MGMT 3480 1A Ethical Responsibilities of Organizations Individual Writing Assignment – Newspaper Article Analysis Mingxuan Cao Professor Darryl C

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MGMT 3480 1A Ethical Responsibilities of Organizations Individual Writing Assignment – Newspaper Article Analysis Mingxuan Cao Professor Darryl C. Eisan July 21, 2021 2 Businesses are in a tight spot when it comes to proof of vaccinations, says privacy lawyer By CBC Radio Posted: Jul 19, 2021 Canada has been one of the most affected by COVID-19, forcing the federal government and provincial administrations to enforce various levels of restrictions. As hotels re-open their doors, one of the biggest challenges has been handling both the vaccinated and unvaccinated customers. The article notes that there are no legal requirements for hotels to require their guests to produce information regarding their health, such as vaccination or COVID-19 diagnosis. Notably, there are various legal limitations on privacy, health, safety, employment, and human rights, which present a dilemma for business owners. For instance, requiring a COVID-19 certificate from either the guests or employees might be a breach of privacy. At the same time, there is the responsibility of protecting human health within their facilities which means restricting COVIDpositive individuals from transmitting the virus to negative guests. The article is related to the Week 3 discussion on the ethical implications of business decisions. Also, it relates to the discussion of ethics and capitalism in Week 1. Notably, hoteliers are facing a dilemma on value judgments and moral standards. The COVID-19 has undoubtedly changed how people and businesses operate. There is a need to ensure that one is not a party to encouraging the transmission of the virus, given that it is a public health hazard. As seen in the early days of the pandemic, numerous developed countries were overwhelmed by the virus, which led to the deaths of thousands of people. An infected employee or guest could result in more infected people within the facilities and even deaths. Besides, hotels already require various medical tests on employees to ensure the welfare of their guests. Thus, there might be justifiable reasons for hotel owners to override privacy and employment laws. However, there is a need to protect the business' bottom line when most customers are opting for social distancing and isolation in their homes. Also, there are equally other government policies in place, like wearing masks in public places. Similarly, there are moral standards that would equally be a major concern for hoteliers. For instance, society expects the business to remain afloat to avoid issues like retrenchment. The same society will heavily criticize the business for accepting high-risk individuals without considering laws that could restrict some actions like requesting vaccination certificates. As a privacy lawyer, the interviewee is undoubtedly well-informed on the topic. One of the biggest challenges for businesses has been drawing a solid line on what is legal and what is not when it comes to the discussions on privacy. Often, there is a dilemma since the business has o protect its interest while also respecting the rights of its customers. The ethical dilemma is even bigger for the public sector, as briefly pointed out in the article. Denying citizens essential public services for failing to produce a vaccination certificate could be a violation of one's constitutional rights. Notably, one of the influences of ethical behavior, as discussed in class, is the government and legal system. As a democracy, there are various restrictions for the Canadian government, unlike an authoritarian state. Even as the Canadian government wants to ensure its citizens are protected, they have to go through numerous legal 3 procedures to enforce laws, such as vaccination certificates. Besides, there are also administrative barriers, such as the provincial and federal governments. 4 Calgary doctor guilty of unprofessional conduct for sexual relationship, falsifying records By CBC News Posted: May 13, 2021 The article discusses the fate of a Calgary doctor who was found guilty on several accounts of unprofessional conduct. According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, Wequar Ahmad, the doctor, had numerous accounts that made false entries of his patients. At least thirteen female patients were affected by the doctor's actions. Notably, the doctor required a chaperone in the room when examining female patients based on a signed agreement with the college made in 2014. However, between 2014 and 2017, there were no chaperones when privately serving the thirteen female patients, yet he noted one in the examination records. Further, the doctor was found guilty of failing to disclose a sexual relationship with one of his patients. Dr. Ahmad's case relates to the discussion on personal virtue ethics and moral reasoning. While there are professional codes of conduct for doctors, an individual's moral character is equally important. An ethical person is expected to act well. For instance, if Dr. Ahmad were ethical, he would first respect his female patients and maintain the highest level of professionalism while handling these clients. Also, he would have opted to see assistance from counselors or psychotherapists to keep his sexual urges in control. Besides, having a chaperone in the room when handing female patients could have helped him maintain professionalism with his female patients. Instead, the doctor revealed poor moral character when he went against his professional code of conduct and what is acceptable by society. Notably, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has laid out several codes of ethics and professionalism for medical practitioners. First, the document includes virtues that should be expressed by a professional, whereby integrity is part of this list. According to the CMA, a medical professional should "demonstrate consistency in their intentions and actions and act truthfully according to professional expectations" (CMA, 2018, p. 2). Further, there are several commitments outlined by the CMA, which include respect for people, professional excellence, self-care, peer support, and integrity. Accordingly, there are set out guidelines on ethical behavior for physicians even in the absence of good personal virtues. For instance, where the doctor sees their sexual desires are getting out of hand, the commitment to self-care should have encouraged him to engage peers or seek professional assistance. Similarly, integrity should have encouraged the doctor to ensure the accuracy of the examination records. Thus, the doctor undoubtedly acted unethically by failing to adhere to professional requirements on integrity and personal care, which eventually undermined his ability to undertake his professional duty effectively. Notably, from Week 3's lecture, major influences of ethical behaviors are a person's background, organizational affiliations, economic factors, the law, and society. It could have been imperative for Dr. Ahmad to evaluate the interplay between all these influential factors to ensure he maintains professionalism and even acts ethically outside the job. While Dr. Ahmad voluntarily withdrew from the practice, the negative publicity from the case might be detrimental to the 5 professional success of the doctor. Besides, his relationships, such as friendships and even family, could be strained. Dr. Ahmad's case undoubtedly reveals the importance of professional, ethical codes. Besides protecting the reputation of a profession, they are equally important in protecting the professionals from making career-ending mistakes. An even more important takeaway from the article is perhaps emphasizing regular learning of these ethical codes even outside the school setting. 6 Doctors conducting 'dry runs' to decide who gets access to critical care if hospitals exceed capacity By Benjamin Shingler & Leah Hendry CBC News Posted Jan 15, 2021 The article describes the challenges faced by doctors in Quebec and Ontario in deciding who should be prioritized when catering for critically ill Covid-19 patients (Shingler and Hendry 2021). According to the article, doctors in Quebec and Ontario have recently completed a pilot project to determine which patients get access to critical care facilities in a situation where they are presented with a higher number of patients than the existing capacity of the facilities. Covid19 has exposed glaring disparities between the need for critical care facilities in most cities around Canada. The demand for critical care necessitates the development of criteria to determine who gets access and who does. The triage protocol is a 69-page framework developed by the City of Quebec to guide doctors in deciding which patients should receive admission to the critical care facilities and which patients should not. According to the city planners, the goal of the framework is to avoid a situation like that which happened in Italy whereby hospitals were overwhelmed by a large number of patients in need of critical care. The healthcare facilities in the city have few critical care beds compared to the number of patients who are expected to require such facilities in the wake of the global covid-19 pandemic. Doctors are trained to do all they can to save lives irrespective of who they are or which social class they belong to. Having a framework that calls for doctors to chose which gets access to critical care facilities and those who will be denied access goes against the ethics of the medical profession (Menon and Padhy, 2020). A strict code of ethics guides the medical profession, and the current demand for advanced medical care has posed a great challenge to the ethical principles that guide the profession. According to weeks 1 and 2, the principle of equal opportunity calls for everyone to be treated equally and that a level playing field should be provided for all. The development of the triage protocol amounts to a formal acceptance by the City of Quebec and, in extension, the government of Canada that it has failed in its role to provide adequate healthcare facilities for its citizens. There are several ethical issues raised in the article about the ethical responsibilities of the government and organizations. As a capitalist nation, the concept of equal opportunity should guide the government of Canada and the cities of Quebec and Ontario on the issue of providing access to its critical healthcare facilities. As described by Robert Sexty, every individual or group in the community should be given an even chance to survive and access certain public facilities (Sexty, 2017). The principle of equal opportunity is being violated in this situation by developing a framework to lock out some people from accessing critical care facilities legally. One of the concepts that the article touches on is the principle of ethical responsibilities of organizations. The management of the cities of Quebec and Ontario should adhere to the principle of corporate social responsibility by coming up with plans to ensure that all those in need of critical care get access instead of developing a framework to lock some out. 7 Rogers fines 91-year-old woman unable to return equipment due to lockdown By Rosa Marchitelli CBC News Posted: Mar 15, 2021 The article describes Joan Davis, who was required to pay $565 to Rogers for not returning internet and phone equipment when her long-term care home was locked down. As described in the article, the family of the 91-year-old lady was understandably outraged by the demand by Rogers for her to pay the $565 fine (Marchitelli, 2021). When the family was canceling the services due to Joan's worsening dementia, the company promised to send a technician to pick up the equipment and subsequently presented them with a $40 bill. The lockdown of the long-term care meant that the technician was not able to collect the equipment and the company eventually slapped them with the $565 even though it was not Joan's fault that the equipment was not collected. The article describes a very common phenomenon that many people have faced at some point in their lives. The case of Joan and her family is a classic example of the plight faced by the common person facing oppressive charges by huge corporations that offer different kinds of services. The company had initially stood its ground that Joan was required to pay the fine, and it was only after the case went public that it promised to waive the charges in what can be described as a belated attempt to save face. The case of Joan is just an example of hundreds or even thousands of other scenarios where companies and corporations ignore the challenges faced by their customers in the wake of the financial hardships caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. An analysis of the financial statements of the internet and mobile communication company Rogers reveals that its revenues in the first nine months of the pandemic. According to week 1 and 2 on ethics and capitalism, it is wrong for a business like Rogers to put their financial interests ahead of the wellbeing of their customers (Windsor, 2017). Even though capitalism, according to Robert Sexty, is based on the financial interest of individual companies and individuals, there is a need to ensure that the concepts of business are adhered to. As we have already learned in class, the purpose of business ethics is to regulate the business world and ensure that businesses conduct themselves by an established moral code of conduct. The article also touches on corporate citizens, which was covered in weeks 1 and 2. According to the lessons, corporate citizenship is a term that describes the ability of businesses and companies to consider their role and impact on the economy, the members of the public, the environment, and society in general. As described by Robert Sexty, businesses have a huge impact on society, and as such, they should strive to ensure that they positively contribute to the wellbeing of society (Sexty, 2017). The case of Joan and Rogers presents a classic example of the power of huge corporations over the ordinary person and the lack of consideration to the concepts of corporate citizenship and business ethics by modern businesses. The article demonstrates the practical applications of what we have learned in class regarding the relationship between businesses and society. The global pandemic has exposed the glaring weaknesses in corporations' attitudes towards their customers and the power accorded to huge corporations over the general public by the capitalist economy. 8 Calgary mom accuses courier giant DHL of charging 'hidden fees' Erica Johnson CBC News Posted: Mar 08, 2021 The article Calgary mom accuses courier giant DHL of charging hidden fees by Erica Johnson describes that DHL admits that their shipping charges could be confusing, which does not address their lack of transparency. As described in the article, Michelle Sinclair found out the hard way that clearance fees and import taxes she owed on an Irish football jersey that she imported were processing fees by DHL. The mum from Calgary made an online order for the item and paid $24, but two days later, she was forced to pay an additional $23 to be delivered to her doorstep Erica (Johnson, 2021). Her failure to pay the additional fees meant that DHL held the item at ransom, leading her to file a complaint. When the story went viral, the company admitted that its processing fees could be misleading. The case of Michelle is echoed by many more people around the world who complain that DHL forced them to pay additional fees which were not clear to them. In the wake of the increasing number of complaints, DHL made a press statement to admit that their processing fees could be confusing. In the statement, the company did not mention a lack of transparency in its processing fees. In several ways, the article connects to what we have learned in class. For instance, in weeks 1 and 2, there were lessons on Ethical Responsibilities of organizations. According to the class lecture, companies and businesses are responsible for adhering to business ethics (Carini et al., 2021). Transparency is one of the most important aspects of ethics in business. By failing to be transparent and admit the criteria, it uses to determine the number of processing fees that its customers have to pay, DHL was in contravention of the principles of business ethics. As we learned in the class about the principle of corporate citizenship, organizations should ensure that they positively impact the lives of their customers and society in general. According to Robert Sexty, businesses should not only focus on profit-making but rather should strive to show genuine concern for their customers' interests and wellbeing (Sexty, 2017). The conduct of DHL to hold at ransom the items purchased by its clients for failure to pay the additional processing fees demonstrates the lack of disregard that the company has for corporate citizenship. Huge corporations such as DHL take advantage of unclear legal structures in most countries to exploit their customers in the name of profit-making. According to weeks 1 and 2, the government should play it partly to protect consumers from exploitation by huge corporations like DHL. As part of this course, we should demand recognition of consumer sovereignty, allowing them to have power over businesses through their own decisions. In the case of Michelle, the government, through its legal structures, should give her a chance to exercise her sovereignty as a consumer by giving her the power to decide whether she should pay the additional processing fees. The particular scenario demonstrates the importance of this course in preparing us for the realities of the modern business world where companies take advantage of loopholes in the laws and policies in global commerce to exploit their customers. 9 References Benjamin Shingler and Leah Hendry (2021). Doctors conducting 'dry runs' to decide who gets access to critical care if hospitals exceed capacity https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-protocol-triage-covid1.5873458 Carini, C., Rocca, L., Veneziani, M., & Teodori, C. (2021). Sustainability regulation and global corporate citizenship: A lesson (already) learned?. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(1), 116-126. CBC News. (2021). Calgary doctor guilty of unprofessional conduct for sexual relationship, falsifying records. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-doctor-ahmadcpsa-unprofessional-conduct-1.6025313 CBC Radio. (2021). Businesses are in a tight spot when it comes to proof of vaccinations, says privacy lawyer. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/how-are-you-managing-therelaxation-of-restrictions-1.6104108/businesses-are-in-a-tight-spot-when-it-comes-toproof-of-vaccinations-says-privacy-lawyer-1.6107059 CMA. (2018). CMA Code of Ethics and Professionalism. Policybase.cma.ca. https://policybase.cma.ca/en/viewer?file=%2fdocuments%2fPolicyPDF%2fPD1903.pdf#phrase=false Erica Johnson (2021). Calgary mom accuses courier giant DHL of charging 'hidden fees', https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/dhl-hidden-fees-1.5935236 Menon, V., & Padhy, S. K. (2020). Ethical dilemmas faced by health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic: issues, implications, and suggestions. Asian journal of psychiatry, 51, 102116. Rosa Marchitelli, (2021). Rogers fines 91-year-old woman unable to return equipment due to lockdown, https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-return-equipment-covid-bell-fees1.5944348. Sexty, R. W. (2017). Canadian Business and Society: Ethics, Responsibilities & Sustainability (Fourth Edition). McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. Sexty, R. W. (2017). Canadian Business and Society: Ethics, Responsibilities & Sustainability (Fourth Edition). McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. Sexty, R. W. (2017). Canadian Business and Society: Ethics, Responsibilities & Sustainability (Fourth Edition). McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. Windsor, D. (2017). Corporate citizenship: Evolution and interpretation.