CHAPTER 2 BUSINESS ETHICAL DECISION

Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course Name
Date
Business Ethical Decision
Abstract
Ethics is a term that describes a set of principles that helps people to distinguish between right and wrong and to understand the way in which they are to conduct themselves. In business, organizations find themselves in situations that require them to make critical decisions that are to be guided by the set business ethics, and it is in such a situation that Smooth Ride Tires finds itself. Smooth Ride Tires is in a dilemma where it has to decide whether to move to Honduras where it will have the advantage of a cheap labor force, relaxed environmental laws and government support or to maintain its facilities in America where it will continue to experience hard economic times thus low profits which might lead to its collapse. This paper will apply the ethical decision-making process to help Smooth Ride Tires to develop a socially ethical policy that will allow the firm to make ethical decisions and to help it increase its profits.
Smooth Ride Tires is experiencing hard economic times where their revenue is too low to cover all their costs. The management is considering moving the facilities to Honduras where it will benefit from the cheap labor force that is available, the lax environmental laws and the opportunity of an increased profit margin but at the same time, the management wants to remain ethical in its operations. To do this, the company will have to apply the steps of business ethics decision making (Ferrell and John 3).

The first step is to establish the facts in this situation. Smooth Riders Tires is experiencing low profits that are unable to cover their costs. They have the option to move to Honduras where their chances of thriving are high, or they could remain in America and struggle to survive. The second step is to decide whether the situation involves an ethical issue. Looking at Smooth Riders Tires, the decision to move to Honduras would result in irresponsible business practices. The relaxed laws will give the company a leeway to violate their environmental responsibilities, and the cheap labor might lead to over-exploitation of the workers which is highly unethical. The third step is to evaluate the alternative actions. Smooth Riders Tires could choose to remain in America and work on finding a way to increase their revenue streams, and in this way, they would remain ethical.
Smooth Riders Tires has to decide whether to stay in America or to relocate to Honduras. The best social, ethical plan for Smooth Riders would be to move to Honduras where they would be able to increase their profits and have a chance to survive. However, before this can happen Smooth Riders Tires must implement some new labor laws in which each worker is to be paid according to their skills and level of productivity. The law must also permit workers to express their desires and have a process of conducting negotiations in cases of conflicts and disagreements. The other law that must be implemented is an environmental law that seeks to protect the environment at all costs.
In conclusion, the implementation of this laws would allow Smooth Riders Tires to move to Honduras where they will be able to attain profitability and at the same time maintain their image of the highest ethical business.
Work Cited
Ferrell, Odies C., and John Fraedrich. Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson Education, 2015.