Business Culture

Ethical Scenarios in Business

Questions about Ethics answered by Patrick Montgomery, a US Professor

1. Your son/daughter has an assignment to be submitted, so he/she asks you to get 50 photocopies at your office. Would you use the company copy machine to copy personal information? Is it ethical?

No I would not use the company machine to copy personal papers. if the company had a policy to allow payment for personal copies, I would pay the fees and make the copies. The principle I am using here is honesty. I am not causing an expense to my employer (every copy costs him) for my personal benefit.

2. A person wants to start an online transaction business, but they do not have a lot of money to hire employees in the country in which they live. Is it ethical to outsource the job to a country in which the same labor will cost 10% of the local labor, knowing that the salary paid is below market value and below the poverty line of the country in which the work will take place?

There is nothing inherently unethical about outsourcing. In a capitalist free market economy, the law of supply and demand governs.

If I can hire competent labor in another country for 10% of my cost in the US, then I would do so. I would expect to follow the laws

and regulations of the employees' country regarding hiring and management. I would also pay at least the legal minimum wage. And if

the going rate for that kind of worker was higher, I would pay that "market" wage for that country. Also I would treat all employees

with respect and caring no matter what country they are in.

3. In a visit to a subsidiary of your company in Mexico, your read that in a local newspaper that your company is hiring a secretary. The advertisement reads: “Secretaries required. Applicants must be female, single, attractive and professional looking, between 22 to 28 years, no kids”. There are no laws against this in the country. What would you do?

I would revise the ad to read "Secretaries needed. Must type 80+wpm. Must  now Microsoft Word and Excel. Please mail resume or

apply in person at XYZ Corp. 1910

San Juan Way, Mexico City. Though local laws allow the original ad, I consider it unethical and disrespectful of potential employees.

In Mexico family is given high priority so I would

not want to eliminate competent applicants that have family. One has to balance one's moral convictions against the cultural mores

of the host country in order to effectively do business.


4. You are a computer 
system manager. An employee is on leave and another employee requests that you 
copy all the files from that employees computer to his so he can do some work. 
Would you do it? Is it ethical?

Out of respect for the employee on leave, I would obtain his/her permission to copy files and specify which ones. If possible I would ask him/her to return to the office for a day to facilitate the process. On the other hand if the files needed were "public access" files created by the employee as part of his/her job, were part of a work in progress for a project or team and contained no personal or confidential information, I would notify the employee what was being done out of respect for him/her but would not wait for their permission if this project was an urgent matter.

5. You find out that a co-worker who reported a company-issued laptop stolen, really gave the laptop to his daughter. You also know that this employee is not very well-off and promised his daughter a computer years back. Your company claimed the loss on their insurance with no deductible. What would you do? Is your decision ethical?

I would confront the co-worker privately and tell him that what he did was totally unethical and represented outright stealing and

deception. However I am not a moral policeman and am not going to turn this employee in especially since the company did not

suffer a financial loss. However I would warn him that I would turn him in the next time I saw him doing a dishonest act. 

The problem with warning him is that he would be reserved around me and maybe even antagonistic, but I would take that

chance on behalf of the company.

6. Your project manager asks you to select one person along with yourself, to be sent to Europe for further training. The one who performs well in the training will be promoted in the company hierarchy. You have a choice between, one who can give a run for your promotion and a weaker candidate who will be no challenge to your promotion? Whom will you choose? Is your decision ethical?

I would choose the candidate who would be a challenge to my promotion feeling that I am more likely to push myself to excel knowing someone is close behind. Plus I would find the stronger candidate more stimulating and someone I could learn from. If I was a strict ethical egoist, I would choose the weaker candidate because I would be seeking my own self-interest and happiness above all others. If I am a Utilitarian, I am seeking the greatest good for the greatest number and would choose the stronger candidate feeling that the company would benefit more as well no matter who is finally promoted.

7. You work in the HR department at your company. You have your friend apply for a job and you give her a good reference You know the questions which will be asked. You know she is in need of the job very badly. Would you give her the questions? Is it ethical?

I would not give her the specific questions because this would be an unfair advantage for her to have. However I would coach her in

interview and resume techniques in a general way and suggest areas that questions are commonly asked in interviews. This way I

am helping her for future job applications as well as this one.

General comments: In answer to the question "Is it ethical?", my answer is yes if I am acting in accordance with my own values.

Generally I believe in certain absolute unchanging values such as truth telling, respect for persons, caring for children, do not murder.

I am also utilitarian seeking the greatest good for the greatest number or the least evil for the least number. Sometimes ethical decisions

come down to the "lesser of two evils". Sometimes there is not a clear answer and I rely on intuition and being true to myself and what

I believe.

Questions about Ethics answered by Yulin Wu, an MBA student;

In Taiwan, the answer is possibly “Yes”, because people always do that. However, it still depends on the working environment. For the people working for the government, the answer is absolutely “yes”; but for those working for private companies, the answer is depended on the company.

There is nothing wrong for outsource in order to saving the labor cost. I will seek anyway just in order save the cost.

I will revise the advertisement and just focus on the ability and working experience.

4. You are a computer system manager. An employee is on leave and another employee requests that you copy all the files from that employees computer to his so he can do some work. Would you do it? Is it ethical?

Yes, I will ask the leaving employee to copy all the files which is used for the job and let the other employee to use the file.

5. You find out that a co-worker who reported a company-issued laptop stolen, really gave the laptop to his daughter. You also know that this employee is not very well-off and promised his daughter a computer years back. Your company claimed the loss on their insurance with no deductible. What would you do? Is your decision ethical?

I may not disclose it, but it also depends on the personality of my co-worker. If the co-worker is always dishonest and untruthful, I will report this to my manager. On the other hand, if this kind of dishonest events just happened for one time, I probably let it go.