Goodbye Indiana, Hello Mexico: The Whirlpool Plant Closing

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If I would have been a leader of the company I would have evaluated and classified each one of the profiles of the 1,100 factory employees that worked at the plant. I would have offered retraining and given office positions to the employees who were close to retirement. I would have also looked into ways for relocating other employees that had worked a medium amount of time in the company with partner companies and business suppliers. I would have only had laid off the way they did the newest employees who still didn’t necessary felt that the company owed them something due to their short time at Whirlpool.

I would have also looked into ways into making things right with other long-time employees by taking certain burdens off their hands. For example, if that employee had a mortgage or a kid in college, the company could have allocated some of the cost that were now going to be saved by moving the plant towards helping their former employees. As a result, making them feel like they were a valuable asset to the company.

In my opinion, businesses should act ethically with their employees and other stakeholders not only because it makes sense morally, but also because being ethically responsible makes sense for preserving the image and goodwill of the company, which in long run secures future growth and profit for the organization.

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References

Carroll, A. and Buchholtz, A. (2006). Business & Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management. Ohio, United States: Thompson South-Western.

PBS. After NAFTA. (2011, October 31). Need to Know. (Television broadcast).