Case incident 1 195 Ethical Dilemma FIVE ETHICAL DECISIONS: WHAT WOULD YOU DO? How would you respond to each of the following situations? 4. You work for a company that manufactures, markets, 1. You're a middle manager in a company with about a and distributes various products, including nutritional thousand employees. You're negotiating a contract supplements, to health food and nutrition stores. One with a very large potential customer whose representa of the company's best-selling products is Rosalife, an tive has hinted you could almost certainly be assured of herbal supplement. The company advertises that getting his business if you gave him and his wife an all- Rosalife "achieves all the gains of estrogen hormone expenses-paid cruise to the Caribbean. You know the replacement therapy without any of the side effects." representative's employer wouldn't approve of such a One day, a research assistant stops by your office with "payoff," but you have the discretion to authorize it. some troubling information. While researching an- What would you do? other product, she came across a recent study that sug- 2. You have an autographed CD by Sean Combs (signed gests Rosalife does not offer the benefits the company claims it does. You show this study to your supervisor, "Pufft") and put it up for sale on eBay. So far, the high- who says, "We're not responsible for validating non- est bid is $74.50. A friend has offered you $100 for the CD, commenting that he could get $150 for it on eBay FDA-controlled products, and nobody's hurt anyway." Indeed, you know this is not the case. What is your eth- in a year. You know this is highly unlikely. Should you sell your friend the CD for what he offered ($100)? Do ical responsibility? you have an obligation to tell your friend you have 5. You're the manager at a gaming company, and you're listed your CD on eBay? responsible for outsourcing the production of a highly anticipated new game. Because your company is a gi- 3. Your company's policy on reimbursement for meals ant in the industry, numerous companies are trying to while traveling on business is that you will be repaid for get the bid. One of them offers you some kickbacks if out-of-pocket costs, not to exceed $80 per day. You you give that firm the bid, but ultimately, it is up to don't need receipts for these expenses-the company your bosses to decide on the company. You don't men- will take your word. When traveling, you tend to eat at tion the incentive, but you push upper management to fast-food places and rarely spend in excess of $20 a day. give the bid to the company that offered you the kick- Most of your colleagues put in reimbursement re back. Is withholding the truth as bad as lying? Why or quests in the range of $55 to $60 per day, regardless of why not? what their actual expenses are. How much would you VO request for your meal reimbursements? Case incident 1 195 Ethical Dilemma FIVE ETHICAL DECISIONS: WHAT WOULD YOU DO? How would you respond to each of the following situations? 4. You work for a company that manufactures, markets, 1. You're a middle manager in a company with about a and distributes various products, including nutritional thousand employees. You're negotiating a contract supplements, to health food and nutrition stores. One with a very large potential customer whose representa of the company's best-selling products is Rosalife, an tive has hinted you could almost certainly be assured of herbal supplement. The company advertises that getting his business if you gave him and his wife an all- Rosalife "achieves all the gains of estrogen hormone expenses-paid cruise to the Caribbean. You know the replacement therapy without any of the side effects." representative's employer wouldn't approve of such a One day, a research assistant stops by your office with "payoff," but you have the discretion to authorize it. some troubling information. While researching an- What would you do? other product, she came across a recent study that sug- 2. You have an autographed CD by Sean Combs (signed gests Rosalife does not offer the benefits the company claims it does. You show this study to your supervisor, "Pufft") and put it up for sale on eBay. So far, the high- who says, "We're not responsible for validating non- est bid is $74.50. A friend has offered you $100 for the CD, commenting that he could get $150 for it on eBay FDA-controlled products, and nobody's hurt anyway." Indeed, you know this is not the case. What is your eth- in a year. You know this is highly unlikely. Should you sell your friend the CD for what he offered ($100)? Do ical responsibility? you have an obligation to tell your friend you have 5. You're the manager at a gaming company, and you're listed your CD on eBay? responsible for outsourcing the production of a highly anticipated new game. Because your company is a gi- 3. Your company's policy on reimbursement for meals ant in the industry, numerous companies are trying to while traveling on business is that you will be repaid for get the bid. One of them offers you some kickbacks if out-of-pocket costs, not to exceed $80 per day. You you give that firm the bid, but ultimately, it is up to don't need receipts for these expenses-the company your bosses to decide on the company. You don't men- will take your word. When traveling, you tend to eat at tion the incentive, but you push upper management to fast-food places and rarely spend in excess of $20 a day. give the bid to the company that offered you the kick- Most of your colleagues put in reimbursement re back. Is withholding the truth as bad as lying? Why or quests in the range of $55 to $60 per day, regardless of why not? what their actual expenses are. How much would you VO request for your meal reimbursements