International Business Case Study - Degussa AG and its Holocaust Legacy

International Business Case Study - Degussa AG and its Holocaust Legacy

1) Who are the stakeholders that Felcht and the Degussa Board must consider in deciding whether or not to bid on the Memorial project? Describe the claims that each stakeholder may have in this situation.

The stakeholders which must be considered in relation to the bid include the company's internal and external stakeholders as well as the Jew community. The internal stakeholders of the company include the company management and employees, and the external stakeholders of the company include the company board of directors and the company's customers (Rosenbloom & Althaus, 2010). All these stakeholders will have different claims both for and against the bid.

For instance, the Jew community will give rise to and highlight the ethical dilemma associated with the situation, whereby on one hand the Degussa's involvement in the Holocaust and the World War II is known to all while on the other hand the company was bidding for anti-graffiti coating, Protectosi supply for Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe (Reavis & Jones, 2003 ).

The internal stakeholders of the company, such as the company management, have the responsibility of aligning the goals of the company with the goals of the other stakeholders. This bid is an excellent sales opportunity which cannot only give the company a new sales pitch but also, in the absence of this controversy, had added to the positioning of the company. This is true because being associated with such a project is a feat itself and would have been another feather in the crown for Degussa AG.

2) Assess the relevance to the current situation, if any, of Degussa's efforts to date to acknowledge and atone for its participation in World War II.

The current situation is very much relevant to the efforts that Degussa has been making to atone its participation in World War II. Some of these activities include the active participation in the establishment of Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility, and the Future. There were several hundreds of German citizens who were forced to become part of the labor by Nazis. Peter Hayes was hired as one of the active members of the committee (Reavis & Jones, 2003 ). This, and other such activities suggest that the company does not stand for what it was in the past. Times have changed and ...