In the current business world, most of the people may be faced with an ethical dilemma when something at work goes against their personal beliefs, morals, principles and values and they have been forced to make a choice between what they know is right and what they know is expected by them to do. I have to face such a dilemma most of the times at my workplace where I have to choose between company’s principle and my own belief.
I’m currently working part-time as a chef in a famous restaurant and a lot of freshly cooked food gets left behind everyday as we have to serve a certain portion to the customers. It’s the policy of company that the food left must be thrown regularly but as I see a lot of homeless people starving and standing outside in the chilling cold, I personally beleive that the food should be given to those homeless people and it should not be wasted. My home is near a shelter home and its on the way to my home when I get back from the restaurant to my home so many times I pack that food and give it to those homeless people and they feel really very grateful for that. However, I am breaking the rules formed by the company I would have to face the consequences one day, but I believe it would be worth it.
I would like to ask…….
What would you guys do in such a situation? or Am I doing the right thing?
31 January 2022 at 11:02 pm
I hope you guys have read my post and I’d very much appreciate your feedback. According to my perception, I missed out the application of APA formatting in my post. I’m hoping that you guys could point out my mistakes and help me to properly structure my posts.
3 February 2022 at 5:30 pm
I love that you have already commented on how to improve in your own writing. Apply what you noticed in your next post.
Also this is really a dilemma isn’t it? How do you reconcile your actions with breaking the rules of your company?
Does this have something to do with value ethics and deontology playing out? I think I see that. This would be a good way to complete your posts. Tying into the post the concepts from the course. Good start!
9 February 2022 at 12:55 am
Back in high school I worked at a grocery store. The leftover pieces of cleaned vegetables or slightly bruised fruit, products at their expiry date and damaged goods were thrown into a dumpster and crushed by hydraulics. As most know, expiry dates are there for the store or manufacturer liability, and bruised fruit is largely still edible.
Another employee grew tired of this waste and began putting boxes of food outside a back door where it would be taken away through the night by people in the know. Over time, most of us younger employees would contribute rather than crush the waste we were mandated to discard. Word spread and eventually there was a small camp of people outside daily, waiting for the boxes of “waste food”.
It didn’t take long for management to find out, fire the employee and disband the group of people outside. No one was being harmed and nothing technically stolen. Shallowly, store’s image wasn’t even being hurt by “undesirable” people as this all occurred in a back alley.
I still stand by our actions and believe you are doing the right thing as well. I suppose had management been approached with the idea, and possibly a way to contribute without liability issues there wouldn’t have been a problem with donating certain foods. Perhaps there is a way you can approach your management with a well thought out plan to donate food while removing their potential liability?
20 February 2022 at 2:43 pm
Thanks for your feedback.
I appreciate your suggestion to approach the management and I’ll definitely try to reach out to the management.