Many viewers will come away from the film believing that Ray Kroc was a double-dealing, ruthless businessman. Business ethics is the portrayal of proper business policies and practices regarding controversial issues, such as corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities (Staff, 2018). The film shows the difference between what’s legal and what’s ethical, the inevitability of truth making itself known and money earned through deception (The News-Messenger, 2018). Ray displayed conflict of interest as he granted the franchise opportunities to his “golf club” friends. He later learned that they had no interest in their business and weren’t holding up the standards …show more content…
He says: “I want to re-negotiate my lousy deal. Agh dammit”, and slams the phone down. His anger issues together with rude remarks may not be seen as professional and is certainly unethical to put the phone down on a business partner (Still 2). Issues on operational control arise, which leads to Kroc meeting Mr Sonneborn, who advises him to go into the real estate leasing business; this is outside the parameters of the franchise agreement. The leasing gives Kroc more income than the brothers as well as dominance so great that the franchisees thinks he is the founder of McDonalds. This misimpression is backed up by Kroc’s business card (Still 3) where he states that he is the founder. “Contracts are like cars. They’re made to be broken”, says Ray. This is unethical as a breach of contract may result in a lawsuit. This is precisely what happened and Ray ended up winning as he knew the McDonalds brothers would “drown” in legal fees. Ray’s contract stipulated that he needed to consult with the brothers before implementing new products …show more content…
When Ray discovered the Instamix and the brothers objected, he went ahead with it anyway and this is highly unethical and was not part of the contract. His superior wealth allowed him to bully the brothers with litigation threats he knew they couldn’t afford. When Mac was hospitalised, due to the stress, Kroc recommended a buyout offer, which the brothers accept (Still 4). There was one condition, that the brothers got a share of the profits as they were the founders. His handshake assured them 1% of McDonalds gross revenue forever. Kroc did not end up paying the 1%, despite the handshake, this is unethical as he is not keeping up to his promises. However, the brothers needed Kroc to capitalise on the opportunity and become the successful business it is today. Ray tells the lawyer: “Make it go away and I don’t care what it takes”. This is a true reflection of his personality of wanting to get things his way, no matter the consequences. This is unethical as he is not acting with integrity and honesty neither is he worried about the outcome of the situation. His actions are not principle