THE SCENARIO

You are in charge of corporate social responsibility at your company, and you have been asked to assess the following issue and present your recommendation to the board of directors.

In presenting your recommendation to the board of directors, you want to go through the guidelines for ethical decision-making (see Chapter 4 of your book). Discuss each of these factors, explain your analysis of the issue under each factor, and make your case to the board. Convince them that you have considered each guideline for ethical decision-making and that the solution you are suggesting is the right one.

THE ISSUE

You work for an airline company based in Fairbanks, Alaska. It employs 1,000 people and most of the flights offered to begin their route in Fairbanks. The minimum wage the company pays its employees is $18.00/hour, which is more than $8.00 more than Alaskas minimum wage.

The company is considering moving its headquarters to California to try to expand its flight routes. If it does so, most of the people the company employs will be laid off since the flights will now originate in California. The company would pay its employees $12.00/hour, which is Californias minimum wage. In addition, if the company moves its headquarters to California, it would stop using plastic cups on its flights and instead would offer eco-friendly compostable cup. It would not make this switch if it stays in Alaska.

• For purposes of this exercise, assume that the Federal minimum wage is $10.00/hour.

The board of directors has asked you, the companys Director of Corporate Social Responsibility to make a presentation and recommendation on the following question: Should the company move its headquarters to California, or should it stay in Alaska?

SPECIFIC RULES/PROJECT HINTS

• Guidelines for Ethical Decision Making

1. What FACTS impact my decision?

2. What are the ALTERNATIVES?

3. Who are the STAKEHOLDERS?

4. How do the alternatives impact SOCIETY AS A WHOLE?

5. How do the alternatives impact MY BUSINESS FIRM?

6. How do the alternatives impact ME, THE DECISION MAKER?

7. What are the ETHICS of each alternative?

8. What are the PRACTICAL CONSTRAINTS of each alternative?

9. What COURSE OF ACTION should be taken and how do we IMPLEMENT it?