Mei-li has been placed in a difficult position by her coworker and boss. Mei-li is a consultant with Business Equipment Corporation (BEC) and is working with Kyle, an engineer, to develop and produce a new copy machine with greatly improved technology. However, a competitor of BEC, Hiyota, is about to release a new copy machine that may be as good as their product, if not better. Kyle has told Mei-li to pretend to be a potential customer, call Hiyota to set up an appointment to meet with a salesperson, and learn about their copy quality, novel product features, pricing, and advertising strategy so that BEC can modify their machine and defeat Hiyota. Mei-li is not comfortable pretending to be a buyer and believes this would be a violation of BEC's code of ethics, specifically the company's strong commitment toward competing fairly and honestly. Kyle tells Mei-li this is not illegal and that behavior such as this takes place all the time. Mei-li asks their boss, Bob, about Kyle's proposal. Bob tells Mei-li unofficially to follow Kyle's plan, but officially that BEC does not condone such practices. When Mei-li asks Bob if he has ever done something like this before, Bob responds with a list of excuses he has heard to justify such unethical behavior and does not directly answer Mei-li's question. Mei-li is being pressured to violate BEC's code of ethics by both Kyle and Bob. Mei-li is aware that Kyle is under great pressure to make sure BEC's machine out-performs Hiyota or he will probably be fired.

1. Does Kyle's possible termination justify Mei-li following Kyle's plan?

2. Do you believe Kyle's plan would violate BEC's code of ethics?

3. Discuss the questionable way in which Bob responded to Mei-li's questions.

4. Identify the organizational pressures Mei-li is facting to call Hiyota. How should Mei-li handle the situation?

5. How would you handle the situation?