Background

Ethics and ethical norms play an important role in the sustainable operations of the business organizations. Ethical practice is the moral behaviour which has to be practiced by the employers as well as the employees in order to make the work place harmonious and productive. The modern business environment provides much importance to the ethics and the ethical practices as it can build loyalty trust worthy, increase productivity etc of the organization. The ethical theories like the utilitarian theory, duty based theory, etc are implemented in the organizations to establish ethical norms and standards (Stenmark, 2017).

The employers and the employees should follow the ethical standards in order to implement the ethical concept successfully in the work place. The business issue of the organization BMW highlights the unethical behaviour of the potential employee and the consequences which the organization has to face due to his behaviour. The social media has emerged as a new technology which connects the people throughout the world and to share information. The case of BMW “should he be fired for that face book post” highlights the ethical concerns which arise due to the integration of the social media with its operations.

This report highlights the problem situation which the organization BMW has to face due to the immoral practice of its potential employee through his face book posts. The ethical and the operational dilemmas which the organization has to face due to his behaviour have been discussed through this report. Some of recommendations are given in order to resolve the ethical issue. The ethical implications each recommended approach has been discussed effectively. Considering the implications and recommendations an appropriate solution is provided with sufficient justification. This report concentrates on various concept of the ethical theory which evaluates the approach of the employee as well as the employers in this case which enables it to lead to a final solution (Patterson, Wilkins and Painter, 2018)

Social media is the internet technology which has been utilized by the organization for their personal networking and other communications. The organizations are facing positives as well as negatives when considering the integration of the social media. The social media policies has been proposed and implemented by the organizations in order to determine the ethical and the issues related to it.

Information sharing which happens knowingly and unknowingly which take place through the social Medias is the primary issues which the modern organizations are facing. The peoples who prefers to stay connects their official profiles like the clients, suppliers, customers etc in their personal blogging or in the social medias. This connection enables the members to see all the posts which are getting shared. If official or confidential information related to the business are shared through the social media then it can impact the business operations badly (Bertrand, 2018).

Next issue is the spreading of the negative image of the company unknowingly by the employees. The posts of the employees can reflect the working conditions, standards etc of the organization which can generate negative image about the organization. This issue which impacts the organizations badly has paved way to the formulation of the social media policies and procedures. The impacts which the social Media posts and information sharing are serious damages to the organization which justifies the formulation of the social media policies and claims it to be ethical (Gelinas et al, 2017).

Case Study Scenario

When thinking in some other angle the social networking is the personal rights of the employees and the employers taking official decisions based on their personal affairs are unethical. But when it comes to the cases which affect the reputation of the organization, the management has to take measures to safe guard the organizations. Better social media policies and making the employees aware about it can protect the employer as well as the employees for its negative implications (Golder, Ahmed, Norman and Booth, 2017).

The Down city motors is a reputed dealer of the automobiles which is owned and operated by the BMW, Mercedes Benz, Range Rover. This organization holds a good reputation in the city and has been operating successfully over three generations. Mr. Kenton who is a potential employee of the down city motors has shared information through the face book which defames the reputation of the organization. This practice of the employee has put the management of the down city motors into a problem situation. Mr. Kenton has criticized the standardization of the organization which can ruin its reputation. Since the employee has performed a similar social media default the management is being forced to take disciplinary actions against him (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018).

This practice of the employee has put the management into an ethical dilemma. The management couldn’t take any strict disciplinary action against this practice as he is a good performer and plays a major role in the sales generation. At the same time the management also worries that the same practice can be taken as example by others which can cost the organization badly. The management is also concerned about the other legal implication which can arise if any disciplinary actions are taken.

Considering the present situation of the organization Down City Motors some of the alternative solutions are determined and are mentioned below

Ignore the issue: The management can just ignore the issue or the ace book post in order to resolve the issue. Since the employee is a potential employee and has a huge impact over the sales and the production of the organization any disciplinary action can put the organization into trouble. According to the sales team head Mr. Tyson, Mr. Kenton the defaulter is the good performer. He also claims that losing such a good employee can impact the production turnover of the organization. It can also cost the organization in training up a new employee. Hence ignoring the issue can be an ethical decision for resolving the issue (Bender, Cyr, Arbuckle and Ferris, 2017).

The disadvantage of this solution is that if the practice of this employee is ignored, the probability that other employees can imitate the same practice and can cause more similar issues for the organization. The no response of the organization for this action can turn out very costly. No other employees can be punished for this similar action, if punish they can claim it considering this case. Another disadvantage is that leaving the issue as such can make the statements of the employee true by its shareholders and clients. Lack of standardization is important expectation which can ruin its competitive advantage as well (Babalola, Stouten, Camps and Euwema, 2017).

Alternative Solutions

Discipline them: Taking disciplinary actions against the action of the employee is another suggestion which can be given to the organization. The disciplinary action may involve giving punishments like the suspension, asking for the letter explaining the fact etc. This approach can restrict the employee from posting any similar posts in his personal networks in the future. Since the employee has already conducted the similar activity taking disciplinary actions can be appropriate. This approach of the organization can be a warning of the other employees also and can restrict them to perform similar actions. It can also make the viewers of the post like the share holders, clients, etc that the organization values its reputation and hence it took the disciplinary action (Babalola, Stouten, Euwema and Ovadje, 2018).

The disadvantage of this approach is that the disciplinary actions can impact the morale of the employee. The employee could have posted the matter in the ace book fun without any negative intention. Hence it can ruin the loyalty of the employee and hence can impact his performance level. Apart from this many ethical concerns or ambiguity can rise in the mind of the other employees which can impact the work place harmony and hence the performance (Bell, Bryman and Harley, 2018).

Firing the employee: This can be an extreme end alternative which the organization can adopt in this case. Even the director of the down city Mr. Dell has almost decided to fire the employee as he has already attempted to defame the organization through face book. This approach can almost stop the threat of the social media challenges for the organization. The organization can implement the social media policy related to it and can be communicated to the employees in order to make their social media operations personal and unofficial (Schwartz, 2017).

Even though this approach of the problem resolution can benefit the organization in many ways it can be an unethical approach. Social Medias like the face book are the personal area of the employees. The organizations taking any disciplinary actions like firing the employee considering his social networking posts can be considered as odd. This can give rise to many critiques, conflicts etc within the workplace which can ruin the loyalty, performance etc. However this method could generate the ambiguity within the employees and can impact the job security negatively (Neuliep, 2017).

Considering the facts of the case and the ethical theories the alternatives which can be suggested for the organization down city motors is the method of “discipline them”. The organization should consider the ethical constraints before taking the decision. The organization can ask for the detailed explanation from the employee for his action. He can be made understood about the position of the organization through his immoral activity. The employee can be given soft warning through explaining the negative impacts which his action can cause. This approach can make the employee understand the seriousness of the issue and he may also not repeat the same action. This action can also generate awareness about the social media policies which the organization is holding and will try to stick on with it (Singer, 2018).

This report highlights the ethical issues which are generated through the social media impact over the work place. The case of the down city motors are concerned here for the purpose of analysis. The case has been reviewed effectively through identifying the present situation of the organization and the difficulties it is facing due to the immoral activity of Mr. Kenton. Three alternative solutions have been recommended for the organization like the ignoring the issue, taking disciplinary actions, and firing out. Finally the alternative “taking disciplinary action” has been recommended through providing appropriate justification (Huang and Paterson, 2017).

References

Bertrand, C.J., 2018. Media ethics and accountability systems, 1^st edition, New York, Routledge.

Bender, J.L., Cyr, A.B., Arbuckle, L. and Ferris, L.E., 2017. Ethics and privacy implications of using the internet and social media to recruit participants for health research: A privacy-by-design framework for online recruitment. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(4).

Bell, E., Bryman, A. and Harley, B., 2018. Business research methods, fifth edition, UK Oxford university press.

Babalola, M.T., Stouten, J., Camps, J. and Euwema, M., 2017. When do ethical leaders become less effective? The moderating role of perceived leader ethical conviction on employee discretionary reactions to ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-18.

Campbell, R., Martin, C. and Fabos, B., 2018. Media essentials: A brief introduction. Bedford/St. Martin’s, volume 1, Boston.

Babalola, M.T., Stouten, J., Euwema, M.C. and Ovadje, F., 2018. The relation between ethical leadership and workplace conflicts: The mediating role of employee resolution efficacy. Journal of Management, volume: 44(5), pp.2037-2063.

Golder, S., Ahmed, S., Norman, G. and Booth, A., 2017. Attitudes toward the ethics of research using social media: a systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research, volume:19(6), London

Gelinas, L., Pierce, R., Winkler, S., Cohen, I.G., Lynch, H.F. and Bierer, B.E., 2017. Using social media as a research recruitment tool: ethical issues and recommendations. The American Journal of Bioethics, New York, volume 17(3), pp.3-14.

Huang, L. and Paterson, T.A., 2017. Group ethical voice: Influence of ethical leadership and impact on ethical performance. Journal of Management, 43(4), pp.1157-1184.

Neuliep, J.W., 2017. Intercultural communication: A contextual approach, 7^th edition, London, Sage Publications.

Patterson, P., Wilkins, L. and Painter, C., 2018. Media ethics: Issues and cases, 9^th edition, London, Rowman & Littlefield.

Singer, L., 2018. Settling disputes: Conflict resolution in business, families, and the legal system, 2^nd edition, newyork Routledge.

Stenmark, M., 2017. Environmental ethics and policy-making, 1^st edition, London, Routledge.

Schwartz, M.S., 2017. Business Ethics: An Ethical Decision-making Approach (Vol. 10). John Wiley & Sons