Discussion: Social Responsibility

Respond to the following in a minimum of 275 words: 

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• Read the Did United Sacrifice a Customers Well-Being to Its Own Needs example on p. 82 in Ch. 3 of Management: A Practical Introduction. In your response:

  • Discuss whether you feel that this is how businesses view their customers.
  • Examine whether an airlines need to staff or cancel a flight is more important than passengers needs to travel to their destinations.
  • Explain what may happen if an airline makes a poor choice, as in Dr. Daos case, that affects its external stakeholders by jeopardizing its stock price.

   

• Did United Sacrifice a Customers Well-Being to Its Own Needs?

  A writer for Forbes says, Just as chess players sacrifice pawns to meet the needs of other pieces, companies routinely sacrifice customers interests and well-being to feed their own needs of well-being and prosperity. The problem, says this writer, occurs when employees who abuse customers are following practices they believe have been demonstrated by management.

  A recent example drew shocked attention around the world after a video of it went viral. In April 2017, Dr. David Dao, a passenger on a United Airlines flight who had refused to give up his seat on an overbooked flight, was eventually forcibly dragged shouting and bloodied from the plane, sparking a public relations nightmare, accusations of racism, a threatened consumer boycott, and calls for an investigation. United apologized and promised to review its policies, but its response was late and its message inconsistent. The damage had been done. The back-against-the-wall, through-gritted-teeth apology isntPage 83 generally a winning strategy, said one public relations executive. The airlines stock price dropped, and the Senate Commerce Committee called on the Chicago Department of Aviation for a full accounting of Dr. Daos experience.

  United explained the overbooking of Dr. Daos Chicago-to-Louisville flight as caused by the airlines need to transport several crew members to Kentucky to avoid canceling a scheduled flight from Louisville the next day. When there are not enough volunteers willing to give up their seats, the airline says it implements a written policy on boarding priority (which it would not share with the media) to deny some passengers their seats. We recognize that our response . . . did not reflect the gravity of the situation, said a United spokesperson. And for that we also apologize. Our focus now is looking ahead and making this right.

  YOUR CALL

  Despite all the posturing and loud advertising . . . the dominant reality still is that the company matters more than the customer. Do you agree that this is how businesses view their customers? Does an airlines need to staff or cancel a flight supersede paying passengers needs to travel to their destination? What if the airline makes a poor choice, as in Dr. Daos case, that affects its external stakeholders by jeopardizing its stock price?.