Jim Teague in Tanzania

Jim Outage, an MBA associate with a diploma in engineering, is hired for a summer internship in rural Africa to be an officer of a U. S- based social investment firm that is looking for an important agribusiness project in Africa. A small successful company in Tanzania â€Å"Cigarillo† is in the run for being financed by Agrarian. Upon his arrival in Tanzania, he is faced upon two issues: Cigarillo faces some major health-safety issues with the risks of spreading E-coli among the population.Another problem Jim Outage is facing is the fact that he does not know exactly whether the company that identified the potential contamination of E-coli found a real problem or is Just looking for a payoff as Baby is stipulating. The quandary Jims employer is subjecting too is either to withdraw their investment or Just ignore the allegations against the local company. This paper will identify the issues in the case, explain the legal issues and give some recommendations on how Jim Outage c an resolve these issues to save his company's reputation.Identify the major cultural differences and the resulting ethical, or legal challenges Jim Outage faced working at Cigarillo in Tanzania. Jim Outage faces some cultural differences when he went to Tanzania. The major cultural difference he encountered is the fact that people in Tanzania are easily variable. In the video â€Å"Spotlight on India and Mexico† both countries are attractive markets with low cost manufacturing bases, but they have high risks business environment. This is the case for Tanzania, the difference in culture makes it hard for foreign people to do business.First, when he first got to Tanzania, to find his apartment he had to give some money to the person who helped him find his apartment because he had some issues finding direction. That was the first cultural shock he encountered. Second, he was facing himself with some major ethical, or legal challenges in Tanzania different from what he encounter ed in the United States. When he was first arrested by the police officer he had no choice that to bribe a police officer who stopped him illegally without no Justifying reasons.Facing with making the decision of either spending the night in a Tanzania Jail or giving something to the police officer so he can leave in peace he offered the police officer the Cad's of Jim Reeves that belonged to Baby. When Baby mentioned that the Tanzania Certification Agency (TCL) had discovered traces of E-coli in Sourpuss's most popular product, Baby immediately assumed that it is a case of bribery because that is the legal environment in Tanzania. People are faced with constant bribery so it pertains on their ability to make a good Judgment of any situation they enter.The cultural differences Jim Outage encountered since his arrival in Tanzania blurred his ability to think critically. Jim Outage was sort of bribed by Baby and his wife. Since his arrival they treated him as a king and Baby even went head and offered him a car, and they invited him all the time for a meal. In Tanzania, they treat business partners as family members. As the case with Jim Outage, Baby and mama treated him as he was their son and even took the liberty to ask Jim to marry a woman from â€Å"Tanzania† called â€Å"shaggy woman† (p. 3). How did Jim Outage get into the difficulty in which he finds himself?Does he bear some responsibility for his predicament? There are many reasons why Jim Outage found was supposed to. He was blurred by everything Baby and Mama offered him. By doing that, Baby was making sure Jim Outage was closed to him. So when he explained him the situation about the company that discovered E. Coli, Jim Tease's opinion was already biased because he was forced to think as a local citizen will think. He put himself in this situation because he felt for what Baby and Mama did for him. They were only business partners, he should have kept some boundaries and do his Job the way he was supposed to.He believed what Baby told him about the TCL without making his own research first. In addition, when they went to the farm, he decided not to talk about his impressions and findings to Baby knowing the risk the farmers where taking by using cow manure. The fact that Jim Outage is inexperienced also played some responsibility for this difficulty he encountered. He was not prepared enough for the problems facing the society in Tanzania. What encouraged Jim to pay off the police? Do Stagehand's â€Å"five rules† suggest methods Jim could have used to avoid paying bribes?Jim a couple of days after coming to Tanzania found himself in a complicated situation with a police officer who arrested him illegally. He decided to pay off the police officer with the Cad's of Jim Reeves belonging to Baby. Jim was encourages to pay off the police officer because he did not want to go to Jail. It was either paying off the officer or go into the pain of being locked up f or something he did not do. He did not think about it twice while he was giving the CD because his decision was the most rational decision at the time. He could have avoided bribery by using Stagehand's â€Å"five rules† to avoid bribery.The first rule according to Eastland is to never assume that you have to give bribe. In Jims case, he did not try to negotiate with the office; he directly assumed that the police officer wanted something in return of his freedom that is why he gave him the Cad's. The second rule is to â€Å"Just say no. According to the author even if asked people have to resist the urge to bribe by Just saying no. Jim could have explained to the officer that he was new in the city and he did not intend to violate rules while driving and assume the consequences of his act.The third rule is to look for legal and ethical ways to meet the person needs without bribing. Eastland gives three examples of ways to do that: offer an expense paid visit to the home cou ntry or offer training course in home country, make an accommodate donation, and finally do something personal for the person. In Jims case knowing that the officer arrested him illegally thou no reason he could have done him a favor by doing something personal for the officer such as invite him to the restaurant if he let him go or offer him a pass for an event.The fourth rule is to find some creative ways to attend your goals without jeopardizing your integrity. Jim Outage could have found some ways not to bribe the officer by using his head. The fifth rule is to know the culture of the country in question. By knowing exactly how the Tanzania culture works, he could have avoided to give away Abs's CD and still get away without any problem. What action should Jim recommend to his U. S. Oppressor, Allen?In proposing a responsible solution, consider international standards for business practices, the varying impacts, determine the economic outcomes, consider the legal requirements, a nd evaluate ethical obligations. How would you communicate your decision to Baby? Business practices, the impacts his decisions will have, determine the economic outcomes, consider the legal requirements, and evaluate ethical obligations. Jim should tell the truth no matter what to his U. S. Supervisor. He should make a decision based on the facts and those facts state that Cigarillo flour is contaminate.In addition, he saw some additional proofs even though that could explain the E. Coli contamination by the use of cow manure. He needs to weigh both situations and decide which one will make the most arm. He has the choice of letting go of the situation and act as if the Tanzania company Just want a bribe or say â€Å"no† which will make a big impact on the population in Tanzania. DRY states companies should take into account the micro-risks they will face in a given company such as systemic, procedural, distributive, and catastrophic (p. 107). In this case, the procedural po litical risk is the one related to Tanzania.Countries transactions or authorizations to do something important in a given country could be stopped by political actions, public fraud or a partisan Judicial system. Jim should take into considerations the micro issues while talking with his supervisor. That will help him elucidate the problem because he is the one in the country; he understands better the culture now that he lives there. The video â€Å"the new global challengers† explains that internationally active firms create Jobs thereby create increasing the living standards of the population concerned. Tanzania is considered as an emerging market.According to the video, merging markets are characterized by inadequate infrastructures, underdeveloped legal system, and high risks business environments. This is exactly what Tanzania is going through. Knowing those issues will help Jim determine the best solution. In this case, a negative answer will be more beneficial and mor e economic because the company will save money by not investing on a business that is doomed to failure in the long run. Even if they decide to ignore the allegations against Cigarillo, they will still pay the price if people find that such a reputable company such as Agrarian was implicated in such allegations.This will completely mess up their reputation. Jim should recommend not toggle the loan to Cigarillo no matter what will happen to his relationships with Baby. This is for his best interest. The ethical obligations force him to tell exactly what is going on by being neutral without taken any side. That meaner explaining the use of cow manure while making the flour and take into account the content of the report even though Baby thinks the company is Just looking to be bribed. Jim should communicate his decision to Baby by explaining him the danger that E. Coli will have on the customers.Baby should understand that ensuing the loan ill have a big impact and endanger the health of thousands of people and put Agrarian at risk. Henequen He should also explain that he has his hands tight and that he might get fired if he does not make the right decision. This technique might alleviate the anger Baby will have against Jim after telling him. Where would you go for guidance, either within or outside your company and organization. In the absence of guidance, what would you do? For guidance within the company I will ask my follow coworkers what they think of the situation, and what they think I should do.It's always good to know what other people think before acting. In Jims case, his friend's remark helped me realized that if he was in the United States he would have acted differently. In the absence of guidance, I will Just follow my instinct and do what is the loan will deprive hundreds of farmers their income. The right thing is this case seems to be going a â€Å"no† decision because it will have less effect than going with a â€Å"yes. † Brief ly outline the key components of an ethics or compliance program for a small-sized foreign company that would provide guidance on the types of issues Jim faced at Cigarillo.Effective compliance programs fits exactly the specific business ND the risks associated with the business in question. 1. Develop open lines of communication. For a compliance program to be effective, the most important element is that employees feel comfortable asking questions and reporting possible violations. * Establish an open-door policy for the compliance official or committee and the highest level of on-site management to receive employee reports. * Guarantee that there will be no retaliation against employees who make good-faith reports of misconduct. Provide an anonymous suggestion box, which may induce some employees to report problems. 2. Identify the risks. Management must first ferret out risks that the company faces, so the right factors can be monitored, audited and evaluated. A wide range of po tential risks should be considered, including: Environmental risks (clean air and water, hazardous waste disposal, transportation of hazardous materials, etc. ) * Health and safety * Money laundering, especially when involved with foreign entities 3. Establish standards and procedures.Some fundamental standards and procedures should be included in any organization's compliance program. For example, every business should: * Adhere to a record retention policy. Perform background screening of potential employees. * Develop forms to address recurring issues, so that incidents are recorded fully and consistently. 4. Designate a compliance official or committee. Every compliance program must be overseen by an individual or committee that has ultimate accountability. These duties might include: * Overseeing and monitoring the implementation of the compliance program. Establishing methods to improve quality of service and reduce vulnerability to fraud and abuse.