Assignment:
Doing The Right Thing...is it Bad Business?
You are owner of a small to midsize store/company. Your overhead costs are skyrocketing. You can no longer afford to buy the quality inventory/merchandise to be successful. The current economic climate has caused your profits to shrink at an alarming rate; if things continue at their current rate, you will be forced to cut hours, layoff employees, and perhaps close the business. One day, you receive a call from an old friend who tells you he has a warehouse full of inventory that your company can have at rock bottom prices. This new inventory is just the break your company needs to return to profitability. Because of these extremely low prices, you realize your company will not only turn a huge profit, you will soon be able to hire more employees and even expand the company. The benefits of this new inventory are huge. You eagerly accept your friend's offer and purchase the entire inventory. Before the first shipment arrives, you discover that the inventory you are buying is comprised of suspicious merchandise: most of the inventory has been confiscated, repossessed, returned, or rejected by other companies. You suspect some of the merchandise may even be stolen (although you are not certain of this and cannot prove it.) When you confront your friend about the exact nature of the merchandise, he winks and says, "Why do you think it is so cheap? Come on, everyone's doing it. It's just good business." You have only one silent partner, Megan Shush, who owns 50% of the business. Write a MEMO to her explaining what you intend to do about this situation. Are you going forward using this new, cheap, perhaps illegal merchandise? Or, are you going to reject this merchandise citing the ethical concerns you have about selling questionable merchandise to your steady and trusting consumers? Give at least three reasons/ideas/examples that FULLY explain your decision and reasoning. Also, explain HOW you plan to move the company forward either using this merchandise or by rejecting this merchandise.