and goals of the organization.
 Marketing department: the marketing department can also be affected by this incident
as it can undermine its effort to develop a positive image of the business in the
market. The marketing team interacts with the market and therefore becomes

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answerable to their questions thereby putting at stake their hard work and effort (Park
et al., 2017).
-The main arguments being countered including the reasons and rationalizations that
needs to be addressed.
The main arguments that can be proposed or supported by the management and the leadership
of Apple and Samsung who supports the practice outlined in the given scenario as well as the
main concerns that is intended to be address in this study includes the following:
 Giving a leave for an extended period during a crucial moment such as a financial
ending can be disadvantageous to the business and cause loss in productivity and
performance. Since the organization has a limited workforce, a reallocation in such an
incident for an extended period becomes unlikely and improbable as it would increase
the workload on other employees which in the view of the management is unfair to
others. This according to the management also creates an unfair situation for the male
employees who are biologically ineligible for such leaves (Bruce et al., 2015).
 Since the maternity leave is significantly related to the health and wellbeing of the
mother and the child the period of leave is often ill-defined and abstract. It therefore
becomes a problem for the business to approve such leaves considering that they need
to maintain an ambiguous payroll which can affect the clarity with which the
organization performs and therefore is significantly disadvantageous to the business.
 The expense incurred sue to the payments or insurance and health care coverage for
the female employees during pregnancy for an undefined period of time can be
financially unproductive for the business as the business does not have provisions and
planning in terms of workforce. Furthermore, this can also create a rift within the

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business as the increased expenses especially during the financial year end can create
a budgeting issue (Foleyet al., 2015).
 Additionally, there is hardly any guarantee of the female employees returning to work
after child birth because of various health, family or personal issues and
commitments. The uncertainty of the situation creates a complication for recruitment
team as they cannot hire additional employees until the employment of the previous
employee has been officially terminated (Carliner et al., 2017).
-The levers/arguments that can be used to counter the reasons and rationalizations to
influence those who disagree
The following arguments can be provided to address the concerns above to the stakeholders
of Apple and Samsung who support the view of terminating the female employee on the
grounds of pregnancy:
 Considering the given case scenario of the female employee who has been working
with the organization for the last five years and has shown exceptional performance
and productive for which she wants several accolades. This shows she is already an
asset to the organization and has proven her desirability as well as her loyalty towards
the organization. therefore, it becomes logical for the management to have taken that
into consideration and given her the benefit of doubt because her performance has
already generated sufficient profit and supported organizational growth(Leskinen et
al., 2015).
 Having policies that are well defined in terms of the time frame for leave during
pregnancy that can be taken for maternity can ensure that there is no confusion
regarding how long a particular maternity leave can extend to the maximum. Giving
flexibility within the maternity leaves to choose the time period and also trade the

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leaves for medical benefits can provide an incentive for female employees to join
back faster.
 The organization can also avoid incurring additional expenses for covering maternity
benefits by creating a separate maternity fund for the female employees that is co-paid
by both the organization as well as the employee for the future incident of maternity.
This can not only help the business to reduce the expenditure but also support a pre-
planning of maternity leaves among the employees thereby supporting better
management (Zurbrügg&Miner , 2016).
 The management or leadership can also provide flexibility in working for the
expecting female employees to work from home or desired location in a way so that
they do not incur travel and physical exhaustion but at the time they can maintain
their employment and productivity thereby avoiding a loss for the organization.
Moreover, this can also help the female employees to support themselves and
maintain heir independence.
-The most powerful persuasive response to the reason and rationalizations that needs to
be addressed, to whom the arguments needs to be based, when and in what context?
The responses to the rationalization and reasons outlined above should be made to the
leadership and management/ owners of Apple and Samsung in context of how the incident
can adversely impact organization performance and profitability and how it impacts
engagement with the internal and external stakeholders (Rouse et al., 2016). The most
powerful and persuasive response therefore can be related to the maintenance of
organizational performance by maintaining a culture within the organization which promotes
equality among male and female employees and supports health and independence of the
female employees in the organization. adoption of the recommendations would not only
improve the image of the organization as a fair employers but also improve engagement of

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the female employees with the organization for a longer period, help in better retention of
talent while also promoting better wellbeing of the employees. This response can be made
during board meetings and general discussions through which polices can be made to address
the particular situation and prevent its recurrence (Miller&Grollman, 2015).

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