Introduction

This project is according to the syllabus of the subject Managerial Values and Business Ethics
in which the subject states about what are the good or bad ethical values and traits for an
individual group and organizational level. The objective of this study is to understand about
the different types of ethical dilemmas faced by individuals and how they are reacting to it and
what all solutions they had taken to solve that if possible. This project gives a detailed insights
about ethics and values that is to followed in an organization. There are a mix of responds
which some may have impact on individual group and organizational which maybe sometimes
have huge impact or sometimes very less.
Acknowledgement

Firstly, we would like to express our special thanks of gratitude to our prof. Dr. Govind Gopi
Verma who gave us this opportunity to do this amazing project on the subject Managerial
values and business ethics. We came to know about so many new things.

Secondly, we would also like to thanks our friends and respondents who helped us to finalise
this project within this time frame.

Team 13
Sahishnu M
Vishnu A C
Vivek S Nair
K N Ganesh
Respondents’ details
The respondents are the employees who are been working in various organizations and various
industries like HR, IT, Finance, Sales etc. There where a mix of 12 males and 8 females in
total. The samples were collected through in-depth interviews. The age group of the samples
had varied from 26 to 41 who had at least 3 years of work experience.

Sl. No. Name Age Gender Experience Designation

R1 Srihari 33 Male 8 Assistant manager
R2 Hari Krishnan 38 Male 13 Sales manager
R3 Shyam 35 Male 15 Regional assistant manager
R4 Praseetha 29 Female 5 HR manager
R5 Varuna 28 female 4 Assistant manager
R6 Santhosh 27 Male 4 Project Developer
R7 Govind 30 Male 5 System Engineer
R8 Sankar 26 Male 3 Assistant Manager
R9 Meenakshi 41 Female 15 Chief Accountant
R10 Parvathy 29 Female 7 Relationship Manager
R11 Ratheesh R 26 Male 3 Team head- renewals
R12 Akhil T 28 Male 3.5 Mentor and customer head
R13 Arjun Bhaskar 30 Male 6 Senior relationship manager
R14 Nancy John 28 Female 4 Supervisor
R15 Haritha 31 Female 7 Area head
R16 Rahul R 28 Male 5 Site Engineer
R17 Prabhul Bhaskar 29 Male 6 Quality control engineer
R18 Ramani R 48 Female 25 Principal
R19 Gopika N 32 Female 8 Analyst
R20 Rajan 54 Male 22 Senior pharmacist
Approach
In order to get and collect the data we had used critical incident method by conducting in-depth
interviews to the employees working in the organizations to collect the data so that to analyse
the behaviour of them. The process was done in such a way that firstly we asked them about
the incidents happened to them that are related to ethical dilemmas during their job in order to
find the facts in them. Then we had analyses and examined the data to determine the real issue
which has happened. And finally, the next step was to find a solution to the problem identified
and evaluating that made solutions which is relevant to that solution or not. We had made a
questionnaire in order to collect the data. The questionnaire has been mainly divided into three
parts, demographics, ethical dilemma faced and the impact. The questions are as follows:

Demographics

Name

Age

Gender

Sector

Year of experience

Designation

Ethical dilemma

Have you ever faced an ethical dilemma

during work? If yes, what was that?

Impact

How has it affected you in person?

Redressal measure taken if any.

Narratives
Sl. Narration Ethical criteria Level of
No. analysis
R1 I am working as HR manager in a It The respondent faces
firm. The recruitment of new conflict between
employees generally takes place in the Egoism and principle
month of March to June. During one of
such interviews, I faced an ethical Egoism: Here the boss
dilemma. My boss relative is also there told the HR manager to
for the final interview. So, my boss select his relative in the
already called me and told me that he interview for his own
should be selected in the interview. good interest without
There were only two vacancies. There considering other
were twenty candidates for the final candidates or company.
interview. I interviewed all the
candidates and I understood that there Principle: Here the Individual
are lot of candidates who are more respondent is in a moral level
talented than my boss relative. I cannot dilemma and the
disobey my boss request as it can incident affected him
create enmity with my boss. This is emotionally and he lost
where I faced an ethical dilemma his trust in job ethics as
he cannot disobey his
boss orders.

R2 I am working as assistant manager The respondent faces

in an IT company. I am the next one to conflict between egoism
get promoted a manager because of my and principle.
performance and perfection in
completing the assigned duties. Egoism: Here the boss
Unfortunately, my promotion was shows self-interest by
withheld the organization and other promoting his relative.
 person who is junior in experience
than me got promoted. It is because Principle: The
that employee is a close relative of one respondent’s ethical
of the directors of my organization. I value is being Individual
felt disappointed and now I am in an questioned in this level
ethical dilemma whether to react to situation. It affected the
this unethical act the organization or to respondent emotionally
stay silent. and felt dissatisfaction
in his job.

R3 I was the assistant sales manager in a The respondent faces

private company which sells all types conflict in between
of bags. There so many sales men benevolence and
working under me. There was one principle.
person who have extraordinary skills
who always completes his targets
within the given time and many times Benevolence: Wanting
became the best sales man in team. to help his subordinate.
One time he faced severe health issues
and took leave. When he came back
after the leave, he became tired Principle: The
because of the health issues and was respondent had a long
not able to perform well in the job. He discussion with the
failed to complete his targets. My higher officials and
senior managers became unhappy with made them understand
his performance and they want to his capabilities as a sales
dismiss him from the job. They person and changed Individual and
discussed the situation and gave order their decision. This organizational
to dismiss him. But I was disappointed shows the respondents level
as I knew him very well and I was sure personal morality like
that he can do better and completes his help others.
targets. Thus, I became confused and
 this was the ethical dilemma that I
faced in my organization.

R4 I was working as assistant manager in The respondent faces

an IT firm. There was a woman in my conflict in between
team who is talented in the IT field and benevolence and
did a lot of successful projects which principle.
gave her a good reputation in the
organization. Unfortunately, she had Benevolence: Wanting
to take a long leave because her to help his subordinate
mother was suddenly affected by as he knows her
stroke. She re-joined after the leave mother’s health
and she had a lot of work pending to condition.
complete. Even after joining she failed Individual level
to come to the office at time and was
absent in some of the important team Principle: Helped the
meetings. Her team members were women by shifting the
totally unhappy about this. Some of working timing. This
the team members came to me and shows his personal
complained about her as she is not morality to help a
completing her work on given time. I subordinate who have a
already knew the condition of her personal problem.
mother as she is the only daughter who
takes care of her mother. I said these
issues to the senior managers and they
also know that she is talented and
needed employee for the organization.
The general rule of the organization is
to terminate those employees who fails
to complete the work and to attend
important meeting. The other team
members want me to act against her.
Now I must take the final decision.
 This is the ethical dilemma I faced as
a manger in my organization
R5 I was working as sales head in a Respondents face
private organization in Madhya conflict in between
Pradesh as sales head. I got transferred egoism and principle.
to another state as the regional
assistant manager in sales and my
subordinates in the team were from
that state. I faced a lot of
discrimination as I am from another Egoism: To be ignorant
state and does not speak their and continue his work as
language. I complained to my it will affect his overall
manager but he supported my job creates job
subordinates by saying that the dissatisfaction.
discriminations are quite common in
organization. I became disappointed. I Individual level
face ethical dilemma whether to raise
this issue in the organization and Principle: The act his
inform to the higher officials or stay subordinates is
silent as it can create enmity between unethical and unfair to
me and my manager the respondent. He
reported the problem to
his manager but there
was no ethical action
from the manager

R6 Once my friend asked me to sign for Conflict faced by the Individual level
him in order to not lose his attendance. respondent is between
It was actually an unethical practice principle and
and was confused what to do. benevolence.
 Principle: What his
friend asked him to do is
unethical. Benevolence:
Although it is unethical
the respondent was
confused whether to
report or not as he is a
friend.
R7 I was a newly joined employee in a Egoism: - Here the HR Individual level
corporate firm, after successfully who hired was at fault
completing my work for one and a half and threatened the
years, I got a better offer from another employee to continue in
company and was planning to join order to cover the issue.
them by next month. I informed the Principle: - Employee
company about the new job offer and moves legally against
they said the company had two years the company.
bond and can leave only if I pay two
lakh rupees in order to leave early. The
HR had not informed me about the
bond at the time of joining and the new
HR is forcing me to continue working
for the company.

R8 I was working as an assistant bank Egoism: -Self-interest Individual and

manager in India. As I was getting of the authority makes Organizational
closer to my manager, I started him do illegal work. Level
receiving phone calls during the Principle: -Tell the
working hours from potential senior executive that he
employees to transfer huge amounts can't do this illegal
without any cheque. As they were very thing. But fear of losing
important to the bank, the manager job he can only follow
insisted on completing the transaction the order.
without the cheque.
R9 I was assigned a project from a high Egoism: -Selfishness of Individual level
potential client by my manager and the managerial authority
upon completion of the project I was taking advantage of the
asked to submit the project to the situation.
manager. Upon enquiring the delivery Principle: - Complaint
of the project, I was informed that it to the higher authority
had already been done and I came to for justice. But fear of
know that the manager took all the losing job keeps him
credit all to himself. quite.

R10 As a Chief accountant I was asked by Respondent is facing Organizational

my superior to alter the company conflict between egoism level
statements of the sales in order to and principle. Egoism:
achieve the yearly targets. I could not Here the boss urges the
make my own decision and all my respondent to
work was based on managerial manipulate the accounts
pressures which was unethical. I was for his own good.
forced to follow it. Principle: According to
the respondent this
practice is unethical and
is not questioning due to
managerial pressure.
R11 I was working as a team leader for The responder faces the Individual and
Toppr Technologies Pvt. Ltd. One day conflict between the group
my boss gave me a lead and asked me following:
to call that customer, saying that it was
a worthy customer and that I needed to Egoism: Management
get a renewal from them. As per the strives to find solutions
instruction from the manager, I called that won't harm the
him. But when he attended the call, he reputation of the
was saying such abusive things. The company.
issue was that he had bought the
 product for a lot of money earlier and Principle: whether to
the company did not service him notify the consumer or
properly, so he was not able to use it. to change the
He had raised so many complaints, and observation according
the company didn’t look into them. to management.

I had complained directly to the boss

and senior authorities about the
customer being rude and abusive. But
the superiors said in a way that it was
my duty to handle such customers,
whatever the scenario is and whatever
it takes to get the renewal from them.

R12 In the company, I used to meet at least The responder faces the Individual and
four customers daily and needed to conflict between the group
have a meeting with them. For that, I following:
need to call and fix the meetings Egoism: to solve the
according to the time schedule given issue without damaging
by the customers. One day, my team the company’s image or
leader said that he had already fixed a goodwill
meeting for today evening, but
because of an emergency situation, he Principle: to listen to the
wanted to leave early, and I wanted to customer and say the
go and meet that customer. I said OK truth or to modify the
as I was not able to refuse the order reaction according to
from the boss. the company needs

When I got into the customer’s house,

they locked me inside the house
because they were a very rude
customer and had already asked for a
refund, which the company refused to
 give. They were not allowing me to
leave the house until the cash had been
refunded to them. When I called the
boss at the time, he initially did not
answer the phone, but after a long
time, he finally did and said he
couldn't do anything and advised me to
leave the house. At the time, I had no
idea what to do.
R13 I was working for an insurance The responder faces the Individual/group
company. I used to travel a lot for my conflict between the
work in order to visit the customer. following:
The travel allowance was paid in such Egoism: to have a good
a way that we will not be paid the full relationship with
amount of the bill. But I was fine with Principle: reporting the
it. After some months, my teammate activities which they are
called me one day and said that the cheating the
allowances and expenses we are management
getting are very low here as we are
already working at maximum
capacity. So, I'm going to make more
fake bills and claim them so that I can
get a consistent amount to him as well,
or else he'll be caught and punished for
the malpractice he's committing.

I was in a dilemma and didn’t know

what to do. If I go the ethical way, I’ll
lose my relationship with him, who is
very useful, and if I don't, I’ll be
unethical to myself.
R14 I was employed by a financial services The responder faces the Individual or
firm. The work was going very conflict between the group
smoothly there. We are in the process following:
of calling specific customers for Benevolence: they share
targeted purposes. It was more like or the data for money and
similar to what BPO does. We had so on basis of relationships
many customer bases at different Egoism: sharing the
companies, which is very confidential. data according to
Sometimes my colleague sends the personal interests
data to other sources to earn money. Principle: doing things
But when I enquired further, I against the company
discovered that it was common among which negatively
everyone in my team, and even the impact the organization
superior was completely supportive.
R15 I had been working as the senior The responder faces the Individual and
relationship manager for 4 years. My conflict between the organization
work is usually to get sales from following:
customers through the bank channel. I Egoism: to ignore and
was one of the top performers in the do according to our
entire state and had won several morality which will
awards and recognitions for that. I like affect the job and or
the work very much, and I was doing doing vice versa which
my work very sincerely for the is going according to the
company, and I’d brought tremendous company wish
change and revenue to the company Principle: the act of
too. superior and
organization was unfair
As part of my general employee rights,
even though he is
I was also enrolled in the company's
having the right
family insurance plan. But even after
performing this much, when my father
was affected by a serious disease and
needed to undergo a major surgery that
 would cost a huge amount of money,
the company was not ready to claim
the insurance. Even when I met with
my immediate and superior managers,
they said, "We cannot do anything in
this," and they were not in favour of
my filing an insurance claim. "If you're
already earning so much in incentives,
do you really need this money?" they
asked. I was totally confused by the
behaviour of the organisation and my
superiors, and I was not able to claim
my rights.
R16 After I am working in a construction The respondent faces Individual level
conflict in between:
company as a senior site engineer. One
Egoism: Here to
of my works involves the procurement decrease the cost of
construction, the
of raw materials as per the required
manager insisted to
construction standard. During the reduce the usage of
steel in the concreting
work, I have to make sure that all the
process.
raw materials (especially steel, Principle:
Completely didn’t
cement, and aggregates) are included
follow what the
as per the requirement. But once I was manager said.
confronted with a situation that my
project manager asked me to reduce
the quantity of steel reinforcement
used in the concreting process to
reduce the cost of construction. And
told me to make sure that it won’t be
noticed by the client. The thing is after
the concreating process the used steel
reinforcement inside it will not be
seen. But it will definitely reduce the
strength of the concrete. I was not a
 person who does not support these
actions. Also, I cannot neglect what
my project manager says.
R17 I am working as a quality control The respondent faces Individual level
conflict in between
engineer in a construction firm. In our
Egoism and Principle
company there is a procurement head, Egoism: Procurement
manager not changing
he used to buy and arrange materials
the supplier Because of
for the construction work. As a quality the commission he gets
from him.
control engineer, I used to test
Principle: As he was
different construction raw materials to
new to the company I
know their strength as per the
didn’t respond to this,
company rules. If the quality of raw
because the brick didn’t
materials is failed several times, then
fail the test every time.
the contract and further business with
So the higher authority
the suppliers will be terminated. The
won't be noticing it
procurement head has a good
much.
connection with one of the brick
suppliers and continuously buys raw
materials from them. The brick from
this supplier sometimes gets failed in
the quality test and I have conveyed
the same to the procurement head.
Still, he did not change the supplier.
Later on, I came to know that, this
supplier used to give the project head
a certain amount of money in the form
of a commission for the sales he
helped to do. I was very confused that
I should inform to the project manager
or not.
R18 I was working as a principal in a The respondent faces Individual and
conflict in between
private school. During any hiring organizational
egoism and Principle.
process of teaching faculties, we Egoism: The Level
management member’s
 conduct personal interviews with the daughter was hired as
the staff. Which shows
applicants. The panel members
their self-interest
include a few members from school Principle: The
respondent's
management, senior teaching faculty,
ethical values are being
and me. We usually hire the faculty
questioned here.
based on their qualification and work
Although she told this to
experience. There was one incident
another management
where there was a need for science
member, nothing was
teaching faculty. I informed this need
done to change the
to the school management and to have
decision.
the hiring process including the
personal interview. But after a few
days, one of the school management
members called me and said to hire a
faculty who is a daughter of a senior
management member. Later I checked
her profile, but the qualification and
experience were less than what the job
role was expecting. I was concerned
about the students who should be
provided with the required quality
education by the school and as a
principal, I have to make sure of it. So,
I politely informed this to the member
who called me but his reply was the
same and said management wants her
to be hired. Thus, I couldn’t change the
decision.
R19 I am working as an analyst in a The respondent is Individual and
facing conflict between
biotechnology firm. I am in the group level
egoism and principle.
position of team lead. We usually have Egoism: The managers
were isolating in the
a meeting with all teams with
meetings further, as she
respective project leads and managers raised few concerns
 regarding the work once n a week. I which they took it
negatively.
also have a team meeting usually every
Principle:
day with all the team members and According to the
respondent, this
listen to their work status and progress
practice is not
also the issues with work if any. Then ethical to isolate
during the weekly meeting with other someone. She moved to
team leads and managers we discuss another company.
about this. Once during the meeting, I
told about the issues regarding certain
steps taken by the manager regarding
team allocation (shifting of members
to another team) and also the quantity
of work given to the employees. Also
in the next meeting, I raised a few
concerns again. Thereafter in most of
the meetings, I was not included.
Which made me feel isolated in the
department.
R20 “I am working as a senior pharmacist Respondents face Organizational
conflict in between
for a multi-specialty hospital in level
fairness, principle.
Kerala. During covid time there was a Egoism: As a hospital
great demand for a few products like they should consider
surgical masks and sanitizers all over basic human ethics.
the place. During the initial time of They can make profit
covid, the pharmacy used to get these but they should not take
products at a cheaper price but they advantage of the
sell them at a very high margin. They situation to a large
get surgical masks at Rs 3 but they sell extent. Principle: He
it for Rs 12 or 13 as there was less talked with a manager
availability of surgical masks and the regarding this basic
demand was very high. Likewise, they ethics, manager said he
also sell locally made sanitizers for will talk with the
high margins. It is mandatory to wear
the mask for everyone. Also, many management and will
financially low patients come to the take a decision.
hospital but the price remains the
same. That was the time I felt even the
hospital is taking advantage of the
situation and using it to increase the
profit without considering basic
ethics.”
Findings
In R3, the dilemma mainly effects the individual and organizational level. That is R3 faced the
dilemma whether to dismiss a talented salesperson because of his bad performance due to
health issues. The management faced the dilemma whether to give a last warning to the sales
person or to dismiss him when the sales manager told them about the sales person’s capabilities
and previous performance. In R1, R2, R4 and R5 the dilemma effects only the individual level.
That is to support subordinates, obey the higher official’s orders and whether to quit without
responding. We can analyse this case from individual level like how it will affect the individual
and how it effects their job. From R3 we can analyse both individual and organizational level
like how it effects on the individual and how it effects the organization reputation because of
higher officials’ decision.

In the case of R6, the dilemma is at the individual level. Here the respondent faces an ethical
dilemma whether to report the issue or to help his friend. In case R7, the dilemma her is at the
individual level and the respondent is facing the dilemma between moving legally against the
company or continue working as per the company instruction. And for R8 it is individual and
organizational level, because it is the personal interest of the authority and also taking risks
according to organization. In R9 case, the respondent is facing Individual level of ethical
dilemma. Here the manager taking all the credit for the work done by the employee in order to
get merit of promotion. Whereas in the R10 the manager wants to achieve his yearly targets
and tries to manipulate the employee and making him do unethical work.

In case of R11 and R12, the dilemma comes under group and individual level as they were not
able to make any judgement on the situation as they were confused in the stage of to be truth
or to protect the company. Case R13, the respondent is facing an individual or group dilemma
where he was totally confused about to stand with the group or report that to the authorities.
For R14 the employee is facing individual or group level issue where all others were cheating
the organization by sending the data to externals. In the case of R15, she is facing an individual
and organisational level of conflict where she was not able to get her rights and were totally
fed up with the situation and left the organization.

In the case of R16, the dilemma is at the individual level. Here the respondent faces an ethical
dilemma whether to reduce the quantity of steel to earn more profit or to stand with the
construction ethics. In case R17, the dilemma is at the individual level and the respondent is
facing the dilemma to inform the compensation given to procurement head by the supplier for
supplying his mediocre raw material to the manager. In the case of R18 dilemma is at the
Individual and organizational level, because one of the management member's daughters was
hired as the teaching faculty. Rather can considering the qualifications. In the case of R19, the
respondent is facing individual and group level of ethical dilemma. The managers were
isolating her in further meetings, as she raised few concerns which they took it negatively. In
the R20 case, as a hospital, they should consider basic human ethics. They can make profit but
they should not take advantage of the situation to a large extent.
Discussion or synthesis
A psychological hypothesis called the Moral Foundations Hypothesis seeks to explain why
different moral systems have similar foundational characteristics. The first person to suggest it
was psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He suggests five motifs that are common: care/harm,
fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, and Sanctity/Degradation, subversion of authority. Our
survey results led us to apply the Moral Foundation theory, which we did.

Care/harm: In R3 and R4 the respondent has shown behavioural trait of ‘’Care” for their
subordinates and tries to help the subordinates by telling their difficulties to management. R1
comes under harm because it can cause harm to other candidates who has more capability than
the respondent’s boss relative and are qualified for the job. R13 had also shown the trait of care
for others by trying to convey the others. R19 comes under harm as she was ignored from most
of the meetings by managers. She was also isolated by them which caused her a lot of mental
stress.

Fairness/cheating: In case of R5we can see the discrimination faced by the respondent which
is not fare. R7 mainly relates more to cheating side, as the HR did not inform him of the bond
that existed during the signing time. R11 and R12 comes under cheating as in this case the
manager and superiors are trying to hide the fact that the customers were very rude and they
were trying to protect the company's goodwill and image. R16 comes under cheating because
they are not working for the clients as per the specifications. In order to gain more profit, they
were trying to reduce the quantity of raw material (steel) used. R17 comes under cheating
because instead of having a quality supplier the procurement head was focusing on his
compensation.

Loyalty/ betrayal

R14 comes under this trait as these employees were sharing the credential data of the company
to externals where they are cheating and not loyal to the organization. In the case of R6, he is
facing both the issues of loyalty and betrayal. He is being asked to help his friend in a certain
way which is against the organization. If the respondent helps his friend, then his loyalty
towards the organization is being questioned. And if he is not helping his friend then it is equal
to betraying his friend in spite of agreeing earlier. R16 comes under betrayal too, as the clients
completely trust that the company only works in an ethical manner. R18 also was more into
betrayal as the management did not provide a faulty based on the qualifications to the students.
R20 also comes under betrayal as the hospital was utilizing the situation to increase its profit.
Authority/subversion: In case of R2, the management comes under authority because they
use power to give promotion to a junior of the respondent as that junior is a close relative of
one of the directors of the organization. Here in R8 the employee is demanded to transfer the
money unethically by the consent of the customer and the supervisor just because the customer
is important to the company. In R9 we could relate it to authority as the manager is taking all
the credit to himself as he finds himself superior in Rank to the employee who works hard. R10
also involves the authority perspective as the employee is requested to alter the statements so
that the manager could get his yearly targets achieved. R18 was more into subversion as the
management used their power to hire the faculty member. Without considering the qualification
needed for the job.

Sanctity/degradation

R15 comes under this as the employee felt very bad about the organization that degraded all
the other things about the company. R19 comes under degradation because the exposure the
respondent got was isolation from all the managers' meetings. And she finally quit her job from
the company but will be still confused to raise the concern or not in her future company too.
Conclusion
There are ethical conundrums everywhere we go, whether it be at work or at home. Ethics
problems at work can range from significant ones that affect the entire organisation to minor
ones that only affect the person involved and not society as a whole. They will address these
difficulties in various ways because each person or organisation is distinct. There are numerous
viewpoints, philosophies, and approaches that can be used to address these kinds of problems.
For instance, health professionals have already been instructed to save the lives of people
whose safety cannot be compromised. In these situations, people will encounter difficulties,
but they can overcome them with the aid of organisation. Additionally, we discovered various
ethical conundrums in various organisations. Some problems are more serious, affecting the
entire corporation and violating corporate policies as well as international law. People engage
in these immoral behaviours in both the company and society for financial gain and personal
gain. Additionally, some ethical conundrums are minor and simple enough for an individual or
group to resolve. The ethical conundrums in this situation and the ethical conundrums in society
are considerably dissimilar, as is the method for overcoming them. In an organisation, it can
be challenging to decide whether to tell the truth or conceal it based on self-moral principles,
organisational rules, and regulations. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the problem will
be resolved whether we tell the truth or not. Therefore, it's quite challenging to resolve ethical
conflicts within a business. In our situation, the most frequent ethical conundrums are
authority/subversion and cheating/fairness.

As a result, this initiative taught us that in order to follow our moral principles and make the
right decisions, we must abide by both organisational norms and regulations as well as social
laws. Because these moral conundrums repeat themselves frequently, businesses must establish
various committees to safeguard their reputations and the interests of their personnel.
Appendix
Survey-1

Name- Sreehari

Gender- Male

Age- 33

Company associated with- IT firm

Designation- Assistant Manager

Overall image or experience within the company- Good experience

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

What was that ethical dilemma?

I was working as assistant manager in an IT firm. There was a woman in my team who is
talented in the IT field and did a lot of successful projects which gave her a good reputation in
the organization. Unfortunately, she had to take a long leave because her mother was suddenly
affected by stroke. She re-joined after the leave and she had a lot of work pending to complete.
Even after joining she failed to come to the office at time and was absent in some of the
important team meetings. Her team members were totally unhappy about this. Some of the
team members came to me and complained about her as she is not completing her work on
given time. I already knew the condition of her mother as she is the only daughter who takes
care of her mother. I said these issues to the senior managers and they also know that she is
talented and needed employee for the organization. The general rule of the organization is to
terminate those employees who fails to complete the work and attend important meeting. The
other team members want me to act against her. Now I must take the final decision. This is the
ethical dilemma I faced as a manger in my organization.

How did it affect you as a person?

I was in a dilemma that whether I stand with the other team members and act against her give
her one more excuse as she is a talented employee.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No measures were taken by the company

Survey- 2
Name-Hari Krishnan

Gender- Male

Age- 38

Company associated with- Manufacturing of bags

Designation- Sales Manager

Overall image or experience within the company- Good experience

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

What was that ethical dilemma?

I was the assistant sales manager in a private company which sells all types of bags. There so
many sales men working under me. There was one person who have extraordinary skills who
always completes his targets within the given time and many times became the best sales man
in team. One time he faced severe health issues and took leave. When he came back after the
leave, he became tired because of the health issues and was not able to perform well in the job.
He failed to complete his targets. My senior managers became unhappy with his performance
and they want to dismiss him from the job. They discussed the situation and gave order to
dismiss him. But I was disappointed as I knew him very well and I was sure that he can do
better and completes his targets, Thus I became confused and this was the ethical dilemma that
I faced in my organization.

How did it affect you as person?

It affected me emotionally as he has health issues but still, he is ready to work. He is a hard-
working guy who can do better for the organisation?

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No

What decision take to solve the ethical dilemma?

I had a personal conversation with the sales person and he told me to work hard to achieve the
targets and even about the skills and capabilities. He succussed in achieving the targets and he
is still a successful employee in the organization.
Survey- 3
Name- Shyam

Gender- Male

Age- 38

Company associated with- Manufacturing firm

Designation- Regional assistant Manager

Overall image or experience within the company- Bad experience

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

What was the ethical dilemma?

I was working as sales head in a private organization in Madhya Pradesh as sales head. I got
transferred to another state as the regional assistant manager in sales and my subordinates in
the team were from that state. I faced a lot of discrimination as I am from another state and
does not speak their language. They were I complained to my manager but he supported my
subordinates by saying that the discriminations are quite common in organization. I became
disappointed. I face ethical dilemma whether to raise this issue in the organization and inform
to the higher officials or stay silent as it can create enmity between me and my manager.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No

What decision take to solve the ethical dilemma?

I decided to adjust with the situation and within a few months I was transferred back to my
state.

How did it effect you as a person?

It affected me emotionally as I do not have much friends in the organization to share my

problems.
Survey- 4

Name- Praseetha

Gender- female

Age- 38

Company associated with- IT firm

Designation- HR manage

Overall image or experience within the company- Average

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

What was the ethical dilemma?

I am working as HR manager in a It firm. The recruitment of new employees generally takes

place in the month of March to June. During one of such interviews, I faced an ethical dilemma.
My boss relative is also there for the final interview. So, my boss already called me and told
me that his selected in the interview. There was only two vacancies. There were twenty
candidates for the final interview. I interviewed all the candidates and I understood that there
are lot of candidates who are more talented than my boss relative. I cannot disobey my boss
request as it can create enmity with my boss. This is where I faced an ethical dilemma.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No

What decision take to solve the ethical dilemma?

I have no other option so I finally chose my boss relative and I believed the other.
candidates will get better opportunities

How did it effect you as a person?

This incident hurt me emotionally and I lost the trust in my job ethics.
Survey- 5

Name- Varuna

Gender- female

Age- 35

Company associated with- IT firm

Designation- Assistant manager

Overall image or experience within the company- Average

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

What was that ethical dilemma?

I am working as assistant manager in an IT company. I am the next one to get promoted a

manager because of my performance and perfection in completing the assigned duties.
Unfortunately, my promotion was withheld the organization and other person who is junior in
experience than me got promoted. It is because that employee is a close relative of one of the
directors of my organization. I felt disappointed and now I am in an ethical dilemma whether
to react to this unethical act the organization or to stay silent.

How did it effect you as a person?

It affected me emotionally and I felt dissatisfaction in my job.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No

What decision you take to solve the dilemma?

I remained silent and try to focus on my work and I believed that I will be promoted shortly
because of my job performance.
Survey 6

Name : Santhosh

Gender : Male

Age : 27

Designation : Developer

Work Experience : 4

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? yes If yes

What was that ethical dilemma?

I am working in a reputed company as a project developer and was assigned to a project. I

completed the work on time and submitted the first draft of the project, upon submission I was
told that the project no longer existed and the promised raise for the project won’t be reflecting
in my salary.

How has it affected you as a person?

I felt cheated and betrayed by the company. They took my work anyway but refused to pay up.
The management could have informed me about the termination of the project but failed to.

What decision did you take to solve that dilemma?

I mailed a complaint to my manager attaching the proof of assigning the project to me and the
issue regarding the project remuneration. But unfortunately no action was taken.
Survey 7

Name : Govind

Gender : Male

Age : 24

Designation :

Work Experience : 4

What was that ethical dilemma?

I was a newly joined employee in a corporate firm, after successfully completing my work for
one and a half years, I got a better offer from another company and was planning to join them
by next month. I informed the company about the new job offer and they said the company had
two years bond and can leave only if I pay two lakh rupees in order to leave early. The HR had
not informed me about the bond at the time of joining and the new HR is forcing me to continue
working for the company.

How has it affected you as a person?

This was for the first time experiencing such an event hence I was confused what action needs
to be taken.

What decision did you take to solve that dilemma?

Since the company had not spent any money on my training and the bond was not conveyed at
the time of joining, I went to my friend who is a lawyer and explained the situation and filed a
formal complaint towards the company and sent it to them. Later that week the company
officially allowed me to leave the company and completed all the formality.
Survey 8

Name : Shankar

Gender : Male

Age : 26

Designation : Assistant Manager

Work Experience : 3

What was that ethical dilemma?

I was working as an assistant bank manager in south India. As I was getting closer to my
manager, I started receiving phone calls during the working hours from potential employees to
transfer huge amounts without any cheque. As they were very important to the bank, the
manager insisted on completing the transaction without the cheque.

How has it affected you as a person?

As an employee I was taking a huge risk and was afraid to take a stand.

What decision did you take to solve that dilemma?

I had no choice but to wire the transaction as the manager insisted on doing this. I could not go
against my manager as it would lead to a wrong footing and could affect my future promotions.
Survey 9

Name : Meenakshi

Gender : female

Age : 40

Designation : Chief Accountant

Work Experience : 15

What was that ethical dilemma?

As a Chief accountant I was asked by my superior to alter the company statements of the sales
in order to achieve the yearly targets. I could not make my own decision and all my work was
based on managerial pressures which was unethical. I was forced to follow it.

How has it affected you as a person?

This completely changed how I looked upon my manager and the decision he takes

What decision did you take to solve that dilemma?

No decision was taken

Survey 10

Name : Parvathy

Gender : Male

Age : 29

Designation : Relationship Manager

Work Experience : 7

What was that ethical dilemma?

I was assigned a project from a high potential client by my manager and upon completion of
the project I was asked to submit the project to the manager. Upon enquiring the delivery of
the project I was informed that it had already been done and I came to know that the manager
took all the credit all to himself.

How has it affected you as a person?

As a person I was angry at the manager for stealing my work and taking the credit.

What decision did you take to solve that dilemma?

As it was my superior manager I could not take any action as my future promotions depend on
his decision and dind not want to confront him.
Scenario 11

Name: Ratheesh R

Gender: Male

Age: 26

Company associated with: Ed-tech

Years of experience: 3 years

Designation: Team head- Renewals

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

If yes, what was that ethical dilemma?

I was working as a team leader for Toppr Technologies Pvt. Ltd. One day my boss gave me a
lead and asked me to call that customer, saying that it was a worthy customer and that I needed
to get a renewal from them. As per the instruction from the manager, I called him. But when
he attended the call, he was saying such abusive things. The issue was that he had bought the
product for a lot of money earlier and the company did not service him properly, so he was not
able to use it. He had raised so many complaints, and the company didn’t look into them.

I had complained directly to the boss and senior authorities about the customer being rude and
abusive. But the superiors said in a way that it was my duty to handle such customers, whatever
the scenario is and whatever it takes to get the renewal from them.

How has it affected you in person?

I was in a situation where I was not knowing what to do.

Any redressal measure taken by the company?

No
Scenario 12

Name: Akhil Thankachan

Gender: Male

Age: 27

Company associated with: Service

Years of experience: 3.5 years

Designation: Mentor and Customer service head

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

If yes, what was that ethical dilemma?

In the company, I used to meet at least four customers daily and needed to have a meeting with
them. For that, I need to call and fix the meetings according to the time schedule given by the
customers. One day, my team leader said that he had already fixed a meeting for today evening,
but because of an emergency situation, he wanted to leave early, and I wanted to go and meet
that customer. I said OK as I was not able to refuse the order from the boss.

When I got into the customer’s house, they locked me inside the house because they were a
very rude customer and had already asked for a refund, which the company refused to give.
They were not allowing me to leave the house until the cash had been refunded to them. When
I called the boss at the time, he initially did not answer the phone, but after a long time, he
finally did and said he couldn't do anything and advised me to leave the house. At the time, I
had no idea what to do.

How has it affected you in person?

I really hated the company and my superiors as they were not supporting when an issue had
come.

Any redressal measure taken by the company?

Not probably. But, I was able to make justice to the customer.

Scenario 13

Name: Arjun Bhaskar

Gender: Male

Age: 30

Company associated with: Insurance

Years of experience: 6 years

Designation: Senior relationship manager

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

If yes, what was that ethical dilemma?

I was working for an insurance company. I used to travel a lot for my work in order to visit the
customer. The travel allowance was paid in such a way that we will not be paid the full amount
of the bill. But I was fine with it. After some months, my teammate called me one day and said
that the allowances and expenses we are getting are very low here as we are already working
at maximum capacity. So, I'm going to make more fake bills and claim them so that I can get
a consistent amount to him as well, or else he'll be caught and punished for the malpractice he's
committing.

I was in a dilemma and didn’t know what to do. If I go the ethical way, I’ll lose my relationship
with him, who is very useful, and if I don't, I’ll be unethical to myself.

How has it affected you in person?

Somewhat like losing my self-morality to the work I’m doing

Any redressal measure taken by the company?

It was not addressed to the company

Scenario 14

Name: Nancy John

Gender: female

Age: 28

Company associated with: financial service

Years of experience: 3 years

Designation: Supervisor

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

If yes, what was that ethical dilemma?

I was employed by a financial services firm. The work was going very smoothly there. We are
in the process of calling specific customers for targeted purposes. It was more like or similar
to what BPO does. We had so many customer bases at different companies, which is very
confidential. Sometimes my colleague sends the data to other sources to earn money. But when
I enquired further, I discovered that it was common among everyone in my team, and even the
superior was completely supportive.

How has it affected you in person?

I was in a situation where I don’t know what to do. And lost the trust in the company.

Any redressal measure taken by the company?

Reported to the higher superiors and don’t know wat happened next.
Scenario 15

Name: Haritha

Gender: female

Age: 31

Company associated with: Insurance

Years of experience: 7 years

Designation: Area head

Have you ever faced any specific ethical dilemma during your job? Yes

If yes, what was that ethical dilemma?

I had been working as the senior relationship manager for 4 years. My work is usually to get
sales from customers through the bank channel. I was one of the top performers in the entire
state and had won several awards and recognitions for that. I like the work very much, and I
was doing my work very sincerely for the company, and I’d brought tremendous change and
revenue to the company too.

As part of my general employee rights, I was also enrolled in the company's family insurance
plan. But even after performing this much, when my father was affected by a serious disease
and needed to undergo a major surgery that would cost a huge amount of money, the company
was not ready to claim the insurance. Even when I met with my immediate and superior
managers, they said, "We cannot do anything in this," and they were not in favour of my filing
an insurance claim. "If you're already earning so much in incentives, do you really need this
money?" they asked. I was totally confused by the behaviour of the organisation and my
superiors, and I was not able to claim my rights.

How has it affected you in person?

I lost the trust in the company

Any redressal measure taken by the company?

I stepped out of the company and joined other

Survey 16

Name: Rahul R

Gender: Male

Age: 28

Company associated with: Construction

Year of experience : 5

Designation: Site Engineer

What was that ethical dilemma?

I am working in a construction company as a senior site engineer. One of my works involves

the procurement of raw materials as per the required construction standard. During the work, I
have to make sure that all the raw materials (especially steel, cement, and aggregates) are
included as per the requirement. But once I was confronted with a situation that my project
manager asked me to reduce the quantity of steel reinforcement used in the concreting process
to reduce the cost of construction. And told me to make sure that it won’t be noticed by the
client. The thing is after the concreating process the used steel reinforcement inside it will not
be seen. But it will definitely reduce the strength of the concrete. I was not a person who does
not support these actions. Also, I cannot neglect what my project manager says.

How has it affected you in person?

I was tense and got a negative view of the company and the senior.

How do you overcome this dilemma?

Still, I didn’t follow what exactly what my project manager said. I reduced the quantity of steel
but not to a big amount.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No
Survey 17

Name: Prabhul Bhaskar

Gender: Male

Age: 29

Company associated with: Construction

Year of experience : 6

Designation: Quality control engineer

What was that ethical dilemma?

I am working as a quality control engineer in a construction firm. In our company there is a

procurement head, he used to buy and arrange materials for the construction work. As a quality
control engineer, I used to test different construction raw materials to know their strength as
per the company rules. If the quality of raw materials is failed several times, then the contract
and further business with the suppliers will be terminated. The procurement head has a good
connection with one of the brick suppliers and continuously buys raw materials from them.
The brick from this supplier sometimes gets failed in the quality test and I have conveyed the
same to the procurement head. Still, he did not change the supplier. Later on, I came to know
that, this supplier used to give the project head a certain amount of money in the form of a
commission for the sales he helped to do. I was very confused that I should inform to the project
manager or not.

How has it affected you in person?

I felt I was very weak enough to respond to this as I was new to the company. Informing the
issue can cause conflict which is wont to good for my career.

How do you overcome this dilemma?

I didn’t respond to this, because the brick didn’t fail the test every time. So the higher authority
won't be noticing it much.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No
Survey 18
Name: Ramani Radhakrishnan

Gender: Female

Age: 48

Company associated with: Education

Year of experience : 25

Designation: Principal

What was that ethical dilemma?

I was working as a principal in a private school. During any hiring process of teaching faculties,
we conduct personal interviews with the applicants. The panel members include a few members
from school management, senior teaching faculty, and me. We usually hire the faculty based
on their qualification and work experience. There was one incident where there was a need for
science teaching faculty. I informed this need to the school management and to have the hiring
process including the personal interview. But after a few days, one of the school management
members called me and said to hire a faculty who is a daughter of a senior management
member. Later I checked her profile, but the qualification and experience were less than what
the job role was expecting. I was concerned about the students who should be provided with
the required quality education by the school and as a principal, I have to make sure of it. So, I
politely informed this to the member who called me but his reply was the same and said
management wants her to be hired. Thus I couldn’t change the decision.

How has it affected you in person?

I felt bad after this situation that it was not morally correct to do it to the students.

How do you overcome this dilemma?

After appointing her, I said some criteria which should be followed for teaching. These criteria
include some standard contends to be referred so that the quality of teaching will be maintained.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No
Survey 19

Name: Gopika Narayanan

Gender: Female

Age: 32

Company associated with: IT

Year of experience : 8

Designation: Analyst

What was that ethical dilemma?

I am working as an analyst in a biotechnology firm. I am in the position of team lead. We

usually have a meeting with all teams with respective project leads and managers regarding the
work once n a week. I also have a team meeting usually every day with all the team members
and listen to their work status and progress also the issues with work if any. Then during the
weekly meeting with other team leads and managers we discuss about this. Once during the
meeting, I told about the issues regarding certain steps taken by the manager regarding team
allocation (shifting of members to another team) and also the quantity of work given to the
employees. Also in the next meeting, I raised a few concerns again. Thereafter in most of the
meetings, I was not included. Which made me feel isolated in the department.

How has it affected you in person?

I felt isolated in the organization. My morale went low.

How do you overcome this dilemma?

I had a talk with my manager regarding this and tried to make him understand the situation,
which was not to hurt the steps taken by the managers but to increase productivity by discussing
the issues faced by employees regarding work.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

I don’t know. I moved to another company.

Survey 20

Name: Rajan

Gender: Male

Age: 54

Company associated with: Pharma

Year of experience : 22

Designation: Senior pharmacist

What was that ethical dilemma?

I am working as a senior pharmacist for a multi-specialty hospital in Kerala. During covid time
there was a great demand for a few products like surgical masks and sanitizers all over the
place. During the initial time of covid, the pharmacy used to get these products at a cheaper
price but they sell them at a very high margin. They get surgical masks at Rs 3 but they sell it
for Rs 12 or 13 as there was less availability of surgical masks and the demand was very high.
Likewise, they also sell locally made sanitizers for high margins. It is mandatory to wear the
mask for everyone. Also, many financially low patients come to the hospital but the price
remains the same. That was the time I felt even the hospital is taking advantage of the situation
and using it to increase the profit without considering basic ethics.

How has it affected you in person?

I felt morally bad because as a hospital they should consider basic human ethics. They can
make profit but they should not take advantage of the situation to a large extent.

How do you overcome this dilemma?

I had a talk with a manager of the hospital regarding this, he said he will talk with the
management and will take a decision.

Any residual measure taken by the company?

No