Boeing Ethical Resolution

Boeing is the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Boeing is a major service provider to NASA and operates the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Boeing has customers in 90 countries around the world and is one of the largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales. Boeing employs over 150,000 people across the United States and 70 countries making it one of the most diverse and innovative workforces anywhere.

Boeing has a companywide ethical policy that applies to all of its company and subsidiary employees, contract labor, consultants, and others acting for the company. This policy states that Boeing will conduct its business fairly, impartially, and in an ethical and proper manner, and in full compliance with all laws and regulations. Boeing has an extensive list of ethical responsibilities that all of its employees must adhere to. One ethical responsibility that has a huge impact on management planning is promoting compliance with the standards of conduct established by Boeing and applicable laws, and ensuring that employees are aware of these standards and the legal requirements relevant to their work.

It is not always easy to determine the ethical or “right” thing to do in a particular business or work situation. Sometimes, because of the highly complex rules and regulations that govern the way we do business, a decision is not clear-cut. A decision or situation could be difficult when the ethical issue includes. A close call: These situations involve the careful balancing of different yet valid interests. Sometimes the correct decision is just not clear. A new problem: These situations usually involve facts that have not been specifically addressed by the policies or procedures of the company. Multiple considerations: The decision in these situations requires the input of so many different people that the decision process becomes very inefficient. Personal cost: The right and fair thing to do is clear, but the decision maker bears so much cost in lost time or personal sacrifice that the decision is difficult.

Issue Clarification

Before any decisions are made the issues must be clarified. Those in charge must answer a few questions before they can move on. The first question is “who is responsible to act”. There may be times where you are not needed and you need to know who should decide on what steps to take and what those steps should be. The second question is “what are the facts”. Facts and opinions must be separated. In order to move on, there must be factual information in place. The third question to ask is “what or whose interests are involved”. This needs to be known so that there will not be a conflict of interest and the people who are involved won’t feel like they are being treated unfairly.

A conflict of interest may exist when an employee or a member of his or her family is involved in an activity or has a personal interest that could affect the employee’s objectivity in making decisions concerning his or her. Such interests might include outside employment with a Boeing customer, supplier, or competitor,

or having a significant financial interest with one of these entities. This procedure helps employees to identify potential areas of conflict of interest or request a conflict of interest review, and it provides details on the review process.

An actual conflict of interest does not need to be present to constitute a violation of this procedure. Activities that create the appearance of a conflict of interest must also be avoided to ensure that the reputation of Boeing and its employees is not harmed. Any outside activities related to the conditions listed in the procedure should be fully disclosed by employees before they or their family members undertake the activity. If the activity is already taking place, disclosure is still required. Unless formally approved in writing, such activities are prohibited.

Stakeholder Analysis

According to Weiss (2006), the stakeholder analysis is a pragmatic way of identifying and understanding multiple (often competing) claims of many constituencies. As part of a general stakeholder approach, the stakeholder analysis is a method to help understand the relationships between an organization

and the groups with which it must interact. Each situation is different and therefore requires a map to guide strategy for an organization dealing with groups, some of whom may not be supportive of issues such as outsourcing jobs. The stakeholder analysis is a series of steps aimed at different tasks including map stakeholder relationships, map stakeholder coalitions, assess the nature of each stakeholder’s interest, assess the nature of each stakeholder’s power, construct