OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the four ethical communities
2. Apply the ethical communities to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

In June 2022, Gains in Bulk encountered a challenge due to a shortage of creatine resulting

from a series of unforeseeable circumstances. Gains in Bulk is a vitamins and supplement

company located in the small town of Pima, Arizona. The company operates out of a large

building that houses its production and fulfillment operations. While I am no longer employed

with the organization, I worked as a full-time production and fulfillment staff member for six

months. My daily responsibilities included measuring and filling bottles and bags with the

correct supplements in the production area during the morning, and packaging customer orders,

and generating shipping labels for the latter half of the day.

In an effort to increase efficiency, the company recently implemented a new system of

production that allowed for the mass production of various products, including creatine, at a

faster-than-ever-before pace. This new system enabled the company to ship products to

customers within a few days, a significant improvement over the prior shipping time of around a

week. However, after burning through an entire shipment of creatine within two weeks, the

company was not due to receive another shipment for another month. Despite the low supply, the

company continued to sell creatine on the website. Additionally, new customers who ordered the

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company's renowned creatine were disappointed to learn that it wouldn’t be shipped to them for

the next several weeks. This situation had varying impacts on staff members and ultimately

damaged the company's reputation and profitability for a period of several months

2) Describe how the ethics of the organization influenced the situation.

The company's decision to sell creatine supplements despite having a low supply shows that

they prioritize their profit over customer satisfaction. They chose to sell the product even though

they knew that they didn't have enough to meet the demand, which means that they were willing

to sacrifice customer satisfaction for short-term financial gain. By doing so, they risked the

health and well-being of their customers, who might have resorted to buying creatine from less

reliable sources. This is not ethical behavior, as it puts the customer's health and safety at risk

and goes against the principles of responsible business practices. The company's focus on speed

and efficiency over ensuring an adequate supply of products indicates a lack of consideration for

the long-term consequences of their new production system. The company's decision to adopt a

new system that allowed them to mass-produce products faster than ever before was meant to

increase efficiency and profitability. However, this new system had not been thoroughly tested,

and the company did not consider the possibility of running out of stock. By not thinking about

the potential long-term consequences, the company made a mistake that ultimately hurt its

reputation and profitability.

The situation could have been mitigated by a more ethical approach that prioritized the needs

and satisfaction of the customers over short-term profits. This means that the company could

have chosen to delay the sale of creatine until they had enough stock to meet the demand, even if

it meant a short-term financial loss. They could have also been more transparent about the

situation, informed customers of the shortage, and offered alternatives. By taking these steps, the

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company could have maintained the trust of its customers and avoided the negative

consequences of the shortage, such as loss of customers and revenue.

3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical communities for an alternative
course of action regarding your case.

The ethical community I would apply for an alternative course of action would be the

organizational ethic of caring from the human resource frame (Bolman & Deal, 2021, Exhibit

20.1). I think the company could have prioritized the well-being of its customers by being

transparent about the low supply of creatine and taking steps to ensure that customers were not

left without their desired product. For example, the company could have provided customers

with alternative supplement options or offered refunds for the creatine that was unavailable.

From the family point of view I think if we saw our customers as a part of our team and family,

we could’ve expressed this by caring for them and being honest in our sales with them. This

situation damaged our trust with them and took a while to build back.

Additionally, the company could have taken a more proactive approach to ensure an adequate

supply of creatine, rather than simply relying on the new production system to keep up with

demand. This could involve working with suppliers to increase the frequency of shipments or

implementing a system to monitor inventory levels more closely to avoid running out of stock.

By prioritizing the needs and well-being of its customers, the company could have demonstrated

a commitment to the caring community and potentially avoided the negative consequences that

resulted from its decision to prioritize profit and efficiency over customer satisfaction.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about ethics.

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 This situation was one of the reasons I quit this organization. I like reliability and structure,

which Gains in Bulk did not have. Now that I have learned about ethics, I feel it would have

been best to quit this company sooner. If I were in charge of this organization, I would prioritize

ethical decision-making and consider the impact of our actions on all stakeholders. I would

ensure that the company's values and principles are clearly communicated to all employees and

that they understand the importance of 4 prioritizing customer satisfaction and long-term success

over short-term profits. I would also work to cultivate a culture of trust and integrity within the

organization and proactively identify and address potential ethical challenges before they arise.

I would not prioritize the short-term gains of the company over the well-being and

satisfaction of customers. I would also take a proactive approach to ethical decision-making and

work to promote a culture of integrity within the organization. Finally, I would strive to cultivate

a deep understanding of the ethical principles that guide the organization and communicate these

clearly to all employees to ensure that ethical decision-making is prioritized at all levels of the

company

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership

(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass