Jean is the programmer at Luxurious Real Estate Sales. Jean oversees the reports for listings and sales for the company. One Saturday, an auditor finds Jean in the office working at the computer. The auditor see printouts of reports and curiously asks Jean what the reports are.

Jean says that he has a side business where he sells the names and addresses of people who purchase new homes. He is doing it on his own time $-$ after business hours. The local furniture, landscaping, pool maintenance and remodeling firms buy the lists in order to contact new homeowners. Jean says this is public information and can easily be gotten from the county's tax system. Anyone can go online to the county website and put in search criteria and download the data for free. Jean is just making it easier for companies to produce mailing labels and make sales calls.

$1)$ Do you think what Jean is doing is ethical?

$2)$ Do you think what Jean is doing is illegal?

$3)$ What do you think an auditor will do$?$

This is the last Discussion Forum for the class. As we have seen, sometimes situations are legal, but unethical and vice versa. When dealing with ethical situations, we can help clarify some things by getting the facts and asking ourselves some questions. At times, getting all the facts means seeking legal counsel, human resources or other experts to ensure that we have considered all the necessary facts. One of my guiding considerations is Step $6.$ But I try to go through all the steps before I make a final ethical decision.

ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS

MANAGEMENT TIPS

Checklist for dealing with ethical dilemmas

Step $1.$ Recognize the ethical dilemma.

Step $2.$ Get the facts.

Step $3.$ Identify your options.

Step $4.$ Test each option: Is it legal? Is it right? Is it

beneficial?

Step $5.$ Decide which option to follow.

Step $6.$ Ask the "Spotlight Questions": To double check

your decision.

"How would I feel if my family found out about my decision?"

"How would I feel if the local newspaper printed my decision?"

Step $7.$ Take action.