The Case of the Fired Waitress

The Case of the Fired Waitress

In business it is important the a company establish some clear order of business when dealing with business ethics. Ethical business practices can build customer relationships. Unethical business practices can cause a business to lose customers. In this case study the reader will be come familiar with the ethical practice of a Red lobster store in Pleasant Hill, Pennsylvania.

Problem/ Issue Identification

A waitress at the local Pennsylvania Red Lobster served a African American couple. The wife order prime rib and was not pleased with the rib or the serve of the waitress. After paying for the meal she submitted a customer comment card in the comment box. The waitress then took the comment card from the box and destroyed it. This incident caused the waitress her job. She was fired.

We can assume from this case that the waitress did not want the incident known. She may have taken other comment cards and have never been caught. We can also assume this is an isolated incident that the waitress made a big mistake. Looking at the ethical issues a comment box should be managed by the manager or higher. Restaurant employees should not have access to this box at all. The store does not have procedures that secure customer comments.

This is related to Consumer Stakeholders and External Stakeholder issues. The major overriding issues are that the company does not provide the consumer with a secure input source. The consumer freedom to critic the serve is being violated, which can lead to the lose of customers. The company does have policies in place but the procedures to ensure the procedure are followed are not developed. The sub issues here is that this is not just an incident that is individual. This is a situation that has been going on for a while now. This has nothing to do with race but customer service protection.

Analysis/Evaluation

The stakeholders in this case are the shareholders and investors, Employees and managers, Customers, Local Communities and the suppliers and other business partners. The Employees and managers can be affected by this situation because they are directly involved in the environment. The amount of customers this location brings in affects their pay and bonuses. Customers are affect by the poor service and the lack of money for the community. Local communities will not want the restaurant there so