Let’s assume that you have been offered a job by Jekyll Corporation, a company in the consumer products industry. The job is in your chosen career path.

Jekyll Corporation has offered you a position that would begin two weeks after you graduate. The job responsibilities are appealing to you, make good use of your training, and are intrinsically interesting. The company seems well positioned financially, and you have met the individual who would be your supervisor, who assures you that the future prospects for your position and career are bright. Several other graduates of your program work at Jekyll Corporation, and they speak quite positively of the company and promise to socialize and network with you once you start.

As a company, Jekyll Corporation promotes itself as a fair-trade and sustainable organization. Fair trade is a trading partnership—based on dialogue, transparency, and respect—that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, local producers and businesses. Fair-trade organizations are actively engaged in supporting producers and sustainable environmental farming practices, and fair-trade practices prohibit child or forced labour.

Yesterday, Gabriel Utterson—a human resources manager at Jekyll Corporation—called you to discuss the initial terms of the offer, which seemed reasonable and standard for the industry. However, one aspect was not mentioned: your starting salary. Gabriel said Jekyll is an internally transparent organization—there are no secrets.

While the firm very much wants to hire you, there are limits to what it can afford to offer, and before it makes a formal offer, it was reasonable to ask what you would expect. Gabriel wanted you to think about your salary expectation and call back tomorrow.

Before calling Gabriel, you thought long and hard about what it would take to accept Jekyll Corporation’s offer. You have a number in mind, which may or may not be the same number you give Gabriel. What starting salary would it take for you to accept Jekyll Corporation’s offer?

Questions 

1.  What starting salary will you give Gabriel? What salary represents the minimum offer you would accept? If these two numbers are different, why?

Does giving Gabriel a different number than your “internal” number violate Jekyll Corporation’s transparent culture? Why or why not?

2. Assume that you have received another offer from Hyde Associates. Like the Jekyll job, this position is on your chosen career path and in the consumer products industry. Assume, however, that you have read in the news that “Hyde Associates has been criticized for unsustainable manufacturing practices that may be harmful to the environment.” It has further been criticized for unfair trade practices and for employing underage children. Would these criticisms change whether you would be willing to take the job? Why or why not?

3. These scenarios are based on studies of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices that show consumers generally charge a kind of rent to companies that do not practice CSR. In other words, they generally expect a substantial discount in order to buy a product from Hyde rather than from Jekyll.

For example, if Jekyll and Hyde sold coffee, people would pay a premium of $1.40 to buy coffee from Jekyll and demand a discount of $2.40 to buy coffee from Hyde. Do you think this preference would affect your job choice decision? Why or why not?