Week 1 EOC: Question 3

Laurie Tenk is a purchasing agent for a restaurant chain.  One of her suppliers has been late on deliveries the past two weeks.  She has discussed this with the salesperson, and he assures her that the problem will be solved.  In an effort to "make things right" the salesperson delivers two cases of hot dogs to her office for "sampling".   She plans to have a back yard barbecue this weekend for her neighbors.  From an ethical point of view, how should she handle this situation? Explain your decision making process and defend your answer.  Use the five Ethical Guidelines in this chapter as a basis for your answer to explain what should be  done with the hot dogs. Answers: a. Is it legal? If there are no company policies forbidding the acceptance of "gifts", then it is probably legal for  Laurie to take the hot dogs home. "Any course of action that violates written law or company policies and procedures is wrong." b. Does it hurt anyone? Laurie would personally benefit from utilizing the two cases of hot dogs.  "Discounts, rebates, and free products are the property of the business, not the manager." c. Am I being honest? No it is not honest, because the product does not belong to her,  it belongs to the company. She may not be able to professionally handle future problems  with the supplier. Especially if she feels that the supplier will "reward" her again for future mistakes. d. Would I care if it happened to me? As a business owner I would care, because product  is being withheld from my company and being used for personal use. How would I feel  about my purchasing manager accepting gifts. e. Would I publicize my action? No, I would not. If I am not comfortable telling people  about it, it is because I know it is unethical. "If you wouldn’t want your action to be read  aloud in a court of law (even if your action is legal), you probably shouldn’t do it." f. What should be done with the two cases of hot dogs? 1. Laurie should return the hot dogs to the supplier expressing her gratitude, however it is  not company policy to accept gifts from suppliers. 2. Laurie could return the two cases of hot dogs to the company for the company Christmas party 3. Laurie could donate the hot dogs to charity.