Effects of Ethical Behavior

Ethical dilemmas come up each day within organizations and their workers and always result in various reactions. The decisions that one makes out of an ethical dilemma come with either positive or negative consequence (McKinney, Emerson, & Neubert 2010). As a result, employees and managers must always act within the framework provided by ethical regulations to avoid dire ramifications to the organization as a whole or an individual’s career. A good example of such situations is the case regarding Folole Muliaga and Mercury Energy. After reviewing the case, there are clear consequences of behavior at the workplace and ethics that are highlighted. There are several questions that one would try to figure out from the case is, was what Mercury Energy did legal or illegal? Were the decisions made by the police and the coroner right? This paper, therefore, reviews the Folole Muliaga scenario while elaborating on the effects of ethical behavior.

In May 2007, Folole Muliaga, a former school teacher and a mother of four was discharged from a hospital in New Zealand with a diagnosis of a heart and lung disorder, obesity hyperventilation syndrome (Bridgman 2010). Having been diagnosed with terminal illness, Mrs. Muliaga was discharged home with two oxygen tanks as a therapeutic regime due to her condition. On 29th of May 2007, a contractor with orders from Mercury Energy to cut off electricity supply to Mrs. Muliaga’s house arrived at her place and explained his purpose. The family had an unpaid electricity bill of NZ$168.

00 and could not pay it due to the financial strains that had come up as a result of Mrs. Muliaga’s illness. Mrs. Muliaga beseeched the contractor not to disconnect the electricity supply due to her need for supplementary oxygen. However, he declined. A few hours after the disconnection, Mrs. Muliaga passed on. The case was put on mass media all over the world and got a lot of attention from government representatives, more so in New Zealand (Bridgman 2010).

Owing to Mrs. Muliaga’s condition, the family spent most of its household income on taking care of her and thus were in debt as Mrs. Muliaga’s yearly salary of NZ$24,000 could hardly sustain the family. Mercury Energy was oblivious that cutting off electricity at the South Auckland home would cost a life. The ramifications of the disconnection of power to the household were extreme despite the fact that the organization has no such intentions (Eweje &Wu 2010). Nevertheless, the company’s action did not guarantee them support. A day later, the company’s General Manager stated that the organization was troubled by the catastrophic event. Later the company stated that they were ignorant of Mrs. Muliaga’s condition and thus could not tell the consequences of cutting off the electricity supply could be that drastic, their statement was worsened when they declared that “we’re in the clear” (Bridgman 2010). The organization’s representative took about four days to offer to give an official apology and visit the family to pass on their condolences.

Looking at the case, NZ$168.00 is clearly not worth anyone’s life, however, the fact that Mercury Energy was not aware of Mrs. Muliaga’s condition means that they were just operating as usual, cutting off the electricity supply to those who have balances. According to the policies set out by the Electrical Commission, Mercury Energy failed to conform to the law. Nevertheless, nonconformity cannot be interpreted as illegal. The guidelines provide that, the electricity provider had the responsibility to make their consumers aware of how to distinguish themselves as individuals with special needs and also that the customer would then be obligated to give the provider the necessary information. Mercury Energy acknowledged that when they put up their ‘Do not disconnect” list, the consumers were not educated on the process (Eweje & Wu 2010).
Hence, the organization was guilty of acting unethically but not illegally. Corporate social responsibility should be given priority to making profits in any organization (Vitell 2015). Ethics at the workplace should be strictly adhered to at all levels of administration of an organization. Ethical behavior in an organization ensures that all managers and employees attach more value to corporate social responsibility than profitability, thus leading to right decisions (Eweje & Wu, 2010). The company’s approach to the situation was also marked with some wrong choices. The first week after the ordeal, the organization groped at any explanation they could give without thorough consideration of the consequences. They kept shifting blame and showing poor leadership during crisis situations and as a result incited political denigration that further tarnished the company’s image. The example of the case illustrates the significance of enterprises being prepared for the crisis and have regulations that put them in a better position to ensure a good flow of communication with the stakeholders in the prevention and handling of catastrophic situations.

The police and the coroner resolved that Mrs. Muliaga had passed on as a result of an arrhythmia and detrimental obesity. They further determined that the dissolution of oxygen therapy and stress arising from the electrical supply being cut off also led to her demise. The contractor was not to take responsibility for the ordeal as he claimed that he was not aware of Mrs. Muliaga’s condition neither did he know of the oxygen tanks (Bridgman 2010). The family blamed the police for being rationally institutionalized. However, there was no evidence to indicate that the organization was responsible for Mrs. Muliaga’s death and if so the police and coroner were right. It is also important to acknowledge that if the victim had indeed pled with the contractor not to switch off the electricity yet he had declined, then the company was liable for her demise. There was still no proof to show that the contractor had been made aware of Mrs. Muliaga’s situation but still went ahead to cut off the power supply. As a result, the coroner and the police were justified in their conclusions about the case.

Following the ordeal, several guidelines and reforms were adopted to prevent recurrence. The New Zealand Gas and Electricity Complaints Commissioner, Judi Jones, stated that provides could not use contractors to follow up on electricity balances for the reason of creating a better environment to meet customer requirements. The providers are directly responsible for offering quality service to their customers and should thus make use of company employees rather than contractors who may not fully understand the organization’s policy and procedures. In a case where an agent is sent to a customer’s house to disconnect the power supply and is informed that the consumer relies on the power for medical purposes, they were expected to make a call to the organization (Eweje & Wu, 2010). Mercury Energy put in place programs to enable the company to trace and aid medically needy and financially struggling consumers before cutting off their electricity supply. The company further linked up with external interested parties to facilitate the provision of checks and balances before disconnecting the electricity supply. Additionally, the organization underwent a double-loop learning progression that was essential in modifying the company’s central thought development to ensure better decisions and practice (Eweje & Wu 2010).

Hence organizational decisions regarding ethical dilemmas should be made with through considerations to equalize the economic importance and social responsibility (Crossan, Mazutis, & Seijts 2013). In most cases, individuals who are involved in such dilemmas fail to offset economic and social responsibility interests. In the described scenario, in as much as the contractor was working under the orders of Mercury Energy that should not hinder him from considering moral values before taking any action. The contractor’s action, clearly, was ethically wrong, even though he may have been adhering to the provided company policies. One would also question whether the contractor was so insensitive of the state of affairs that he failed to apply moral values. Either way, the fact remains that employees should put consideration to social responsibility rather than entirely focus on making economic gains.

The case of Folole Muliaga highlights facts regarding business ethics. In most cases, organizational guidelines on the procedures to follow may not be ethically right. However, through focusing on the social responsibility the business practices can be altered to ensure the policies are ethically appropriate. In any business decisions, the employees and managers must prioritize ethics before taking any actions (Crossan, Mazutis, &Seijts 2013). The same should have been applied in the scenario explained. Instead of organizations waiting until detrimental consequences of their actions occur to modify their guidelines, company policies should be established with consideration of ethical standards (McKinney, Emerson, & Neubert 2010).

References

Bridgman, T. (2010). Beyond the manager’s moral dilemma: Rethinking the ‘ideal-type’ business ethics case. Retrieved fromhttp://proxy1.ncu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=59904653&site=ehost-liveCrossan, M., Mazutis, D., & Seijts, G. (2013). In search of virtue: The role of virtues, values and character strengths in ethical decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(4), 567-581.
Eweje, G., & Wu, M. (2010). Corporate response to an ethical incident: The case of an energy company in New Zealand. Retrieved from http://proxy1.ncu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=64134707&site=ehost-liveMcKinney, J. A., Emerson, T. L., & Neubert, M. J. (2010). The effects of ethical codes on ethical perceptions of actions toward stakeholders. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(4), 505-516.
Vitell, S. J. (2015). A case for consumer social responsibility (CnSR): Including a selected review of consumer ethics/social responsibility research. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 767-774