What is the Problem?

Several company employees and executives lack integrity, hence have decided to employ unorthodox methods within the business to get ahead and inflate their sales. Currently, with an increase in online streaming services, as enhanced by cheap and accessible internet has seen the purchase of hardcopy DVDs plummet to an all-time low in recent years. This c has seen employees fake their sales and records to show high sales. On the other hand, petty cash is not well accounted for, where employees and a few executives alike inflate their expenses to obtain more funds from the company. On the other hand, employees send advertisements and subscriptions messages via email to customers. Some employees utilize click baiting tactics to have their clients read and respond to their emails without realizing that the clients may be held up on some duty, or may not be financially able to initiate subscriptions at the moment.

Why it is a problem

On the one hand, it is unethical to try to force clients to purchase a product through dubious means. While this may increase sales, it may affect a customer’s standing with the firm (Bharthvajan, 2014; Sekerka, Comer, & Godwin, 2014). The customer, after purchasing a good may decide to cut ties with the firm or even engage in negative marketing. Additionally, where pushy tactics have caused some form of discomfort, the client my press charges which may in turn negatively affect the financial position of the company. On the other hand, dishonesty such as inflating expenses and inventory affects the company financially on one side while making it hard to make clear-cut decisions on the other. Over time, the small inflated funds accumulate into substantial amounts whose effects may be physically felt, while posting good results to appease shareholders and leaders will prevent the organization from taking mitigation strategies that maybe would have helped steer the company to the direction required.

Why the Problem Exists and what causes it

Firstly, unrealistic goals set by the management may be to blame for employees faking their results. For instance, a sales and marketing team leader may set a given number of units that each needs to deliver in a day. These targets automatically put pressure on the salesperson as such targets are often unaware of ongoing market issues. On the other hand, the employees may also wish to impress their superiors for potential rewards, or to avoid scolding and criticism. This fear motivates faking results as well as engaging in pushy marketing tactics. On the other hand, inflating day to day expenses is indicative of a company that does not either reward its employees properly, or one where the leadership has failed in explaining the values of the company. It has more to do with company culture and climate, and an atmosphere where the administration is distant from the employees will most likely have incidences as the ones stated above (Bharthvajan, 2014). However, it could also be an undoing on the part of the employees.

Potential Consequences

Firstly, allowing unethical marketing is risky since it only portrays the organization as money motivated. Clients who have fallen victims to such actions most likely will wish to end their ties to the company, which affect the number of subscriptions and DVD purchases, lowering the revenue earned from these sales in the process (Engelbrecht, Heine, & Mahembe, 2017). Although a rarity, should the employee cross certain client lines, offending them in the process the client may wish to charge the organization in a court of law for restitution. On the other hand, faking expenses normalizes a lousy culture and climate within the work environment by making such adverse actions seem reasonable to new employees. Additionally, the inflated costs albeit in small amounts are more likely to increase the costs incurred by the business entity, further lowering the profits and revenue margins.

Students Name

Rasmussen Consulting

Ohio 800 001

5^th May 2019

To,

The CEO

MovieFlix,

The Bronx

New York 378 004

Sir,

Subject: Business Problem Affecting Your Company, Movieflix.

Having researched the issues surrounding your firm, integrity issues seem to be the main problem affecting your company, MovieFlix. On in-depth analysis, it becomes evident that part of the executive and a large section of the employees’ base is involved in an unethical business practice one way or the other. Firstly, employees are actively posting fake results to appease the leadership, or as a means of getting promotions and other types of rewards or to keep their jobs from the pressure that is associated with your firm’s operations. On the other hand, part of the management and the employees are overstating their expenses in order to gain more funds from the company, and finally, as a result of excessive pressure to perform your employees are involving themselves with unethical marketing, more so through the online platforms such as emails through which the company operates.

Integrity at the workplace is an essential factor, given that it is the only way through which an organization may sustainably increase its presence in a niche over a long period. However, this is part of the culture and climate as articulated by the management. Where the company leadership fails to spell out what is required from the employees, there is a higher chance that the employees may result in uncouth actions to suffice their ends. However, it is necessary that the leadership walk the talk. It would be impossible to demand a different set of responses from employees while the management behaves in a different way (Taylor, Suminski, Das, Paxton, & Craig, 2018). The administration, therefore, plays the role of a character model whose actions will be replicated by the subordinates. While the issue tends to run deep within your organization currently, a few first steps are necessary to help steer the company from the problems plaguing it in the right direction.

While there exist several ways through which such issues can be resolved, I would wish to recommend steps that have minimum damage on one end but work to cleanse the company of what is plaguing it. Firstly, the company must restate the organizational mission, vision, and values. The restatement should help clear any confusion as to what the mission, vision, and values imply while setting up a tone for the most appropriate culture and climate (Sekerka, Comer, & Godwin, 2014). It acts as a reminder, reminding all stakeholders what the organization stands for and why. Secondly, department and team leaders who are tasked with the duty of passing down the organizations mission, goals and objectives to their subordinates must be encouraged to embrace company values since employees look up to them. This is important as a negative behavior by the leaders will be seen as the right thing to do by his or her juniors; hence they will take up such action regular.

Finally, per company vision and mission team leaders should be requested to set realistic goals, an acceptable failure range. This means that whether an employee fails to meet a target, provided they are within the desired range, they are congratulated and encouraged to strive for higher (Taylor, Suminski, Das, Paxton, & Craig, 2018). However, this does not mean that mediocrity is to be condoned, nor failure punished, it simply means creating a motivating environment other than one filled with fear for employees to operate in. MovieFlix may also choose to adjust their performance rewards system to cater to each person, as well as behavior reward which identifies the best-behaved personnel. Similarly, this reward system should not only identify with top performers but also include individuals who show an effort to succeed through the outlined methods; the company should easily find its way within the ethical boundaries of operations.

Yours Sincerely

Signature:

[Student Name]

References

Bharthvajan, R. (2014). Organizational Culture and Climate. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, 3(1), 8870-8874.

Engelbrecht, A., Heine, G., & Mahembe, B. (2017). Integrity, ethical leadership, trust and work engagement. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 38(3), 368-379.

Sekerka, L., Comer, D., & Godwin, L. (2014). Positive Organizational Ethics: Cultivating and Sustaining Moral Performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 435-444.

Taylor, W., Suminski, R., Das, B., Paxton, R., & Craig, D. (2018). Organizational Culture and Implications for Workplace Interventions to Reduce Sitting Time Among Office-Based Workers: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Public Health, 6(1), 263 -270.