READ THE CASE STUDY TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

Michael Vasquez was proud of his job as a new product managerfor a technology start-up, and he loved the challenges, risks andtough decisions that went along with the job. But as he sat in hisoffice after a long day, he was troubled, struggling over what hadhappened earlier that day and the information he now knows.Just before lunch, Michael's boss had handed him a pile of privatestrategic documents from their closest competitor. It was acompetitive intelligence gold mine - product plans, pricingstrategies, partnership agreements and other documents, mostclearly marked 'private and confidential'. When Michael askedwhere the documents came from, his boss told him with a touchof pride that he had taken them right off the competing firm'sserver. 'I got into a private section of their intranet anddownloaded everything that looked interesting,' he said. Later,realising Michael was suspicious, the boss would say only that hehad obtained 'electronic access' via a colleague and had notpersonally broken any passwords. Maybe not, Michael thought tohimself, but this situation wouldn't pass the 60 Minutes test. Ifword of this acquisition of a competitor's confidential data evergot out to the press, the company's reputation would be ruined.Michael didn't feel good about using these materials. He spent theafternoon searching for answers to his dilemma, but found noclear company policies or regulations that offered any guidance.His sense of fair play told him that to use the information wasunethical, if not downright illegal. What bothered him even morewas the knowledge that this kind of thing might happen again.Using this confidential information would certainly give him andhis company a competitive advantage, but Michael wasn't sure hewanted to work for a firm that would stoop to such tactics.Sources: Adapted from Weber, Kent (JanuaryFebruary 2001).Gold Mine or Fool's Gold? Business Ethics, 18.

Questions

1. What is the ethical issue in this scenario?

2. What should Michael do? Justify your answer using at

least two ethical theories.

3. Do you perceive Michael's boss to be ethical or unethical?

Explain your answer in detail

4. Should Michael blow the whistle? Define 'whistleblowing'.

Explain what motivates whistle-blowers and under what

circumstances whistleblowing is justified?

5. Based on the case study, provide four reasons why ethics

is relevant to business?