Ethical Decision-Making: Balancing Team Value with Cost Concerns

This case study addresses an ethical dilemma concerning the balance between team value and cost considerations within a company. The proposed solution involves categorizing costs into safety and non-safety expenses to facilitate budget allocation while prioritizing employee well-being. The analysis suggests opting for an external audit to enhance company reputation and boost employee morale, potentially leading to increased performance. While acknowledging potential budgetary constraints, the study emphasizes the critical importance of employee safety, highlighting the ethical responsibility of management to prevent harm. The case study also anticipates potential negative impacts on relationships with management and legal counsel due to concerns about bottom-line costs and perceived liabilities associated with external audits. Ultimately, the analysis prioritizes the needs and safety of employees as paramount for the company's success.

Ethical Dilemma 1
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Ethical Dilemma 2
The proposed solution is all about determining the value of the team, and looking at the cost
as well. There should be an equal balance between the needs and requirements of the team,
and trying to balance it with the cost, a swell as fine-tuning it to met the expectations of the
company. There are many ways to do something, but it is essential that the needs of the
employees are kept in mind alongside the budget of the company as well.
The solution that is proposed would be to divide it into two. These would be safety costs and
non-safety costs. By comparing the two costs, it would give the company a good idea on how
they are spending, and how to balance the budget.
In response to the situation, it should be better to consider an outside audit, and not an
internal one. While it might be so effective on the budget, an outside audit could boost the
reputation of the company, and since employees prefer an outside audit, it would also boost
the morale of the employees, who might also like the fact that they are considered, which
could lead to an increase in performance (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2018). An outside audit
would also likely be more thorough and the chances of it being tampered would be less. Thus,
in response to this situation I would likely consider an outside audit. However, I would also
keep in mind that all the new equipment that is recommended might not brought since there is
a budget crisis in the company.
This is an important element to look at, since the compromise on safety could lead to a
lawsuit, in which workers could get injured, and would lead to los of profits since money
might have to be paid off in a lawsuit as well (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015).
The main ethical concerns that would be kept in mind would be the safety of the employees.
The employees in the company have been doing an excellent job, and their safety is
something that has to be kept in mind all the time (Kennedy, Welch & Monshipouri, 2017). If
an employee were to harm themselves because of faulty equipment, it would be on the

Ethical Dilemma 3
management since the management is the one that is potentially harming the employees as
well. As a leader my main aim would be to look at the needs of the employees of PPI, and not
at the management, since the employees are the ones that make the company.
The main negative aspects of the situation would be that the relationship with the
management would deteriorate. This would be because they would be concerned with the
bottom-line, and might not be happy with an external audit. The relationship with the lawyers
of the company would also be negatively affected, since they would view the external audit
as a liability (Chell, Spence, Perrini & Harris, 2016).

Ethical Dilemma 4
References
Chell, E., Spence, L. J., Perrini, F., & Harris, J. D. (2016). Social entrepreneurship and
business ethics: Does social equal ethical?. Journal of business ethics, 133(4), 619-625.
Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. New
York: Nelson Education.
Kennedy, E. T., Welch, C. E., & Monshipouri, M. (2017). Multinational corporations and the
ethics of global responsibility: Problems and possibilities. In Human Rights and
Corporations (pp. 123-147). Routledge.
Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2018). Business cases and corporate engagement with
sustainability: Differentiating ethical motivations. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(2), 241-
259.