Ethical Dilemma, Political Governance, And Their Impact On Institutional Governance: A Case Study On Grameen Bank

            Socially responsible businesses are such businesses which are undertaken with a view of earning profits and at the same time they also aim to leverage the business for creating a sustainable world. So, the socially responsible business have dual goals, in terms of maximizing the profits which the company earns for its shareholders, and also for making a positive change towards the other stakeholder groups, which includes the society, the employees, the clients and the like. The theme here is for the businesses to balance on the profit making acts, with such activities which would benefit the society (Zhang, Morse & Kambhampati, 2017).

            An example of socially responsible business is The Body Shop which is a leading brand of beauty and cosmetics. The company is famous for their proactive role in forcing good and in creating positive changes for the society. The company collaborates with a number of organizations and with the NGOs for dealing with the social issues, particularly the challenging ones. An example of this can be cited in the three year campaign of the company of ECPAT for the purpose of supporting the movement against young people, child prostitution and child trafficking. The strategy of the company is focused on three key things. The first one was the company’s goal of educating and raising awareness on the issues of human trafficking. The second one is the company promoting in the campaign for signing petitions for a higher involvement from government and consumers for taking actions. The last one was the company monitoring the growth, assessing the impact of the campaign and raising the funds for supporting activities (EPCAT, 2009).

References:

EPCAT. (2009). Their Protection is in our Hands THE STATE OF GLOBAL CHILD TRAFFICKING FOR SEXUAL PURPOSES.

Zhang, D., Morse, S., & Kambhampati, U. (2017). Sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. Oxon: Routledge.

Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.

Mark (5):

0

Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.

Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.

Quality of writing is at a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.

The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.

The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.

The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.

Part A Question 2:

Explain whether or not Grameen Bank is a socially responsible business enterprise. 

            In the Question 1, it was highlighted that the social responsible businesses carry out the work for dual purpose of sharing the profits with the shareholders and working in a manner in which the stakeholders are made to grow. Grameen Bank is a leading bank of Bangladesh which is famous for working for the poor people. The core objective of this bank was to give/ forward the micro credit to such individuals of the nation, who belonged to the poorest of poor. The banking system and the governance of Grameen Bank was such that the poor people, who particularly were illiterate, and where these individuals have taken the loan from the bank, attained a key share in Grameen Bank, and also in the governance system of the bank.

            In order to state that Grameen Bank was a socially responsible business, there is a need to show that the bank was working for the dual purpose stated in the earlier question. The social aspect of the socially responsible business was properly followed by Grameen Bank as it worked for the poorest of poor. The annual report of the company does provide that the profit making is not the key objective of the Grameen Bank, and yet it continues to make profit on regular basis. Thus, the case study rightly provides that Grameen Bank is a socially responsible business.

References:

Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.

Mark (5):

0

Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.

Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.

Quality of writing is at a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.

The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.

The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.

The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.

Part A Question 3:

What is ethical dilemma? Discuss with real and/or hypothetical examples of ethical dilemma.

            Ethical dilemma is a situation where the individual gets in a mental conflicting state when faced with situations which can be best deemed as complex. The dilemma is raised due to the requirement of choosing between the two options, which are not only in conflict to each other, but also are such that none of the options seem like the out rightly clear right choice. Ethical dilemma is thus the decision making in between two of the moral imperatives in which neither of the options could be accepted explicitly or unequivocally. In such situations, there is no perfect solution and the option which is chose, requires to be defended (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2016).

            There are a number of ethical dilemmas which a normal person faces on daily basis and an example of the same, particularly in context of business scenario is covered here. In this matter, Tony was a data analyst for a leading casino and he had been working on an important project after the normal hours of business. While working, he came to the realization that some of the important data was missing and this data had been sent to him a few days back by Robert. He had seen Robert typing the password a few days back, and so in order to get the data he logged himself on Robert’s data. While on his system, Tony saw an email on Robert’s gambling debts with a local sports book. The employees of casino had been prohibited from being engaged in any kind of gambling activity in order to avoid conflict of interest situation. Even though Tony knows that he should report Robert, doing so would be a breach of information technology regulation of the company by him. Confronting Robert would mean revealing the source of information. Thus, here Tony is faced with an ethical dilemma (Your Dictionary, 2018).

References:

Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2016). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases (11^th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Your Dictionary. (2018). Ethical Dilemma Examples.

Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.

Mark (5):

0

Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.

Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.

Quality of writing is at a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.

The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.

The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.

The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.

Part A Question 4:

Explain the ethical dilemma considering the accusations of a financial impropriety and so claimed highest interest rates charged by Grameen Bank. 

            The crux of what exactly an ethical dilemma is has already been summarized in the previous answer. In this instance, the bank has been alleged to have been given the loans at high interest rates and of financial impropriety. The first and foremost ethical dilemma faced by Grameen Bank was to choose between its shareholders and stakeholders. In doing well of the poor, they kept the interest of the shareholders on back foot. The choice between shareholders and stakeholders was thus an ethical dilemma. The next one was related to the claim of financial impropriety where the ethical dilemma was of choosing between the personal interests of the bank and between that of the poor. In order for the Grameen Bank to continue doing business, and to continue to offer the services to the poorest of poor, there was a need for higher interest rates. So, Grameen Bank had the key ethical dilemma of surviving for the purpose doing good for the poor and doing the work with commercial objectives, in order to serve this purpose, and at the same time to work for the poor people and providing better services to them.

References:

Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.

Mark (5):

0

Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.

Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.

Quality of writing is at a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.

The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.

The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.

The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.

Part BQuestion 1:

Outline the political governance system in Bangladesh and then assess how it impacted on the institutional governance of Grameen Bank after the spate of ethical dilemma as discussed in Part A.

            Bangladesh is an underdeveloped nation and there are a number of factors which result in this status. The number one reason is the political governance in the nation. The nation lacks a proper system of institutionalization and the politics taking place in the country is majorly domination by such individuals who do not have the proper formal background or even the requisite training in formal politics. The nation is ruled by individuals with big money and goons. The elections are such that he ordinary citizens, although do case their votes, are passive voters and have no real role in the nation. In addition to this, elections are very costly affair. The nation is also famous for its fair share of corruption, which is widespread in the society and even in politics. In 2005, the nation was ranked as the most corrupt nation across the globe (Rahman, 2005). If the latest situation is looked at, the previous Prime Minister of the nation, i.e., Khaleda Zia, had been held guilty of corruption. She is a long standing rival of present Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and had been guilty of embezzling 248,154 taka (£178,000) (Osborne, 2018).

            The power in Bangladesh is limited to the top cadre of the nation’s government. Everyone is aware of the dominating positioning of the executive. The parliamentary system of the nation is present but is often referred to as the prime ministerial system, where the parliament only plays the second fiddle to the executive of the nation. To make the matters worse, the judiciary independence is completely lacking and heavy reliance is placed on the executive. The transparency exists only as a facade and there is no accountability in the state affairs, which in turn results in the effective governance being hampered. The human rights are nearly nonexistent and continue to highlight the apathetic situation of the nation (Khan, 2003). The goals which the nation had set during its independence time, in terms of elimination of poverty, getting political stability, and forming a viable nation economy, continue to be distant dreams (Nations Encyclopaedia, 2018).

            Aligned with the political governance of the nation is the institutional governance of the different companies and institutions in the country. Grameen Bank can be cited as an example of this due to the negative publicity it attained. In the case of Grameen Bank, the founder of the bank, i.e., Professor Muhammad Yunus was made to quit due to the allegations put on him for the financial impropriety and the high interest rates which had been charged on loans against him. Grameen Bank shows the similarity of corruption and deceit in the political and institutional environment of the nation, particularly in context of the corrupt leaders.  The mutilate negative impact of the failure of political and institutional system of the nation is that the poor people suffer, even when the things are done for them, as per the Grameen Bank and as per the politicians. In context of the ethical dilemma highlighted earlier, the focus of Yunus on continuing earning profits for the company and for helping the poorest, the politicians choose earning profits in place of working for the poor (Thakuria, 2011).

            As a result of these allegations, Yunus had to be removed from the bank. To bring in the political angle to the institutional governance of the nation, a key aspect which needs to be given some thought is that the present prime minister of the nation, i.e., Sheikh Hasina, had been working against Yunus and towards kicking him out of the Grameen Bank due to her jealousy. This does bring question on the international investors who were becoming favourable towards the nation, owing to the economic reforms carried in recent past (Thakuria, 2011). Again, the ex prime minister of the nation was also a rival of the present prime minister. This shows that the political governance of the nation is corrupt and impacts institutional governance of the nation in a major manner.

References:

Osborne, S. (2018). Bangladesh’s Ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia Found Guilty Of Corruption Amid Opposition Protests.

Khan, M. M. (2003). State of governance in Bangladesh. The Round Table, 92(370), 391-405.

Nations Encyclopaedia. (2018). Bangladesh – Politics, government, and taxation.

Rahman, W. (2005). Bangladesh tops most corrupt list.

Thakuria, N. (2011). Grameen bank sans Muhammad Yunus.

Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.

Mark (20):

0

Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.

Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.

Quality of writing is at a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.

The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.

The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.

The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.

Part BQuestion 2:

Applying your knowledge of corporate governance principles and ethics, what would you suggest for improvement of the political governance systems in Bangladesh and institutional governance in Grameen Bank?

            Corporate governance can be defined as the practices, the processes and the rules which help in controlling and directing the companies. The corporate governance includes working for the interest of the different stakeholders and in balancing these out. The aim of corporate governance is to protect the interest of the different stakeholders and in providing them the rights (Tricker, 2015). The ethics are the values, principles and the morals which a person adheres to and which help in guiding the conduct and in making decisions. The ethics help the individuals in making choice between what is right and what is wrong, and in making the choice between the options faced during ethical dilemma (Smith, 2008).

            When the political governance system of Bangladesh is looked at, along with the institutional governance at the Grameen Bank, it becomes clear that the core of corporate governance needs to be applied, along with making use of the leading ethical theories in order to make choices when faced with ethical dilemma. There is a need to bring reform to the present political governance system present in the nation so that the priority is given to the interest of the general public. Further, there is a need to work on the objectives set out during the independence of Bangladesh in terms of eradicating poverty, getting political stability, and forming a viable nation economy. The use of ethical theories would assist in making the ethical choices. For instance, by choosing virtue ethics, the politicians can solve the ethical dilemma by upholding the virtues of justness, integrity and honesty (Hursthouse, 2012). By focusing on the ethical theory of utilitarianism, the work of the politicians and the institutions can be made towards the maximizing of the utility for the people (Mill, 2017). The core of the corporate governance principle and ethical theories need to be applied truly, in place of following these on paper.

References:

Mill, J.S. (2017). Utilitarianism. Dublin, OH: Coventry House Publishing.

Hursthouse, R. (2012). Virtue Ethics. Retrieved from:

Smith, J.D. (2008). Normative Theory and Business Ethics. Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Tricker, B. (2015). Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and practices (3^rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA.

Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.

Mark (20):

0

Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.

Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.

Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.

Quality of writing is at a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.

The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well thought-out conclusions.

The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.

The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.

The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.