Ethical Dilemma

This week, I am to write concerning an ethical dilemma I had in a work experience. My dilemma happened as I worked for a home security company, as a sales representative in Georgia. I got to the city with the group, and learned that we lacked the proper city licensing required for selling door-to-door in that particular city. So we decided to roll from city to city selling where we could without licensing and also where we could obtain it quickly. We did, however, run into significant problems when we ran out of places to sell. Eventually, our manager was putting us in places where we knew we shouldn't be selling. Even after police asked us to leave, most of the reps were determined to stay, since they specifically weren't asked personally to leave the area. I had a problem with this. My conflicting values were that I was not one to give up. I am a hard worker and don't want to give excuses for not performing or doing my best. However, I am also devoted to honesty and following the rules. Therefore, I didn't feel comfortable selling where we weren't licensed or where we had been asked to leave. It came to a point where I felt I couldn't continue working, given this ethical conflict. I called my father for advice, and I determined that if there were no changes, I would take action and leave the job based on this issue. Luckily, I wasn't faced with that decision, in that within the next two days, or so, we received instruction from the office to move to a different office location entirely. I felt a sense of ethical accomplishment, however, that I was able to make a decision based on my values, and not based on the economic consequences involved in the decision.

In situations like these, one may find true character. I found that I could stand up for what was right. This experience gave me much needed confidence to move forward with my professional career. That's how I handled the ethical dilemma, not really from the outside this time, but from where it mattered: from my values on the inside.

Misalignment

In my vast experience of working in the business world, it is a little difficult to find a good example of misalignment. However, I will make an attempt to identify an example of misalignment that I have observed from my not-so-expert perspective. My example comes from a company that employed me in a couple different points in my life. It is a very efficient and effective manufacturing company, and I in no way indicate that this is an inferior company. It is only an observation I made during my time with the company. I will, however, refrain from naming the company, to protect the innocent.

The misalignment that I observed regards strategy and staff. The company’s strategy includes manufacturing the best product in the world, in their niche, with the shortest order-to-delivery time in the industry. While all of their competitors have delivery time of around three or four weeks, this company delivers in a fraction of the time. From the time the order hits the production floor to when it is shipped, no longer than 48 hours pass. With a two day order shipment time, the company dominates the industry in quality and service. The staff, however, has fallen into a rut of inefficient work. The individual employees have worked with the company for so long that they feel that they are irreplaceable, so they don’t feel that they need to work hard. It is constantly a struggle trying to get the front-line employees to work consistent with the company’s strategy of speed and efficiency.

As for a solution, I believe that a possible fix is to cross train employees throughout the manufacturing plant, and to switch positions periodically. Employees get fixed into their own jobs and don’t do anything else. If employees saw that they could be replaced by someone else, they might be more motivated to put in their full efforts. This would be possible because of the nature of the industry. Orders come in high quantities through the summer and fall, whereas during winter months, orders are slow. Slow times would be ideal for cross training and working on improving overall skill sets and cross training. This is only one way that I think the company could improve their alignment problem, which would further enhance their domination of the market.

That’s my opinion… From the Outside.