Five years ago, when a new CEO was hired, a business research firm conducted an organizational climate survey for Centroid Systems, Ltd. Since that time, the new CEO has reorganized departments and tightened budgets. As a result, company performance has improved and shareholders are happy.

Richard Johnson, Centroid’s human resources director, believes employees are also feeling better about their work environment. To measure the changes, Richard decides to conduct another organizational climate survey. However, in order to save money, Richard decides to conduct the survey himself using the questionnaire and scales that were used in the previous survey without consulting the original research firm. Is this unethical?