Mr. Ahmed, an Omani, was relocated to work as a department manager at a leading drug company in the US.  This relocation of work has caused a lot of anxiety on the part of Ahmed because it will be his first time to be away from home. He is an honest and hardworking man so he decided to still accept the challenge. In his role, he must frequently interact with industry partners and customers. He used all available options to interact with customers using the latest internet applications. One day, Mr. Ahmed met with a long time client of the company. This customer is a very important customer and he is given a special price offer on the company products. Other customers are charged different prices as dictated by top management.
During the meeting, the customer wanted to know the chemical formula for one of the company’s product, a process which was not specified in the given datasheet. The client claimed this information was needed to ensure the safety of the product.
At first, Mr. Ahmed was uncertain. He wanted to give his customer more details if it was for the benefit of his client’s purchase, but, at the same time, was concerned because the requested information was protected under his company’s non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
Mr. Ahmed decided to discuss the matter with his supervisor; however, Mr. Ahned’s manager was overseeing many projects and, knowing that Mr. Ahmed was capable and experienced, entrusted him to take care of the situation. When he returned to work the next day, Mr. Ahmed received an email from his customer. The message stated that, if the chemical formula was not disclosed, the customer would cease further investments in the product.
Shocked, Mr. Ahmed believed that if the customer could not abide by the NDA, he should tell the contract should be broken off. However, doing so would mean losing a significant amount of profit they had intended on garnering from selling to that customer. On the other hand, sharing confidential information with his customer could cause negative repercussions, especially if his company were to discover the legal breach.
Although it is highly unlikely that the information would be used by Mr. Ahmed’s client for malicious purposes, its disclosure could potentially affect his company’s reputation, lead to mistrust in the company and compromise Mr. Ahmed’s position.

Questions for Case Analysis

1) What are the types of values shown by Mr.Ahmed?  Explain those values.

2) Ahmed experienced a lot of anxiety in his relocation to the US, explain this situation and in your own words, suggest ways on how Ahmed can overcome this.

3) Identify the ethical issues or problems in the case. Explain in full details

4) Suggest possible solutions for each of the ethical issues or problems you have identified above. Explain in full details.