Case Study 6.3

Sniffing glue Could snuff profits

harvey benjaMin fuller founded The h. b. Fuller Company in 1887. Originally a one-man wallpaper-paste shop, H. B. Fuller is now a leading manufacturer of indus- trial glues, coatings, and paints, with operations worldwide. The company’s 10,000 varieties of glue hold together everything from cars to cigarettes to disposable diapers. However, some of its customers don’t use Fuller’s glues in the way they are intended to be used. That’s particularly the case in Central America, where Fuller derives 27 percent of its profits and where tens of thousands of homeless children sniff some sort of glue. Addicted to glue’s intoxicating but dangerous fumes, these unfortunate children are called resistoleros after Fuller’s Resistol brand. Child-welfare advocates have urged the company to add a noxious oil to its glue to discourage abusers, but the company has resisted, either because it might reduce the glue’s effectiveness or because it will irritate legitimate users.111 Either way, the issue is irritating H. B. Fuller, which has been recognized by various awards, honors, and socially conscious mutual funds as a company with a conscience. Fuller’s mission statement says that it “will conduct business legally and ethically, support the activities of its employees in their communities and be a responsible corporate citizen.” The St. Paul-based com- pany gives 5 percent of its profits to charity; it has committed itself to safe environmental practices worldwide (practices that are “often more stringent than local government standards,” the company says); and it has even endowed a chair in business ethics at the University of Minnesota. Now Fuller must contend with dissident stockholders inside, and demonstrators outside, its annual meetings. The glue-sniffing issue is not a new one. In 1969, the Testor Corporation added a noxious ingredient to its hobby glue to dis- courage abuse, and in 1994 Henkel, a German chemical com- pany that competes with Fuller, stopped making certain toxic glues in Central America. However, Fuller seems to have been singled out for criticism not only because its brand dominates Central America but also because—in the eyes of its critics, anyway—the company has not lived up to its own good-citizen image. Timothy Smith, executive director of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, believes that companies with a reputation as good corporate citizens are more vulnerable to attack. “But as I see it,” he says, “the hazard is not in acting in a socially responsible way. The hazard is in over-marketing yourself as a saint.” Saintly or not, the company has made matters worse for itself by its handling of the issue. H. B. Fuller’s board of directors acknowledged that “illegal distribution was continuing” and that “a suitable replacement product would not be available in the near future.” Accordingly, it voted to stop selling Resistol adhe- sives in Central America. “We simply don’t believe it is the right decision to keep our solvent product on the market,” a company spokesman said. The Coalition on Resistoleros and other corporate gadflies were ecstatic, but their jubilation turned to anger when they learned a few months later that Fuller had not in fact stopped selling Resistol in Central America and did not intend to. True, Fuller no longer sold glue to retailers and small-scale users in Honduras and Guatemala, but it continued to sell large tubs and barrels of it to industrial customers in those countries and to a broader list of commercial and industrial users in neighboring countries. The company says that it has not only restricted distribution but also taken other steps to stop the abuse of its product. It has altered Resistol’s formula, replacing the sweet-smelling but highly toxic solvent toluene with the slightly less toxic chemi- cal cyclohexane. In addition, the company has tried—without success, it says—to develop a nonintoxicating water-based glue, and it contributes to community programs for homeless children in Central America. But the company’s critics disparage these actions as mere image polishing. Bruce Harris, director of Latin American programs for Covenant House, a nonprofit child- welfare advocate, asserts that Resistol is still readily available to children in Nicaragua and El Salvador and, to a lesser extent, in Costa Rica. “If they are genuinely concerned about the children,” he asks, “why haven’t they pulled out of all the countries—as their board mandated?”

After reading Case 6.3 on page 300 in the text, answer the following question: What are H. B. Fuller’s moral obligations in this case? What ideals, effects, and consequences are at stake? Have any moral rights been violated? What would a utilitarian recommend? A Kantian?

Would the following groups benefit if the US dollar appreciated? Yes or No. Explain.

1. Dutch pension funds holding US government bonds.

2. US manufacturing industries.

3. Australian tourists planning a trip to the US.

4. An American firm trying to purchase property overseas.

5. American tourists planning a trip to London.

CASE Study :

Soltis & Sons is a management consulting firm that is attempting to grow its business by targeting small businesses that are run by women or immigrants. In pursuing this strategy, the company has hired employees of other cultures whose first language is not English. Many of these employees are under 30 and they do not have college degrees. While this effort is leading to a workforce that mirrors the clients, the company finds that employees and managers are experiencing difficulties communicating with one another. This leads to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity and customer satisfaction. For example, if a manager gives instructions about completing a certain task to an employee who fails to fully comprehend the instructions, the employee may make mistakes.

The director of Human Resources is considering whether or not to offer some type of training, yet none has been offered to date. She thinks some employees may be

impacted by negative stereotypes associated with a lack of work experience with people from different cultures. She also noted that some work teams do not like to be

supervised by younger people of color. A few employees quit over this issue and management is trying to decide what to do.

Using the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach and the Organizing Framework, how can Soltis & Sons address the problem?

Step 1: Define the problem. What are the gaps between the desired outcomes and the current state?

Step 2: Identify causes of the problem. Remember, the diversity climate is an important situation factor. There are also relevant processes across the individual

level (perception, attributions, and psychological safety), the group/team level (group/team dynamics), and the organizational level (options to manage diversity).

These inputs and processes have critical outcomes.

Step 3: Make recommendations for solving the problem. What options does Soltis & Sons have?

Word count should be more than 600 words( total of 3 steps ) .

Please help me !! Thank You.

CASE Study of management of organization behavior :

Soltis & Sons is a management consulting firm that is attempting to grow its business by targeting small businesses that are run by women or immigrants. In pursuing this strategy, the company has hired employees of other cultures whose first language is not English. Many of these employees are under 30 and they do not have college degrees. While this effort is leading to a workforce that mirrors the clients, the company finds that employees and managers are experiencing difficulties communicating with one another. This leads to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity and customer satisfaction. For example, if a manager gives instructions about completing a certain task to an employee who fails to fully comprehend the instructions, the employee may make mistakes.

The director of Human Resources is considering whether or not to offer some type of training, yet none has been offered to date. She thinks some employees may be

impacted by negative stereotypes associated with a lack of work experience with people from different cultures. She also noted that some work teams do not like to be

supervised by younger people of color. A few employees quit over this issue and management is trying to decide what to do.

Using the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach and the Organizing Framework, how can Soltis & Sons address the problem?

Step 1: Define the problem. What are the gaps between the desired outcomes and the current state?

Step 2: Identify causes of the problem. Remember, the diversity climate is an important situation factor. There are also relevant processes across the individual

level (perception, attributions, and psychological safety), the group/team level (group/team dynamics), and the organizational level (options to manage diversity).

These inputs and processes have critical outcomes.

Step 3: Make recommendations for solving the problem. What options does Soltis & Sons have?

Word count should be more than 600 words( total of 3 steps ) .

Please help me !! Thank You.

CASE Study (management of organization behavior) :

Soltis & Sons is a management consulting firm that is attempting to grow its business by targeting small businesses that are run by women or immigrants. In pursuing this strategy, the company has hired employees of other cultures whose first language is not English. Many of these employees are under 30 and they do not have college degrees. While this effort is leading to a workforce that mirrors the clients, the company finds that employees and managers are experiencing difficulties communicating with one another. This leads to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity and customer satisfaction. For example, if a manager gives instructions about completing a certain task to an employee who fails to fully comprehend the instructions, the employee may make mistakes.

The director of Human Resources is considering whether or not to offer some type of training, yet none has been offered to date. She thinks some employees may be

impacted by negative stereotypes associated with a lack of work experience with people from different cultures. She also noted that some work teams do not like to be

supervised by younger people of color. A few employees quit over this issue and management is trying to decide what to do.

Using the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach and the Organizing Framework, how can Soltis & Sons address the problem?

Step 1: Define the problem. What are the gaps between the desired outcomes and the current state?

Step 2: Identify causes of the problem. Remember, the diversity climate is an important situation factor. There are also relevant processes across the individual

level (perception, attributions, and psychological safety), the group/team level (group/team dynamics), and the organizational level (options to manage diversity).

These inputs and processes have critical outcomes.

Step 3: Make recommendations for solving the problem. What options does Soltis & Sons have?

Word count : more than 600 words( total of 3 steps ) .

Please help me !! It's important . Thank You.

Instructions You are the CFO of an up-and-coming athletic company, which desires to someday become the #1 athletic company in the world. Strategically, the company uses Nike and Under Armour as their key competitor benchmarks. Your CEO is a big believer in learning from the competition and is requesting two things from you regarding Nike and Under Armour’s most recent annual reports: An Executive Summary and a brief Video Presentation of your findings.

NOTE: In order to complete this assignment, you will need to obtain each company’s MOST RECENT(2017) annual report (Nike and Under Armour). Create an executive summary you would feel comfortable turning in to your CEO or to Jack that is no more than 2 pages, single-spaced using 12-point Times New Roman font. You may also include an appendix with additional references, graphs, charts, and tables for additional support if needed.

1. Competitor Strategies • Identify and explain one key strategy from each company that the company explicitly discussed in the annual report.

2. Net Income Margins • What are the after-tax net income margins (aka, net profit margin) for both companies? • How do they compare? • Who achieves the higher net income margin? Why?

I wanted to bring to your attention the fact that not always a company going public uses an underwriter. Can you think of a company who has done this? The answer may not be in the forefront of your mind. I am referring to Spotify. This firm when going public did what is called a direct listing. What does this mean you may ask? In simple terms, the firm chose not to use an intermediary investment bank and sold their shares directly to the public.

Why would a company choose to go directly to the public? Also, when doing this so, who sets the initial price of the stock?

I am a believer in individuality rather than any outside source for my illness. I do a lot of reading about health and am aware of the different ways in which I can fall sick. Yet I know that science cannot answer all the questions regarding the cause of illness. I believe in the power of God and power of karma but I think illness has many reasons beyond it. Bad eating habits especially the addiction to junk food has given us a lot of health problems. I am a supporter of the biomedical approach, because they systematically treat the patient after doing diagnostic tests. There are some herbal remedies that my family is aware for ailments like coughs and colds. But when it comes to surgery or other major problems I always take the biomedical approach. My family means a lot to me when I am sick. My mother makes easily digestible soups and keeps advising me even when I am away from her. I feel I recover faster when my family is around. I also have a group of friends who support me when I am sick. I believe in doing good deeds and not hurting others. Conflicts with others have always made me feel uneasy so I try and avoid conflicts as far as possible.   Some members of my family consider illness to be a punishment from God, but I do not have such beliefs because I feel that there are hardly any people who are completely free from illness all the time. I believe in taking all the preventive measures possible and treating the illness as soon as I see the symptoms, because I value my health.

Resond with discussion