Use Of Board Meeting Case Study To Help Undertake Business Analyses

Question

Task: What is the board meeting case study, and what information do they identify?

Answer

Morality and ethics are an important aspect every business must follow strictly, but how each decision or punishment is taken will depend on the current situation (Van Oosterhout et al. 2006). By analyzing the board meeting case study, it delivers clarity that an important board meeting will be held and Paul would be present during the meeting.

Fred has made an important and right choice by consulting the IT manager by informing him regarding the misuse of company equipment and resources. It has helped the IT manager understand the situation and would be responsible for discussing the concerns with Paul.

The Utilitarianism theory used in this board meeting case study was selected due to the situation being complex. Each requires to be evaluated, and modification made with exceptions to cater to the needs of the stakeholders. The Utilitarianism theory allows the ethics to be manipulated to fit the best interest of the organization without implementing strict rules on the individual or the role of business ethics.

With approaching board meeting, the IT manager has followed Utilitarianism theory to help cater to all stakeholders needs (Driver 2009). It is because there are underlying factors linked to the situation which require to be considered to prevent affecting the organizations operations. Paul is a major contributor towards the board meeting case study and meetings, presentation and discussing this issue before the meeting could result in seriously affecting his confidence while making the presentation.

Paul had misused the company’s equipment to access pornography websites which is strictly prohibited. Despite this being prohibited, if this information is spread to other team members, it will result in the individual failing to retain his concentration and reputation, and the company risks losing a highly valued employee. With this in mind, the Deontology approach may be the most logical, but the company is likely to experience serious losses as a result of mismanaging the situation. To avoid these rules linked to business and company ethics must be manipulated and altered a little to benefit the company and all stakeholders.

While raising the concern and breach in company equipment regulations has been identified by Fred, it’s the IT manager responsibility to take some time to think over the matter but make sure Fred remains quiet regarding this issue until the board meeting has been completed (Reuber & Fischer 2010). The IT manager should advise Fred to remain quiet and not discuss regarding the concern immediately as this would disrupt the upcoming board meeting case study, which could trigger Paul into resigning or failing to make the presentation. The board meeting is important, and losing a major contributor like Paul at the meeting could result in the company experiencing major losses. There is also the concern linked to fellow workmates using this information to belittle Paul, which is a major cause of employee quitting their job. Paul is unlikely to be able to deny the accusation since all the information is stored on his browser, but it could have a major effect on his performance or reputation, and the company would have to postpone the board meeting case study discussion till after the board meeting.

A board meeting case study is held once a year, and Paul had put in his free time to complete this presentation without asking for any overtime payment. It would be unfair to plunder his moral just before the meeting. While this may not have an effect on Fred, it will surely affect the company’s performance due to Paul losing the confidence required to make a presentation. Confidence is an important aspect linked to the success of any board meeting presentation since the chosen individual is most likely the one who has shown the most improvement and development. Most board members will take this opportunity to offer the individual an opportunity to make a board presentation which will help build the individual strength and confidence to deal with the board meeting case study decision and requirements in the future. It’s critical to take every aspect into consideration, keeping in mind the best interest of the business since stirring up problems which will only result in further complicating the situation and affecting the company’s productivity.

It’s also important to ensure the company’s IT security regulation are upheld and addressed since failing to raise the issue would simply result in promoting the habit. Paul’s misconduct and use of company equipment for personal needs are not acceptable, and the IT manager requires considering planning a meeting with Paul immediately after the board meeting. While the IT manager may be able to hold Fred off till the board meeting, the situation is likely to get out of hand if not addressed immediately (Salvador & Folger 2009). The approach is taken to address the situation also requires being decent and not affecting the individual employee’s integrity and morality while working at work. It is important because it affects how the other employees observe the affected individual.

It’s important that the strictest punishment be taken for this misconduct to demonstrate the companies strict regulation linked to the violation. Paul must be held as an example to demonstrate the severity of implication linked to violating company regulations while keeping the exact nature of the violation secret.

While Paul may have been caught misusing company equipment, the board meeting case study also requires addressing the failure of the IT department towards blocking the company’s equipment from accessing such websites. Today there are dozens of special software which can be installed to a computer or laptop to block certain sites which prevent the misuse of the equipment and resources. Many companies have blocked social websites which cannot be accessed from office equipment, and it's the IT department’s responsibility to also make sure the equipment is blocked.

As computers grow to be the main form of communication equipment at the office, the misuse of the equipment is also on the rise. It’s important to also inform employees and keep reminding them that they are being monitored to prevent misuse. In the board meeting case study, he may have forgotten, but if he was reminded before taking the equipment home, he might have been able to avoid accessing the banned websites. It’s neither possible nor logical to implement strict regulation since this only leads to complicating the situation and with it being the first incident Paul can be issued with a strict warning not to repeat or misuse the equipment identified while collecting board meeting case study materials.

References
Driver, J., 2009. The History of Utilitarianism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Van Oosterhout, J., Heugens, P.P.M.A.R. & Kaptein, M., 2006. The internal morality of contracting: Advancing the contractual endeavour in business ethics. Academy of Management Review, 31(3), pp. 521–539.

Reuber, A.R. & Fischer, E., 2010. Organizations behaving badly when are discreditable actions likely to damage organizational reputation? Journal of Business Ethics, 84(1), pp. 39–50.

Salvador, R. & Folger, R.G., 2009. Business Ethics and the Brain. Business Ethics Quarterly, 1(January), pp. 1–32.