Does this milkshake taste funny free essay sample

This case study is about a college student, George Stein, whom is home from college and working at Eastern Dairy for the summer. This company manufactured milkshake and ice cream mix for several customers within the metropolitan area. Eastern Dairy was an enticing place to work because it offered twice what the minimum wage rate was and also was unionized. George received the night shift consisting of 6 employees, none of which were official managers or supervisors, and began at 11:00 pm and continued until 7:00 am. George is faced with the ethical dilemma of removing the filters that are causing clogging due to maggots, which then would permit contamination to the milkshake mix. Should George decide to remove all of the filters and run the last 500 gallons remaining in the vats, he will not only save Eastern Dairy money, but he and his coworkers will be able to clean the pipes per protocol and can leave their shift on time. The article insinuates George had a need for this job because of the money it provided him and his want to marry Cathy, as well as his need for social interaction based off the fact he enjoyed spending his free time at the local teenage gathering place, a diner. Because of these facts, George may in fact act unethically. Eastern Dairy has a few issues concerning this particular situation; inadequate management lacking compliance with health standards and policies. One reason George may act unethically is because Paul- the unofficial leader of the night shift- explained to George how unhappy management would be if they received a visit from the county health department and the night shift had not cleaned up. George is aware from time to time the health department comes by unannounced to conduct health inspections after the night shift has dismantled the pipes and vast and cleaned them out. If George continues to run the pipes and every ten minutes proceeds with the time consuming process of removing the filters, cleaning them, and reattaching them in order to keep the product from being contaminated by maggots, the night shift will not have enough time to clean up thereby risking a failed inspection by the health department. George seems to trust Paul and the book tells us on page 390, â€Å"Whenever employees decide to deviate from the usual way of doing things, or to take a supervisors’ word on a new direction, they are taking a risk. † The risk in this scenario would obviously be the decision to take off all of the filters and continue to run the machines as Paul suggested. Eastern Dairy’s lack of adequate management or a superiors’ presence during the night shift has allowed employees to make major decisions for the company without any experience in compliance laws and health policy. In addition, George displays motivation based off of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Organizational Behavior, pg. 203). The hierarchy of needs begins with Physiological, then Safety, Social, Esteem, and ends with Self-actualization. As stated previously, George has present need for money and social experience, and Easter Dairy is providing both of these. He is able to goof off with his co-workers during their night shift and he is making more than minimum wage with guaranteed over time. His job fulfills physiological needs because he is able to feed himself and accomplish any other bodily needs as well as social experience as he has a sense of belongingness and friendship at his job. Should George go against Paul’s recommendation to continue production without the filters, he risks no longer being involved in the nigh shifts’ comradery. From what I read about George in the background information of the case study, I feel as though he is not one striving for excellence. â€Å"He had not really wanted to attend college, but relentless pressure by his parents convinced him to try it for a year. † This leads me to believe yet again, George may in fact go along with what Paul says to do and put his position in the company at risk. Lastly, Eastern Dairy’s lack of management, ethical standards within its organization, and health code compliance has in turn enabled their employees to have a deficit in standards to uphold as well as a lack of respect for the wellbeing of those who will inevitably consume the product they distribute. Even though the company is unionized, there is no evidence leading me to believe the employees have much involvement in the union. The absence of a manager(s) on site during the night shift is a sign the union is most likely not present in everyday activities at Eastern Dairy. It is no question that changes need to be made and/or policies, training and guidelines implemented for every level of staff to follow. In addition a manger/supervisor must be assigned to the night shirt immediately. First and foremost when an employee is hired they need to have proper training for the position they obtained. This was not the case for George. Training by using an outside source, i. e. classes off site, could become costly for Easter Dairy. Therefore, if this is not an option, I recommend having employee to employee training. The issue that could arise from this method would be if the current employee training the future employee did not have a strong understanding of the position or company policy and this will trickle down to the person in training. My solution would include to have a policy in place which requires upper management to test all of the employee’s knowledge in regards to the policies and standards in place on a quarterly basis. Due Diligence is the best way to ensure everyone is in compliance and on the same page. I suggest that a superior figure be assigned to the night shift promptly. The presence of a manger certifies the tasks given are completed in an orderly and timely manner. For instance in the case â€Å"Does This Milkshake Taste Funny†, the question as to whether or not George continued on with production with or without the filters would have never been up for discussion. â€Å"A mentor is a senior employee who sponsors a less-experienced employee, a protege. Mentoring relationships serve both career functions and psychological functions† (Organization Behavior, pg. 391). This is another way Eastern Dairy could improve their management. A properly trained manager with sufficient comprehension of the health code would not allow production to continue. The only problem I could see coming from a manager being on staff with the night shift crew could be the employee’s possible distaste for micromanagement. However, I also recommend the company organize a monthly or weekly meeting between the employees and their supervisors. This will create a platform for employees to express any concerned and frustrations they are having at work and the supervisors ability to have the opportunity to rectify the issue or explain to the employees why a specific rule exist, for example. This meeting would represent a level playing field and allow the employees to feel as though their opinion matters and promote a trustworthy relationship between the two parties. Finally, I suggest having an employee or expert on the health code and quality assurance come as a guest speaker a few times a year to update the employees and managers of Eastern Dairy on any new codes put into place, ect. The collaboration of the previously stated training and execution of action taken by the managers to guarantee quality training and quality assurance should eliminate the maggot issue as well as any other contamination issue that may be prevalent at Easter Dairy. â€Å"Quality over Quantity† is the saying I would like to spread throughout this company. Also, the creation of a relationship based on trust between managers and the employees will change the way employees treat their duties and hopefully a sense of satisfaction with ones work will be an important notion for the employees and managers.