American Red Cross Ethical Dilemmas

441 Words2 Pages

An ethical dilemma can occur at any given time to any organization. But, regaining public trust will be one of the most complicated processes to deal with for an organization that finds itself with this problem. In the case of the American Red Cross, for many years this organization has seen donations fall due to unethical leadership and some citizens still has problems handling the organization’s tarnished image. Furthermore, the organization had gained a long-desired reputation of being ethical and above reproach. Therefore, one can see way there was such a disheartening feeling between the ARC and many of the organization’s donors.

Furthermore, some of the reasons for the organization’s ethical dilemmas were due to short staffing, facilities not being prepared for disasters, and not being transparent with its stakeholders. Another key reason for the organization’s ethical dilemma was that it had not updated its code of conduct to address today’s leadership and employees. Additionally, the ARC had problems handling large sums of money from donations due its use of outdated technology, and there were several executives who were considered overpaid which created a negative image to stakeholders. “Executive compensation is a controversial subject, and it is rarely far from the media’s gaze. A popular view is that excess compensation is pervasive, with corporate boards frequently awarding overly generous pay packages to executives and Chief Executive Officers (―CEOs‖)” (Conyon, 2011, p. 400). Therefore, …show more content…

But, the ARC can put procedures in place to address its possibility and the steps designed to handle these issues. Also, the organization should establish inventory controls, cash controls, and a monitoring system to ensure that employees or volunteers unethical behavior will not be a persistent obstacle to public and governmental