Essay

1. Social responsibility and ethics in management are very important areas in the 21st century. You have
been asked to give a lecture on these topics. What would you say

Case Study: Ethics

What is right?
It is often hard for a manager to determine what is ‘right’ and even more difficult to put ethical behaviour into practice. A
manager’s ethical orientation often brings him or her into conflict with people, policies, customers or bosses. Consider the
following dilemmas. How would you handle them?

1. A well-liked member of your staff with an excellent record confides in you that he has Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS). Although his illness has not affected his performance, you are concerned about his future health
and about the reactions of his co-workers. You:
a. Tell him to keep you informed about his health and say nothing to his co-workers
b. Arrange for him to transfer to an area of the organisation where he can work alone
c. Hold a staff meeting to inform his co-workers and ask them how they feel about his continued presence on your
team
d. Consult your human resources officer on how to proceed.

2. During a reorganisation, you are told to reduce staff in the department you manage. After analysing staffing
requirements, you realise the job would be a lot easier if two professionals, who both are over age 60, would retire.
You:
a. Say nothing and determine lay-offs based purely on performance and length of service.
b. Schedule a meeting with both employees and ask if they would consider early retirement
c. Schedule a meeting all staff and ask if anyone is interested in severance or early retirement
d. Lay off the older workers

3. One of your colleagues has recently experienced two personal tragedies – her husband filed for divorce and her
mother died. Although you feel genuine sympathy for her, her work is suffering. A report you completed, based on
inaccurate data she provided, has been criticised by management. Your manager asks you for an explanation. You:

a. Apologies for the inaccuracies and correct the data

b. Tell the manager that the data supplied by your colleague was the source of the problem
c. Say you colleague has a problem and needs support
d. Tell your manager that because of your workload, you did not have time to check the figures in the report.

4. Your firm recently hired a new manager who is at the same level you are. You do not like the man personally and
consider him a rival professionally. You run into a friend who knows your rival well. You discover this man did not
attend Harvard as he stated on his resume and in fact has not graduated from any university. You know his supposed
university background was instrumental in getting him hired. You:
a. Expose his lie to superiors
b. Without naming names, consult your human resources officer on how to proceed
 c. Say nothing- the company has obviously failed to check him out, and the lie probably will surface on its own.
d. Confront the man with the information and let him decide what to do.

5. In this morning’s mail you received plans and samples for a promising new product from a competitor’s disgruntled
employee. You:
a. Throw the plans away
b. Send the samples to your research department for analysis
c. Notify your competitor about what is going on
d. Call the police

1. Choose which response you consider to be the most ethical in the above situations.
2. Which approach to ethical decision making – utilitarian, individualism, justice or moral rights – seems most
appropriate for handling each situation?

Samson, D. & Daft, R. (2009). Fundamentals of Management. Third Asia Pacific Edition. Australia: Cengage. Page 207.