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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Machine learning, AI and robotics

Vexton Retail introduces a robotic process automation and AI system that will make about 200 back-office roles redundant over two years. From a stakeholder and social responsibility perspective, which action best addresses the ethical issue?

The best action is to engage employees early, offer retraining and redeployment, and communicate the timetable openly. This balances the efficiency gains from automation with responsibility to a key stakeholder group, whereas late announcements or ignoring employees harms trust and ethical standing.

  1. AEngage employees early, provide retraining and redeployment options, and communicate transparently about the timetableCorrect
  2. BAnnounce redundancies only on the day they take effect to avoid disruption
  3. CIgnore the issue because shareholders' returns are the only legitimate concern
  4. DDelay all automation indefinitely to protect jobs regardless of competitiveness

Explanation

Employees are a key stakeholder with high interest, and a responsible approach balances efficiency with fair treatment through consultation, retraining and transparency. Late announcements damage trust, a shareholder-only view ignores stakeholder responsibilities, and indefinite delay may threaten the organisation's survival and so other jobs.

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