Fundamentals of Business: Ethical Dilemma at Salty Pawz - A Case Study

This essay delves into the ethical considerations surrounding a business scenario where Wanda, the owner of Salty Pawz, contemplates switching to less expensive ingredients in her dog treats without informing her customers or updating her labels. The essay explores the fundamental principles of business ethics, emphasizing the importance of trust, integrity, and loyalty to customers. It argues that Wanda's proposed action is unethical as it violates the trust her customers have placed in her and the reputation she has built over the years. The discussion also touches upon the legal doctrine of 'caveat emptor' and the ethical duties that businesses owe to their consumers, concluding that Wanda should prioritize ethical considerations over profit and maintain transparency with her customer base to avoid legal and ethical repercussions. Desklib offers a range of resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to aid students in their studies.

Running head: FUNDAMENTALS OF BUSINESS
Fundamentals of Business
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1FUNDAMENTALS OF BUSINESS
This essay discusses the ethical issues of a scenario where Wanda bakes and sells dog
treats online. The issue is whether she can ethically switch ingredients without informing her
customers and changing her labels. It can be said that an accumulation of values and
principles that answer the questions of what is bad and good in human activities. The purpose
of ethics is to act accordingly, by not being bias and refrain from acting for approving or not
approving the conduct.
As per the situation, it was observed that Wanda was successful at carrying out her
business and wanted to gain a better profit margin. Therefore, for obtaining the extra profit
she wanted to use less expensive ingredients in the products she was selling and supplying.
The reason is that the dogs will be receiving treats that will be healthier as compared to the
mass-produced treats (Karla). Thus, it can be stated here that the step, which Wanda is taking
will be considered to be unethical as she is not being loyal or faithful to her customers who
she has been serving for several years. As per the Business Ethics, it is essential to state here
that businesses should provide service according to the amount they are receiving. Businesses
should not harm the customers they are serving. Therefore, moral decisions include ethical
duties that Wanda should exercise and not hurt or dissatisfy her long time customers. The
consumers have the right to access the quality of products and services they are purchasing
(Crane and Matten).
Further, it can be stated that the actions of Wanda is not considerable ethically since
she has been serving her old and new customers with one kind of ingredient and hence she
cannot switch as that would result in unethical act. This is because the purchasers have faith
in Wanda and she has been maintaining a reputation of trust. The doctrine of ‘Due care’ lies
with the manufacturer of the product. Salty Pawz will be held liable in such a situation. The
legal doctrine of ‘caveat emptor’ will be applied in such a situation where the buyers must be
made aware of what they are purchasing (Simangunsong, Hendry and Stevenson). The

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consumers will have very less choice to trust the honesty and good intentions of the company
they are purchasing the products from the company (Oliver). The basic fundamental ethical
issues that businesses must face are trust and integrity. There exists a basic comprehension of
integrity of the idea of conducting the activities of the business with honesty and maintaining
a committed treatment to the customers. Ethical considerations as mentioned above if
applied, Wanda should not switch the ingredients of the dog treats she makes and sells. Thus,
instead of switching or changing the ingredients, Wanda must be loyal to her customers and
not think about making the profit.
In the conclusion, it can be advised that there are a set of ethical responsibilities that
Wanda is bound to carry out failing to which she would have to face both legal and ethical
implications in the name of Salty Pawz.

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References:
Crane, Andrew, and Dirk Matten. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press, 2016.
Ferrell, Oliver C. "A framework for understanding organizational ethics." Business ethics:
New challenges for business schools and corporate leaders. Routledge, 2016. 15-29.
Gower, Karla K. Legal and ethical considerations for public relations. Waveland Press,
2017.
Simangunsong, Elliot, Linda C. Hendry, and Mark Stevenson. "Managing supply chain
uncertainty with emerging ethical issues." International Journal of Operations & Production
Management 36.10 (2016): 1272-1307.