Case Study Analysis: Business Ethics, Gender Bias, and Sustainability

This case study examines two scenarios: gender discrimination at Majestic Hotels and an incident at a zoo where a tiger escaped. The first case analyzes gender bias, specifically the unethical treatment of a qualified female executive, and discusses the importance of equal opportunity policies, ethical decision-making, and the impact of gender stereotypes. The second case focuses on the ethical responsibilities of zoo employees and managers, exploring the use of ethical audits and interviews to identify responsible parties. The analysis emphasizes moral agency, accountability, and the role of external and internal motivations in promoting ethical behavior within organizations. The case study also highlights the importance of employee training and the creation of a workplace that values diversity and ethical conduct to avoid legal issues. The assignment provides a comprehensive overview of ethical issues, offering practical recommendations for promoting fairness and sustainability in the business environment.

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Business ethics and sustainability
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Case study: Majestic Hotels and Resource
Gender biasness is a highly crucial ethical business issue even in this era of
mordanization. It has been found that women earn approximately 80 percent of that of
men.Gender distinctions can be even more problematic since there are old stereotypes and wome
n are judged by standards different from men. The wellbeing of the workforce is essential for me
ntal health at work and can affect performance negatively (Carrasco et al., 2015). In this case
study, Adele Chan, a 45 years old executive in MBA has been victimized of gender
discrimination. In spite of possessing greater qualification as well as skills compared to a male
candidate, Chan was not chosen for the particular job. When Chan contacted the chairman of the
selection panel in order to obtain feedback, she had been told that they have not chosen her sine
as per them women struggles to demonstrate strong character and emotional resilience and hence
a man will be better for the post. As a student of management, I completely disagree with the
mentioned fact. As per my opinion, the chairman for selection has conducted an unethical
decision making that goes against organizational policies and procedures.
According to the researcher one of the most crucial ethical diagnosis tool on which the
degree of ethical biasness of a business decision making is measured is ‘value’. Value is defined
as the principles and ideals, which helps them in making the judgement of what is more
important. Ideally, an organization should possess the principle that candidate for a specific post
should only be selected on the basis of this qualification, experience and skill. Other factors like
age, gender or sexual orientation should not be valued (Aggarwal et al., 2014).
Employers engaged in unfair recruitment have tried, for a good number of reasons, to jus
tify discriminatory recruitment decisions.

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Some employers thought women did not have the skills needed to perform non-traditional and hi
gher-paid jobs just due to their gender.
Other employers who recruited or promoted women to the position of supervisors or
managers prevented those women from achieving superior roles, known as the "glass ceiling.”
The glass ceilling theory describes a barrier for a specific group, in this case, female employees
who possess the right to observe higher ranks but are prevented to achieve the same. The glass
ceiling can be considered an inevitable result of gender stereotypes which shape beliefs about
how each gender should behave. Gender stereotypes also emphasise on the areas where one sex
may be deficient in comparison to the other sex (Keenan, Kemp & Ramsay, 2016). Despite the
ability of a woman to fulfill the needs of her job and further progress within an organization,
when considered against a man, they are often disregarded. The creation of an equality policy
helps men and women to gain access to equal jobs, advances and other benefits. In addition,
please make sure your employees comply with reminders and posting your policies in several
visible locations (and not just in the event of an incident).
According to the radical theory of women, sexes are adversely balanced, men have power
over women, and society and its different social relations can best be understood by their relation
ship to that situation. Radical feminists argue that all kinds of oppression are derived from a
system of patriarchal relations. In contrast, radical feminists treat gender segregation as the core
concept. Radical feminists consider concept of patriarchy as the basis of oppression in
employment.
The Australian Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and every State and Local
Fair Employment Practices Agency implement many anti-discrimination legislation. The earliest

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laws on books banning discrimination against sub-represented workforce groups include the
1963 Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (Ra & Tilt, 2016). The Lilly
Ledbetter Act of 2009 recently passed also prohibits discrimination against women and the
elderly.
In order to protect people who need time off from work in order to be cured of serious
medical conditions, or workers who need a leave to care to family members who suffer from a
serious medical condition, the Australian Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
implements FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act). It is because women are generally the main
carers in family strife and situations where personal care and care is necessary that FMLA is
considered as laws to prohibit discrimination against women.
Finally, it can be concluded that the mentioned that in order to efficiently run business
without legal allegation, the mentioned organization needs to impose a good number of rules and
regulation along with educating its employers about the importance of gender diversity and the
adverse consequences that may be faced by the organization in case of legal allegation. Creating
an equal opportunities policy helps women and men to gain access to equal positions,
advancement opportunities and other benefits (Wang & Calvano, 2015). In addition to this
policy, please ensure that your employees follow through with reminders (not just in case of an
incident) and post your policy in several visible places.
Case study: Tiger Escaped From Zoo
In this case study of tiger escaped from the zoo, identification of the source of the ethical
dilemma is crucial. Keeping the animals safely and securely within the zoo premises is the
responsibility of the employees as well as the managers of the zoo as well. Hence, from moral

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ground both operational manager as well as the employees of the zoo can be considered as the
subject of guilty. However, some in depth infestation is required to identify who is responsible
for this devastating event, where a tiger manage to get out of the cage and killed employee by
attacking him.
In this case the two diagnostics tools that can be utilise to identify the ethical issues and
responsible personnel are ethical audit and selective interview. Through, ethical audit it can be
identified the employees and the managers that were responsible for that duration when the tiger
managed to escape. Additionally the ethical audit will also enable the onsite investigation and
monitoring on that particular work schedule (Reinecke, Arnold & Palazzo, 2016). On the other
hand, the in depth selective interview could help to find the cause behind this operational
inefficiency.
Corporate responsibility assumes the ability to adopt rational decisions that justify
holding moral agents to account. Since morality involves responsibility, in principle, as
independent rational agents can respond to moral reasons, accountability is a necessary moral
feature. In many areas of our lives, ethical behaviour is a major concern. Without hearing
discussions about ethical dilemmas which confront people in different situations, we can not turn
on the radio (Bivins, 2016). Responsible person must not depend on motivational external or
mediated pressure to adapt responsibly. You should be motivated to correct harm and reduce the
risks of harm in the future, without pressure from outside or from mediators to do so. As per the
previous actions, as a manager my roles would be evolving moral agency include the sources of
moral responsibility on which moral responsibilities can be assigned to the person (Ramasastry,
2015). The latter being able to acknowledge and respond to the strength of moral causes is a
prerequisite for the other two causes of moral responsibility and therefore responsibility.

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In many areas of our lives, ethical behaviour. Without listening to discussions about
ethical dilemmas facing people in various situations, we can not turn on the radio. The easiest
formula is that a person is responsible if (1) he is responsible for a action, either functionally
and/or morally, (2) he has suffered certain harm as a result of such action, and (3) he has no
legitimate excuse. Ideally, a person responsible for an action would then be responsible for the
results of the action (Wood et al., 2015).
This position assumes that the person in responsibility is relatively independent or free to
decide his or her job without any external influence or pressure. And under normal
circumstances, you would hope to have this autonomy for public relations professionals. The
nature of autonomy changes however many times with the environment in which an individual
works and is certainly influenced by the role and the functions related to that role. The roles of
public relations practitioners involve the responsibility to carry out certain roles. Responsibility
may therefore be seen as a bundle of task or function obligations. The role, which in turn
includes, but is not limited to, a job description, is narrowly defined.
Moral responsibility assumes the capacity to take rational decision-making, which in turn
warrants the responsibility of morals. Since moral agency involves responsibility, as autonomous
rational agents can respond to moral reasons in principle, accountability is an essential feature of
morals. Responsible actors should not depend for responsive adjustment on external or mediated
motivational stresses. The employees of the zoo are expected, without external or mediated
pressure, to correct harms and reduce future risks of harm (Dillard & Brown, (2014).
The theory of the responsible actor uses what could be called a behavioural approach,
which appears to imply that people are motivated and shaped by forces outside of themselves.

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People are certainly motivated at least in parts by rewards and penalties; but even those who are
regarded as accountable, as opposed to responsible person, usually have a matured sense of
moral and a much clearer concept about the social conventions. Considering this factors it can be
said that this person can act as a moral agent while having the capacity to impose moral law in
his or her life for achieving the self satisfactory level of “moral autonomy”. It can be stated that
this sensory understanding could also associate with professional status as well. A responsible
person in this case the workers of the zoo should have the quality to make appropriate choices
according through analysing the external stimuli as well as personal conventions. Workers
should also control their selves as well as suggest ethical action to their peers. At the same time
beign, the accountable ethical actor the managers should have the external oversight, regulation,
and mechanisms of punishment aimed to externally motivate the workforce of the zoo in order to
preserve faithfulness with proper moral standards of action and responsibilities (Crane and
Matten, 2016). Managers should also motivate (free of external pressure) the responsible workers
to adapt themselves to the situation in which their decisions have had an effect as well as their
ability and freedom to take self-regulating decisions. This is what separates them from
responsible players, whose motivation to respond and adapt must be based on external
supervision. However the ability to react fully based on self-motivation (or autonomy) is limited
in theory by role and environment, although this could be appealing.

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