Assume that you are a middle manager in a company with about 1000 employees. How would you respond to each of the following situations?
1. You are negotiating a contract with a potentially very large customer whose representative has hinted that you could almost certainly be assured of getting his business if you gave him and his wife an all-expenses-paid cruise to the Caribbean.
You know the representative's employer would not approve of such a "payoff," but you have the discretion to authorize such an expenditure. What would you do?
2. You have an autographed CD by Drake and put it up for sale on eBay. So far, the highest bid is $74.50. A friend has offered you $100 for the CD, commenting that he could get $150 for it on eBay in a year. You know this is highly unlikely. Should you sell your friend the CD for what he offered ($100)? Do you have an obligation to tell your friend you have listed your CD on eBay?
3. Your company policy on reimbursement for meals while travelling on company business is that you will be repaid for your out-of-pocket costs, which are not to exceed $80 a day. You do not need receipts for these expenses-the company will take your word. When travelling, you tend to eat at fast food places and rarely spend more than $20 a day. Most of your colleagues submit reimbursement requests in the range of $55 to $60 a day regardless of what their actual expenses are. How much would you request for your meal reimbursements?
4. You are the manager at a gaming company, and you are responsible for hiring a group to outsource the production of a highly anticipated new game. Because your company is a giant in the industry, numerous companies are trying to get the bid. One of them offers you some kickbacks if you give that firm the bid, but ultimately, it is up to your bosses to decide on the company. You don't mention the incentive, but you push upper management to give the bid to the company that offered you the kickback. Is withholding the truth as bad as lying? Why or why not?
5. You have discovered that one of your closest friends at work has stolen a large sum of money from the company. Would you do nothing? Go directly to an executive to report the incident before talking about it with the offender? Confront the individual before taking action? Make contact with the individual with the goal of persuading that person to return the money?