Mercury Energy Folole Muliagas Death Case Free Sample

Question: Describe about mercury energy folole muliagas death case? Answer: Briefly summarize the Folole Muliaga scenario. Foloe Muliaga was a 45 years aged women who was not keeping well and stayed with her son Ietitatia in their Auckland home. Mrs Muliaga was not a healthy woman. Her health was deteriorated when she was shifting to New Zealand with her husband and four kids in the year 2000. She was first treated in the year 2007 for her breathing disabilities and weighed 212 kg. Soon she was diagnosed with an obesity hyperventilation syndrome. This refers to an illness, where in the carbon dioxide is not removed from the body. Mrs Muliaga was given two oxygen treatment machines at home (Meredith, n.d.). Around 10.30am in the morning a contractor from Mercury energy had come to disconnect the power connections. Once the power was disconnected, the oxygen machine was cut and the alarm was triggered. Once the contractor left he place, Mrs Muliaga health deteriorated rapidly. Mrs Muliaga took some pills immediately to handle the situation and asked her son to play the guitar. Muliaga was struggling to breathe and had become unconscious. Till the time, the ambulance staff memebrs came to her rescue it was too late and she was dead. When Mercury energy was contacted, they said they did not do anything illegal or immoral. Assess the consequence or outcome With the power disconnection done by Mercury energy, resulted in the pre mature death of Mrs Muliaga. Though Mrs Muliaga was not keeping well and was on two oxygen treatment machines at home but she had defied all the odds and survived for more than five years. The day Mrs Muliagas death was announced in New Zealand, this news was picked up by the leading news channels having drawn their attention to the fact that an apparent death of a lady due to an unpaid electricity bill (Schermerhorn, Osborn Hunt, 2000). When questioned, Mercury Energy clearly stated that it had done nothing wrong or illegal. They said that, the contractor (who went to disconnect the power at Mrs Muliagas house) was performing his duty and nothing else. The prime minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark started accusing Mercury Energy for hard nose commercial attitude. The prime minister said, it is hard to believe that the contractor went ahead and disconnected the power even when he saw a pipe attached to her nos e. The police on the other hand after in depth investigation claimed that, there was no evidence to justify that the contractor was at fault (Thomas Dienhart, 2004). The police concluded by saying that, Mr Muliaga died due to arrhythmia which is caused due to obesity and the stress of the power disconnection. Media washed off the reputation of Mercury Energy by stating that, how mercury energy victimizes its customers. Mercury energy was accused of ethical social behavior as they overlooked the need of the patients need as she was on two oxygen machine treatments at home (Eweje Wu, 2010). The premature death of Mrs Muliaga, has led to significant decline in the levels of trust in the state owned company i.e. Mercury Energy. Determine if what Mercury Energy did was illegal. Are you in agreement with the police and coroner decisions? Why or why not? The action performed by Mercury Energy was not illegal but was morally not correct. It is sen that, Mrs Muliaga had asked for continued power supply at their residence due to some health reasons. The contractor admitted the fact that, he even saw an oxygen treatment machine at their residence. Even though, he went ahead to disconnect the power at Mrs Muliagas residence (Bridgman, 2010)). This made the oxygen machine useless for the patient and she died few hours after the power was disconnected. The state owned Power Company; dis regarded the fact that disconnecting the power at Mrs Muliagas residence might lead to certain life threatening consequences. They ignored business ethics only followed their business policies. After the in depth investigation, it was found out that Mercury Energy gives approximately 6-7 weeks before disconnecting the power. Mercury energy chose to abide by their business policies disconnected the power supply at Mrs Muliagas residence (Bjerregaard Laurin g, 2013). Before the disconnection took place, Mr Muliaga came to the power companys office to discuss the emergency of continued power supply at their residence due to the poor health condition of his wife (Darley, Messick Tyler, 2001). He even went to the power companys office to discuss whether can pay the bills in bits but they were not willing to listen to his problem. Instead, they ordered for a power cut which was a wrong act by them. The contractor should have discussed with his officials regarding the disconnection of the power supply at Muliagas place when he saw the oxygen treatment machine at their place. The contactor on behalf of the company should be more considerate after looking at Mrs Muliagas health. The companys decision not to disconnect the power shall be considered one of the best solution rather than adhering to the business policies laid down by the company (Amato Florence, 2009). Mercury energy shall grant Mr Muliaga some more weeks to pay off his arrears or ask to him pay the bill in bits. I agree with the police in investigating the entire case in-depth and come to a conclusion whether the main cause of Mrs Muliagss death was disconnected power supply. Investigations done by the police department stated that, they did not find any justifiable reason to charge the state owned power company the contractor involved in the case. But, I disagree with these findings as in my opinion Mercury Energy played a vital role in Mrs Muliagas death. It shall be seen that, if there would have been continued power supply the oxygen treatment machine would have been of help to Mrs Muliaga in her survival. Coroner also stated that, she did not die due to the discontinued power supply but due to her obese condition. He also said that, stress of power disconnection also led to her inability to suck oxygen from the treatment machine installed at her residence (Agle,Hart Thompson). Hence, it shall be seen that business ethics plays a vital role in smooth function of every organization. State owned companies such as Mercury energy has proved that, earning more more profits can be detrimental for the organization at large. The state owned company was caught in a case where they were being accused for death of a lady due to disrupted power supply. The contactor on behalf of the company should be more considerate after looking at Mrs Muliagas health. The companys decision not to disconnect the power shall be considered one of the best solution rather than adhering to the business policies laid down by the company. The top official of the company mercury energy should have provided with other payment options to Mr Muliaga to pay off the electricity bills. With the case of Mrs Muliaga, many other companies shall take some amount of learning that, they shall talk to their customers rather than taking up various stringent actions which might have a detrimental effect on the company in the long run. Mercury energy was accused of ethical social behavior as they overlooked the need of the patients need as she was on two oxygen machine treatments at home. The premature death of Mrs Muliaga, has led to significant decline in the levels of trust in the state owned company i.e. Mercury Energy. References Agle, B., Hart, D., Thompson, J.Research companion to ethical behavior in organizations. Amato, A. Florence, S. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and sustainable business. Centre for creative leadership Bjerregaard, T. Lauring, J. (2013). Managing contradictions of corporate social responsibility. Business ethics: a European Review. Vol. 22(2)131-142 Bridgman, T. (2010). Beyond the Manager's Moral Dilemma: Rethinking the 'Ideal-Type' Business Ethics Case.Journal of Business Ethics,94311-322. Doi: 10.1007/s10551-011-0759-3 Darley, J., Messick, D., Tyler, T. (2001).Social influences on ethical behavior in organizations. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum. Eweje, G., Wu, M. (2010). Corporate response to an ethical incident: the case of an energy company in New Zealand.Business Ethics: A European Review,19(4), 379-392. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8608.2010.01596.x Meredith, B. (n/d). The cost of contempt. Adrenalin publishing limited Shears, R. (2007). Mother on an oxygen lifeline dies after firm cuts the power.Daily Mail. p. 31. Retrieved from EBSCOHost. Schermerhorn, J., Osborn, R., Hunt, J. (2000).Organizational behavior. New York: Wiley. Thomas, T. Dienhart, J. (2004). Strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business. Academy of management executive.Vol. 18(2); 56