According to the 2011 National Business Ethics Survey conducted by the Ethics Resource Center, Generational Differences in Workplace Ethics, a relatively high percentage of Millennials consider certain behaviors in the workplace ethical when compared with their earlier counterparts. These include:
• Use social networking to find out about the company's competitors (37%),
• "Friend" a client or customer on a social network (36%),
• Upload personal photos on a company network (26%),
• Keep copies of confidential documents (22%),
• Work less to compensate for cuts in benefits or pay (18%),
• Buy personal items using a company credit card (15%),
• Blog or tweet negatively about a company (14%), and
• Take a copy of work software home for personal use (13%).
The report further concludes that younger workers are significantly more willing to ignore the presence of misconduct if they think that behavior will help save jobs.
a. Choose one or more behaviors and explain why Millennials might view the behavior as ethical.
b. Choose one or more behaviors and explain why you think it is unethical. Use ethical reasoning to support your points of view?