AN ETHICAL DILEMMA * When Jim began working in the human resources "The salespeople are given substantial bonuses for department at KR Electronics, he was impressed with the exceeding their quotas, so many promise whatever it takes number of advancement opportunities the job offered. to increase their sales, " the woman explained. His first task was to monitor reports that came in from Although it was not required to provide a name when employees through the company's ethics hotline. It was reporting, the person talking to Jim gave her name as Sarah a simple job but one Jim felt would lead him to a higher Jones. She asked Jim to make sure her sales manager Rick position in the HR department. He spent two days learning Martin did not find out she called the hotline. Jim gave the about the company's ethical policies and values, such report to his supervisor for further investigation. as the importance of integrity and confidentiality. Jim felt Two weeks later Jim heard that Sarah Jones had been reassured he chose a great company in which to start a fired for poor performance. He approached David to ask career. him about the situation and was horrified to find out the KR Electronics was a competitive company, and every sales manager of Sarah's division had been told about her six months employees were evaluated for performance. report. While the highest performers received substantial bonuses, "But David, this is a violation of our confidentiality the lowest 15 percent were consistently fired within the code! I promised Sarah we would keep her name year. This didn't bother Jim too much. He knew many other anonymous when investigating this matter. What if Rick well-known companies had a similar system in place. fired her out of retaliation?" Jim asked. What bothered Jim was the way the supervisors treated David looked at Jim in exasperation. "Jim, you are employees who did not perform highly. Several employees making too big of a deal out of this. Nobody forced Sarah to approached Jim and told him of an abusive manager who give her name to us over the hotline. And trust me, Rick's a often yelled at employees in front of other coworkers. Jim good man. He wouldn't fire someone simply to get back at heard reports that the supervisor would make comments them for reporting. It seems to me that these reports don't such as "I can't wait till the year is up and I can tell you to have credibility, anyway. It's likely that Sarah made up these get lost. It'll be nice to actually get someone in this job with allegations to hide her poor performance." half a brain." Jim left David's office upset. Even if Sarah was a poor When Jim approached David, the human resources performer, he did not feel that it was right that her sales manager of his department, about what he heard, David manager was told about her report when she expressly shrugged off Jim's concerns. "You've got to understand, requested otherwise. As he went back to his desk, he Jim, " David explained. "We operate in a highly competitive remembered hearing that the sales manager and David field. Employees have to work quickly and efficiently were good friends and often went out together for lunch. in order to maintain our business. This often requires supervisors to get tough. Besides, this supervisor's unit QUESTIONS | EXERCISES is one of our highest performers. Apparently, whatever 1. How does the company's organizational culture appear he's doing is working. " This remark made Jim feel to conflict with its ethical policies? uncomfortable, but he did not want to argue with his boss 2. What are the options for Sarah if this was retaliation? about it. 3. What should Jim do next? One day Jim got a call from a woman in the company's sales department. She informed him that many of the firm's salespeople made exaggerated claims about the quality of their electronics. He also learned salespeople were making guarantees about products that were not true, such as how "This case is strictly hypothetical; any resemblance to real persons, compa- long the product would last. nies, or situations is coincidental