The Deadly Fertilizer Case
After realizing some shocking truth about Herbs Company, Martha is confronted by very huge decision to make. Martha has to decide on whether to address and follow up the client’s complaints and what she has discovered about the herbs special fertilizer or to side with her company to cover up the possibly harmful product by the company.
She has to make a decision on what tell the client who had complained about death of his pet and how to address this problem. She must understand what it would take to address these client’s needs and what implication her decision would have to the company and to her career. Martha should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative available to her before arriving at her decision.
Martha is confronted by various decision making challenges. Martha is a consumer affair officer at Herbs Company and it is her duty to address the customers’ concerns satisfactorily. Deciding to address the concerns of the clients claiming that her pet was killed by herbs’ fertilizer will involve revealing the truth about Herb special fertilizer.
This may lead to various implication for herbs as a company and consequently to Martha as an employee of the company. As a result of pursuing the cause of addressing the clients concerns, this issue may end up in law suites, fines, negative publicity, bans on product or even cancellation of licenses.
Understanding this possible implication makes this decision making process challenging to Martha. Martha is also an employee of Herbs Company and is expected to act in the best interest of the company. Revealing the truth about herbs special fertilizer will have negative impacts on the company and therefore it is not in the best interest of the company to take this action.
Going with this consideration will mean that Martha will have to play along with what her boss and the company owner are telling her. But this also present a challenge as by satisfying her bosses demands will mean that Martha will have to neglect her duties as a consumer affair officer and her values as an environmental conscious citizen.
Herbs Company needs to come up with an amicable solution to this situation. There need to be effective communication within the company and between the company and the public which include the clients. Martha, who was the company’s consumer affair officer, did not have knowledge of the company’s products until when she found out from the consumers. This is an indication that there is absence of an effective communication mechanism in the company which is a situation that needs to be corrected. There is also need for the company to live up to its values.
The company has projected an image of itself as an environmentally friendly company and therefore it should ensure that its products and operations meet this criterion and are not responsible for degrading the environment. Environmental issues of concern that arise within the company, such as death of animals exposed to the company’s fertilizer, should be addressed promptly and genuinely before they get out of hand.
The company aught to focus on broader issues such as safety and quality of their products rather than worrying only about profit. The telephone call by the president of the company to Martha requesting her not to jeopardize the company’s best selling product communicates the company’s priority in terms of profit, quality and safety.
Herbs Garden should start taking the clients’ complaints with the seriousness they deserve and stop dismissing these complaints and terming them as whining and imaginations. Herbs should conduct an investigation to determine whether the clients’ allegations are true or not. Mean while it is very important for the company to communicate its actions to the complaining clients and reassure them that the company is doing everything it is able to do in order to resolve the issue. It is very important for the company to understand the origin of the problem. The company should gather facts and try to understand the possible causes to the death of animals which are reported after use of the company fertilizer.
If the problem is not linked to the company or its products, the company should communicate this effectively to its clients and the public to avoid future complaints and negative perceptions about the company. If the problem is found to be associated with the company’s products, the company aught to correct this situation before further damage occurs. The company should stop distribution of the deadly fertilizer with immediate effect and find effective means of compensating clients who have incurred damages due to the herbs special fertilizer.
There should also be effective communication between the affected clients and the company.After the Herbs garden is able to resolve the issue of the complaining clients it should now embark on a long term solution that would ensure that this problem does not recur again. Whatever went wrong in the herb special fertilizer should be identified and correction made on it in order to make the company’s new product safe for consumers. It will be very useful to ensure that this progress by the company is communicated to the public as it will enhance the company’s image.
References
Blair, G. M. (nd). Conversation as communication. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art7.html
Chapman, A. (nd). Problem-solving & decision-making. BusinessBalls.com. Retrieved February Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.businessballs.com/problemsolving.htm
McNamara, C. (nd). Basics in internal organizational communications. Retrieved July 27, 2010 from http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm
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