Problem: Bad news reached John the general manager of AAA stores. One of the company's stores is experiencing bad publicity and an increase in the bottom line. After reading the report, John started investigating the root cause of these problems.
The 4 Ave store, which is one of the small stores owned by the AAA corporation is experiencing negative developments. The store was a troublesome store right from the beginning. When John first opened the store, the store was flooded, and even though it was insured, the insurance payout did not compensate for the lost sales. Then a couple years ago, there was a strike in the store by AAA employees, the employees demanded higher wages and better benefits. John at that time visited the store and started negotiating with workers. The workers demanded a $5 increase in hourly wages, but John negotiated a $2 increase, and ended the strike.
This time John sent a special auditor to audit the stores operations and find the root of the problem. The auditor visited the store and spent a total of one week watching and analyzing the operations inside the store. When the auditor came back from this special assignment, he sent John a report explaining what happened inside the store.
John eagerly read the report and started thinking about the situation. The general manager of the 4th Avenue store, was frustrated that two years ago the employees did not receive the requested raise. So, he started thinking about other ways to generate revenues. Her first decision, was offering the employees to take stationary home, for the kids and other family members. The employees were happy about this decision, since they saved a lot of money during the back to school season. But as time passes employees realized they need more, benefits, or payments. So, at that point the store manager started thinking about other ways of compensating the employees. One of her ideas, was to allow using the store space for personal events, when the store is closed on Sundays. The employees started organizing private events on Sundays inside the store, by moving the isles, thus creating a huge gathering area. Also, the parking lot was used during Sunday, and during weekdays too. One of the employees suggested starting a farmer's market in the parking lot, the store manager embraced the idea. Any rental revenue from the parking lot, or the store, will go directly to employees' pockets, which made everybody happy.
John was shocked by this report and realized the need to act quickly in order to minimize corporate image damage for AAA Corporation.
Q1. Analyze the store manager behavior from a business ethics stand point.
Q2. Recommend the best course of action which should be taken against the store manager.
Q3. Analyze the store manager behavior from an ethical, and Corporate Social Responsibility stand points.
Q4. Recommend the best course of action, in regard to 4th Avenue store, and the store manager.