Ethical Dilemma Analysis and Resolution- A Christian Worldview Perspective

Ethical Dilemma Analysis and Resolution- A Christian Worldview Perspective

In the past, food and beverage outlets have been facing court litigations due to various product characteristics that harm or injure clients. A McDonald’s drive-through was among these restaurants a few years ago. A client spilled hot coffee on herself. The 80-year-old woman was awarded $2.9 million by the court as she claimed that the coffee was too hot for consumption in the vehicle. Later, the damages were reduced to $640,000. According to McDonald’s, the coffee was served as the product specifications stated. Besides, the cup’s writings stated that the product might be hot, requiring consumers to take care when handling coffee. McDonald’s serves its coffee at 180℃, which is hotter than beverages from other players. Other restaurants that serve cooler coffee than McDonald’s have also battled with clients in court leading to minimal rewards. These include the Motor City Bagel Shop and Starbucks, which were sued after clients spilled hot coffee on themselves.

McDonald’s, Motor City Bagel Shop, and Starbucks were at fault for serving coffee at high temperatures such as 180℃. The scalding hot coffee is hotter than other restaurants’ products. The recommended serving temperature for coffee is 80℃ (National Coffee Association of U.S.A., Inc., n.d). This recommended temperature implies that McDonald’s temperature can easily cause accidents during consumption. Exposure to hot coffee for short periods can cause serious scalds. Thus, it is recommended that food and beverage outlets provide coffee at safe temperatures to avoid such accidents (Brown & Diller, 2008). However, coffee should be served at temperatures that enable the clients to derive sensual satisfaction.

Temperature plays an important role in ensuring that the quality of coffee is maintained according to an establishment’s standards. At 76℃, the coffee’s flavor and aromatic characteristics begin to develop. To maintain these characteristics, temperatures of 70℃ to 60.4℃ are ideal (Perfect Daily Grind, 2019). Thus, lower temperatures are likely to lead to distortion of the desirable characteristics. However, higher temperatures that exceed recommended levels place the client at harm. As organizations that seek to maintain ethics in their operations, serving coffee at high temperatures that pose a danger is unethical.

Christianity spirituality is applied in business activities through Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS). Positive Organizational Scholarship is concerned with achieving positive results, work procedures, and organizational attributes as well as their members. From this Christian perspective, the McDonald’s dilemma would have been dealt with similarly as the court did. Firstly, the establishment failed to observe the Positive Organizational Scholarship framework (Mele & Fontrodona, 2017). The establishment’s failure to serve coffee at the recommended temperature led to the scalding of clients. Serving the coffee at a lower temperature would have saved the avoidable client injuries. Besides, the litigation cost the company financial resources and a negative public image. Based on these outcomes, the event does not adhere to the recommended Christian strategies for business management. Thus, the outcome would not have been very different as the client was hurt by the company’s actions. However, based on Biblical teachings, the 80-year-old woman would be expected to forgive the company. Jesus Christ advised Christians to forgive multiple times. This advice is given regardless of the feelings or harm that the victim experiences. Often, the Bible states that God punishes the wrongdoers for their actions (Bernero, 2017). Thus, the Christian teachings highlight the need for patience when dealing with others.

According to the utilitarianism theory, actions are considered right if they are beneficial to the majority of individuals. The doctrine’s main goals include promoting happiness and guiding peoples’ conduct (Abumere, n.d). Thus, the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by the consequences. Based on this doctrine, McDonald’s actions are wrong due to the results. The hot coffee caused scalding on the 80-year-old woman, cost the company money in payment of damages, and created a negative reputation. Thus, it is impossible to assume that the client should forget the event and forgive the organization as the Biblical teachings advise.

Since utilitarians seek to increase the good of all, the organization needed to try to appease the 80-year-old woman. Instead of doing so, the company waited for a legal battle. Thus, using utilitarianism as a guiding ethical theory, the company should have offered to take care of the woman’s medical bill or other costs/expenses associated with the scalding through out-of-court mediation. This step should have eliminated the presence of negative public images created through the court hearings and allegations. The company would also have paid out less money to the woman and probably retained her as a client. Most importantly, reducing the coffee’s temperature at service was critical as a step that shows the company’s remorse. This policy change would also reduce future accidents that are likely to take a similar direction. Thus, the utilitarianism theory would cause a different result based on the assumption that all participants, especially the company, would seek out court agreement to ensure the maximization of good.

The deontological ethical theory is different as it categorizes right and wrong. According to Immanuel Kant, the theory agrees with the moral laws that forbid individuals from committing certain actions such as stealing or lying. The simplicity of the theory is observed in its requirement to follow the set rules and carry out delegated roles (Ethics Unwrapped, 2021). The theory does not use the results to identify wrong or right. The approach eliminates subjectivity and confusion. Unfortunately, the theory’s simplicity does not result in popularity, as individuals cannot sway the decision in different situations.

In McDonald’s case, the deontological theory would give a different result. In this case, the establishment was wrong for serving coffee at a high temperature. This type of service or an organizational policy created a hazard that led to an accident. The 80-year-old woman’s accident highlights the neglect of the company as regards the safety of their clients. Instead of serving coffee at the recommended /temperature, the company sought to serve extremely hot coffee that lacked sufficient benefit to the product‘s quality. Thus, the legal battle that resulted from the service was warranted. The difference in result is evident in comparison to the utilitarianism theory that seeks the good of all.

Based on the biblical, contemporary, deontological, and utilitarian approaches, the result of the event tends to differ or remain similar in some cases. As observed in Christianity, the woman should have forgiven the organization. In the contemporary approach, the company had to pay the sought damages. This result is similar to the deontological theory. However, the utilitarianism approach has a different approach, leading to an out-of-court settlement that would maximize everyone’s good.

References

Abumere, F. A. (n.d). Utilitarianism.

Bernero, L. (2017). Biblical Conflict Resolution. Retrieved from https://denverinstitute.org/the-process-of-biblical-conflict-resolution/

Brown , F., & Diller, K. R. (2008). Calculating the optimum temperature for serving hot beverages. Burns, 34(5), 648-654.

Ethics Unwrapped. (2021). Deontology. Retrieved from https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/deontology

Mele, D., & Fontrodona, J. (2017). Christian Ethics and Spirituality in Leading Business Organizations: Editorial Introduction. Journal of Business Ethics, 145, 671-679.

National Coffee Association of U.S.A., Inc. (n.d). How to Brew Coffee. Retrieved from https://www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/How-to-Brew-Coffee

Perfect Daily Grind. (2019). How Temperature Can Impact Your Experience of Coffee.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

For this assignment, you will discuss how Christian principles can be applied to an operations management dilemma:

Ethical Dilemma Analysis and Resolution- A Christian Worldview Perspective

First, begin by selecting one of the ethical dilemmas below from the text:

Managing Quality (Chapter 6)
Process Strategy (Chapter 7)
Layout Strategy (Chapter 9)
Supply Chain Management (Chapter 11)
Inventory Management (Chapter 12)
In a minimum of 1,500 words, discuss the following:

Briefly summarize the issue. Note that only a small portion of your paper’s content should be devoted to summarizing the issue.
Respond to the question(s) shown within your selected ethical dilemma (i.e., within the gold box). Please do not respond to the end-of-chapter Discussion Questions.
How can your selected dilemma be addressed from a Christian worldview? In other words, what guidance from a biblical perspective could be applied to understand and possibly resolve the dilemma? The following GCU website may be helpful: https://www.gcu.edu/about-gcu/christian-identity-and-heritage.php
In addition to addressing questions for item 3 above, you may also optionally frame the issue using ethical theories (utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, distributive justice, virtue ethics, and covenantal ethics). Note, however, that the questions in item 3 must still be addressed.
Your paper should have at least six external references (in additional to any biblical citations) to help frame the issue. Cite your references within the body of your paper. No Wikipedia references are allowed.
Submit your file in a Microsoft Word document. Ensure that your last name is in your file name.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.