Avon Taking Sides

As a member of Aluminum Inc.'s business management team, my responsibility is to ensure that the company adheres to all federal and state policies and procedures. In particular, I focus on preventing allegations of environmental dangers and losses, and to preserve the company's public image. The nature of this industry lends itself to frivolous lawsuits. In most cases, individuals who bring the suits, drop them before they become problematic. However, there are occasions where individuals choose to pursue the company with aggressive and accusatory tactics. Such is the case of Kelly Bates. Ms Bates' claim alleges that Aluminum Inc directly or indirectly caused her daughter to develop leukemia due to carcinogenic effluents that they deposited in to Lake Dira.

We evaluated the details associated with the case of Kelly Bates vs. Aluminum Inc.

Our evaluation led us to the following:

* To determine the various strategies for resolving the challenges.

* To discover the path that would have the least damaging effect on company's image.

* To explore business regulations that may prove dangerous for private businesses

We reviewed the following two strategies under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system:

Mediation -----A mediator enters when the two parties cannot reach an agreement on their own. In this process a third party, called a mediator, attempts to assist the disputing parties in resolving their differences. The mediator must be neutral, that is, he or she cannot have any personal interest in the case. The process of mediation requires some basic procedures, such as making an opening statement, preventing interruptions, allows each party to state their views, initiates talking between parties, and ultimately assists in getting to a solution. We chose this as a potential strategy because it was an informal and controlled environment for two parties to resolve their disputes. Another strategy we used was Arbitration. This approach enabled us to empower a third party to resolve the dispute. Selecting an arbitrator we provide a quick and in expensive resolution of disputes; helps parties avoid expense of litigation, while avoiding the formalities of the courtroom. It's a private proceeding that doesn't provide public records to the press or others. While the other two strategies were convincing, we ultimately chose to exercise our rights under the Freedom of Information Act, which was to withhold confidential information. Under the Freedom of Information Act, companies can limit the amount and type of information the public can access. To avoid the appearance of guilt, we found this path to be the least aggressive, yet most appropriate way to handle this case.

As we discussed the ramifications of the claim, we decided to take into account the CEO's position. As a business management team, part of our role was to take into consideration, the positions of senior executives, namely the CEO. Chris Blake, the CEO, optioned for additional site studies by the EPA. Historically, he has a blunt personality and can be very influential.