Ethical Dilemmas in Supply Chains
Supply chains are simply the systems that exist
within businesses and organization that are associated with the movement of
products to the customers from suppliers. It is a very important aspect of
business because it finalizes the business process by availing products and
services to customers. When it comes to businesses cost is usually one of the
most important driving force of its activities, and most businesses develop
their operations in a manner that is expected to reduce costs and at the same
time reap maximum benefits. This is a factor that makes most businesses
prioritize the needs for financial obligations over other important aspects
such as values, social responsibility, and ethical considerations. The supply
chain is a system that has to involve the interaction of people, and as long as
this occurs, ethical dilemmas always arise. Ethical dilemmas are situations
that develop and require the need for picking a choice from options that exists
and neither of the options present usually have the capacity to improve the
situation. These dilemmas are usually a factor of morals, and the Society
provides guidelines for which a person is expected to use when picking a choice
during the ethical dilemmas. When it comes to supply chains, cost and human interactions
force many organizations into ethical dilemmas. For example, globalization has
enabled many corporations to shift operations to countries of the world where
the cost of productions are low and utilizing the capacity for low labor
conditions and less strict laws on pollution and other forms of environmental
degradation. The topic of ethical dilemmas in the supply chains is important
especially in addressing some of the social problems that exist today as a
result of the need for corporations to consider cost and financial success over
other aspects of human life such as working conditions, environmental
degradation and other forms of social problems (Beroe,
2014).
As explained above unethical behavior caused during
ethical dilemmas by organizations has become a great factor of costs in the
supply chain. One of the factors that are contributing to poor decisions being
made by companies is the increased demand for products and services. Increased
demands coupled with steep competition is causing a lot of unethical behavior
in the supply chain. The scope of the topic is based on ethical problems that
are attributed to business decisions such as poor job conditions as a factor of
the need to reduce costs, exploitation of employees by use of low pay and degradation
of the environment. In most cases, large corporations use their financial
abilities to exploit nations. Establishment of businesses in countries such as
those in the third world is most of the time expected to be advantageous as a
form of foreign investment whereby the business is expected to create
employment and also generate revenue for the government, but unethical problems
on the side of corporations force them to engage in activities that unethical.
Most third world nations suffer from overexploitation or resources, and
environmental degradation at the cost of a false foreign investment. The aspect
of supply chains is associated with various activities that include; the
management of customer relationship, the management of suppliers, risk management,
production and resource management and many other activities all of which work
together for the movement of products and services to the customers Ethical Dilemmas in Modern
Supply Chains, 2017).
The history of supply chains in terms of great development
and increased complexity dates between the 1980s and 90s when the aspect of
outsourcing became common especially in America. This is an aspect that allowed
businesses to outsource their supply operations to other business. The
development of globalization coupled with advancement in technology made it
possible for businesses to outsource in other countries where it would be more
profitable (Guthrie, 2012).
The desire for competitive advantage by businesses
forces them to compromise some of the activities explained b\above. All these
forms of compromises lead to a change in how the products and services are
developed in terms of quality. Unethical behaviors ion the world of today
occurs in both local, as well as global chains and the desire for profitability,
blinds most organizations from the implications their decisions have on the
world. In, most cases, economic situations forces the hand of many organization
and force them to engage in unethical behavior. For example, the economic
recession of 2009 saw a great reduction in business in America as the
purchasing power of the people greatly reduced. This situation forced a lot of
companies to go bankrupt and completely stop operation because of poor sales (Guthrie, 2012).
On the other hand, most of the others sought to find
ways to boost their businesses by reducing their costs of production and one of
them included the shifting of operations to countries of the East such as
China. This set in motion a trend in businesses where manufacturing plants were
relocation to countries of the east where the cost of labors, the cost of
regulations and the cost of raw materials were low. During this period of time
most businesses made efforts to survive the economic times and therefore,
resulted in other unethical measures such as avoiding regulations, altering the
quality of products or developing counterfeit products, moving to countries
where protection of labor is less strict in order for them to take advantage of
workers by having them work for long hours but paying them very little and even
forgoing the cost of environmental degradation which can be a huge cost for
organizations Ethical
Dilemmas in Modern Supply Chains, 2017).
The aspect of globalization has led to the
development of long supply chains because of the need to meet the needs of a
global market. Vast nature and complexity of the supply chains have made it
difficult for many businesses to have full control of the people they are
dealing with and how their products are being handled. Developing as sustainable
supply chain either for a short and less complex one or a long and complex one
can be a very hard task, and this is because there are no incentives in making
the chain suitable, but there is when making it less sustainable because
businesses can save a lot of costs in the process. However, the modern world of
today has changed, and customers find ethical considerations more attractive in
businesses and prefer those that consider it in their supply chains (Ethical Dilemmas in Modern
Supply Chains, 2017).
The public in most countries together with
governments have seen the need for ethical behavior in supply chains for
businesses and have tried to develop ways of protecting consumers, and one of
the \m is through the use of laws. Laws have become good and powerful forms of
motivation for supply chains to practice ethical behavior. Laws provide for
ethical conditions such as criminalizing environmental degradation, child
labor, and poor working conditions. The law is forcing many companies to reevaluate
their supply chains with the aim of making them sustainable and also avoid
being on the wrong side of the law. Many trading blocs in the world are also
f\developing policies and laws that also provide guidelines for a sustainable
supply chain and making it mandatory for businesses to adhere to them (Guthrie, 2012).
Another system change in the supply chain world is
the fact that ethical considerations have now become a factor that is good for
business and as explained above many consumers are finding companies that
operate ethically more attractive. Instances of unethical behavior are now
considered very bad for business and are associated with huge losses. For
example, there have been instances of public boycotts of products developed by
businesses associated with pollution, child labor or poor working conditions.
People have developed the awareness of the importance of a sustainable supply
chain and a greatly demanding for it. It has become a fact of the capitalist
world that fiscal needs and gains of organizations outweigh the need to uphold
values and the supply chain of a business stands in the middle of ethical
dilemma that most businesses face. The high demand put on businesses by markets
of the world have led to the development of supply chains that are, long,
complex and quite prone to unethical behavior because most businesses lose much
of the control over the way their products move to their customers. However,
there have developed measures that seek to ensure that businesses uphold
ethical behavior in their supply chain and the use of laws and policies is one
of them. The public has also seen the need for ethical behavior by businesses a
great aspect aimed at protecting their interest from exploitation and now
demand the best out of businesses (Guthrie,
2012).
Works Cited
Ethical Dilemmas
in Modern Supply Chains. n.d.
http://www.martijnboersma.com/ethical-dilemmas-supply-chains. 2017.
Guthrie, Doug. Building
Sustainable and Ethical Supply Chains. 2012. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dougguthrie/2012/03/09/building-sustainable-and-ethical-supply-chains/#30d90614179d.
Inc, Beroe. Ethics
Issues Prevail in Supply Chain Management. 2014.
http://www.mypurchasingcenter.com/purchasing/industry-articles/ethics-issues-prevail-supply-chain-management/.
Additional articles
Unequal Opportunity for minorities is the central problem in education for minorities Minority groups in America are continuing to experience social problems attributed to unequal access to resources and opportunities. The twenty-first cent...Education-for-minorities- …
Read ArticleThe modern American military is based on the advancements in the ways of warfare through history to the present day. Today, the American military is one of the best in the world. This factor contributes to the superpower status of the US in the w...American-ways-of-warfare …
Read ArticleMedia Influence Unveiled: Shaping Politics, Profitability, and Public Perception The main role of news and the media is to offer the public information and also give alerts associated with important events. The information presented ...Harnessing-the-Power:-Unveiling-Media-Influence-on-Politics,-Profitability,-and-Public-Perception …
Read Article